Word Memory Task Research Articles

6 Trauma Exposure as a Predictor for Score Profiles on Structured and Unstructured Tasks of Verbal Memory in a Community Sample

Objective:Evidence suggests that the most consistent cognitive impairment found in individuals experiencing posttraumatic stress disorder symptomology is verbal memory impairment (Johnsen & Asbjornsen, 2008). More specifically, research has shown that patients with PTSD perform poorer on verbal memory tasks relating to logical (story) memory than on word memory tasks, such as CVLT-III (Barrera-Valencia et al., 2017). While recent literature accounts for memory impairments related to PTSD, less is known about this relationship for individuals with mere trauma exposure compared to individuals without trauma exposure. The present research aims to determine if there is a significant impact on WMS-LM when compared to CVLT-III for individuals in a community sample that have been exposed to a traumatic event in their lifetime.Participants and Methods:One hundred nineteen patients presented to a community-based practice for neuropsychological evaluation. Patients were screened for trauma exposure during a clinical interview. Immediate and long delay trials of Wechsler Memory Scale IV Logical Memory (WMS-LM) were used to examine structured learning and memory and the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT-II) immediate and long delay recalls were used to examine unstructured learning and memory. Out of the 119 patients, 36 patients reported trauma exposure. Twenty-five were diagnosed as “normal,” 62 were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, and 32 were diagnosed with dementia. A one-way MANOVA was conducted to examine the relationship across the multiple dependent variables.Results:There was a statistically significant difference in immediate recall in memory based on exposure to trauma, F (2, 116) = 3.28, p < .05; Wilk’s A = 0.947, partial n2 = .53, such that individuals with trauma exposure performed better. For long delay recall performance, there was a similar trend though it did not reach statistical significance F (2, 114) = 3.03, p = .052; Wilk’s A = 0.949, partial n2 = .51.Conclusions:Data showed that patients who reported trauma exposure scored significantly higher on immediate recall performance on CVLT and WMS-LM than those who did not report trauma exposure. Although research suggests that patients who were exposed to trauma often experience cognitive deficits on verbal memory tasks, evidence also shows that trauma exposure can lead to higher immediate recall performance in memory related to attentional allocation modeling (Hayes et al., 2012).

High-fat-sugar diet is associated with impaired hippocampus-dependent memory in humans

Overconsumption of high-fat and high-sugar (HFS) diet may affect the hippocampus, and consequently, memory functions. Yet, converging evidence is needed to demonstrate that the type of memory affected by HFS diet consumption is indeed hippocampus dependent. Moreover, the extent to which HFS diet can also affect executive functioning, and indirectly affect memory requires further examination. In this online study, we asked 349 young adults to report their HFS diet consumption and complete a word memory task, the Everyday Memory Questionnaire, and importantly two memory tasks that have been shown to robustly engage the hippocampus, i.e., the Pattern Separation and Associative Memory Tasks. Participants also completed two executive functioning tasks, the Trail Making Task (TMT) and the Stroop Task. These measures assess attention/cognitive flexibility and the ability to inhibit cognitive interference, respectively. After controlling for confounding variables, we found that participants who reported higher level consumption of a HFS diet performed worse on the Pattern Separation Task and that higher HFS intake was significantly associated with poorer TMT task performance and longer Stroop average reaction time (RT). TMT and Stroop RT scores indicative of reduced executive function also partially mediated the relationship between HFS diet and memory performance on the pattern separation task. Taken together, our results provide converging evidence that HFS diet may impair hippocampus-dependent memory. HFS diet may also affect executive functioning and indirectly impair memory function. The findings are consistent with human subject and animal studies and call for further investigations on the psychological and neural mechanisms underlying the dietary effects on cognitive processes.

Hippocampal Neuronal Activity Preceding Stimulus Predicts Later Memory Success.

