An investigation into prospective memory in children with developmental dyslexia.

PubMed

Khan, Azizuddin

2014-01-01

Developmental dyslexia hinders reading and writing acquisition of around 5-10% of the children all over the world. However, little is known about role of prospective memory among dyslexics. Prospective memory is realization of delayed intention. Realization of delayed intention requires self initiated process. The present study explored the role of memory (prospective and retrospective memory), meta-memory and attention among dyslexic's children. One hundred and fifteen children (51 dyslexics and 64 normal controls) participated in the study. Prospective and retrospective memory questionnaire, everyday attention questionnaire and meta-memory were administered on children. Analysis of variance was used to analyses the data. All the main effects were significant. Some interactions were also found to be significant. Results suggest that dyslexic's performance on memory (prospective and retrospective memory) was worse than normal control. Meta-memory influences both dyslexics and normal control on prospective and retrospective memory. However, meta-memory affected dyslexics much more than normal control group. Similarly, significant differential effects were observed for simple, difficult and mixed attentional condition among between dyslexics and normal control. Dyslexic's performance was deteriorated as compared to normal control group. The findings of the study are discussed in the light of the existing literature.

An investigation into prospective memory in children with developmental dyslexia

PubMed Central

Khan, Azizuddin

2014-01-01

Developmental dyslexia hinders reading and writing acquisition of around 5–10% of the children all over the world. However, little is known about role of prospective memory among dyslexics. Prospective memory is realization of delayed intention. Realization of delayed intention requires self initiated process. The present study explored the role of memory (prospective and retrospective memory), meta-memory and attention among dyslexic's children. One hundred and fifteen children (51 dyslexics and 64 normal controls) participated in the study. Prospective and retrospective memory questionnaire, everyday attention questionnaire and meta-memory were administered on children. Analysis of variance was used to analyses the data. All the main effects were significant. Some interactions were also found to be significant. Results suggest that dyslexic's performance on memory (prospective and retrospective memory) was worse than normal control. Meta-memory influences both dyslexics and normal control on prospective and retrospective memory. However, meta-memory affected dyslexics much more than normal control group. Similarly, significant differential effects were observed for simple, difficult and mixed attentional condition among between dyslexics and normal control. Dyslexic's performance was deteriorated as compared to normal control group. The findings of the study are discussed in the light of the existing literature. PMID:25538638

Cognitive control, attention, and the other race effect in memory.

PubMed

Brown, Thackery I; Uncapher, Melina R; Chow, Tiffany E; Eberhardt, Jennifer L; Wagner, Anthony D

2017-01-01

People are better at remembering faces from their own race than other races-a phenomenon with significant societal implications. This Other Race Effect (ORE) in memory could arise from different attentional allocation to, and cognitive control over, same- and other-race faces during encoding. Deeper or more differentiated processing of same-race faces could yield more robust representations of same- vs. other-race faces that could support better recognition memory. Conversely, to the extent that other-race faces may be characterized by lower perceptual expertise, attention and cognitive control may be more important for successful encoding of robust, distinct representations of these stimuli. We tested a mechanistic model in which successful encoding of same- and other-race faces, indexed by subsequent memory performance, is differentially predicted by (a) engagement of frontoparietal networks subserving top-down attention and cognitive control, and (b) interactions between frontoparietal networks and fusiform cortex face processing. European American (EA) and African American (AA) participants underwent fMRI while intentionally encoding EA and AA faces, and ~24 hrs later performed an "old/new" recognition memory task. Univariate analyses revealed greater engagement of frontoparietal top-down attention and cognitive control networks during encoding for same- vs. other-race faces, stemming particularly from a failure to engage the cognitive control network during processing of other-race faces that were subsequently forgotten. Psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analyses further revealed that OREs were characterized by greater functional interaction between medial intraparietal sulcus, a component of the top-down attention network, and fusiform cortex during same- than other-race face encoding. Together, these results suggest that group-based face memory biases at least partially stem from differential allocation of cognitive control and top-down attention during encoding, such that same-race memory benefits from elevated top-down attentional engagement with face processing regions; conversely, reduced recruitment of cognitive control circuitry appears more predictive of memory failure when encoding out-group faces.

Cognitive control, attention, and the other race effect in memory

PubMed Central

Uncapher, Melina R.; Chow, Tiffany E.; Eberhardt, Jennifer L.; Wagner, Anthony D.

2017-01-01

People are better at remembering faces from their own race than other races–a phenomenon with significant societal implications. This Other Race Effect (ORE) in memory could arise from different attentional allocation to, and cognitive control over, same- and other-race faces during encoding. Deeper or more differentiated processing of same-race faces could yield more robust representations of same- vs. other-race faces that could support better recognition memory. Conversely, to the extent that other-race faces may be characterized by lower perceptual expertise, attention and cognitive control may be more important for successful encoding of robust, distinct representations of these stimuli. We tested a mechanistic model in which successful encoding of same- and other-race faces, indexed by subsequent memory performance, is differentially predicted by (a) engagement of frontoparietal networks subserving top-down attention and cognitive control, and (b) interactions between frontoparietal networks and fusiform cortex face processing. European American (EA) and African American (AA) participants underwent fMRI while intentionally encoding EA and AA faces, and ~24 hrs later performed an “old/new” recognition memory task. Univariate analyses revealed greater engagement of frontoparietal top-down attention and cognitive control networks during encoding for same- vs. other-race faces, stemming particularly from a failure to engage the cognitive control network during processing of other-race faces that were subsequently forgotten. Psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analyses further revealed that OREs were characterized by greater functional interaction between medial intraparietal sulcus, a component of the top-down attention network, and fusiform cortex during same- than other-race face encoding. Together, these results suggest that group-based face memory biases at least partially stem from differential allocation of cognitive control and top-down attention during encoding, such that same-race memory benefits from elevated top-down attentional engagement with face processing regions; conversely, reduced recruitment of cognitive control circuitry appears more predictive of memory failure when encoding out-group faces. PMID:28282414

Impaired Attentional Disengagement from Stimuli Matching the Contents of Working Memory in Social Anxiety

PubMed Central

Moriya, Jun; Sugiura, Yoshinori

2012-01-01

Although many cognitive models in anxiety propose that an impaired top-down control enhances the processing of task-irrelevant stimuli, few studies have paid attention to task-irrelevant stimuli under a cognitive load task. In the present study, we investigated the effects of the working memory load on attention to task-irrelevant stimuli in trait social anxiety. The results showed that as trait social anxiety increased, participants were unable to disengage from task-irrelevant stimuli identical to the memory cue under low and high working memory loads. Impaired attentional disengagement was positively correlated with trait social anxiety. This impaired attentional disengagement was related to trait social anxiety, but not state anxiety. Our findings suggest that socially anxious people have difficulty in disengaging attention from a task-irrelevant memory cue owing to an impaired top-down control under a working memory load. PMID:23071765

Symbiosis of executive and selective attention in working memory

PubMed Central

Vandierendonck, André

2014-01-01

The notion of working memory (WM) was introduced to account for the usage of short-term memory resources by other cognitive tasks such as reasoning, mental arithmetic, language comprehension, and many others. This collaboration between memory and other cognitive tasks can only be achieved by a dedicated WM system that controls task coordination. To that end, WM models include executive control. Nevertheless, other attention control systems may be involved in coordination of memory and cognitive tasks calling on memory resources. The present paper briefly reviews the evidence concerning the role of selective attention in WM activities. A model is proposed in which selective attention control is directly linked to the executive control part of the WM system. The model assumes that apart from storage of declarative information, the system also includes an executive WM module that represents the current task set. Control processes are automatically triggered when particular conditions in these modules are met. As each task set represents the parameter settings and the actions needed to achieve the task goal, it will depend on the specific settings and actions whether selective attention control will have to be shared among the active tasks. Only when such sharing is required, task performance will be affected by the capacity limits of the control system involved. PMID:25152723

Symbiosis of executive and selective attention in working memory.

PubMed

Vandierendonck, André

2014-01-01

The notion of working memory (WM) was introduced to account for the usage of short-term memory resources by other cognitive tasks such as reasoning, mental arithmetic, language comprehension, and many others. This collaboration between memory and other cognitive tasks can only be achieved by a dedicated WM system that controls task coordination. To that end, WM models include executive control. Nevertheless, other attention control systems may be involved in coordination of memory and cognitive tasks calling on memory resources. The present paper briefly reviews the evidence concerning the role of selective attention in WM activities. A model is proposed in which selective attention control is directly linked to the executive control part of the WM system. The model assumes that apart from storage of declarative information, the system also includes an executive WM module that represents the current task set. Control processes are automatically triggered when particular conditions in these modules are met. As each task set represents the parameter settings and the actions needed to achieve the task goal, it will depend on the specific settings and actions whether selective attention control will have to be shared among the active tasks. Only when such sharing is required, task performance will be affected by the capacity limits of the control system involved.

Thalamic control of human attention driven by memory and learning.

PubMed

de Bourbon-Teles, José; Bentley, Paul; Koshino, Saori; Shah, Kushal; Dutta, Agneish; Malhotra, Paresh; Egner, Tobias; Husain, Masud; Soto, David

2014-05-05

The role of the thalamus in high-level cognition-attention, working memory (WM), rule-based learning, and decision making-remains poorly understood, especially in comparison to that of cortical frontoparietal networks [1-3]. Studies of visual thalamus have revealed important roles for pulvinar and lateral geniculate nucleus in visuospatial perception and attention [4-10] and for mediodorsal thalamus in oculomotor control [11]. Ventrolateral thalamus contains subdivisions devoted to action control as part of a circuit involving the basal ganglia [12, 13] and motor, premotor, and prefrontal cortices [14], whereas anterior thalamus forms a memory network in connection with the hippocampus [15]. This connectivity profile suggests that ventrolateral and anterior thalamus may represent a nexus between mnemonic and control functions, such as action or attentional selection. Here, we characterize the role of thalamus in the interplay between memory and visual attention. We show that ventrolateral lesions impair the influence of WM representations on attentional deployment. A subsequent fMRI study in healthy volunteers demonstrates involvement of ventrolateral and, notably, anterior thalamus in biasing attention through WM contents. To further characterize the memory types used by the thalamus to bias attention, we performed a second fMRI study that involved learning of stimulus-stimulus associations and their retrieval from long-term memory to optimize attention in search. Responses in ventrolateral and anterior thalamic nuclei tracked learning of the predictiveness of these abstract associations and their use in directing attention. These findings demonstrate a key role for human thalamus in higher-level cognition, notably, in mnemonic biasing of attention. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

ERP Correlates of Encoding Success and Encoding Selectivity in Attention Switching

PubMed Central

Yeung, Nick

2016-01-01

Long-term memory encoding depends critically on effective processing of incoming information. The degree to which participants engage in effective encoding can be indexed in electroencephalographic (EEG) data by studying event-related potential (ERP) subsequent memory effects. The current study investigated ERP correlates of memory success operationalised with two different measures—memory selectivity and global memory—to assess whether previously observed ERP subsequent memory effects reflect focused encoding of task-relevant information (memory selectivity), general encoding success (global memory), or both. Building on previous work, the present study combined an attention switching paradigm—in which participants were presented with compound object-word stimuli and switched between attending to the object or the word across trials—with a later recognition memory test for those stimuli, while recording their EEG. Our results provided clear evidence that subsequent memory effects resulted from selective attentional focusing and effective top-down control (memory selectivity) in contrast to more general encoding success effects (global memory). Further analyses addressed the question of whether successful encoding depended on similar control mechanisms to those involved in attention switching. Interestingly, differences in the ERP correlates of attention switching and successful encoding, particularly during the poststimulus period, indicated that variability in encoding success occurred independently of prestimulus demands for top-down cognitive control. These results suggest that while effects of selective attention and selective encoding co-occur behaviourally their ERP correlates are at least partly dissociable. PMID:27907075

Mindfulness Enhances Episodic Memory Performance: Evidence from a Multimethod Investigation

PubMed Central

Goodman, Robert J.; Ryan, Richard M.; Anālayo, Bhikkhu

2016-01-01

Training in mindfulness, classically described as a receptive attentiveness to present events and experiences, has been shown to improve attention and working memory. Both are key to long-term memory formation, and the present three-study series used multiple methods to examine whether mindfulness would enhance episodic memory, a key form of long-term memory. In Study 1 (N = 143), a self-reported state of mindful attention predicted better recognition performance in the Remember-Know (R-K) paradigm. In Study 2 (N = 93), very brief training in a focused attention form of mindfulness also produced better recognition memory performance on the R-K task relative to a randomized, well-matched active control condition. Study 3 (N = 57) extended these findings by showing that relative to randomized active and inactive control conditions the effect of very brief mindfulness training generalized to free-recall memory performance. This study also found evidence for mediation of the mindfulness training—episodic memory relation by intrinsic motivation. These findings indicate that mindful attention can beneficially impact motivation and episodic memory, with potential implications for educational and occupational performance. PMID:27115491

Mindfulness Enhances Episodic Memory Performance: Evidence from a Multimethod Investigation.

