Measures Of Cognitive Processes Research Articles

Explaining paranoia: cognitive and social processes in the occurrence of extreme mistrust

BackgroundParanoia—incorrectly thinking that others are deliberating trying to harm you—causes distress, undermines social interactions and leads to withdrawal. It presents across multiple psychiatric diagnoses.ObjectiveThe primary aim was to determine the...

Emotional and cognitive processes in psychotherapy are associated with different aspects of the therapeutic relationship.

In this naturalistic study we aimed to investigate the relationships between two central change processes (affective and cognitive) and two common relationship factors ("Confidence in the therapist" and "Confidence in the treatment"), which have been shown to impact outcomes in a clinical context. We also investigated whether these interrelationships varied across treatment orientations (i.e., cognitive or psychodynamic focused). The sample consisted of 631 patients with a primary anxiety or depressive disorder who were admitted to an inpatient program and treated with psychotherapy. The data consisted of weekly measures of cognitive (i.e., "rumination") and affective (i.e., "problems with emotional clarity") change processes as well as scores on Confidence in the therapist and Confidence in the treatment and symptom distress. A multivariate version of the latent curve model with structured residuals was used to investigate the within-patient effects of week-to-week changes in all variables. Initial analyses established that both problems with emotional clarity and rumination predicted symptom distress. Further, we found that higher Confidence in the therapist predicted higher emotional clarity (but not lower rumination) whereas higher Confidence in the treatment predicted lower rumination (but did not affect emotional clarity). Post hoc analyses found that these interrelationships varied across treatment orientation (i.e., cognitive vs. psychodynamic). The results indicate that patients' experience of the therapist is associated with emotional change processes, and that patients' experience of the coherence and meaningfulness of treatment, on the other hand, is associated with cognitive change processes. Implications for clinical practice are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Functional Hearing Difficulties in Blast-Exposed Service Members With Normal to Near-Normal Hearing Thresholds.

Estimated prevalence of functional hearing and communication deficits (FHCDs), characterized by abnormally low speech recognition and binaural tone detection in noise or an abnormally high degree of self-perceived hearing difficulties, dramatically increases in active-duty service members (SMs) who have hearing thresholds slightly above the normal range and self-report to have been close to an explosive blast. Knowing the exact nature of the underlying auditory-processing deficits that contribute to FHCD would not only provide a better characterization of the effects of blast exposure on the human auditory system, but also allow clinicians to prescribe appropriate therapies to treat or manage patient complaints. Two groups of SMs were initially recruited: (1) a control group (N = 78) with auditory thresholds ≤20 dB HL between 250 and 8000 Hz, no history of blast exposure, and who passed a short FHCD screener, and (2) a group of blast-exposed SMs (N = 26) with normal to near-normal auditory thresholds between 250 and 4000 Hz, and who failed the FHCD screener (cutoffs based on the study by Grant et al.). The two groups were then compared on a variety of audiometric, behavioral, cognitive, and electrophysiological measures. These tests were selected to characterize various aspects of auditory system processing from the cochlear to the cortex. A third, smaller group of blast-exposed SMs who performed within normal limits on the FHCD screener were also recruited (N = 11). This third subject group was unplanned at the onset of the study and was added to evaluate the effects of blast exposure on hearing and communication regardless of performance on the FHCD screener. SMs in the blast-exposed group with FHCD performed significantly worse than control participants on several metrics that measured peripheral and mostly subcortical auditory processing. Cognitive processing was mostly unaffected by blast exposure with the exception of cognitive tests of language-processing speed and working memory. Blast-exposed SMs without FHCD performed similarly to the control group on tests of peripheral and brainstem processing, but performed similarly to blast-exposed SMs with FHCD on measures of cognitive processing. Measures derived from EEG recordings of the frequency-following response revealed that blast-exposed SMs who exhibited FHCD demonstrated increased spontaneous neural activity, reduced amplitude of the envelope-following response, poor internal signal to noise ratio, reduced response stability, and an absent or delayed onset response, compared with the other two participant groups. Degradation in the neural encoding of acoustic stimuli is likely a major contributing factor leading to FHCD in blast-exposed SMs with normal to near-normal audiometric thresholds. Blast-exposed SMs, regardless of their performance on the FHCD screener, exhibited a deficit in language-processing speed and working memory, which could lead to difficulties in decoding rapid speech and in understanding speech in challenging speech communication settings. Further tests are needed to align these findings with clinical treatment protocols being used for patients with suspected auditory-processing disorders.