Hippocampal neuronal activity at a time preceding stimulus onset affects episodic memory performance. We hypothesized that neuronal activity preceding an event supports successful memory formation; therefore, we explored whether a characterized encoding-associated brain activity, viz. the neuronal activity preceding a stimulus, predicts subsequent memory formation. To address this issue, we assessed the activity of single neurons recorded from the hippocampus in humans, while participants performed word memory tasks. Human hippocampal single-unit activity elicited by a fixation cue preceding words increased the firing rates (FRs) and predicted whether the words are recalled in a subsequent memory test; this indicated that successful memory formation in humans can be predicted by a preceding stimulus activity during encoding. However, the predictive effect of preceding stimulus activity did not occur during retrieval. These findings suggest that the preparative arrangement of brain activity before stimulus encoding improves subsequent memory performance.

P04-03 Does physical activity improve an interaction between motor control and cognitive functions in elderly?

BackgroundNormal aging is associated with progressive functional loss in many cognitive domains, including working memory, attention (van Raalten et al., 2008) and executive functions (Nyberg et al., 2008), responsible for the control of behavioral activities (Miller & Cohen, 2001). Research aim was to evaluate postural control and executive function during dual tasking in physically active and inactive old adults.MethodsParticipants were 42 older healthy human males and females (Mean age: 70.17±6.08 years). Posturography method with a single piezoelectric force plate was used to measure postural sway activity. For the evaluation of cognitive functions, we used Word Memory task with ten audio-recorded words (Lithuanian nouns) in each trial, and the Mathematical Processing Task, where negative or positive one-digit integer-numbers (10 in total) were presented in each trial at 2-second intervals. Physical activity of participants was evaluated according to WHO recommendations.ResultsThe study showed that there was a strong correlation between physically active time spent and balance behavior. The balance of physically active older people was statistically significantly more stable when they performed cognitive tasks than that of those who were physically inactive. Dual-task interferences on postural sway were evident in both Word Memory task and the Mathematical Processing Task conditions. Dual-task effect on Mathematical Processing Task and Word Memory task was not statistically different.DiscussionTaken together, we suggest that physical activity improves proprioceptive control which also improves balance control. In dual tasking, more attention is required in cognitive tasking, so better proprioception allows for better balance control with fewer attention resources. However, it is also evident that participants can reduce sway activity and increase balance stability by increasing attentional control.

Evaluating the dual-task decrement within a simulated environment: Word recall and visual search

Simulated environments have become better able to replicate the real world and can be used for a variety of purposes, such as testing new technology without any of the costs or risks associated with working in the real world. Because of this, it is now possible to gain a better understanding of cognitive demands when working in operational environments, where individuals are often required to multitask. Multitasking often results in performance decrements, where adding more tasks can cause a decrease in performance in each of the individual tasks. However, little research investigated multitasking performance in simulated environments. In the current study we examined how multitasking affects performance in simulated environments. Forty-eight participants performed a dual visual search and word memory task where participants were navigated through a simulated environment while being presented with words. Performance was then compared to single-task performance (visual search and word memory alone). Results showed that participants experienced significant dual-task interference when comparing the dual-tasks to the single-tasks and subjective measures confirmed these findings. These results could provide useful insight for the design of technology in operational environments, but also serve as an evaluation of MRT in simulated environments.

Multi-domain Cognitive Testing: A Biomarker for Classifying the Cognitive Status of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease.

Cognition is impaired in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with varying levels of magnitude. The present study aimed to identify a biomarker for classifying MCI and AD using multi-domain cognitive testing. This was a cross-sectional study. 26 AD patients, 28 MCI patients and 25 controls were recruited. Cognitive assessment of different domains was done using standard questionnaires and cognitive function tests. Cognitive task scores were compared between the groups using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Patients with AD had significantly lower MMSE, CDR, cognitive task scores compared to controls and MCI. Cognitive scores of all tasks for MCI were significantly less than controls, except MMSE and digits forward score. ROC analysis showed that picture memory had 100% sensitivity, 91.6% specificity for AD and 88.4% sensitivity, 92.5% specificity for MCI. Word memory had 92.3% specificity, 100% specificity for AD and 80.7% specificity, 84.6% specificity for MCI. The global cognitive tools are less specific in bringing out the differences especially between MCI and control. Limitation of MMSE, heterogeneity of MCI and differential impairment of various domains of cognition, demands the inclusion of multi-domain cognitive evaluation especially picture and word memory tasks with high sensitivity and specificity into the existing diagnostic protocol. ROC results also suggested the continuum of cognitive impairment and MCI as a transitional stage leaving more scope on the quantum of research required for intervention to halt the structural and functional decline.