PubMed

Brown, Kirk Warren; Goodman, Robert J; Ryan, Richard M; Anālayo, Bhikkhu

2016-01-01

Training in mindfulness, classically described as a receptive attentiveness to present events and experiences, has been shown to improve attention and working memory. Both are key to long-term memory formation, and the present three-study series used multiple methods to examine whether mindfulness would enhance episodic memory, a key form of long-term memory. In Study 1 (N = 143), a self-reported state of mindful attention predicted better recognition performance in the Remember-Know (R-K) paradigm. In Study 2 (N = 93), very brief training in a focused attention form of mindfulness also produced better recognition memory performance on the R-K task relative to a randomized, well-matched active control condition. Study 3 (N = 57) extended these findings by showing that relative to randomized active and inactive control conditions the effect of very brief mindfulness training generalized to free-recall memory performance. This study also found evidence for mediation of the mindfulness training-episodic memory relation by intrinsic motivation. These findings indicate that mindful attention can beneficially impact motivation and episodic memory, with potential implications for educational and occupational performance.

Long-term effects of frequent cannabis use on working memory and attention: an fMRI study.

PubMed

Jager, Gerry; Kahn, Rene S; Van Den Brink, Wim; Van Ree, Jan M; Ramsey, Nick F

2006-04-01

Excessive use of cannabis may have long-term effects on cognitive abilities. Mild impairments have been found in several cognitive domains, particularly in memory and attention. It is not clear, however, whether these effects also occur with moderate, recreational use of cannabis. Furthermore, little is known about underlying brain correlates. The aim of this study is to assess brain function in frequent but relatively moderate cannabis users in the domains of working memory and selective attention. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to examine verbal working memory and visuo-auditory selective attention in ten frequent cannabis users (after 1 week of abstinence) and ten non-using healthy controls. Groups were similar in age, gender and estimated IQ. Cannabis users and controls performed equally well during the working memory task and the selective attention task. Furthermore, cannabis users did not differ from controls in terms of overall patterns of brain activity in the regions involved in these cognitive functions. However, for working memory, a more specific region-of-interest analysis showed that, in comparison to the controls, cannabis users displayed a significant alteration in brain activity in the left superior parietal cortex. No evidence was found for long-term deficits in working memory and selective attention in frequent cannabis users after 1 week of abstinence. Nonetheless, frequent cannabis use may affect brain function, as indicated by altered neurophysiological dynamics in the left superior parietal cortex during working memory processing.

A simple spatial working memory and attention test on paired symbols shows developmental deficits in schizophrenia patients.

PubMed

Song, Wei; Zhang, Kai; Sun, Jinhua; Ma, Lina; Jesse, Forrest Fabian; Teng, Xiaochun; Zhou, Ying; Bao, Hechen; Chen, Shiqing; Wang, Shuai; Yang, Beimeng; Chu, Xixia; Ding, Wenhua; Du, Yasong; Cheng, Zaohuo; Wu, Bin; Chen, Shanguang; He, Guang; He, Lin; Chen, Xiaoping; Li, Weidong

2013-01-01

People with neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia often display deficits in spatial working memory and attention. Evaluating working memory and attention in schizophrenia patients is usually based on traditional tasks and the interviewer's judgment. We developed a simple Spatial Working Memory and Attention Test on Paired Symbols (SWAPS). It takes only several minutes to complete, comprising 101 trials for each subject. In this study, we tested 72 schizophrenia patients and 188 healthy volunteers in China. In a healthy control group with ages ranging from 12 to 60, the efficiency score (accuracy divided by reaction time) reached a peak in the 20-27 age range and then declined with increasing age. Importantly, schizophrenia patients failed to display this developmental trend in the same age range and adults had significant deficits compared to the control group. Our data suggests that this simple Spatial Working Memory and Attention Test on Paired Symbols can be a useful tool for studies of spatial working memory and attention in neuropsychiatric disorders.

Chinese Calligraphy Writing for Augmenting Attentional Control and Working Memory of Older Adults at Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Chan, Sam C C; Chan, Chetwyn C H; Derbie, Abiot Y; Hui, Irene; Tan, Davynn G H; Pang, Marco Y C; Lau, Stephen C L; Fong, Kenneth N K

2017-01-01

Nonpharmacological intervention for individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) needs further investigation. Test efficacy of an eight-week Chinese calligraphy writing training course in improving attentional control and working memory. Ninety-nine participants with MCI were randomized into the eight-week calligraphy writing (n = 48) or control (tablet computer) training (n = 51). Outcomes of the interventions were attentional control, working memory, visual scan and processing speed. They were measured at baseline, post-training, and six-month follow-up. Calligraphy writing, when compared with control, significantly improved working memory as reflected from DST-Backward sequence (p = 0.009) and span scores (p = 0.002), and divided attention as reflected from CTT2 (p < 0.001), and at the post-training. The unique improvement in working memory (span: p < 0.001; sequence: p = 0.008) of the intervention group was also found at follow-up when comparing with those at baseline. Changes in the other outcome measures were not statistically significant. The findings provide support that Chinese calligraphy writing training for eight weeks using a cognitive approach would improve working memory and to a lesser extent attentional control functions of patients with early MCI. They also demonstrate the usefulness of using mind-and-body practice for improving specific cognitive functions.

Attention, working memory, and phenomenal experience of WM content: memory levels determined by different types of top-down modulation.

PubMed

Jacob, Jane; Jacobs, Christianne; Silvanto, Juha

2015-01-01

What is the role of top-down attentional modulation in consciously accessing working memory (WM) content? In influential WM models, information can exist in different states, determined by allocation of attention; placing the original memory representation in the center of focused attention gives rise to conscious access. Here we discuss various lines of evidence indicating that such attentional modulation is not sufficient for memory content to be phenomenally experienced. We propose that, in addition to attentional modulation of the memory representation, another type of top-down modulation is required: suppression of all incoming visual information, via inhibition of early visual cortex. In this view, there are three distinct memory levels, as a function of the top-down control associated with them: (1) Nonattended, nonconscious associated with no attentional modulation; (2) attended, phenomenally nonconscious memory, associated with attentional enhancement of the actual memory trace; (3) attended, phenomenally conscious memory content, associated with enhancement of the memory trace and top-down suppression of all incoming visual input.

Working memory capacity as controlled attention in tactical decision making.

PubMed

Furley, Philip A; Memmert, Daniel

2012-06-01

The controlled attention theory of working memory capacity (WMC, Engle 2002) suggests that WMC represents a domain free limitation in the ability to control attention and is predictive of an individual's capability of staying focused, avoiding distraction and impulsive errors. In the present paper we test the predictive power of WMC in computer-based sport decision-making tasks. Experiment 1 demonstrated that high-WMC athletes were better able at focusing their attention on tactical decision making while blocking out irrelevant auditory distraction. Experiment 2 showed that high-WMC athletes were more successful at adapting their tactical decision making according to the situation instead of relying on prepotent inappropriate decisions. The present results provide additional but also unique support for the controlled attention theory of WMC by demonstrating that WMC is predictive of controlling attention in complex settings among different modalities and highlight the importance of working memory in tactical decision making.

Attention Control, Memory Updating, and Emotion Regulation Temporarily Reduce the Capacity for Executive Control

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmeichel, Brandon J.

2007-01-01

This research tested the hypothesis that initial efforts at executive control temporarily undermine subsequent efforts at executive control. Four experiments revealed that controlling the focus of visual attention (Experiment 1), inhibiting predominant writing tendencies (Experiment 2), taking a working memory test (Experiment 3), or exaggerating…

Are attentional bias and memory bias for negative words causally related?

PubMed

Blaut, Agata; Paulewicz, Borysław; Szastok, Marta; Prochwicz, Katarzyna; Koster, Ernst

2013-09-01

In cognitive theories of depression, processing biases are assumed to be partly responsible for the onset and maintenance of mood disorders. Despite a wealth of studies examining the relation between depression and individual biases (at the level of attention, interpretation, and memory), little is known about relationships between different biases. The purpose of the present study was to assess if attentional bias is causally related to memory bias. 71 participants were randomly assigned to a control (n = 37) or attentional training group (n = 34). The attentional manipulation was followed by an explicit, intentional memory task during which novel neutral, negative, and positive words were presented. It was found that individuals with elevated depression score trained to orient away from negative words did not display a memory bias for negative words (adjectives) whereas similar individuals displayed this memory bias in the control condition. Generalization of the findings is limited because of the short study time frame and specific nature of the memory task. These results indicate that altering attentional bias can influence elaborative processing of emotional material and that this bias could be one of the causes of mood congruent memory in depression. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Measuring Memory and Attention to Preview in Motion.

PubMed

Jagacinski, Richard J; Hammond, Gordon M; Rizzi, Emanuele

2017-08-01

Objective Use perceptual-motor responses to perturbations to reveal the spatio-temporal detail of memory for the recent past and attention to preview when participants track a winding roadway. Background Memory of the recently passed roadway can be inferred from feedback control models of the participants' manual movement patterns. Similarly, attention to preview of the upcoming roadway can be inferred from feedforward control models of manual movement patterns. Method Perturbation techniques were used to measure these memory and attention functions. Results In a laboratory tracking task, the bandwidth of lateral roadway deviations was found to primarily influence memory for the past roadway rather than attention to preview. A secondary auditory/verbal/vocal memory task resulted in higher velocity error and acceleration error in the tracking task but did not affect attention to preview. Attention to preview was affected by the frequency pattern of sinusoidal perturbations of the roadway. Conclusion Perturbation techniques permit measurement of the spatio-temporal span of memory and attention to preview that affect tracking a winding roadway. They also provide new ways to explore goal-directed forgetting and spatially distributed attention in the context of movement. More generally, these techniques provide sensitive measures of individual differences in cognitive aspects of action. Application Models of driving behavior and assessment of driving skill may benefit from more detailed spatio-temporal measurement of attention to preview.

Effects of reducing attentional resources on implicit and explicit memory after severe traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Watt, S; Shores, E A; Kinoshita, S

1999-07-01

Implicit and explicit memory were examined in individuals with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) under conditions of full and divided attention. Participants included 12 individuals with severe TBI and 12 matched controls. In Experiment 1, participants carried out an implicit test of word-stem completion and an explicit test of cued recall. Results demonstrated that TBI participants exhibited impaired explicit memory but preserved implicit memory. In Experiment 2, a significant reduction in the explicit memory performance of both TBI and control participants, as well as a significant decrease in the implicit memory performance of TBI participants, was achieved by reducing attentional resources at encoding. These results indicated that performance on an implicit task of word-stem completion may require the availability of additional attentional resources that are not preserved after severe TBI.

Prospective Memory across Adolescence: The Effects of Age and Cue Focality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Lijuan; Altgassen, Mareike; Liu, Wei; Xiong, Weirui; Akgun, Canan; Kliegel, Matthias

2011-01-01

The present study examined the role of controlled attention in age differences in event-based prospective memory performance across adolescence. The researchers tested whether presenting the prospective memory cue in or out of focal awareness of the ongoing task (resulting in low versus high demands for controlled attention, respectively) might…

Cognitive consequences of cannabis use: comparison with abuse of stimulants and heroin with regard to attention, memory and executive functions.

PubMed

Lundqvist, Thomas

2005-06-01

This review aims to compare cognitive consequence between cannabis, and stimulants and heroin with regards to attention, memory and executive functions. The available studies using brain imaging techniques and neuropsychological tests show that acutely, all drugs create a disharmony in the neuropsychological network, causing a decrease of activity in areas responsible for short-term memory and attention, with the possible exception of heroin. Cannabis induces loss of internal control and cognitive impairment, especially of attention and memory, for the duration of intoxication. Heavy cannabis use is associated with reduced function of the attentional/executive system, as exhibited by decreased mental flexibility, increased perserveration, and reduced learning, to shift and/or sustain attention. Recent investigations on amphetamine/methamphetamine have documented deficits in learning, delayed recall, processing speed, and working memory. MDMA users exhibit difficulties in coding information into long-term memory, display impaired verbal learning, are more easily distracted, and are less efficient at focusing attention on complex tasks. The degree of executive impairment increases with the severity of use, and the impairments are relatively lasting over time. Chronic cocaine users display impaired attention, learning, memory, reaction time and cognitive flexibility. Heroin addiction may have a negative effect on impulse control, and selective processing.