Cognitive control in adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder: a study with event-related potentials.

Little is known about cognitive control in adults with high-functioning forms of autism spectrum disorder because previous research focused on children and adolescents. Cognitive control is crucial to monitor and readjust behavior after errors to select contextually appropriate reactions. The congruency effect and conflict adaptation are measures of cognitive control. Post-error slowing, error-related negativity and error positivity provide insight into behavioral and electrophysiological correlates of error processing. In children and adolescent with autism spectrum disorder deficits in cognitive control and error processing have been shown by changes in post-error slowing, error-related negativity and error positivity in the flanker task. We performed a modified Eriksen flanker task in 17 adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and 17 healthy controls. As behavioral measures of cognitive control and error processing, we included reaction times and error rates to calculate congruency effects, conflict adaptation, and post-error slowing. Event-related potentials namely error-related negativity and error positivity were measured to assess error-related brain activity. Both groups of participants showed the expected congruency effects demonstrated by faster and more accurate responses in congruent compared to incongruent trials. Healthy controls exhibited conflict adaptation as they obtained performance benefits after incongruent trials whereas patients with autism spectrum disorder did not. The expected slowing in reaction times after errors was observed in both groups of participants. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder demonstrated enhanced electrophysiological error-processing compared to healthy controls indicated by increased error-related negativity and error positivity difference amplitudes. Our findings show that adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder do not show the expected upregulation of cognitive control in response to conflicts. This finding implies that previous experiences may have a reduced influence on current behavior in these patients which possibly contributes to less flexible behavior. Nevertheless, we observed intact behavioral reactions after errors indicating that adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder can flexibly adjust behavior in response to changed environmental demands when necessary. The enhancement of electrophysiological error-processing indicates that adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder demonstrate an extraordinary reactivity toward errors reflecting increased performance monitoring in this subpopulation of autism spectrum disorder patients.

Cerebellar Effects on Abnormal Psychomotor Function Are Mediated by Processing Speed in Psychosis Spectrum.

Psychomotor disturbance has been identified as a key feature of psychotic disorders, with motor signs observed in upwards of 66% of unmedicated, first-episode patients. Aberrations in the cerebellum have been directly linked to sensorimotor processing deficits including processing speed, which may underly psychomotor disturbance in psychosis, though these brain-behavior-symptom relationships are unclear, in part due to within-diagnosis heterogeneity across these levels of analysis. In 339 psychosis patients (242 schizophrenia-spectrum, 97 bipolar with psychotic features) and 217 controls, we evaluated the relationship between cerebellar grey matter volume in the Yeo sensorimotor network and psychomotor disturbance (mannerisms and posturing, retardation, excitement of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale [PANSS]), as mediated by processing speed (assessed via the SCIP). Models included intracranial volume, age, sex, and chlorpromazine equivalents as covariates. We observed significant mediation by processing speed, with a small positive effect of the cerebellum on processing speed (ß = 0.172, p = 0.029, d = 0.24) and a medium negative effect of processing speed on psychomotor disturbance (ß = -0.254, p < 0.001, d = 0.60), with acceptable specificity and sensitivity suggesting this model is robust against unmeasured confounding. The current findings suggest a critical role of cerebellar circuitry in a well-established sensorimotor aberration in psychosis (processing speed) and the presentation of related psychomotor phenotypes within psychosis. Establishing such relationships is critical for intervention research, such as TMS. Future work will employ more dimensional measures of psychomotor disturbance and cognitive processes to capture normative and aberrant brain-behavior-symptom relationships and may also determine the magnitude of these relationships within subtypes of psychosis (e.g., disorganized behavior, catatonia).

Decoding information about cognitive health from the brainwaves of sleep

Sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) signals likely encode brain health information that may identify individuals at high risk for age-related brain diseases. Here, we evaluate the correlation of a previously proposed brain age biomarker, the “brain age index” (BAI), with cognitive test scores and use machine learning to develop and validate a series of new sleep EEG-based indices, termed “sleep cognitive indices” (SCIs), that are directly optimized to correlate with specific cognitive scores. Three overarching cognitive processes were examined: total, fluid (a measure of cognitive processes involved in reasoning-based problem solving and susceptible to aging and neuropathology), and crystallized cognition (a measure of cognitive processes involved in applying acquired knowledge toward problem-solving). We show that SCI decoded information about total cognition (Pearson’s r = 0.37) and fluid cognition (Pearson’s r = 0.56), while BAI correlated only with crystallized cognition (Pearson’s r = − 0.25). Overall, these sleep EEG-derived biomarkers may provide accessible and clinically meaningful indicators of neurocognitive health.