Dual-task interference while receiving information on a head mounted display and manual tracking with and without auditory warnings

BackgroundDual-task interference is a concern when users attempt to use head mounted displays (HMD) while performing seated manual control tasks. Auditory warnings of information displayed on the HMD may or may not assist users while multi-tasking. ObjectiveIn this study, we investigated the dual-task interference of words, to be remembered later, presented on a HMD and motor control in a manual tracking task. The word presentations were warned or not warned with auditory signals and the impact of audio warnings were examined. MethodsParticipants were required to perform five tasks: (1) a compensatory tracking task performed alone, (2) a word memory task performed alone, (3) a tracking and word memory task, (4) a word memory task with words preceded by audial signals, and (5) a tracking and word memory task with words preceded by audial signals. In addition, in the dual-tasks, half of the word presentations were paired with directions changes in the tracking task to test for immediate perceptual interference. ResultsThere were significant dual task costs for both mean tracking error and later word recall. Additionally, participants took significantly longer to respond to motion changes paired with word presentations than motion changes not paired with word presentations. However, the impact of auditory warnings on tracking performance was nuanced. ConclusionEven with an in field of view transparent HMD momentary and sustained cognitive dual-task interference remains. Reaction times are affected most in the worst case scenario, when task critical events occur at the same time as a text message. ApplicationThe use of HMDs in time critical manual control tasks (such as operating machinery) should be limited. The use of audial warnings to alert operators to information displayed on an HMD requires further research; it may disrupt appropriate or natural task ordering.

Mozart Sharpens and Mahler Degrades the Word Memory Trace

We investigated the impact of the Mozart effect on word memory when music was heard in the delay rather than using music to induce mood or as background music. A sample of N = 84 participants was randomly assigned to one of three groups listening to a one-minute sound clip of Mozart (Kleine Nachtmusik) or Mahler (Adagietto) during the delay, with a third control group waiting in silence for the word memory test. Words were positive, negative or neutral and matched for word length and frequency. The word memory task was repeated three times (enforced rehearsal). Word memory was best after Mozart and worst after Mahler, with memory performance in the control condition in between. The Mozart effect occurred for word memory across positive, negative and neutral words. The Mozart effect also occurred independently of ethnicity, or the level of happiness in the participants. We conclude that word memory traces sharpened after Mozart’s music because the sonogram and spectrograms showed that this music had self-contained and bounded phrases like in psycholinguistic structures of words and sentences. In contrast, word memory traces may have washed out and degraded during the delay because Mahler’s music was flowing like a foreign language speech stream where a native speaker would not be able to parse words.

Computational analysis of cortical EEG biosignals and neural dynamics underlying an integrated mind-body relaxation technique

Abstract Recent advances in brain computer interfaces (BCI) have brought paradigm shifts in pre-clinical neuroscience research relating various levels of information abstraction in brain. Recent years have seen several neuro electrophysiology studies on traditional and cultural stress reduction methods especially, related to short duration practices that can alleviate workplace stress. With stress reduction using sustainable methods in context, this paper reports on the analysis of biosignals for understanding the neural dynamics in human subjects practicing traditional relaxation techniques using electroencephalography (EEG) technique. The study was conducted among 20 healthy volunteering undergraduate students. Students were randomized as experimental group (N=10), provided yoga and meditation training for 8 weeks, and control group (N=10) with no experience on yoga or meditation. As a reference for analyzing the effect of relaxation techniques in daily life activities, three cognitive tasks, namely, word memory task, psychomotor vigilance task, and steady hand-game task were performed by participants as a pre-EEG recording task. EEG recordings were taken for 160 seconds in eyes-opened relaxed state in a dimly-lit sound-proof environment. In experimental group, after practicing integrated yoga-meditation technique for 8 weeks, a post EEG recording was taken. Relating several functional areas of the brain, cortical activation of the α, β, γ and θ rhythms in the frontal, temporal and parietal lobes of the brain with significant power spectral density variations in experiment group indicating diversity in brain patterns among week-1 to week-8 practitioners was observed. This short-term study indicates the plausibility of integrated yoga-meditation as sustainable relaxation techniques that can influence in improving the coordination in daily life tasks.