Working memory capacity and the scope and control of attention.

PubMed

Shipstead, Zach; Harrison, Tyler L; Engle, Randall W

2015-08-01

Complex span and visual arrays are two common measures of working memory capacity that are respectively treated as measures of attention control and storage capacity. A recent analysis of these tasks concluded that (1) complex span performance has a relatively stronger relationship to fluid intelligence and (2) this is due to the requirement that people engage control processes while performing this task. The present study examines the validity of these conclusions by examining two large data sets that include a more diverse set of visual arrays tasks and several measures of attention control. We conclude that complex span and visual arrays account for similar amounts of variance in fluid intelligence. The disparity relative to the earlier analysis is attributed to the present study involving a more complete measure of the latent ability underlying the performance of visual arrays. Moreover, we find that both types of working memory task have strong relationships to attention control. This indicates that the ability to engage attention in a controlled manner is a critical aspect of working memory capacity, regardless of the type of task that is used to measure this construct.

Not sensitive, yet less biased: A signal detection theory perspective on mindfulness, attention, and recognition memory.

PubMed

Rosenstreich, Eyal; Ruderman, Lital

2016-07-01

The practice of mindfulness has been argued to increase attention control and improve memory performance. However, it was recently suggested that the effect of mindfulness on memory may be due to a shift in response-bias, rather than to an increase in memory-sensitivity. The present study examined the mindfulness-attention-memory triad. Participants filled in the five-facets of mindfulness questionnaire, and completed two recognition blocks; in the first attention was full, whereas in the second attention was divided during the encoding of information. It was found that the facet of non-judging (NJ) moderated the impact of attention on memory, such that responses of high NJ participants were less biased and remained constant even when attention was divided. Facets of mindfulness were not associated with memory sensitivity. These findings suggest that mindfulness may affect memory through decision making processes, rather than through directing attentional resources to the encoding of information. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cognitive control over working memory biases of selection.

PubMed

Kiyonaga, Anastasia; Egner, Tobias; Soto, David

2012-08-01

Across many studies, researchers have found that representations in working memory (WM) can guide visual attention toward items that match the features of the WM contents. While some researchers have contended that this occurs involuntarily, others have suggested that the impact of WM contents on attention can be strategically controlled. Here, we varied the probability that WM items would coincide with either targets or distractors in a visual search task to examine (1) whether participants could intentionally enhance or inhibit the influence of WM items on attention and (2) whether cognitive control over WM biases would also affect access to the memory contents in a surprise recognition test. We found visual search to be faster when the WM item coincided with the search target, and this effect was enhanced when the memory item reliably predicted the location of the target. Conversely, visual search was slowed when the memory item coincided with a search distractor, and this effect was diminished, but not abolished, when the memory item was reliably associated with distractors. This strategic dampening of the influence of WM items on attention came at a price to memory, however, as participants were slowest to perform WM recognition tests on blocks in which the WM contents were consistently invalid. These results document that attentional capture by WM contents is partly, but not fully, malleable by top-down control, which appears to adjust the state of the WM contents to optimize search behavior. These data illustrate the role of cognitive control in modulating the strength of WM biases of selection, and they support a tight coupling between WM and attention.

Dietary self-control influences top-down guidance of attention to food cues.

PubMed

Higgs, Suzanne; Dolmans, Dirk; Humphreys, Glyn W; Rutters, Femke

2015-01-01

Motivational objects attract attention due to their rewarding properties, but less is known about the role that top-down cognitive processes play in the attention paid to motivationally relevant objects and how this is affected by relevant behavioral traits. Here we assess how thinking about food affects attentional guidance to food items and how this is modulated by traits relating to dietary self-control. Participants completed two tasks in which they were presented with an initial cue (food or non-food) to either hold in working memory (memory task) or to merely attend to (priming task). Holding food items in working memory strongly affected attention when the memorized cue re-appeared in the search display. Tendency towards disinhibited eating was associated with greater attention to food versus non-food pictures in both the priming and working memory tasks, consistent with greater attention to food cues per se. Successful dieters, defined as those high in dietary restraint and low in tendency to disinhibition, showed reduced attention to food when holding food-related information in working memory. These data suggest a strong top-down effect of thinking about food on attention to food items and indicate that the suppression of food items in working memory could be a marker of dieting success.

Working memory deficits in boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): the contribution of central executive and subsystem processes.

PubMed

Rapport, Mark D; Alderson, R Matt; Kofler, Michael J; Sarver, Dustin E; Bolden, Jennifer; Sims, Valerie

2008-08-01

The current study investigated contradictory findings from recent experimental and meta-analytic studies concerning working memory deficits in ADHD. Working memory refers to the cognitive ability to temporarily store and mentally manipulate limited amounts of information for use in guiding behavior. Phonological (verbal) and visuospatial (nonverbal) working memory were assessed across four memory load conditions in 23 boys (12 ADHD, 11 typically developing) using tasks based on Baddeley's (Working memory, thought, and action, Oxford University Press, New York, 2007) working memory model. The model posits separate phonological and visuospatial storage and rehearsal components that are controlled by a single attentional controller (CE: central executive). A latent variable approach was used to partial task performance related to three variables of interest: phonological buffer/rehearsal loop, visuospatial buffer/rehearsal loop, and the CE attentional controller. ADHD-related working memory deficits were apparent across all three cognitive systems--with the largest magnitude of deficits apparent in the CE--even after controlling for reading speed, nonverbal visual encoding, age, IQ, and SES.

Implicit and Explicit Memory Performance in Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aloisi, Bruno A.; McKone, Elinor; Heubeck, Bernd G.

2004-01-01

The present investigation examined implicit and explicit memory in 20 children diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) and 20 matched controls. Consistent with previous research, children with AD/HD performed more poorly than controls on an explicit test of long-term memory for pictures. New results were that (a) there was…

Attention improves memory by suppressing spiking-neuron activity in the human anterior temporal lobe.

PubMed

Wittig, John H; Jang, Anthony I; Cocjin, John B; Inati, Sara K; Zaghloul, Kareem A

2018-06-01

We identify a memory-specific attention mechanism in the human anterior temporal lobe, an area implicated in semantic processing and episodic memory formation. Spiking neuron activity is suppressed and becomes more reliable in preparation for verbal memory formation. Intracranial electroencephalography signals implicate this region as a source of executive control for attentional selection. Consistent with this interpretation, its surgical removal causes significant memory impairment for attended words relative to unattended words.

The development of prospective memory in young schoolchildren: the impact of ongoing task absorption, cue salience, and cue centrality.

PubMed

Kliegel, Matthias; Mahy, Caitlin E V; Voigt, Babett; Henry, Julie D; Rendell, Peter G; Aberle, Ingo

2013-12-01

This study presents evidence that 9- and 10-year-old children outperform 6- and 7-year-old children on a measure of event-based prospective memory and that retrieval-based factors systematically influence performance and age differences. All experiments revealed significant age effects in prospective memory even after controlling for ongoing task performance. In addition, the provision of a less absorbing ongoing task (Experiment 1), higher cue salience (Experiment 2), and cues appearing in the center of attention (Experiment 3) were each associated with better performance. Of particular developmental importance was an age by cue centrality (in or outside of the center of attention) interaction that emerged in Experiment 3. Thus, age effects were restricted to prospective memory cues appearing outside of the center of attention, suggesting that the development of prospective memory across early school years may be modulated by whether a cue requires overt monitoring beyond the immediate attentional context. Because whether a cue is in or outside of the center of attention might determine the amount of executive control needed in a prospective memory task, findings suggest that developing executive control resources may drive prospective memory development across primary school age. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Working memory and attention deficits in adolescent offspring of schizophrenia or bipolar patients: comparing vulnerability markers.

PubMed

Diwadkar, Vaibhav A; Goradia, Dhruman; Hosanagar, Avinash; Mermon, Diana; Montrose, Debra M; Birmaher, Boris; Axelson, David; Rajarathinem, R; Haddad, Luay; Amirsadri, Ali; Zajac-Benitez, Caroline; Rajan, Usha; Keshavan, Matcheri S

2011-07-01

Working memory deficits abound in schizophrenia and attention deficits have been documented in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Adolescent offspring of patients may inherit vulnerabilities in brain circuits that subserve these cognitive domains. Here we assess impairments in offspring of schizophrenia (SCZ-Offspring) or bipolar (BP-Offspring) patients compared to controls (HC) with no family history of mood or psychotic disorders to the second degree. Three groups (n=100 subjects; range: 10-20 yrs) of HC, SCZ-Offspring and BP-Offspring gave informed consent. Working memory was assessed using a delayed spatial memory paradigm with two levels of delay (2s & 12s); sustained attention processing was assessed using the Continuous Performance Task-Identical Pairs version. SCZ-Offspring (but not BP-Offspring) showed impairments in working memory (relative to HC) at the longer memory delay indicating a unique deficit. Both groups showed reduced sensitivity during attention but only BP-Offspring significantly differed from controls. These results suggest unique (working memory/dorsal frontal cortex) and potentially overlapping (attention/fronto-striatal cortex) vulnerability pathways in adolescent offspring of patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Working memory and attention assessments in these offspring may assist in the clinical characterization of the adolescents vulnerable to SCZ or BP. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Domain-Specific Control of Selective Attention

PubMed Central

Lin, Szu-Hung; Yeh, Yei-Yu

2014-01-01

Previous research has shown that loading information on working memory affects selective attention. However, whether the load effect on selective attention is domain-general or domain-specific remains unresolved. The domain-general effect refers to the findings that load in one content (e.g. phonological) domain in working memory influences processing in another content (e.g., visuospatial) domain. Attentional control supervises selection regardless of information domain. The domain-specific effect refers to the constraint of influence only when maintenance and processing operate in the same domain. Selective attention operates in a specific content domain. This study is designed to resolve this controversy. Across three experiments, we manipulated the type of representation maintained in working memory and the type of representation upon which the participants must exert control to resolve conflict and select a target into the focus of attention. In Experiments 1a and 1b, participants maintained digits and nonverbalized objects, respectively, in working memory while selecting a target in a letter array. In Experiment 2, we presented auditory digits with a letter flanker task to exclude the involvement of resource competition within the same input modality. In Experiments 3a and 3b, we replaced the letter flanker task with an object flanker task while manipulating the memory load on object and digit representation, respectively. The results consistently showed that memory load modulated distractibility only when the stimuli of the two tasks were represented in the same domain. The magnitude of distractor interference was larger under high load than under low load, reflecting a lower efficacy of information prioritization. When the stimuli of the two tasks were represented in different domains, memory load did not modulate distractibility. Control of processing priority in selective attention demands domain-specific resources. PMID:24866977

Interactions among emotional attention, encoding, and retrieval of ambiguous information: An eye-tracking study.

PubMed

Everaert, Jonas; Koster, Ernst H W

2015-10-01

Emotional biases in attention modulate encoding of emotional material into long-term memory, but little is known about the role of such attentional biases during emotional memory retrieval. The present study investigated how emotional biases in memory are related to attentional allocation during retrieval. Forty-nine individuals encoded emotionally positive and negative meanings derived from ambiguous information and then searched their memory for encoded meanings in response to a set of retrieval cues. The remember/know/new procedure was used to classify memories as recollection-based or familiarity-based, and gaze behavior was monitored throughout the task to measure attentional allocation. We found that a bias in sustained attention during recollection-based, but not familiarity-based, retrieval predicted subsequent memory bias toward positive versus negative material following encoding. Thus, during emotional memory retrieval, attention affects controlled forms of retrieval (i.e., recollection) but does not modulate relatively automatic, familiarity-based retrieval. These findings enhance understanding of how distinct components of attention regulate the emotional content of memories. Implications for theoretical models and emotion regulation are discussed. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Long-Term Memory and the Control of Attentional Control

PubMed Central

Mayr, Ulrich; Kuhns, David; Hubbard, Jason

2014-01-01

Task-switch costs and in particular the switch-cost asymmetry (i.e., the larger costs of switching to a dominant than a non-dominant task) are usually explained in terms of trial-to-trial carry-over of task-specific control settings. Here we argue that task switches are just one example of situations that trigger a transition from working-memory maintenance to updating, thereby opening working memory to interference from long-term memory. We used a new paradigm that requires selecting a spatial location either on the basis of a central cue (i.e., endogenous control of attention) or a peripheral, sudden onset (i.e., exogenous control of attention). We found a strong cost asymmetry that occurred even after short interruptions of otherwise single-task blocks (Exp. 1-3), but that was much stronger when participants had experienced the competing task under conditions of conflict (Exp. 1-2). Experiment 3 showed that the asymmetric costs were due to interruptions per se, rather than to associative interference tied to specific interruption activities. Experiment 4 generalized the basic pattern across interruptions varying in length or control demands and Experiment 5 across primary tasks with response-selection conflict rather than attentional conflict. Combined, the results support a model in which costs of selecting control settings arise when (a) potentially interfering memory traces have been encoded in long-term memory and (b) working-memory is forced from a maintenance mode into an updating mode (e.g., through task interruptions), thereby allowing unwanted retrieval of the encoded memory traces. PMID:24650696

Memory: Enduring Traces of Perceptual and Reflective Attention

PubMed Central

Chun, Marvin M.; Johnson, Marcia K.