Deep psychophysiological phenotyping of adolescents and adults with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome: a multilevel approach to defining core disease processes

Background22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) is the most common chromosomal interstitial-deletion disorder, occurring in approximately 1 in 2000 to 6000 live births. Affected individuals exhibit variable clinical phenotypes that can include velopharyngeal anomalies, heart defects, T-cell-related immune deficits, dysmorphic facial features, neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism, early cognitive decline, schizophrenia, and other psychiatric disorders. Developing comprehensive treatments for 22q11.2DS requires an understanding of both the psychophysiological and neural mechanisms driving clinical outcomes. Our project probes the core psychophysiological abnormalities of 22q11.2DS in parallel with molecular studies of stem cell-derived neurons to unravel the basic mechanisms and pathophysiology of 22q11.2-related psychiatric disorders, with a primary focus on psychotic disorders. Our study is guided by the central hypothesis that abnormal neural processing associates with psychophysiological processing and underlies clinical diagnosis and symptomatology. Here, we present the scientific background and justification for our study, sharing details of our study design and human data collection protocol.MethodsOur study is recruiting individuals with 22q11.2DS and healthy comparison subjects between the ages of 16 and 60 years. We are employing an extensive psychophysiological assessment battery (e.g., EEG, evoked potential measures, and acoustic startle) to assess fundamental sensory detection, attention, and reactivity. To complement these unbiased measures of cognitive processing, we will develop stem-cell derived neurons and examine neuronal phenotypes relevant to neurotransmission. Clinical characterization of our 22q11.2DS and control participants relies on diagnostic and research domain criteria assessments, including standard Axis-I diagnostic and neurocognitive measures, following from the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS) and the North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study (NAPLS) batteries. We are also collecting measures of autism spectrum (ASD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-related symptoms.DiscussionStudying 22q11.2DS in adolescence and adulthood via deep phenotyping across multiple clinical and biological domains may significantly increase our knowledge of its core disease processes. Our manuscript describes our ongoing study’s protocol in detail. These paradigms could be adapted by clinical researchers studying 22q11.2DS, other CNV/single gene disorders, or idiopathic psychiatric syndromes, as well as by basic researchers who plan to incorporate biobehavioral outcome measures into their studies of 22q11.2DS.

Eye-Tracking Study on the Gender Effect Towards Cognitive Processes During Multimedia Learning

Multimedia learning is defined as the process of forming a knowledge mental model from words and pictures. It is important to measure cognitive process during multimedia learning. Differences in learners’ capabilities can be investigated through cognitive processes to improve the learning process. However, conventional methods such as interviews or behavioural assessment do not provide an objective measurement of cognitive processes during multimedia learning. Some advance methods to measure cognitive processes takes into account learner’s eye movement during learning process. In such a case, eye-tracking can be used as an alternative method to measure cognitive processes because eye movement has become a major part of human cognitive function. Another issue is related to the learners with different gender, which might have different styles of interaction with the source of information. Unfortunately, the effect of gender disparities in multimedia learning has not been widely studied. To address this research gap, this study examines the effect of gender differences based on eye-tracking metrics during multimedia learning. Based on the experimental results, `time until first fixation` on the text-type area of interest (AOI), `number of fixations` on the image type AOI, and `transition` from text-type AOI to image-type as well as `transition` between Image AOIs provided notable distinctions for each gender group (p &lt; 0.05). It was found that male learners preferred to access information from images. In contrast, female learners tended to do a thorough inspection on textual and pictorial information during multimedia learning. This study can be used as an alternative method for collecting cognitive process indicators in multimedia learning.

Deterministic Input, Noisy Mixed Modeling for Identifying Coexisting Condensation Rules in Cognitive Diagnostic Assessments.

In cognitive diagnosis models, the condensation rule describes the logical relationship between the required attributes and the item response, reflecting an explicit assumption about respondents' cognitive processes to solve problems. Multiple condensation rules may apply to an item simultaneously, indicating that respondents should use multiple cognitive processes with different weights to identify the correct response. Coexisting condensation rules reflect the complexity of cognitive processes utilized in problem solving and the fact that respondents' cognitive processes in determining item responses may be inconsistent with the expert-designed condensation rule. This study evaluated the proposed deterministic input with a noisy mixed (DINMix) model to identify coexisting condensation rules and provide feedback for item revision to increase the validity of the measurement of cognitive processes. Two simulation studies were conducted to evaluate the psychometric properties of the proposed model. The simulation results indicate that the DINMix model can adaptively and accurately identify coexisting condensation rules, existing either simultaneously in an item or separately in multiple items. An empirical example was also analyzed to illustrate the applicability and advantages of the proposed model.