How do word frequency and memory task influence directed forgetting: An ERP study

In daily life, it is important either to remember sometimes or to intentionally forget on other occasions. The issue of forgetting following instructions (i.e. directed forgetting, DF) has been broadly studied; however, whether the frequency of contents would matter in DF remains unclear, and the understanding of its neural mechanism in both circumstances of item memory and source memory requires improvement in depth. For these purposes, the current study manipulated word frequency and memory task to investigate relevant behavioral features and neural activities of DF. Adopting event-related potential (ERP) technique, this study applied two-character Chinese words of two types of word frequency (high vs low) in the item-method DF paradigm. During encoding, we found that the increased frontal positivity, an index of active inhibition, was regulated by both word frequency and memory task, while the enhanced parietal positivity reflecting selective rehearsal didn't fluctuate across conditions. In the course of test, three ERP old/new effects were identified: the familiarity-based FN400 and the recollection-driven LPC were both modulated by word frequency and memory task, but the right frontal old/new effect was significant solely in source memory; also, these effects provided compelling evidence for the influences of word frequency and memory task on DF. Our results reinforce the differentiation between absolute familiarity and relative familiarity in memory, reveal their sensitivity to DF, and also support the dual-process interpretation. Implications are made to examine more influential factors for future research.

Clinical manifestations of burnout

To study clinical manifestations of burnout. The study included 131 patients (38 men and 93 women) aged from 25 to 45 years. The control group consisted of 106 age-matched healthy people. Evaluation of the manifestations of burnout was carried out using the Boyko's questionnaire. For the objectification of the severity of asthenic disorders, the Subjective Scale of Asthenia (MFI-20) consisting of five subscales was used. Trait and state anxiety was assessed by Spilberger-Khanin test. The 10 word memory task was used to assess auditory memory. The authors singled out several dominant syndromes in the structure of burnout: asthenic, psychovegetative, cephalic, anxious/phobic and mild cognitive impairment syndrome. Asthenic syndrome occurred most frequently in patients with burnout.

Cognitive Fatigue in Memory Task Error of Middle School Students based on Brain Evoked Potential

In order to study the cognitive fatigue behavior in false memory, this paper mainly studies related behavior data and brain evoked potential characteristics in cognitive fatigue. Based on the middle school students' fatigue degree in the recognition of false word memory and the characteristics of Brain evoked potential characteristics of recognition judgment, the study uses the research mode of “learning-recognition” to analyze and compare the behavioral features and Brain evoked potential characteristics of different cognitive fatigue in false word memory tasks. The study finds that in the false word memory tasks, the correct rate of correct memory is significantly higher than the correct rate of correct negation, and the P200 amplitude of correct negation is significantly lower than that of missing report while the LPC amplitude induced by the frontal area of the brain in the high cognitive fatigue group is more positive. The latency of N100 and P200 in the high cognitive fatigue group is significantly shorter than that of non-cognitive fatigue and the N100 amplitude in the high cognitive fatigue group is significantly higher than that of the non-cognitive fatigue group in most cases. The experiments show that the use of cognitive fatigue as a measure of individual cognitive ability is very effective.

