Neurocognitive Models Research Articles

Medical students’ views on the use of video technology in the teaching of isiZulu communication, language skills and cultural competence

Background. The role of communicator has been included as a key competency for health science students in South Africa. Owing to the population’s diverse language and cultural backgrounds, communication between patients and healthcare professionals is challenging. In this study, the Attention, Generation, Emotion and Spacing (AGES) neurocognitive model of learning was used as a framework to create videos for language teaching for the vocational needs of students. Objectives. To explore students’ views on the use of videos of simulated clinical scenarios for isiZulu communication and language teaching and the development of cultural awareness. Methods. Videos were developed using first- and second-language isiZulu speakers with scripts (verified by the university’s Language Board) based on authentic clinical settings. Videos were shown to a target group of students, who were then interviewed in focus group discussions. Audio recordings from the discussions were transcribed and analysed thematically in three categories, i.e. communication, language skills, and cultural awareness, using deductive coding based on the objectives of the research. Results. Students affirmed numerous benefits of the videos and commented on their use and further development. Benefits described related well to the AGES model of learning and fulfilled the learning requirements of communication teaching, language acquisition and cultural awareness. Conclusion. The videos represent an innovative teaching method for the resource-constrained environment in which we work and are relevant to the 21st century learner. Further evaluation and development of the tool using different scenarios and African languages is recommended.

Episodic foresight in normal cognitive and pathological aging

The ability to project the self forward in time to pre-experience personal events is referred to as episodic future thinking. Different theories have been proposed to try to explain the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying episodic future thinking. In this paper we focus on studies concerning the episodic prospection capacity in cognitive aging and in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and semantic dementia. Older adults usually produce fewer episodic details than young adults when recalling past events and when imagining future events. Patients with early to moderate Alzheimer's disease have impaired capacity in the generation of episodic details for retrieved past events and imagined future events. Similarly patients with early to moderate semantic dementia have difficulties in episodic future thinking whereas they succeed to retrieve episodic past events. These patterns are discussed with regard to the respective role of the episodic and personal semantic representations in future personal thoughts as a function of temporal distance by purposing a new neurocognitive model (TEDIFT).

Neurocognitive Model of Delusion: Two-Factor Theory

The underlying nature of delusions remains unclear despite their importance in psychopathology. Here we present a review of the neurocognitive model of delusions from a cognitive neuroscience viewpoint. There have been numerous reports on cognitive impairments in delusional patients, such as in their reasoning, attention, metacognition, and attribution biases. These findings have been incorporated into several cognitive models that aim to explain the formation, maintenance, and content of delusion. Although delusions are commonly conceptualized as beliefs, not all models make reference to models of normal belief formation. This review focused on two-factor theory models that make a distinction between factors that explain the content of delusions and those that explain their presence. This cognitive theory that includes the ‘pragmatic pathology’ of delusions can address both the phenomenology and treatment of delusion-related distress. Key Words: Delusions, Neurocognitive, Belief, Two-Factor Theory

Are visual threats prioritized without awareness? A critical review and meta-analysis involving 3 behavioral paradigms and 2696 observers.

Given capacity limits, only a subset of stimuli give rise to a conscious percept. Neurocognitive models suggest that humans have evolved mechanisms that operate without awareness and prioritize threatening stimuli over neutral stimuli in subsequent perception. In this meta-analysis, we review evidence for this 'standard hypothesis' emanating from 3 widely used, but rather different experimental paradigms that have been used to manipulate awareness. We found a small pooled threat-bias effect in the masked visual probe paradigm, a medium effect in the binocular rivalry paradigm and highly inconsistent effects in the breaking continuous flash suppression paradigm. Substantial heterogeneity was explained by the stimulus type: the only threat stimuli that were robustly prioritized across all 3 paradigms were fearful faces. Meta regression revealed that anxiety may modulate threat-biases, but only under specific presentation conditions. We also found that insufficiently rigorous awareness measures, inadequate control of response biases and low level confounds may undermine claims of genuine unconscious threat processing. Considering the data together, we suggest that uncritical acceptance of the standard hypothesis is premature: current behavioral evidence for threat-sensitive visual processing that operates without awareness is weak. (PsycINFO Database Record

Mood disorders: neurocognitive models.