Machine learning approaches linking brain function to behavior in the ABCD STOP task.

The stop-signal task (SST) is one of the most common fMRI tasks of response inhibition, and its performance measure, the stop-signal reaction-time (SSRT), is broadly used as a measure of cognitive control processes. The neurobiology underlying individual or clinical differences in response inhibition remain unclear, consistent with the general pattern of quite modest brain-behavior associations that have been recently reported in well-powered large-sample studies. Here, we investigated the potential of multivariate, machine learning (ML) methods to improve the estimation of individual differences in SSRT with multimodal structural and functional region of interest-level neuroimaging data from 9- to 11-year-olds children in the ABCD Study. Six ML algorithms were assessed across modalities and fMRI tasks. We verified that SST activation performed best in predicting SSRT among multiple modalities including morphological MRI (cortical surface area/thickness), diffusion tensor imaging, and fMRI task activations, and then showed that SST activation explained 12% of the variance in SSRT using cross-validation and out-of-sample lockbox data sets (n= 7298). Brain regions that were more active during the task and that showed more interindividual variation in activation were better at capturing individual differences in performance on the task, but this was only true for activations when successfully inhibiting. Cortical regions outperformed subcortical areas in explaining individual differences but the two hemispheres performed equally well. These results demonstrate that the detection of reproducible links between brain function and performance can be improved with multivariate approaches and give insight into a number of brain systems contributing to individual differences in this fundamental cognitive control process.

Emphasizing speed or accuracy in an eye-tracking version of the Trail-Making-Test: Towards experimental diagnostics for decomposing executive functions.

The Trail-Making-Test (TMT) is one of the most widely used neuropsychological tests for assessing executive functions, the brain functions underlying cognitively controlled thought and action. Obtaining a number of test scores at once, the TMT allows to characterize an assortment of executive functions efficiently. Critically, however, as most test scores are derived from test completion times, the scores only provide a summary measure of various cognitive control processes. To address this problem, we extended the TMT in two ways. First, using a computerized eye-tracking version of the TMT, we added specific eye movement measures that deliver a richer set of data with a higher degree of cognitive process specificity. Second, we included an experimental manipulation of a fundamental executive function, namely participants’ ability to emphasize speed or accuracy in task performance. Our study of healthy participants showed that eye movement measures differed between TMT conditions that are usually compared to assess the cognitive control process of alternating between task sets for action control. This demonstrates that eye movement measures are indeed sensitive to executive functions implicated in the TMT. Crucially, comparing performance under cognitive control sets of speed vs. accuracy emphasis revealed which test scores primarily varied due to this manipulation (e.g., trial duration, number of fixations), and which were still more sensitive to other differences between individuals (e.g., fixation duration, saccade amplitude). This provided an experimental construct validation of the test scores by distinguishing scores primarily reflecting the executive function of emphasizing speed vs. accuracy and those independent from it. In sum, both the inclusion of eye movement measures and of the experimental manipulation of executive functions in the TMT enabled a more specific interpretation of the TMT in terms of cognitive functions and mechanisms, which offers more precise diagnoses in clinical applications and basic research.

Orthographic precision for word naming in skilled readers

ABSTRACT Perfetti (2007) proposed that the quality of lexical representations affects reading. We investigated the role of lexical quality in decoding. Eighty-four adults read aloud words and pseudowords with dense and sparse neighbourhoods in a masked form-priming experiment. Individual-difference measures of language and cognitive processes were collected and entered into a principal component analysis (PCA). Compared to a non-overlapping control prime, we observed greater facilitatory form-priming for word targets with sparse neighbourhoods than those with dense neighbourhoods. A PCA component related to orthographic precision affected form-priming: people with low orthographic precision showed greater facilitation for words with sparse neighbourhoods, primed by pseudowords, than those with dense neighbourhoods. People with high orthographic precision demonstrated the converse, only when primed by words. For pseudoword reading, word primes facilitated more than pseudoword primes in people with low orthographic precision. People with high orthographic precision showed the opposite pattern.