S126. A study on the electrophysiological mechanism of human hippocampus in propofol-induced amnesia: An ECoG study

Introduction General anesthesia is known to be a drug-induces, reversible condition that includes specific behavioral and physiological traits, such as unconsciousness, amnesia, analgesia, and akinesia (Brown et al., 2010). Among those characteristic features, the underlying mechanisms of propofol-induces amnesia still remains unknown. Propofol is a commonly used anesthetic drug and is known to induce anesthetic state through enhancing inhibition at GABAA receptors. The hippocampal formation occupies a central position for generation of memory (Perouansky and Pearce, 2011). From an electrophysiological perspective, hippocampal formation is a central theta rhythm generator controlled by GABAergic hippocampal interneurons (Buzsaki, 2006). Taken together, we hypothesized that enhancement of inhibition at GABAA receptors induced by propofol influences on theta oscillations of hippocampal formation which leads to propofol-induced amnesia. To address this hypothesis, we investigated an electrocorticography (ECoG) signals obtained from mesial temporal lobe epilepsy patients (MTLE) with hippocampal sclerosis (HS). Methods We recruited five MTLE with HS. Because we are especially interested in the hippocampal theta oscillations, we only included the patients who had depth-electrodes over hippocampal formation. Two patients had the right HS and 3 patients had the left HS. ECoG signals were recorded during 3 different awaked states such as, resting-state, sleep state and word memory task. In addition, ECoG were recorded under general anesthesia with 3 different propofol concentrations of 5 μ g/ml, 4 μ g/ml and 3 μ g/ml. ECoG signals were epoched for 2 min. Bad channel removal, drift removal, re-referencing (common average reference), and low-pass filter of 100 Hz were applied. We evaluated relative theta power, theta/beta ratio, and cross-frequency phase-amplitude coupling analysis between theta (4–7 Hz) and beta (13–30 Hz) frequency band. Modulation index representing theta phase and beta amplitude coupling was derived. Results Hippocampal formation consistently showed the reduced relative theta power during propofol-induced state compared with those in the resting-state, sleep and memory task conditions. The theta/beta ratios of hippocampal formation during propofol-induced state and during memory task showed similar levels between them, but, lower than those during resting-state and sleep conditions. It is notable that the modulation index of theta phase and beta amplitude at hippocampal formation was higher during propofol-induced state than other conditions. Conclusion Our results suggest that this specific theta-beta coupling occurred at hippocampal formation during propofol-induced state could be a possible electrophysiological mechanism for explaining propofol-induced amnesia. Acknowledgements This study was funded by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (Grant No. 2015R1D1A1A02061486 ).

Classification of task scores of word memory task using EEG, fNIRS, and pupil diameter signals

Classification of task scores of word memory task using EEG, fNIRS, and pupil diameter signals

Age-dependent changes in task-based modular organization of the human brain

As humans age, cognition and behavior change significantly, along with associated brain function and organization. Aging has been shown to decrease variability in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signals, and to affect the modular organization of human brain function. In this work, we use complex network analysis to investigate the dynamic community structure of large-scale brain function, asking how evolving communities interact with known brain systems, and how the dynamics of communities and brain systems are affected by age. We analyze dynamic networks derived from fMRI scans of 104 human subjects performing a word memory task, and determine the time-evolving modular structure of these networks by maximizing the multislice modularity, thereby identifying distinct communities, or sets of brain regions with strong intra-set functional coherence. To understand how community structure changes over time, we examine the number of communities as well as the flexibility, or the likelihood that brain regions will switch between communities. We find a significant positive correlation between age and both these measures: younger subjects tend to have less fragmented and more coherent communities, and their brain regions tend to change communities less often during the memory task. We characterize the relationship of community structure to known brain systems by the recruitment coefficient, or the probability of a brain region being grouped in the same community as other regions in the same system. We find that regions associated with cingulo-opercular, somatosensory, ventral attention, and subcortical circuits have a significantly higher recruitment coefficient in younger subjects. This indicates that the within-system functional coherence of these specific systems during the memory task declines with age. Such a correspondence does not exist for other systems (e.g. visual and default mode), whose recruitment coefficients remain relatively uniform across ages. These results confirm that the dynamics of functional community structure vary with age, and demonstrate methods for investigating how aging differentially impacts the functional organization of different brain systems.

Effects of a 12-Week Municipal Dementia Prevention Program on Cognitive/Motor Functions among the Community-Dwelling Elderly.