2011-01-01

Attention and memory are typically studied as separate topics, but they are highly intertwined. Here we discuss the relation between memory and two fundamental types of attention: perceptual and reflective. Memory is the persisting consequence of cognitive activities initiated by and/or focused on external information from the environment (perceptual attention) and initiated by and/or focused on internal mental representations (reflective attention). We consider three key questions for advancing a cognitive neuroscience of attention and memory: To what extent do perception and reflection share representational areas? To what extent are the control processes that select, maintain, and manipulate perceptual and reflective information subserved by common areas and networks? During perception and reflection, to what extent are common areas responsible for binding features together to create complex, episodic memories and for reviving them later? Considering similarities and differences in perceptual and reflective attention helps integrate a broad range of findings and raises important unresolved issues. PMID:22099456

Differences in Memory Functioning between Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and/or Focal Epilepsy

PubMed Central

Lee, Sylvia E.; Kibby, Michelle Y.; Cohen, Morris J.; Stanford, Lisa; Park, Yong; Strickland, Suzanne

2016-01-01

Prior research has shown that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and epilepsy are frequently comorbid and that both disorders are associated with various attention and memory problems. Nonetheless, limited research has been conducted comparing the two disorders in one sample to determine unique versus shared deficits. Hence, we investigated differences in working memory and short-term and delayed recall between children with ADHD, focal epilepsy of mixed foci, comorbid ADHD/epilepsy and controls. Participants were compared on the Core subtests and the Picture Locations subtest of the Children’s Memory Scale (CMS). Results indicated that children with ADHD displayed intact verbal working memory and long-term memory (LTM), as well as intact performance on most aspects of short-term memory (STM). They performed worse than controls on Numbers Forward and Picture Locations, suggesting problems with focused attention and simple span for visual-spatial material. Conversely, children with epilepsy displayed poor focused attention and STM regardless of modality assessed, which affected encoding into LTM. The only loss over time was found for passages (Stories). Working memory was intact. Children with comorbid ADHD/epilepsy displayed focused attention and STM/LTM problems consistent with both disorders, having the lowest scores across the four groups. Hence, focused attention and visual-spatial span appear to be affected in both disorders, whereas additional STM/encoding problems are specific to epilepsy. Children with comorbid ADHD/epilepsy have deficits consistent with both disorders, with slight additive effects. This study suggests that attention and memory testing should be a regular part of the evaluation of children with epilepsy and ADHD. PMID:26156331

The role of controlled attention on recall in major depression.

PubMed

Ellis, Alissa J; Wells, Tony T; Vanderlind, W Michael; Beevers, Christopher G

2014-04-01

Information processing biases are hallmark features of major depressive disorder (MDD). Depressed individuals display biased memory and attention for negative material. Given that memory is highly dependent on attention for initial encoding, understanding the interplay of these processes may provide important insight into mechanisms that produce memory biases in depression. In particular, attentional control-the ability to selectively attend to task-relevant information by both inhibiting the processing of irrelevant information and disengaging attention from irrelevant material-may be one area of impairment in MDD. In the current study, clinically depressed (MDD: n = 15) and never depressed (non-MDD: n = 22) participants' line of visual gaze was assessed while participants viewed positive and negative word pairs. For each word pair, participants were instructed to attend to one word (target) and ignore one word (distracter). Free recall of study stimuli was then assessed. Depressed individuals displayed greater recall of negatively valenced target words following the task. Although there were no group differences in attentional control in the context of negative words, attention to negative targets mediated the relationship between depression status and recall of negative words. Results suggest a stronger link between attention and memory for negative material in MDD.

Fractionation of the component processes underlying successful episodic encoding: a combined fMRI and divided-attention study.

PubMed

Uncapher, Melina R; Rugg, Michael D

2008-02-01

Considerable evidence suggests that attentional resources are necessary for the encoding of episodic memories, but the nature of the relationship between attention and neural correlates of encoding is unclear. Here we address this question using functional magnetic resonance imaging and a divided-attention paradigm in which competition for different types of attentional resources was manipulated. Fifteen volunteers were scanned while making animacy judgments to visually presented words and concurrently performing one of three tasks on auditorily presented words: male/female voice discrimination (control task), 1-back voice comparison (1-back task), or indoor/outdoor judgment (semantic task). The 1-back and semantic tasks were designed to compete for task-generic and task-specific attentional resources, respectively. Using the "remember/know" procedure, memory for the study words was assessed after 15 min. In the control condition, subsequent memory effects associated with later recollection were identified in the left dorsal inferior frontal gyrus and in the left hippocampus. These effects were differentially attenuated in the two more difficult divided-attention conditions. The effects of divided attention seem, therefore, to reflect impairments due to limitations at both task-generic and task-specific levels. Additionally, each of the two more difficult divided-attention conditions was associated with subsequent memory effects in regions distinct from those showing effects in the control condition. These findings suggest the engagement of alternative encoding processes to those engaged in the control task. The overall pattern of findings suggests that divided attention can impact later memory in different ways, and accordingly, that different attentional resources, including task-generic and task-specific resources, make distinct contributions to successful episodic encoding.

The scope and control of attention: Sources of variance in working memory capacity.

PubMed

Chow, Michael; Conway, Andrew R A

2015-04-01

Working memory capacity is a strong positive predictor of many cognitive abilities, across various domains. The pattern of positive correlations across domains has been interpreted as evidence for a unitary source of inter-individual differences in behavior. However, recent work suggests that there are multiple sources of variance contributing to working memory capacity. The current study (N = 71) investigates individual differences in the scope and control of attention, in addition to the number and resolution of items maintained in working memory. Latent variable analyses indicate that the scope and control of attention reflect independent sources of variance and each account for unique variance in general intelligence. Also, estimates of the number of items maintained in working memory are consistent across tasks and related to general intelligence whereas estimates of resolution are task-dependent and not predictive of intelligence. These results provide insight into the structure of working memory, as well as intelligence, and raise new questions about the distinction between number and resolution in visual short-term memory.

Primate Cognition: Attention, Episodic Memory, Prospective Memory, Self-Control, and Metacognition as Examples of Cognitive Control in Nonhuman Primates1

PubMed Central

Menzel, Charles R.; Parrish, Audrey E.; Perdue, Bonnie M.; Sayers, Ken; Smith, J. David; Washburn, David A.

2016-01-01

Primate Cognition is the study of cognitive processes, which represent internal mental processes involved in discriminations, decisions, and behaviors of humans and other primate species. Cognitive control involves executive and regulatory processes that allocate attention, manipulate and evaluate available information (and, when necessary, seek additional information), remember past experiences to plan future behaviors, and deal with distraction and impulsivity when they are threats to goal achievement. Areas of research that relate to cognitive control as it is assessed across species include executive attention, episodic memory, prospective memory, metacognition and self-control. Executive attention refers to the ability to control what sensory stimuli one attends to and how one regulates responses to those stimuli, especially in cases of conflict. Episodic memory refers to memory for personally experienced, autobiographical events. Prospective memory refers to the formation and implementation of future-intended actions, such as remembering what needs to be done later. Metacognition consists of control and monitoring processes that allow individuals to assess what information they have and what information they still need, and then if necessary to seek information. Self-control is a regulatory process whereby individuals forego more immediate or easier to obtain rewards for more delayed or harder to obtain rewards that are objectively more valuable. The behavioral complexity shown by nonhuman primates when given tests to assess these capacities indicates psychological continuities with human cognitive control capacities. However, more research is needed to clarify the proper interpretation of these behaviors with regard to possible cognitive constructs that may underlie such behaviors. PMID:27284790

Emotion processing in the criminal psychopath: the role of attention in emotion-facilitated memory.

PubMed

Glass, Samantha J; Newman, Joseph P

2009-02-01

The response modulation hypothesis specifies that low-anxious psychopathic individuals have difficulty processing information outside their primary attentional focus. To evaluate the applicability of this model to affective processing, the authors had 239 offenders, classified with the Psychopathy Checklist--Revised (R. D. Hare, 2003) and the Welsh Anxiety Scale (G. Welsh, 1956), perform 1 of 3 emotion memory tasks that examined the effects of emotion on memory for primary and contextual information. Regardless of anxiety level, psychopathic and control offenders demonstrated a significant and comparable memory bias for emotional over neutral words in the primary conditions. However, psychopathic individuals showed significantly less memory bias than did controls in the contextual conditions. Results indicate that the impact of emotion on memory is moderated by attentional factors.

Attention and memory bias to facial emotions underlying negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

PubMed

Jang, Seon-Kyeong; Park, Seon-Cheol; Lee, Seung-Hwan; Cho, Yang Seok; Choi, Kee-Hong

2016-01-01

This study assessed bias in selective attention to facial emotions in negative symptoms of schizophrenia and its influence on subsequent memory for facial emotions. Thirty people with schizophrenia who had high and low levels of negative symptoms (n = 15, respectively) and 21 healthy controls completed a visual probe detection task investigating selective attention bias (happy, sad, and angry faces randomly presented for 50, 500, or 1000 ms). A yes/no incidental facial memory task was then completed. Attention bias scores and recognition errors were calculated. Those with high negative symptoms exhibited reduced attention to emotional faces relative to neutral faces; those with low negative symptoms showed the opposite pattern when faces were presented for 500 ms regardless of the valence. Compared to healthy controls, those with high negative symptoms made more errors for happy faces in the memory task. Reduced attention to emotional faces in the probe detection task was significantly associated with less pleasure and motivation and more recognition errors for happy faces in schizophrenia group only. Attention bias away from emotional information relatively early in the attentional process and associated diminished positive memory may relate to pathological mechanisms for negative symptoms.

Disturbance of time orientation, attention, and verbal memory in amnesic patients with confabulation.

PubMed

Shingaki, Honoka; Park, Paeksoon; Ueda, Keita; Murai, Toshiya; Tsukiura, Takashi

2016-01-01

Confabulation is often observed in amnesic patients after brain damage. However, evidence regarding the relationship between confabulation and other neuropsychological functions is scarce. In addition, previous studies have proposed two possibilities of the relationship between confabulation and false memory, in which patients with confabulation are likely to retrieve false memories, or confabulations are relatively independent of false memories. The present study investigated how confabulation is related to various cognitive functions, including orientation, attention, frontal lobe function, memory, and mental status, and to false memories, as assessed by the Deese-Roediger-Mcdermott (DRM) paradigm. Patients with organic amnesia participated, and confabulations were evaluated using the Confabulation Battery. Amnestic patients were classified into two groups: confabulating (CP) and nonconfabulating patients (NCP). The CP group was significantly impaired in time orientation, attention, and verbal memory, compared to the NCP group and age-matched healthy controls (HC). Results of the DRM paradigm revealed no significant difference in false memory retrieval induced by critical lures across CP, NCP, and HC groups. Confabulating responses in organic amnesia could be in part induced by disturbance of time consciousness and attention control in severe impairment of verbal memories, and confabulation and false memory could be modulated by different cognitive systems.

Evidence for Two Attentional Components in Visual Working Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Richard J.; Baddeley, Alan D.; Hitch, Graham J.

2014-01-01

How does executive attentional control contribute to memory for sequences of visual objects, and what does this reveal about storage and processing in working memory? Three experiments examined the impact of a concurrent executive load (backward counting) on memory for sequences of individually presented visual objects. Experiments 1 and 2 found…

Full versus divided attention and implicit memory performance.

PubMed

Wolters, G; Prinsen, A

1997-11-01

Effects of full and divided attention during study on explicit and implicit memory performance were investigated in two experiments. Study time was manipulated in a third experiment. Experiment 1 showed that both similar and dissociative effects can be found in the two kinds of memory test, depending on the difficulty of the concurrent tasks used in the divided-attention condition. In this experiment, however, standard implicit memory tests were used and contamination by explicit memory influences cannot be ruled out. Therefore, in Experiments 2 and 3 the process dissociation procedure was applied. Manipulations of attention during study and of study time clearly affected the controlled (explicit) memory component, but had no effect on the automatic (implicit) memory component. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

Cognitive processes in children's reading and attention: the role of working memory, divided attention, and response inhibition.