In recent years, a number of neurocognitive models stemming from psychiatry and psychology schools of thought have conceptualized the pathophysiology of mood disorders in terms of dysfunctional neural mechanisms that underpin and drive neurocognitive processes. Though these models have been useful for advancing our theoretical understanding and facilitating important lines of research, translation of these models and their application within the clinical arena have been limited-partly because of lack of integration and synthesis. Cognitive neuroscience provides a novel perspective for understanding and modeling mood disorders. This selective review of influential neurocognitive models develops an integrative approach that can serve as a template for future research and the development of a clinically meaningful framework for investigating, diagnosing, and treating mood disorders. A selective literature search was conducted using PubMed and PsychINFO to identify prominent neurobiological and neurocognitive models of mood disorders. Most models identify similar neural networks and brain regions and neuropsychological processes in the neurocognition of mood, however, they differ in terms of specific functions attached to neural processes and how these interact. Furthermore, cognitive biases, reward processing and motivation, rumination, and mood stability, which play significant roles in the manner in which attention, appraisal, and response processes are deployed in mood disorders, are not sufficiently integrated. The inclusion of interactions between these additional components enhances our understanding of the etiology and pathophysiology of mood disorders. Through integration of key cognitive functions and understanding of how these interface with neural functioning within neurocognitive models of mood disorders, a framework for research can be created for translation to diagnosis and treatment of mood disorders.

Double dissociation of a latent working memory process

ABSTRACTBackground. The study explored the construct validity of a computational model of working memory (WM) by determining whether model parameters manifested double dissociations of lesion laterality with type of material studied. The data set modeled involved psychometrically matched verbal and figural WM tasks on which a double dissociation between test version and lesion laterality failed to emerge when total test scores were used as the laterality marker. Method. This re-analysis of a previously published study involved investigating the WM performance of 15 demographically matched controls with 15 adult patients with left-hemispheric (LH) lesions and 15 adult patients with right-hemispheric (RH) lesions. Each participant was given verbal and figural versions of a continuous paired associates test (CPAT). The two versions had previously been psychometrically matched in a larger sample of healthy individuals. A WM model composed of encoding, displacement, and episodic memory parameters was fit to each individual’s performance profiles for both versions of the CPAT. Results. Replicating the previous results for raw scores, rank transformed values of total score performance failed to reveal a double dissociation. Nonetheless an absolute double dissociation was observed for the model’s displacement parameter: RH patients demonstrated deficits on the figural but not verbal WM displacement parameter, whereas LH patients demonstrated deficits on the verbal but not figural WM displacement parameter. Additionally, both LH and RH patients were impaired on the figural encode parameter, perhaps explaining the absence of a double dissociation in total score performance. Conclusions. By combining different patterns of profile and level data into theoretically motivated model parameters, computational models of neurocognition can enhance the construct validity of interpretations of neuropsychological performance.

An evaluation of neurocognitive models of theory of mind

We review nine current neurocognitive theories of how theory of mind (ToM) is implemented in the brain and evaluate them based on the results from a recent meta-analysis by Schurz et al. (2014), where we identified six types of tasks that are the most frequently used in imaging research on ToM. From theories about cognitive processes being associated with certain brain areas, we deduce predictions about which areas should be engaged by the different types of ToM tasks. We then compare these predictions with the observed activations in the meta-analysis, and identify a number of unexplained findings in current theories. These can be used to revise and improve future neurocognitive accounts of ToM.

Terapia cognitivo-comportamental na insônia

Insomnia is the most frequent sleep disorder in the general population. Different models have been proposed to explain the occurrence of insomnia (e.g., Spielman’s model, the neurocognitive model, and the psychobiological inhibition model, amongothers). Knowing these models contributes to a better understanding of the mechanisms to be evaluated and treated. Psychotherapy has been widely investigated. In particular, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia has had its effectiveness demonstrated in several studies, and is recommended for individuals with insomnia. Different approaches, such as stimulus control, sleeprestriction, cognitive therapy, and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, have been used, with good results.Nonetheless, some individuals do not adequately respond to those approaches – an aspect that deserves the attention of professionals and researchers.