In a rapidly aging society, like that in Japan, it is imperative to establish strategies to prevent dementia. We investigated the effects of a dementia prevention program, conducted as part of a municipality’s long-term care prevention project, on cognitive/motor functions among the community-dwelling elderly. Participants underwent a physical activity program involving muscle training and aerobic exercise, once a week, for 12 weeks. Cognitive and motor tests were performed twice, before and after the intervention. Thirty participants, aged 75.7 ± 6.7 years, were included in the analysis. Scores from the immediate word memory task were significantly increased (23.0 ± 7.8 vs. 25.7 ± 6.5) after the program. Scores from the Yamaguchi Kanji Symbol Substitution Test were also significantly increased (36.2 ± 13.1 vs. 40.1 ± 14.1). Time spent during the 5 m maximum walking speed test was significantly shorter after the program (3.4 ± 0.8 vs. 3.0 ± 0.7 s), whereas the daily walking distance increased significantly (1.9 ± 1.5 vs. 3.1 ± 2.2 km). Participants showed improvement in some aspects of their cognitive/motor function and walking distance per day. Therefore, this program can be regarded as a practical community-based healthcare activity.

The effects of familiarity and language of background music on working memory and language tasks in Singapore

The effect of background music on learning and academic performance is highly relevant to the everyday lives of millions of students worldwide. To investigate this, we recruited 165 undergraduate students (71 males and 94 females, mean age of 21.87 years) to complete arithmetic, reading comprehension, and word memory tasks while exposed to familiar or unfamiliar, foreign or first language music, and no music. With the task scores as dependent variables, a significant main effect was observed for music familiarity but not for language. Further analysis showed that only the word memory task was affected by music with significantly higher scores in the familiar than unfamiliar music conditions. Despite a slight negative trend, no significant effect was found in the interaction between music and language conditions. Depending on the task, familiarity but not language of music affected learning and task performance when compared to the no music condition.

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

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

Brain activation during neurocognitive testing using functional near-infrared spectroscopy in patients following concussion compared to healthy controls

There is no accepted clinical imaging modality for concussion, and current imaging modalities including fMRI, DTI, and PET are expensive and inaccessible to most clinics/patients. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a non-invasive, portable, and low-cost imaging modality that can measure brain activity. The purpose of this study was to compare brain activity as measured by fNIRS in concussed and age-matched controls during the performance of cognitive tasks from a computerized neurocognitive test battery. Participants included nine currently symptomatic patients aged 18-45years with a recent (15-45days) sport-related concussion and five age-matched healthy controls. The participants completed a computerized neurocognitive test battery while wearing the fNIRS unit. Our results demonstrated reduced brain activation in the concussed subject group during word memory, (spatial) design memory, digit-symbol substitution (symbol match), and working memory (X's and O's) tasks. Behavioral performance (percent-correct and reaction time respectively) was lower for concussed participants on the word memory, design memory, and symbol match tasks than controls. The results of this preliminary study suggest that fNIRS could be a useful, portable assessment tool to assess reduced brain activation and augment current approaches to assessment and management of patients following concussion.

The impact of fear words in a secondary task on complex motor performance: a dual-task climbing study

The relationship between emotion and motor action has been previously examined using relatively simple motor tasks. However, there has been limited research using more complex physical tasks. One such complex physical task is high-angle climbing. In this experiment, we examined the performance of climbers in a dual climbing and word memory task, in which they were asked to recall fear-related or neutral words after the climb, as well as single-task performance. Climbing distance, efficiency, and word recall all significantly decreased in the dual-task conditions, relative to the single tasks. Climbing distance and efficiency also decreased in the fear word dual task, relative to the neutral word memory dual task. Subjective measures of performance indicated that climbers were aware of impaired climbing performance in the dual tasks, relative to the climbing-only condition, but that they were not aware of the increased impairment caused by the fear words. These findings have important theoretical and practical implications, particularly in occupational settings requiring climbing-like operations, such as fire-fighting and search and rescue.