PubMed

Savage, Robert; Cornish, Kim; Manly, Tom; Hollis, Chris

2006-08-01

Children experiencing attention difficulties have documented cognitive deficits in working memory (WM), response inhibition and dual tasks. Recent evidence suggests however that these same cognitive processes are also closely associated with reading acquisition. This paper therefore explores whether these variables predicted attention difficulties or reading among 123 children with and without significant attention problems sampled from the school population. Children were screened using current WM and attention task measures. Three factors explained variance in WM and attention tasks. Response inhibition tasks loaded mainly with central executive measures, but a dual processing task loaded with the visual-spatial WM measures. Phonological loop measures loaded independently of attention measures. After controls for age, IQ and attention-group membership, phonological loop and 'central processing' measures both predicted reading ability. A 'visual memory/dual-task' factor predicted attention group membership after controls for age, IQ and reading ability. Results thus suggest that some of the processes previously assumed to be predictive of attention problems may reflect processes involved in reading acquisition. Visual memory and dual-task functioning are, however, purer indices of cognitive difficulty in children experiencing attention problems.

Neuroscientific Insights: Attention, Working Memory, and Inhibitory Control

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Raver, C. Cybele; Blair, Clancy

2016-01-01

In this article, Cybele Raver and Clancy Blair explore a group of cognitive processes called executive function (EF)--including the flexible control of attention, the ability to hold information through working memory, and the ability to maintain inhibitory control. EF processes are crucial for young children's learning. On the one hand, they can…

Do the Contents of Working Memory Capture Attention? Yes, but Cognitive Control Matters

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Han, Suk Won; Kim, Min-Shik

2009-01-01

There has been a controversy on whether working memory can guide attentional selection. Some researchers have reported that the contents of working memory guide attention automatically in visual search (D. Soto, D. Heinke, G. W. Humphreys, & M. J. Blanco, 2005). On the other hand, G.F. Woodman and S. J. Luck (2007) reported that they could not…

The scope and control of attention as separate aspects of working memory.

PubMed

Shipstead, Zach; Redick, Thomas S; Hicks, Kenny L; Engle, Randall W

2012-01-01

The present study examines two varieties of working memory (WM) capacity task: visual arrays (i.e., a measure of the amount of information that can be maintained in working memory) and complex span (i.e., a task that taps WM-related attentional control). Using previously collected data sets we employ confirmatory factor analysis to demonstrate that visual arrays and complex span tasks load on separate, but correlated, factors. A subsequent series of structural equation models and regression analyses demonstrate that these factors contribute both common and unique variance to the prediction of general fluid intelligence (Gf). However, while visual arrays does contribute uniquely to higher cognition, its overall correlation to Gf is largely mediated by variance associated with the complex span factor. Thus we argue that visual arrays performance is not strictly driven by a limited-capacity storage system (e.g., the focus of attention; Cowan, 2001), but may also rely on control processes such as selective attention and controlled memory search.

Attentional control constrains visual short-term memory: Insights from developmental and individual differences

PubMed Central

Astle, D.E.; Nobre, A.C.; Scerif, G.

2014-01-01

The mechanisms by which attentional control biases mnemonic representations have attracted much interest but remain poorly understood. As attention and memory develop gradually over childhood and variably across individuals, assessing how participants of different ages and ability attend to mnemonic contents can elucidate their interplay. In Experiment 1, 7-, 10-year-olds and adults were asked to report whether a probe item had been part of a previously presented four-item array. The initial array could either be uncued, preceded (“pre-cued”) or followed (“retro-cued”) by a spatial cue orienting attention to one of the potential item locations. Performance across groups was significantly improved by both cue types and individual differences in children’s retrospective attentional control predicted their visual short-term and working memory span, whereas their basic ability to remember in the absence of cues did not. Experiment 2 imposed a variable delay between the array and the subsequent orienting cue. Cueing benefits were greater in adults compared to 10-year-olds, but they persisted even when cues followed the array by nearly 3 seconds, suggesting that orienting operated on durable short-term representations for both age groups. The findings indicate that there are substantial developmental and individual differences in the ability to control attention to memory and that in turn these differences constrain visual short-term memory capacity. PMID:20680889

Attentional control constrains visual short-term memory: insights from developmental and individual differences.

PubMed

Astle, Duncan E; Nobre, Anna C; Scerif, Gaia

2012-01-01

The mechanisms by which attentional control biases mnemonic representations have attracted much interest but remain poorly understood. As attention and memory develop gradually over childhood and variably across individuals, assessing how participants of different ages and ability attend to mnemonic contents can elucidate their interplay. In Experiment 1, 7-year-olds, 10-year-olds, and adults were asked to report whether a probe item had been part of a previously presented four-item array. The initial array could either be uncued, be preceded ("precued"), or followed ("retrocued") by a spatial cue orienting attention to one of the potential item locations. Performance across groups was significantly improved by both cue types, and individual differences in children's retrospective attentional control predicted their visual short-term and working memory span, whereas their basic ability to remember in the absence of cues did not. Experiment 2 imposed a variable delay between the array and the subsequent orienting cue. Cueing benefits were greater in adults than in 10-year-olds, but they persisted even when cues followed the array by nearly 3 seconds, suggesting that orienting operated on durable short-term representations for both age groups. The findings indicate that there are substantial developmental and individual differences in the ability to control attention to memory and that in turn these differences constrain visual short-term memory capacity.

Individual differences in event-based prospective memory: Evidence for multiple processes supporting cue detection.

PubMed

Brewer, Gene A; Knight, Justin B; Marsh, Richard L; Unsworth, Nash

2010-04-01

The multiprocess view proposes that different processes can be used to detect event-based prospective memory cues, depending in part on the specificity of the cue. According to this theory, attentional processes are not necessary to detect focal cues, whereas detection of nonfocal cues requires some form of controlled attention. This notion was tested using a design in which we compared performance on a focal and on a nonfocal prospective memory task by participants with high or low working memory capacity. An interaction was found, such that participants with high and low working memory performed equally well on the focal task, whereas the participants with high working memory performed significantly better on the nonfocal task than did their counterparts with low working memory. Thus, controlled attention was only necessary for detecting event-based prospective memory cues in the nonfocal task. These results have implications for theories of prospective memory, the processes necessary for cue detection, and the successful fulfillment of intentions.

Sports training enhances visuo-spatial cognition regardless of open-closed typology

PubMed Central

Hsieh, Shu-Shih; Chen, Kuan-Fu; Chang, Yu-Kai

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of open and closed sport participation on visuo-spatial attention and memory performance among young adults. Forty-eight young adults—16 open-skill athletes, 16 closed-skill athletes, and 16 non-athletes controls—were recruited for the study. Both behavioral performance and event-related potential (ERP) measurement were assessed when participants performed non-delayed and delayed match-to-sample task that tested visuo-spatial attention and memory processing. Results demonstrated that regardless of training typology, the athlete groups exhibited shorter reaction times in both the visuo-spatial attention and memory conditions than the control group with no existence of speed-accuracy trade-off. Similarly, a larger P3 amplitudes were observed in both athlete groups than in the control group for the visuo-spatial memory condition. These findings suggest that sports training, regardless of typology, are associated with superior visuo-spatial attention and memory performance, and more efficient neural resource allocation in memory processing. PMID:28560098

A Characterization of Visual, Semantic and Auditory Memory in Children with Combination-Type Attention Deficit, Primarily Inattentive, and a Control Group

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramirez, Luz Angela; Arenas, Angela Maria; Henao, Gloria Cecilia

2005-01-01

Introduction: This investigation describes and compares characteristics of visual, semantic and auditory memory in a group of children diagnosed with combined-type attention deficit with hyperactivity, attention deficit predominating, and a control group. Method: 107 boys and girls were selected, from 7 to 11 years of age, all residents in the…

Impact of Spatial and Verbal Short-Term Memory Load on Auditory Spatial Attention Gradients.

PubMed

Golob, Edward J; Winston, Jenna; Mock, Jeffrey R

2017-01-01

Short-term memory load can impair attentional control, but prior work shows that the extent of the effect ranges from being very general to very specific. One factor for the mixed results may be reliance on point estimates of memory load effects on attention. Here we used auditory attention gradients as an analog measure to map-out the impact of short-term memory load over space. Verbal or spatial information was maintained during an auditory spatial attention task and compared to no-load. Stimuli were presented from five virtual locations in the frontal azimuth plane, and subjects focused on the midline. Reaction times progressively increased for lateral stimuli, indicating an attention gradient. Spatial load further slowed responses at lateral locations, particularly in the left hemispace, but had little effect at midline. Verbal memory load had no (Experiment 1), or a minimal (Experiment 2) influence on reaction times. Spatial and verbal load increased switch costs between memory encoding and attention tasks relative to the no load condition. The findings show that short-term memory influences the distribution of auditory attention over space; and that the specific pattern depends on the type of information in short-term memory.

Impact of Spatial and Verbal Short-Term Memory Load on Auditory Spatial Attention Gradients

PubMed Central

Golob, Edward J.; Winston, Jenna; Mock, Jeffrey R.

2017-01-01

Short-term memory load can impair attentional control, but prior work shows that the extent of the effect ranges from being very general to very specific. One factor for the mixed results may be reliance on point estimates of memory load effects on attention. Here we used auditory attention gradients as an analog measure to map-out the impact of short-term memory load over space. Verbal or spatial information was maintained during an auditory spatial attention task and compared to no-load. Stimuli were presented from five virtual locations in the frontal azimuth plane, and subjects focused on the midline. Reaction times progressively increased for lateral stimuli, indicating an attention gradient. Spatial load further slowed responses at lateral locations, particularly in the left hemispace, but had little effect at midline. Verbal memory load had no (Experiment 1), or a minimal (Experiment 2) influence on reaction times. Spatial and verbal load increased switch costs between memory encoding and attention tasks relative to the no load condition. The findings show that short-term memory influences the distribution of auditory attention over space; and that the specific pattern depends on the type of information in short-term memory. PMID:29218024

Primate cognition: attention, episodic memory, prospective memory, self-control, and metacognition as examples of cognitive control in nonhuman primates.

PubMed

Beran, Michael J; Menzel, Charles R; Parrish, Audrey E; Perdue, Bonnie M; Sayers, Ken; Smith, J David; Washburn, David A

2016-09-01

Primate Cognition is the study of cognitive processes, which represent internal mental processes involved in discriminations, decisions, and behaviors of humans and other primate species. Cognitive control involves executive and regulatory processes that allocate attention, manipulate and evaluate available information (and, when necessary, seek additional information), remember past experiences to plan future behaviors, and deal with distraction and impulsivity when they are threats to goal achievement. Areas of research that relate to cognitive control as it is assessed across species include executive attention, episodic memory, prospective memory, metacognition, and self-control. Executive attention refers to the ability to control what sensory stimuli one attends to and how one regulates responses to those stimuli, especially in cases of conflict. Episodic memory refers to memory for personally experienced, autobiographical events. Prospective memory refers to the formation and implementation of future-intended actions, such as remembering what needs to be done later. Metacognition consists of control and monitoring processes that allow individuals to assess what information they have and what information they still need, and then if necessary to seek information. Self-control is a regulatory process whereby individuals forego more immediate or easier to obtain rewards for more delayed or harder to obtain rewards that are objectively more valuable. The behavioral complexity shown by nonhuman primates when given tests to assess these capacities indicates psychological continuities with human cognitive control capacities. However, more research is needed to clarify the proper interpretation of these behaviors with regard to possible cognitive constructs that may underlie such behaviors. WIREs Cogn Sci 2016, 7:294-316. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1397 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Long-term memory-based control of attention in multi-step tasks requires working memory: evidence from domain-specific interference

PubMed Central

Foerster, Rebecca M.; Carbone, Elena; Schneider, Werner X.

2014-01-01

Evidence for long-term memory (LTM)-based control of attention has been found during the execution of highly practiced multi-step tasks. However, does LTM directly control for attention or are working memory (WM) processes involved? In the present study, this question was investigated with a dual-task paradigm. Participants executed either a highly practiced visuospatial sensorimotor task (speed stacking) or a verbal task (high-speed poem reciting), while maintaining visuospatial or verbal information in WM. Results revealed unidirectional and domain-specific interference. Neither speed stacking nor high-speed poem reciting was influenced by WM retention. Stacking disrupted the retention of visuospatial locations, but did not modify memory performance of verbal material (letters). Reciting reduced the retention of verbal material substantially whereas it affected the memory performance of visuospatial locations to a smaller degree. We suggest that the selection of task-relevant information from LTM for the execution of overlearned multi-step tasks recruits domain-specific WM. PMID:24847304

Prospective memory across adolescence: the effects of age and cue focality.