Editorial: Neurofeedback in ADHD

Editorial: Neurofeedback in ADHD

Culture, cognition and behavior in the pursuit of self-esteem

Self-esteem research, arguably the largest field of research in the history of social science, has devoted much of its efforts to the idea that self-esteem causes a broad range of behavioral and social problems, but has failed to produce strong, consistent evidence for most claims. However, this research has conceptual and methodological problems, including a limited understanding of the role of culture, and the assumption that global levels of self-esteem are the main causal mechanism of interest. This paper argues that self-esteem motivated behavior may be better understood as socio-culturally contextualized pursuits of valued identities, which are difficult to understand without considering their social and cultural conditions. Self-esteem therefore lies at the intersection of culture and cognition, and it is argued that an interdisciplinary approach to self-esteem pursuits could be beneficial. A way to reconcile constructionist views of identity with a cognitive self is then suggested and discussed. It is possible, by drawing on models of neurocognition, to think of a cognitive self as performed, context-dependent, and emergent rather than fixed, internal, and expressed. Finally, the paper discusses the social contingencies and consequences of self-esteem pursuits in relation to research issues such as aggression, stratification, crime, masculinity, and political attitudes.

A neurocognitive model for understanding treatment action in depression.

The way in which emotion is represented and processed in the human brain is an expanding area of research and has key implications for how we understand and potentially treat affective disorders such as depression. Characterizing the effects of pharmacological manipulations of key neurotransmitter systems can also help reveal the neurochemical underpinnings of emotional processing and how common antidepressant drugs may work in the treatment of depression and anxiety. This approach has revealed that depression is associated with both neural and behavioural biases towards negative over positive stimuli. Evidence from pharmacological challenge studies suggests that antidepressant treatment acts to normalize these biases early on in treatment, resulting in patients experiencing the world in a more positive way, improving their mood over time. This model is supported by evidence from both pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions. The unique perspective on antidepressant treatment offered by this approach provides some insights into individual response to treatment, as well as novel approaches to drug development.

Functional Connectivity Between Superior Parietal Lobule and Primary Visual Cortex "at Rest" Predicts Visual Search Efficiency.

Spatiotemporal activity that emerges spontaneously "at rest" has been proposed to reflect individual a priori biases in cognitive processing. This research focused on testing neurocognitive models of visual attention by studying the functional connectivity (FC) of the superior parietal lobule (SPL), given its central role in establishing priority maps during visual search tasks. Twenty-three human participants completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging session that featured a resting-state scan, followed by a visual search task based on the alphanumeric category effect. As expected, the behavioral results showed longer reaction times and more errors for the within-category (i.e., searching a target letter among letters) than the between-category search (i.e., searching a target letter among numbers). The within-category condition was related to greater activation of the superior and inferior parietal lobules, occipital cortex, inferior frontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and the superior colliculus than the between-category search. The resting-state FC analysis of the SPL revealed a broad network that included connections with the inferotemporal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and dorsal frontal areas like the supplementary motor area and frontal eye field. Noteworthy, the regression analysis revealed that the more efficient participants in the visual search showed stronger FC between the SPL and areas of primary visual cortex (V1) related to the search task. We shed some light on how the SPL establishes a priority map of the environment during visual attention tasks and how FC is a valuable tool for assessing individual differences while performing cognitive tasks.

Oxygenation of the Prefrontal Cortex during Sequential Planning in the Tower of London

To investigate the utility of neural theories for human planning, this study used near-infrared spectroscopy to investigate prefrontal (PFC) oxygenation for a well-established planning task: The Tower of London (TOL). Changes in prefrontal oxygenated hemoglobin from baseline were measured during task performance. Performing the Tower of London led to a significant increase in oxygenation in the left caudal region of the PFC in difficult trials moves relative to easier trials. The different degree of prefrontal oxygenation agrees with previous research and provides further evidence for a capacity utilization framework for measuring neurocognitive demand. Higher activity in the left rostral frontopolar region predicted better performance in the Tower of London, which agrees with a proposed rostral-caudal control hierarchy for the prefrontal cortex. Observed results support the feasibility of near-infrared spectroscopy to assess activity during tasks requiring planning ability and provide support for two neurocognitive models, capacity utilization and rostro-caudal control hierarchy.

Developmental dyspraxia: Which future in the adulthood?