Automatic recognition, elimination strategy and familiarity feeling: Cognitive processes predict accuracy from lineup identifications

Identifying a suspect is critical for successful criminal investigations. Research focused on two decision processes during lineup identification, namely ‘automatic recognition’ and ‘elimination’ strategy, and their relation to identification accuracy. In this article, we report two experiments conducted in France and South Africa, which further examine strategies in eyewitness decision-making. We first used a modified-RSA (Retrospective Self Awareness; Kassin, 1985) interview method to construct questionnaires to have finer-grained measures of cognitive processes involved in lineup identification. Studies 1 and 2 tested the relevance of the questionnaire in each of the countries, and factor analysis yielded three common factors among the countries, namely the expected ‘automatic recognition’, and ‘elimination’ strategies, as well as an additional familiarity related factor. Logistic regressions showed that witnesses who reported using a familiarity feeling and/or an ‘elimination strategy’ to conduct their decision, were less likely to make correct decisions than witnesses who reported using ‘automatic recognition’.

Measuring cognitive load using eye tracking technology in learning Content

The objective of this study is to determine the effect of a cognitive process called Spatial Contiguity on students engaged in a learning activity. In organizing observed information, cognitive processes beyond attention influence the direction and duration of eye movements. Four volunteers participated in a pilot experiment developed using Eye-tracking to measure cognitive processing of stimuli from learning materials presented in two different formats. Eye-tracking is a tool used to record the eye movements of subjects while performing tasks. The results showed statistically significant differences in cognitive processing measures based on the way learning content is presented.

An eye-tracking study examining the relationship between males’ eating disorder symptomatology, body mass index, and expectations about character behaviour in text

ABSTRACT Eating disorder prevalence is increasing in males, perhaps more rapidly than in females. Theorists have proposed that cognitive biases are important factors underpinning disordered eating, especially those related to food, body, and perfectionism. We investigated these factors in relation to males’ eating disorder symptomatology in the general population by using eye-tracking during reading as a novel and implicit measure. 180 males’ eye movements were monitored while they read scenarios (third-person in Experiment 1 (n = 90, 18-38(Mage = 21.50, SD = 3.65)); second-person in Experiment 2 (n = 90, 18–35(Mage = 20.50, SD = 2.22))) describing characters’ emotional responses (e.g. upset) to food-, body image-, and perfectionism-related events. Participants’ eating disorder symptomatology was then assessed, and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Results showed processing of characters’ emotional responses (detected via eye-tracking) to body- and perfectionism-related events for third-person scenarios was related to eating disorder symptomatology. Processing of characters’ emotional responses to body-related events for second-person scenarios was related to males’ BMI. The moment-to-moment processing of characters’ emotional responses to food-related scenarios was not related to eating disorder symptomatology or BMI. Findings support theories that include body- and perfectionism-related cognitive biases as underlying mechanisms of eating disorder symptomatology and the use of implicit measures of cognitive processes underlying males’ eating disorder symptomatology.

Association between dispositional empathy and self-other distinction in Irish and Belgian medical students: a cross-sectional analysis

ObjectivePhysicians’ cognitive empathy is associated with improved diagnosis and better patient outcomes. The relationship between self-reported and performance-based measures of cognitive empathic processes is unclear.DesignCross-sectional analysis of the association between...

A preliminary examination of expressive writing in boys with isolated orofacial clefts.

Children with isolated cleft of the lip and/or palate (iCL/P) are at a higher risk for language and reading issues. The current pilot study evaluated concurrent writing skills of children with iCL/P compared to unaffected participants with average (uAR) and impaired (uIR) reading. It was hypothesized that children with iCL/P would perform lower than age-expectations. Twenty-three males, aged 8-11 years old, were recruited through clinics, local advertisements, and state dyslexia groups (iCL/P = 7, uAR = 8, uIR = 8). Group differences on measures of cognitive processes and writing were evaluated using ANCOVA. Relationships between these measures were compared for each group through Pearson correlations. Participants with iCL/P performed within the average range across all measures; group differences were only found for the uIR group. For those with iCL/P, writing was correlated to global cognitive skills rather than more specific skills. While this small sample of children with iCL/P demonstrated average writing skills, patterns suggest performance is related to global cognitive reasoning rather than specific cognitive processes as found in unaffected children with impaired reading. Further research is needed to better understand writing in iCL/P and the relationship to reading and cognitive processes. Research in children with isolated cleft of the lip and/or palate (iCL/P) has demonstrated higher rates of language and reading disorders. No work has assessed written expression in children with iCL/P in over 40 years. This study is the first to evaluate elements of written expression and associated cognitive processes among children with iCL/P in comparison to unaffected children with either average or impaired reading skills. Measures of writing were within the average range for children with iCL/P and demonstrated correlation to global cognitive reasoning rather than to specific cognitive processes as found in unaffected children with impaired reading.