PubMed

Wang, Lijuan; Altgassen, Mareike; Liu, Wei; Xiong, Weirui; Akgün, Canan; Kliegel, Matthias

2011-01-01

The present study examined the role of controlled attention in age differences in event-based prospective memory performance across adolescence. The researchers tested whether presenting the prospective memory cue in or out of focal awareness of the ongoing task (resulting in low versus high demands for controlled attention, respectively) might affect age-related prospective memory performance. In total, 119 Chinese participants ages 13 to 20 took part in this study (60 adolescents: age M = 13.26 years, SD = 0.50; 23 boys; 59 young adults: age M = 19.70 years, SD = 0.87; 19 men). Findings demonstrated a significant interaction, F(1, 114) = 6.41, p < .05. No effect of age on prospective memory performance was revealed when a focal cue was used (F < 1), whereas there was a reliable age effect between adolescents and young adults when nonfocal prospective memory cues were presented, F(1, 59) = 16.13, p < .01. This pattern of results suggests that the interplay of both available resources of controlled attention and working memory, along with specific task demands, may contribute to possible age differences in prospective memory performance across adolescence. Results are discussed in the context of the multiprocess theory of prospective memory.

Memory: enduring traces of perceptual and reflective attention.

PubMed

Chun, Marvin M; Johnson, Marcia K

2011-11-17

Attention and memory are typically studied as separate topics, but they are highly intertwined. Here we discuss the relation between memory and two fundamental types of attention: perceptual and reflective. Memory is the persisting consequence of cognitive activities initiated by and/or focused on external information from the environment (perceptual attention) and initiated by and/or focused on internal mental representations (reflective attention). We consider three key questions for advancing a cognitive neuroscience of attention and memory: to what extent do perception and reflection share representational areas? To what extent are the control processes that select, maintain, and manipulate perceptual and reflective information subserved by common areas and networks? During perception and reflection, to what extent are common areas responsible for binding features together to create complex, episodic memories and for reviving them later? Considering similarities and differences in perceptual and reflective attention helps integrate a broad range of findings and raises important unresolved issues. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Exploring the Effects of Working Memory on Time Perception in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

PubMed

Lee, Hom-Yi; Yang, En-Lin

2018-01-01

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are often reported to have deficits of time perception. However, there is a strong relation between performance on tasks of working memory and time perception. Thus, it is possible that the poor performance of children with ADHD on time perception results from their deficit of working memory. In this study, the working memory of participants was separately assessed; therefore, we could explore the relationship between working memory and time perception of children with ADHD. Fifty-six children with ADHD and those of healthy controls completed tasks measuring working memory and time perception. The results showed that the time discrimination ability of children with ADHD was poorer than that of controls. However, there was a strong association between time perception and working memory. After controlling working memory and intelligence, the time discrimination ability of children with ADHD was not significantly poorer than that of controls. We suggest that there is an interdependent relationship between time perception and working memory for children with ADHD.

The influence of an auditory-memory attention-demanding task on postural control in blind persons.

PubMed

Melzer, Itshak; Damry, Elad; Landau, Anat; Yagev, Ronit

2011-05-01

In order to evaluate the effect of an auditory-memory attention-demanding task on balance control, nine blind adults were compared to nine age-gender-matched sighted controls. This issue is particularly relevant for the blind population in which functional assessment of postural control has to be revealed through "real life" motor and cognitive function. The study aimed to explore whether an auditory-memory attention-demanding cognitive task would influence postural control in blind persons and compare this with blindfolded sighted persons. Subjects were instructed to minimize body sway during narrow base upright standing on a single force platform under two conditions: 1) standing still (single task); 2) as in 1) while performing an auditory-memory attention-demanding cognitive task (dual task). Subjects in both groups were required to stand blindfolded with their eyes closed. Center of Pressure displacement data were collected and analyzed using summary statistics and stabilogram-diffusion analysis. Blind and sighted subjects had similar postural sway in eyes closed condition. However, for dual compared to single task, sighted subjects show significant decrease in postural sway while blind subjects did not. The auditory-memory attention-demanding cognitive task had no interference effect on balance control on blind subjects. It seems that sighted individuals used auditory cues to compensate for momentary loss of vision, whereas blind subjects did not. This may suggest that blind and sighted people use different sensorimotor strategies to achieve stability. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Divided attention can enhance early-phase memory encoding: the attentional boost effect and study trial duration.

PubMed

Mulligan, Neil W; Spataro, Pietro

2015-07-01

Divided attention during encoding typically produces marked reductions in later memory. The attentional boost effect (ABE) is a surprising variation on this phenomenon. In this paradigm, each study stimulus (e.g., a word) is presented along with a target or a distractor (e.g., different colored circles) in a detection task. Later memory is better for stimuli co-occurring with targets. The present experiments indicate that the ABE arises during an early phase of memory encoding that involves initial stimulus perception and comprehension rather than at a later phase entailing controlled, elaborative rehearsal. Experiment 1 demonstrated that the ABE was robust at a short study duration (700 ms) and did not increase with increasing study trial durations (1,500 ms and 4,000 ms). Furthermore, the target condition is boosted to the level of memory performance in a full-attention condition for the short duration but not the long duration. Both results followed from the early-phase account. This account also predicts that for very short study times (limiting the influence of late-phase controlled encoding and thus minimizing the usual negative effect of divided attention), the target condition will produce better memory than will the full-attention condition. Experiment 2 used a study time of 400 ms and found that words presented with targets lead to greater recognition accuracy than do either words presented with distractors or words in the full-attention condition. Consistent with the early-phase account, a divided attention condition actually produced superior memory than did the full-attention condition, a very unusual but theoretically predicted result. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Working Memory Weaknesses in Students with ADHD: Implications for Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martinussen, Rhonda; Major, Ashley

2011-01-01

Students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at risk for academic underachievement. Children and youth with ADHD have been found to exhibit impairments on neuropsychological measures of executive functions, including working memory. Working memory is important to attentional control and learning. This article defines working…

Similarities and differences between mind-wandering and external distraction: a latent variable analysis of lapses of attention and their relation to cognitive abilities.

PubMed

Unsworth, Nash; McMillan, Brittany D

2014-07-01

The current study examined the extent to which task-unrelated thoughts represent both vulnerability to mind-wandering and susceptibility to external distraction from an individual difference perspective. Participants performed multiple measures of attention control, working memory capacity, and fluid intelligence. Task-unrelated thoughts were assessed using thought probes during the attention control tasks. Using latent variable techniques, the results suggested that mind-wandering and external distraction reflect distinct, yet correlated constructs, both of which are related to working memory capacity and fluid intelligence. Furthermore, the results suggest that the common variance shared by mind-wandering, external distraction, and attention control is what primarily accounts for their relation with working memory capacity and fluid intelligence. These results support the notion that lapses of attention are strongly related to cognitive abilities. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Newly-formed emotional memories guide selective attention processes: Evidence from event-related potentials.

PubMed

Schupp, Harald T; Kirmse, Ursula; Schmälzle, Ralf; Flaisch, Tobias; Renner, Britta

2016-06-20

Emotional cues can guide selective attention processes. However, emotional stimuli can both activate long-term memory representations reflecting general world knowledge and engage newly formed memory representations representing specific knowledge from the immediate past. Here, the self-completion feature of associative memory was utilized to assess the regulation of attention processes by newly-formed emotional memory. First, new memory representations were formed by presenting pictures depicting a person either in an erotic pose or as a portrait. Afterwards, to activate newly-built memory traces, edited pictures were presented showing only the head region of the person. ERP recordings revealed the emotional regulation of attention by newly-formed memories. Specifically, edited pictures from the erotic compared to the portrait category elicited an early posterior negativity and late positive potential, similar to the findings observed for the original pictures. A control condition showed that the effect was dependent on newly-formed memory traces. Given the large number of new memories formed each day, they presumably make an important contribution to the regulation of attention in everyday life.

Newly-formed emotional memories guide selective attention processes: Evidence from event-related potentials

PubMed Central

Schupp, Harald T.; Kirmse, Ursula; Schmälzle, Ralf; Flaisch, Tobias; Renner, Britta

2016-01-01

Emotional cues can guide selective attention processes. However, emotional stimuli can both activate long-term memory representations reflecting general world knowledge and engage newly formed memory representations representing specific knowledge from the immediate past. Here, the self-completion feature of associative memory was utilized to assess the regulation of attention processes by newly-formed emotional memory. First, new memory representations were formed by presenting pictures depicting a person either in an erotic pose or as a portrait. Afterwards, to activate newly-built memory traces, edited pictures were presented showing only the head region of the person. ERP recordings revealed the emotional regulation of attention by newly-formed memories. Specifically, edited pictures from the erotic compared to the portrait category elicited an early posterior negativity and late positive potential, similar to the findings observed for the original pictures. A control condition showed that the effect was dependent on newly-formed memory traces. Given the large number of new memories formed each day, they presumably make an important contribution to the regulation of attention in everyday life. PMID:27321471

Neuropsychological impairments on the NEPSY-II among children with FASD.

PubMed

Rasmussen, Carmen; Tamana, Sukhpreet; Baugh, Lauren; Andrew, Gail; Tough, Suzanne; Zwaigenbaum, Lonnie

2013-01-01

We examined the pattern of neuropsychological impairments of children with FASD (compared to controls) on NEPSY-II measures of attention and executive functioning, language, memory, visuospatial processing, and social perception. Participants included 32 children with FASD and 30 typically developing control children, ranging in age from 6 to 16 years. Children were tested on the following subtests of the NEPSY-II: Attention and Executive Functioning (animal sorting, auditory attention/response set, and inhibition), Language (comprehension of instructions and speeded naming), Memory (memory for names/delayed memory for names), Visual-Spatial Processing (arrows), and Social Perception (theory of mind). Groups were compared using MANOVA. Children with FASD were impaired relative to controls on the following subtests: animal sorting, response set, inhibition (naming and switching conditions), comprehension of instructions, speeded naming, and memory for names total and delayed, but group differences were not significant on auditory attention, inhibition (inhibition condition), arrows, and theory of mind. Among the FASD group, IQ scores were not correlated with performance on the NEPSY-II subtests, and there were no significant differences between those with and without comorbid ADHD. The NEPSY-II is an effective and useful tool for measuring a variety of neuropsychological impairments among children with FASD. Children with FASD displayed a pattern of results with impairments (relative to controls) on measures of executive functioning (set shifting, concept formation, and inhibition), language, and memory, and relative strengths on measures of basic attention, visual spatial processing, and social perception.

Working Memory Capacity and the Top-Down Control of Visual Search: Exploring the Boundaries of "Executive Attention"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kane, Michael J.; Poole, Bradley J.; Tuholski, Stephen W.; Engle, Randall W.

2006-01-01

The executive attention theory of working memory capacity (WMC) proposes that measures of WMC broadly predict higher order cognitive abilities because they tap important and general attention capabilities (R. W. Engle & M. J. Kane, 2004). Previous research demonstrated WMC-related differences in attention tasks that required restraint of habitual…

Attention and Memory Play Different Roles in Syntactic Choice during Sentence Production

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Myachykov, Andriy; Garrod, Simon; Scheepers, Christoph

2018-01-01

Attentional control of referential information is an important contributor to the structure of discourse. We investigated how attention and memory interplay during visually situated sentence production. We manipulated speakers' attention to the agent or the patient of a described event by means of a referential or a dot visual cue. We also…

Facts About Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs)

MedlinePlus

... attention Poor memory Difficulty in school (especially with math) Learning disabilities Speech and language delays Intellectual disability ... do poorly in school and have difficulties with math, memory, attention, judgment, and poor impulse control. Alcohol- ...

How do memory and attention change with pregnancy and childbirth? A controlled longitudinal examination of neuropsychological functioning in pregnant and postpartum women.