Dyspraxia is defined as a neuro cognitive developmental disorder mainly involving the development of the gesture. If it is now well recognized thanks to the consensus on diagnostical criteria [1] and extensively studied through an abundant literature [2] , its physiopathological mechanisms, its neurobiological bases and its evolution still remain insufficiently explained. The heterogeneous symptomatology, the frequency of the associated motor and cognitive disorders primarily focusing on the language, the attention and the executive functions, the evolution of the symptomatology over time make it a complex pathology with little reliable prognosis in the adulthood. It is, however, a frequently raised question by the parents, as soon as the diagnosis is assessed during the childhood: “what future for her or him when growing?” In order to answer this question, it seems important to develop, in this domain, case studies with longitudinal follow up. It is probably a way to assess a neuro cognitive developmental model of the function by studying several individual trajectories taking into account the change of the different components of the praxic function as well as other cognitive functions involved and their evolution as time goes on. Of course the effect of rehabilitations has to be taken into consideration as well as the difficulty in making a difference between natural evolution and what depends of the evolution modified by treatments. Currently, the reference hospital centers for language and learning disorders since the promulgation in March, 2001 of the action plan for the children with specific language disorder can follow-up these children in partnership with the liberal professionals and/or establishments of the medical and social sector as well as the Education system. Today, it is, thus, possible to lean on their experience, their expertise and their capacity to coordinate care with their partners in order to carry on such studies. To illustrate this approach, we shall present, here, several clinical situations.

The relationship between the neural computations for speech and music perception is context-dependent: an activation likelihood estimate study

The relationship between the neurobiology of speech and music has been investigated for more than a century. There remains no widespread agreement regarding how (or to what extent) music perception utilizes the neural circuitry that is engaged in speech processing, particularly at the cortical level. Prominent models such as Patel's Shared Syntactic Integration Resource Hypothesis (SSIRH) and Koelsch's neurocognitive model of music perception suggest a high degree of overlap, particularly in the frontal lobe, but also perhaps more distinct representations in the temporal lobe with hemispheric asymmetries. The present meta-analysis study used activation likelihood estimate analyses to identify the brain regions consistently activated for music as compared to speech across the functional neuroimaging (fMRI and PET) literature. Eighty music and 91 speech neuroimaging studies of healthy adult control subjects were analyzed. Peak activations reported in the music and speech studies were divided into four paradigm categories: passive listening, discrimination tasks, error/anomaly detection tasks and memory-related tasks. We then compared activation likelihood estimates within each category for music vs. speech, and each music condition with passive listening. We found that listening to music and to speech preferentially activate distinct temporo-parietal bilateral cortical networks. We also found music and speech to have shared resources in the left pars opercularis but speech-specific resources in the left pars triangularis. The extent to which music recruited speech-activated frontal resources was modulated by task. While there are certainly limitations to meta-analysis techniques particularly regarding sensitivity, this work suggests that the extent of shared resources between speech and music may be task-dependent and highlights the need to consider how task effects may be affecting conclusions regarding the neurobiology of speech and music.

Cortical dynamics and subcortical signatures of motor-language coupling in Parkinson's disease.

Impairments of action language have been documented in early stage Parkinson’s disease (EPD). The action-sentence compatibility effect (ACE) paradigm has revealed that EPD involves deficits to integrate action-verb processing and ongoing motor actions. Recent studies suggest that an abolished ACE in EPD reflects a cortico-subcortical disruption, and recent neurocognitive models highlight the role of the basal ganglia (BG) in motor-language coupling. Building on such breakthroughs, we report the first exploration of convergent cortical and subcortical signatures of ACE in EPD patients and matched controls. Specifically, we combined cortical recordings of the motor potential, functional connectivity measures, and structural analysis of the BG through voxel-based morphometry. Relative to controls, EPD patients exhibited an impaired ACE, a reduced motor potential, and aberrant frontotemporal connectivity. Furthermore, motor potential abnormalities during the ACE task were predicted by overall BG volume and atrophy. These results corroborate that motor-language coupling is mainly subserved by a cortico-subcortical network including the BG as a key hub. They also evince that action-verb processing may constitute a neurocognitive marker of EPD. Our findings suggest that research on the relationship between language and motor domains is crucial to develop models of motor cognition as well as diagnostic and intervention strategies.

10 years of BAWLing into affective and aesthetic processes in reading: what are the echoes?