Increased face detection responses on the mooney faces test in people at clinical high risk for psychosis

Identifying state-sensitive measures of perceptual and cognitive processes implicated in psychosis may allow for objective, earlier, and better monitoring of changes in mental status that are predictive of an impending psychotic episode, relative to traditional self-report-based clinical measures. To determine whether a measure of visual perception that has demonstrated sensitivity to the clinical state of schizophrenia in multiple prior studies is sensitive to features of the at-risk mental state, we examined differences between young people identified as being at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR; n = 37) and non-psychiatric matched controls (n = 29) on the Mooney Faces Test (MFT). On each trial of the MFT, participants report whether they perceive a face in a degraded face image. The CHR group reported perceiving a greater number of faces in both upright and inverted MFT stimuli. Consistent with prior work, males reported more faces on the MFT than females in both conditions. However, the finding of greater reported face perception among CHR subjects was robustly observed in the female CHR group relative to the female control group. Among male CHR participants, greater reported face perception was related to increased perceptual abnormalities. These preliminary results are consistent with a small but growing literature suggesting that heightened perceptual sensitivity may characterize individuals at increased clinical risk for psychosis. Further studies are needed to determine the contributions of specific perceptual, cognitive, and motivational mechanisms to the findings.

Evidence for dissociable cognitive and neural pathways from poverty versus maltreatment to deficits in emotion regulation

Poverty and threat exposure (TE) predict deficits in emotion regulation (ER). Effective cognitive ER (i.e., reappraisal) may be supported by: (1) cognitive processes implicated in generating and implementing cognitive reappraisal, supported by activation in brain regions involved in cognitive control (e.g., frontal, insular, and parietal cortices) and (2) emotion processing and reactivity, involving identification, encoding, and maintenance of emotional states and related variation in brain activity of regions involved in emotional reactivity (i.e., amygdala). Poverty is associated with deficits in cognitive control, and TE with alterations in emotion processing and reactivity. Our goal was to identify dissociable emotional and cognitive pathways to ER deficits from poverty and TE. Measures of cognitive ability, emotional processing and reactivity, ER, and neural activity during a sadness ER task, were examined from a prospective longitudinal study of youth at risk for depression (n = 139). Both cognitive ability and left anterior insula extending into the frontal operculum activity during a sadness reappraisal task mediated the relationship between poverty and ER. Emotion processing/reactivity didn’t mediate the relationship of TE to ER. Findings support a cognitive pathway from poverty to ER deficits. They also underscore the importance of dissociating mechanisms contributing to ER impairments from adverse early childhood experiences.

Subconcussive brain vital signs changes predict head-impact exposure in ice hockey players.

The brain vital signs framework is a portable, objective, neurophysiological evaluation of brain function at point-of-care. We investigated brain vital signs at pre- and post-season for age 14 or under (Bantam) and age 16–20 (Junior-A) male ice hockey players to (i) further investigate previously published brain vital sign results showing subconcussive cognitive deficits and (ii) validate these findings through comparison with head-impact data obtained from instrumented accelerometers. With a longitudinal study design, 23 male ice hockey players in Bantam (n = 13; age 13.63 ± 0.62) and Tier II Junior-A (n = 10; age 18.62 ± 0.86) divisions were assessed at pre- and post-season. None were diagnosed with a concussion during the season. Cognitive evoked potential measures of Auditory sensation (N100), Basic attention (P300) and Cognitive processing (N400) were analysed as changes in peak amplitudes and latencies (six standard scores total). A regression analysis examined the relationship between brain vital signs and the number of head impacts received during the study season. Significant pre/post differences in brain vital signs were detected for both groups. Bantam and Junior-A players also differed in number of head impacts (Bantam: 32.92 ± 17.68; Junior-A: 195.00 ± 61.08; P < 0.001). Importantly, the regression model demonstrated a significant linear relationship between changes in brain vital signs and total head impacts received (R = 0.799, P = 0.007), with clear differences between the Bantam and Junior-A groups. In the absence of a clinically diagnosed concussion, the brain vital sign changes appear to have demonstrated the compounding effects of repetitive subconcussive impacts. The findings underscored the importance of an objective physiological measure of brain function along the spectrum of concussive impacts.