PubMed

Logan, Dustin M; Hill, Kyle R; Jones, Rochelle; Holt-Lunstad, Julianne; Larson, Michael J

2014-01-01

Current literature on cognitive functioning in pregnancy and postpartum is mixed, with most research showing deficits in memory and attention during pregnancy or no difference between pregnant participants and controls with little emphasis on the postpartum period. In the current study, we used a longitudinal controlled design and 42 primarily not depressed participants to compare pregnant women in the third trimester and approximately three months postpartum with matched controls over the same time period on neuropsychological domains including memory, attention, learning, visuospatial, and executive functioning. We also evaluated the role of mood and quality of life as potential moderators of cognitive functioning in pregnancy/postpartum. Results indicated no differences between controls and pregnant/postpartum women on neuropsychological measures at any time points. Self-reported memory difficulties, however, were higher in the pregnant/postpartum women. Pregnant and postpartum women had worse self-reported mood and quality of life than controls. Mood and quality of life slightly moderated specific measures of attention and verbal fluency; however, neither mood nor quality of life moderated overall neuropsychological functioning in either group. Number of previous pregnancies had no effect on the study findings. Results suggest differences in subjective memory complaints, but no differences in objective neuropsychological test results between controls and pregnant/postpartum women who are primarily not diagnosed with depression.

Orienting attention within visual short-term memory: development and mechanisms.

PubMed

Shimi, Andria; Nobre, Anna C; Astle, Duncan; Scerif, Gaia

2014-01-01

How does developing attentional control operate within visual short-term memory (VSTM)? Seven-year-olds, 11-year-olds, and adults (total n = 205) were asked to report whether probe items were part of preceding visual arrays. In Experiment 1, central or peripheral cues oriented attention to the location of to-be-probed items either prior to encoding or during maintenance. Cues improved memory regardless of their position, but younger children benefited less from cues presented during maintenance, and these benefits related to VSTM span over and above basic memory in uncued trials. In Experiment 2, cues of low validity eliminated benefits, suggesting that even the youngest children use cues voluntarily, rather than automatically. These findings elucidate the close coupling between developing visuospatial attentional control and VSTM. © 2013 The Authors. Child Development © 2013 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Individual differences in working memory capacity predict learned control over attentional capture.

PubMed

Robison, Matthew K; Unsworth, Nash

2017-11-01

Although individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) typically predict susceptibility to attentional capture in various paradigms (e.g., Stroop, antisaccade, flankers), it sometimes fails to correlate with the magnitude of attentional capture effects in visual search (e.g., Stokes, 2016), which is 1 of the most frequently studied tasks to study capture (Theeuwes, 2010). But some studies have shown that search modes can mitigate the effects of attentional capture (Leber & Egeth, 2006). Therefore, the present study examined whether or not the relationship between WMC and attentional capture changes as a function of the search modes available. In Experiment 1, WMC was unrelated to attentional capture, but only 1 search mode (singleton-detection) could be employed. In Experiment 2, greater WMC predicted smaller attentional capture effects, but only when multiple search modes (feature-search and singleton-detection) could be employed. Importantly this relationship was entirely independent of variation in attention control, which suggests that this effect is driven by WMC-related long-term memory differences (Cosman & Vecera, 2013a, 2013b). The present set of findings help to further our understanding of the nuanced ways in which memory and attention interact. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

When memory is not enough: Electrophysiological evidence for goal-dependent use of working memory representations in guiding visual attention

PubMed Central

Carlisle, Nancy B.; Woodman, Geoffrey F.

2014-01-01

Biased competition theory proposes that representations in working memory drive visual attention to select similar inputs. However, behavioral tests of this hypothesis have led to mixed results. These inconsistent findings could be due to the inability of behavioral measures to reliably detect the early, automatic effects on attentional deployment that the memory representations exert. Alternatively, executive mechanisms may govern how working memory representations influence attention based on higher-level goals. In the present study, we tested these hypotheses using the N2pc component of participants’ event-related potentials (ERPs) to directly measure the early deployments of covert attention. Participants searched for a target in an array that sometimes contained a memory-matching distractor. In Experiments 1–3, we manipulated the difficulty of the target discrimination and the proximity of distractors, but consistently observed that covert attention was deployed to the search targets and not the memory-matching distractors. In Experiment 4, we showed that when participants’ goal involved attending to memory-matching items that these items elicited a large and early N2pc. Our findings demonstrate that working memory representations alone are not sufficient to guide early deployments of visual attention to matching inputs and that goal-dependent executive control mediates the interactions between working memory representations and visual attention. PMID:21254796

Attention allocation: Relationships to general working memory or specific language processing.

PubMed

Archibald, Lisa M D; Levee, Tyler; Olino, Thomas

2015-11-01

Attention allocation, updating working memory, and language processing are interdependent cognitive tasks related to the focused direction of limited resources, refreshing and substituting information in the current focus of attention, and receiving/sending verbal communication, respectively. The current study systematically examined the relationship among executive attention, working memory executive skills, and language abilities while adjusting for individual differences in short-term memory. School-age children completed a selective attention task requiring them to recall whether a presented shape was in the same place as a previous target shape shown in an array imposing a low or high working memory load. Results revealed a selective attention cost when working above but not within memory span capacity. Measures of general working memory were positively related to overall task performance, whereas language abilities were related to response time. In particular, higher language skills were associated with faster responses under low load conditions. These findings suggest that attentional control and storage demands have an additive impact on working memory resources but provide only limited evidence for a domain-general mechanism in language learning. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Formula: see text]Differences in memory functioning between children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and/or focal epilepsy.

PubMed

Lee, Sylvia E; Kibby, Michelle Y; Cohen, Morris J; Stanford, Lisa; Park, Yong; Strickland, Suzanne

2016-01-01

Prior research has shown that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and epilepsy are frequently comorbid and that both disorders are associated with various attention and memory problems. Nonetheless, limited research has been conducted comparing the two disorders in one sample to determine unique versus shared deficits. Hence, we investigated differences in working memory (WM) and short-term and delayed recall between children with ADHD, focal epilepsy of mixed foci, comorbid ADHD/epilepsy and controls. Participants were compared on the Core subtests and the Picture Locations subtest of the Children's Memory Scale (CMS). Results indicated that children with ADHD displayed intact verbal WM and long-term memory (LTM), as well as intact performance on most aspects of short-term memory (STM). They performed worse than controls on Numbers Forward and Picture Locations, suggesting problems with focused attention and simple span for visual-spatial material. Conversely, children with epilepsy displayed poor focused attention and STM regardless of the modality assessed, which affected encoding into LTM. The only loss over time was found for passages (Stories). WM was intact. Children with comorbid ADHD/epilepsy displayed focused attention and STM/LTM problems consistent with both disorders, having the lowest scores across the four groups. Hence, focused attention and visual-spatial span appear to be affected in both disorders, whereas additional STM/encoding problems are specific to epilepsy. Children with comorbid ADHD/epilepsy have deficits consistent with both disorders, with slight additive effects. This study suggests that attention and memory testing should be a regular part of the evaluation of children with epilepsy and ADHD.

Visual working memory capacity increases between ages 3 and 8 years, controlling for gains in attention, perception, and executive control.

PubMed

Pailian, Hrag; Libertus, Melissa E; Feigenson, Lisa; Halberda, Justin

2016-08-01

Research in adults has aimed to characterize constraints on the capacity of Visual Working Memory (VWM), in part because of the system's broader impacts throughout cognition. However, less is known about how VWM develops in childhood. Existing work has reached conflicting conclusions as to whether VWM storage capacity increases after infancy, and if so, when and by how much. One challenge is that previous studies did not control for developmental changes in attention and executive processing, which also may undergo improvement. We investigated the development of VWM storage capacity in children from 3 to 8 years of age, and in adults, while controlling for developmental change in exogenous and endogenous attention and executive control. Our results reveal that, when controlling for improvements in these abilities, VWM storage capacity increases across development and approaches adult-like levels between ages 6 and 8 years. More generally, this work highlights the value of estimating working memory, attention, perception, and decision-making components together.

The Control of Single-color and Multiple-color Visual Search by Attentional Templates in Working Memory and in Long-term Memory.

PubMed

Grubert, Anna; Carlisle, Nancy B; Eimer, Martin

2016-12-01

The question whether target selection in visual search can be effectively controlled by simultaneous attentional templates for multiple features is still under dispute. We investigated whether multiple-color attentional guidance is possible when target colors remain constant and can thus be represented in long-term memory but not when they change frequently and have to be held in working memory. Participants searched for one, two, or three possible target colors that were specified by cue displays at the start of each trial. In constant-color blocks, the same colors remained task-relevant throughout. In variable-color blocks, target colors changed between trials. The contralateral delay activity (CDA) to cue displays increased in amplitude as a function of color memory load in variable-color blocks, which indicates that cued target colors were held in working memory. In constant-color blocks, the CDA was much smaller, suggesting that color representations were primarily stored in long-term memory. N2pc components to targets were measured as a marker of attentional target selection. Target N2pcs were attenuated and delayed during multiple-color search, demonstrating less efficient attentional deployment to color-defined target objects relative to single-color search. Importantly, these costs were the same in constant-color and variable-color blocks. These results demonstrate that attentional guidance by multiple-feature as compared with single-feature templates is less efficient both when target features remain constant and can be represented in long-term memory and when they change across trials and therefore have to be maintained in working memory.

Visual Short-Term Memory Activity in Parietal Lobe Reflects Cognitive Processes beyond Attentional Selection.

PubMed

Sheremata, Summer L; Somers, David C; Shomstein, Sarah

2018-02-07

Visual short-term memory (VSTM) and attention are distinct yet interrelated processes. While both require selection of information across the visual field, memory additionally requires the maintenance of information across time and distraction. VSTM recruits areas within human (male and female) dorsal and ventral parietal cortex that are also implicated in spatial selection; therefore, it is important to determine whether overlapping activation might reflect shared attentional demands. Here, identical stimuli and controlled sustained attention across both tasks were used to ask whether fMRI signal amplitude, functional connectivity, and contralateral visual field bias reflect memory-specific task demands. While attention and VSTM activated similar cortical areas, BOLD amplitude and functional connectivity in parietal cortex differentiated the two tasks. Relative to attention, VSTM increased BOLD amplitude in dorsal parietal cortex and decreased BOLD amplitude in the angular gyrus. Additionally, the tasks differentially modulated parietal functional connectivity. Contrasting VSTM and attention, intraparietal sulcus (IPS) 1-2 were more strongly connected with anterior frontoparietal areas and more weakly connected with posterior regions. This divergence between tasks demonstrates that parietal activation reflects memory-specific functions and consequently modulates functional connectivity across the cortex. In contrast, both tasks demonstrated hemispheric asymmetries for spatial processing, exhibiting a stronger contralateral visual field bias in the left versus the right hemisphere across tasks, suggesting that asymmetries are characteristic of a shared selection process in IPS. These results demonstrate that parietal activity and patterns of functional connectivity distinguish VSTM from more general attention processes, establishing a central role of the parietal cortex in maintaining visual information. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Visual short-term memory (VSTM) and attention are distinct yet interrelated processes. Cognitive mechanisms and neural activity underlying these tasks show a large degree of overlap. To examine whether activity within the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) reflects object maintenance across distraction or sustained attention per se, it is necessary to control for attentional demands inherent in VSTM tasks. We demonstrate that activity in PPC reflects VSTM demands even after controlling for attention; remembering items across distraction modulates relationships between parietal and other areas differently than during periods of sustained attention. Our study fills a gap in the literature by directly comparing and controlling for overlap between visual attention and VSTM tasks. Copyright © 2018 the authors 0270-6474/18/381511-09$15.00/0.

Alzheimer Disease Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers Moderate Baseline Differences and Predict Longitudinal Change in Attentional Control and Episodic Memory Composites in the Adult Children Study

PubMed Central

Aschenbrenner, Andrew J.; Balota, David A.; Fagan, Anne M.; Duchek, Janet M.; Benzinger, Tammie L.S.; Morris, John C.

2015-01-01

Objective Cognitive measures that are sensitive to biological markers of Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology are needed in order to (a) facilitate preclinical staging, (b) identify individuals who are at the highest risk for developing clinical symptoms and (c) serve as endpoints for evaluating the efficacy of interventions. The present study assesses the utility of two cognitive composite scores of attentional control and episodic memory as markers for preclinical AD pathology in a group of cognitively normal older adults (N = 238), as part of the Adult Children Study. Method All participants were given a baseline cognitive assessment and follow-up assessments every 3 years over an 8-year period, as well as a lumbar puncture within two years of the initial assessment to collect cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and a PET-PIB scan for amyloid imaging. Results Results indicated that attentional control was correlated with levels of Aβ42 at the initial assessment whereas episodic memory was not. Longitudinally, individuals with high CSF tau exhibited a decline in both attention and episodic memory over the course of the study. Conclusion These results indicate that measures of attentional control and episodic memory can be utilized to evaluate cognitive decline in preclinical AD and provide support that CSF tau may be a key mechanism driving longitudinal cognitive change. PMID:26416094

Alzheimer Disease Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers Moderate Baseline Differences and Predict Longitudinal Change in Attentional Control and Episodic Memory Composites in the Adult Children Study.