Reading is not only “cold” information processing, but involves affective and aesthetic processes that go far beyond what current models of word recognition, sentence processing, or text comprehension can explain. To investigate such “hot” reading processes, standardized instruments that quantify both psycholinguistic and emotional variables at the sublexical, lexical, inter-, and supralexical levels (e.g., phonological iconicity, word valence, arousal-span, or passage suspense) are necessary. One such instrument, the Berlin Affective Word List (BAWL) has been used in over 50 published studies demonstrating effects of lexical emotional variables on all relevant processing levels (experiential, behavioral, neuronal). In this paper, we first present new data from several BAWL studies. Together, these studies examine various views on affective effects in reading arising from dimensional (e.g., valence) and discrete emotion features (e.g., happiness), or embodied cognition features like smelling. Second, we extend our investigation of the complex issue of affective word processing to words characterized by a mixture of affects. These words entail positive and negative valence, and/or features making them beautiful or ugly. Finally, we discuss tentative neurocognitive models of affective word processing in the light of the present results, raising new issues for future studies.

Large-Scale Network Dysfunction in Major Depressive Disorder: A Meta-analysis of Resting-State Functional Connectivity.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) has been linked to imbalanced communication among large-scale brain networks, as reflected by abnormal resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC). However, given variable methods and results across studies, identifying consistent patterns of network dysfunction in MDD has been elusive. To investigate network dysfunction in MDD through a meta-analysis of rsFC studies. Seed-based voxelwise rsFC studies comparing individuals with MDD with healthy controls (published before June 30, 2014) were retrieved from electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, and EMBASE) and authors contacted for additional data. Twenty-seven seed-based voxel-wise rsFC data sets from 25 publications (556 individuals with MDD and 518 healthy controls) were included in the meta-analysis. Coordinates of seed regions of interest and between-group effects were extracted. Seeds were categorized into seed-networks by their location within a priori functional networks. Multilevel kernel density analysis of between-group effects identified brain systems in which MDD was associated with hyperconnectivity (increased positive or reduced negative connectivity) or hypoconnectivity (increased negative or reduced positive connectivity) with each seed-network. Major depressive disorder was characterized by hypoconnectivity within the frontoparietal network, a set of regions involved in cognitive control of attention and emotion regulation, and hypoconnectivity between frontoparietal systems and parietal regions of the dorsal attention network involved in attending to the external environment. Major depressive disorder was also associated with hyperconnectivity within the default network, a network believed to support internally oriented and self-referential thought, and hyperconnectivity between frontoparietal control systems and regions of the default network. Finally, the MDD groups exhibited hypoconnectivity between neural systems involved in processing emotion or salience and midline cortical regions that may mediate top-down regulation of such functions. Reduced connectivity within frontoparietal control systems and imbalanced connectivity between control systems and networks involved in internal or external attention may reflect depressive biases toward internal thoughts at the cost of engaging with the external world. Meanwhile, altered connectivity between neural systems involved in cognitive control and those that support salience or emotion processing may relate to deficits regulating mood. These findings provide an empirical foundation for a neurocognitive model in which network dysfunction underlies core cognitive and affective abnormalities in depression.

Phenomenological and neurocognitive perspectives on delusions: A critical overview.

There is considerable overlap between phenomenological and neurocognitive perspectives on delusions. In this paper, we first review major phenomenological accounts of delusions, beginning with Jaspers' ideas regarding incomprehensibility, delusional mood, and disturbed "cogito" (basic, minimal, or core self-experience) in what he termed "delusion proper" in schizophrenia. Then we discuss later studies of decontextualization and delusional mood by Matussek, changes in self and world in delusion formation according to Conrad's notions of "apophany" and "anastrophe", and the implications of ontological transformations in the felt sense of reality in some delusions. Next we consider consistencies between: a) phenomenological models stressing minimal-self (ipseity) disturbance and hyperreflexivity in schizophrenia, and b) recent neurocognitive models of delusions emphasizing salience dysregulation and prediction error. We voice reservations about homogenizing tendencies in neurocognitive explanations of delusions (the "paranoia paradigm"), given experiential variations in states of delusion. In particular we consider shortcomings of assuming that delusions necessarily or always involve "mistaken beliefs" concerning objective facts about the world. Finally, we offer some suggestions regarding possible neurocognitive factors. Current models that stress hypersalience (banal stimuli experienced as strange) might benefit from considering the potential role of hyposalience in delusion formation. Hyposalience - associated with experiencing the strange as if it were banal, and perhaps with activation of the default mode network - may underlie a kind of delusional derealization and an "anything goes" attitude. Such an attitude would be conducive to delusion formation, yet differs significantly from the hypersalience emphasized in current neurocognitive theories.

The intersubjectivity of delusions.

The intersubjectivity of delusions.