PubMed

Aschenbrenner, Andrew J; Balota, David A; Fagan, Anne M; Duchek, Janet M; Benzinger, Tammie L S; Morris, John C

2015-09-01

Cognitive measures that are sensitive to biological markers of Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology are needed to (a) facilitate preclinical staging, (b) identify individuals who are at the highest risk for developing clinical symptoms, and (c) serve as endpoints for evaluating the efficacy of interventions. The present study assesses the utility of two cognitive composite scores of attentional control and episodic memory as markers for preclinical AD pathology in a group of cognitively normal older adults (N = 238), as part of the Adult Children Study. All participants were given a baseline cognitive assessment and follow-up assessments every 3 years over an 8-year period, as well as a lumbar puncture within 2 years of the initial assessment to collect cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and amyloid tracer Pittsburgh compound-B scan for amyloid imaging. Results indicated that attentional control was correlated with levels of Aβ42 at the initial assessment whereas episodic memory was not. Longitudinally, individuals with high CSF tau exhibited a decline in both attention and episodic memory over the course of the study. These results indicate that measures of attentional control and episodic memory can be used to evaluate cognitive decline in preclinical AD and provide support that CSF tau may be a key mechanism driving longitudinal cognitive change.

A single dose of cocaine enhances prospective memory performance.

PubMed

Hutten, Nadia Rpw; Kuypers, Kim Pc; van Wel, Janelle Hp; Theunissen, Eef L; Toennes, Stefan W; Verkes, Robbert-Jan; Ramaekers, Johannes G

2018-06-01

Prospective memory is the ability to recall intended actions or events at the right time or in the right context. While cannabis is known to impair prospective memory, the acute effect of cocaine is unknown. In addition, it is not clear whether changes in prospective memory represent specific alterations in memory processing or result from more general effects on cognition that spread across multiple domains such as arousal and attention. The main objective of the study was, therefore, to determine whether drug-induced changes in prospective memory are memory specific or associated with more general drug-induced changes in attention and arousal. A placebo-controlled, three-way, cross-over study including 15 regular poly-drug users was set up to test the influence of oral cocaine (300 mg) and vaporised cannabis (300+150 'booster' µg/kg bodyweight) on an event-based prospective memory task. Attentional performance was assessed using a divided attention task and subjective arousal was assessed with the Profile of Mood States questionnaire. Results showed that cocaine enhanced prospective memory, attention and arousal. Mean performance of prospective memory and attention, as well as levels of arousal were lowest during treatment with cannabis as compared with placebo and cocaine as evinced by a significantly increased trend across treatment conditions. Prospective memory performance was only weakly positively associated to measures of attention and arousal. Together, these results indicate that cocaine enhancement of prospective memory performance cannot be fully explained by parallel changes in arousal and attention levels, and is likely to represent a direct change in the neural network underlying prospective memory.

Sex-specific cognitive abnormalities in early-onset psychosis.

PubMed

Ruiz-Veguilla, Miguel; Moreno-Granados, Josefa; Salcedo-Marin, Maria D; Barrigon, Maria L; Blanco-Morales, Maria J; Igunza, Evelio; Cañabate, Anselmo; Garcia, Maria D; Guijarro, Teresa; Diaz-Atienza, Francisco; Ferrin, Maite

2017-01-01

Brain maturation differs depending on the area of the brain and sex. Girls show an earlier peak in maturation of the prefrontal cortex. Although differences between adult females and males with schizophrenia have been widely studied, there has been less research in girls and boys with psychosis. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in verbal and visual memory, verbal working memory, auditory attention, processing speed, and cognitive flexibility between boys and girls. We compared a group of 80 boys and girls with first-episode psychosis to a group of controls. We found interactions between group and sex in verbal working memory (p = 0.04) and auditory attention (p = 0.01). The female controls showed better working memory (p = 0.01) and auditory attention (p = 0.001) than males. However, we did not find any sex differences in working memory (p = 0.91) or auditory attention (p = 0.93) in the psychosis group. These results are consistent with the presence of sex-modulated cognitive profiles at first presentation of early-onset psychosis.

Escaping Capture: Bilingualism Modulates Distraction from Working Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hernandez, Mireia; Costa, Albert; Humphreys, Glyn W.

2012-01-01

We ask whether bilingualism aids cognitive control over the inadvertent guidance of visual attention from working memory and from bottom-up cueing. We compare highly-proficient Catalan-Spanish bilinguals with Spanish monolinguals in three visual search conditions. In the working memory (WM) condition, attention was driven in a top-down fashion by…

Keeping priorities: the role of working memory and selective attention in cognitive aging.

PubMed

de Fockert, Jan W

2005-11-02

Cognitive aging is associated with impairments to working memory and top-down control in selective attention, two components of cognitive control associated with the frontal lobes. Recent findings indicate that working memory and selective attention may be interdependent, making a better understanding of their involvement in cognitive aging particularly challenging. A paper in a recent issue of Nature Neuroscience has provided evidence that a reduction in the ability to keep a clear distinction between information to be stored in working memory and information that should be ignored and subsequently suppressed is associated with poor working memory performance. These results are in line with previous evidence for a specific age-related impairment in the ability to separate irrelevant from relevant information and may be able to explain a range of age-related cognitive changes.

Effects of working memory load on visual selective attention: behavioral and electrophysiological evidence.

PubMed

Pratt, Nikki; Willoughby, Adrian; Swick, Diane

2011-01-01

Working memory and attention interact in a way that enables us to focus on relevant items and maintain current goals. The influence of working memory on attention has been noted in several studies using dual task designs. Multitasking increases the demands on working memory and reduces the amount of resources available for cognitive control functions such as resolving stimulus conflict. However, few studies have investigated the temporal activation of the cortex while multitasking. The present study addresses the extent to which working memory load influences early (P1) and late (P300) attention-sensitive event-related potential components using a dual task paradigm. Participants performed an arrow flanker task alone (single task condition) or concurrently with a Sternberg memory task (dual task condition). In the flanker task, participants responded to the direction of a central arrow surrounded by congruent or incongruent arrows. In the dual task condition, participants were presented with a Sternberg task that consisted of either four or seven consonants to remember prior to a short block of flanker trials. Participants were slower and less accurate on incongruent versus congruent trials. Furthermore, accuracy on incongruent trials was reduced in both dual task conditions. Likewise, P300 amplitude to incongruent flanker stimuli decreased when working memory load increased. These findings suggest that interference from incongruent flankers was more difficult to suppress when working memory was taxed. In addition, P1 amplitude was diminished on all flanker trials in the dual task condition. This result indicates that top-down attentional control over early visual processing is diminished by increasing demands on working memory. Both the behavioral and electrophysiological results suggest that working memory is critical in maintaining attentional focus and resolving conflict.

Effects of Working Memory Load on Visual Selective Attention: Behavioral and Electrophysiological Evidence

PubMed Central

Pratt, Nikki; Willoughby, Adrian; Swick, Diane

2011-01-01

Working memory and attention interact in a way that enables us to focus on relevant items and maintain current goals. The influence of working memory on attention has been noted in several studies using dual task designs. Multitasking increases the demands on working memory and reduces the amount of resources available for cognitive control functions such as resolving stimulus conflict. However, few studies have investigated the temporal activation of the cortex while multitasking. The present study addresses the extent to which working memory load influences early (P1) and late (P300) attention-sensitive event-related potential components using a dual task paradigm. Participants performed an arrow flanker task alone (single task condition) or concurrently with a Sternberg memory task (dual task condition). In the flanker task, participants responded to the direction of a central arrow surrounded by congruent or incongruent arrows. In the dual task condition, participants were presented with a Sternberg task that consisted of either four or seven consonants to remember prior to a short block of flanker trials. Participants were slower and less accurate on incongruent versus congruent trials. Furthermore, accuracy on incongruent trials was reduced in both dual task conditions. Likewise, P300 amplitude to incongruent flanker stimuli decreased when working memory load increased. These findings suggest that interference from incongruent flankers was more difficult to suppress when working memory was taxed. In addition, P1 amplitude was diminished on all flanker trials in the dual task condition. This result indicates that top-down attentional control over early visual processing is diminished by increasing demands on working memory. Both the behavioral and electrophysiological results suggest that working memory is critical in maintaining attentional focus and resolving conflict. PMID:21716633

The role of controlled attention on recall in major depression

PubMed Central

Ellis, Alissa J.; Wells, Tony T.; Vanderlind, W. Michael; Beevers, Christopher G.

2013-01-01

Information processing biases are hallmark features of major depressive disorder (MDD). Depressed individuals display biased memory and attention for negative material. Given that memory is highly dependent on attention for initial encoding, understanding the interplay of these processes may provide important insight into mechanisms that produce memory biases in depression. In particular, attentional control—the ability to selectively attend to task-relevant information by both inhibiting the processing of irrelevant information and disengaging attention from irrelevant material—may be one area of impairment in MDD. In the current study, clinically depressed (MDD: n = 15) and never depressed (non- MDD: n = 22) participants’ line of visual gaze was assessed while participants viewed positive and negative word pairs. For each word pair, participants were instructed to attend to one word (target) and ignore one word (distracter). Free recall of study stimuli was then assessed. Depressed individuals displayed greater recall of negatively valenced target words following the task. Although there were no group differences in attentional control in the context of negative words, attention to negative targets mediated the relationship between depression status and recall of negative words. Results suggest a stronger link between attention and memory for negative material in MDD. PMID:24006889

Incidental biasing of attention from visual long-term memory.

PubMed

Fan, Judith E; Turk-Browne, Nicholas B

2016-06-01

Holding recently experienced information in mind can help us achieve our current goals. However, such immediate and direct forms of guidance from working memory are less helpful over extended delays or when other related information in long-term memory is useful for reaching these goals. Here we show that information that was encoded in the past but is no longer present or relevant to the task also guides attention. We examined this by associating multiple unique features with novel shapes in visual long-term memory (VLTM), and subsequently testing how memories for these objects biased the deployment of attention. In Experiment 1, VLTM for associated features guided visual search for the shapes, even when these features had never been task-relevant. In Experiment 2, associated features captured attention when presented in isolation during a secondary task that was completely unrelated to the shapes. These findings suggest that long-term memory enables a durable and automatic type of memory-based attentional control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Automatic and strategic effects in the guidance of attention by working memory representations

PubMed Central

Carlisle, Nancy B.; Woodman, Geoffrey F.

2010-01-01

Theories of visual attention suggest that working memory representations automatically guide attention toward memory-matching objects. Some empirical tests of this prediction have produced results consistent with working memory automatically guiding attention. However, others have shown that individuals can strategically control whether working memory representations guide visual attention. Previous studies have not independently measured automatic and strategic contributions to the interactions between working memory and attention. In this study, we used a classic manipulation of the probability of valid, neutral, and invalid cues to tease apart the nature of such interactions. This framework utilizes measures of reaction time (RT) to quantify the costs and benefits of attending to memory-matching items and infer the relative magnitudes of automatic and strategic effects. We found both costs and benefits even when the memory-matching item was no more likely to be the target than other items, indicating an automatic component of attentional guidance. However, the costs and benefits essentially doubled as the probability of a trial with a valid cue increased from 20% to 80%, demonstrating a potent strategic effect. We also show that the instructions given to participants led to a significant change in guidance distinct from the actual probability of events during the experiment. Together, these findings demonstrate that the influence of working memory representations on attention is driven by both automatic and strategic interactions. PMID:20643386

Automatic and strategic effects in the guidance of attention by working memory representations.

PubMed

Carlisle, Nancy B; Woodman, Geoffrey F

2011-06-01

Theories of visual attention suggest that working memory representations automatically guide attention toward memory-matching objects. Some empirical tests of this prediction have produced results consistent with working memory automatically guiding attention. However, others have shown that individuals can strategically control whether working memory representations guide visual attention. Previous studies have not independently measured automatic and strategic contributions to the interactions between working memory and attention. In this study, we used a classic manipulation of the probability of valid, neutral, and invalid cues to tease apart the nature of such interactions. This framework utilizes measures of reaction time (RT) to quantify the costs and benefits of attending to memory-matching items and infer the relative magnitudes of automatic and strategic effects. We found both costs and benefits even when the memory-matching item was no more likely to be the target than other items, indicating an automatic component of attentional guidance. However, the costs and benefits essentially doubled as the probability of a trial with a valid cue increased from 20% to 80%, demonstrating a potent strategic effect. We also show that the instructions given to participants led to a significant change in guidance distinct from the actual probability of events during the experiment. Together, these findings demonstrate that the influence of working memory representations on attention is driven by both automatic and strategic interactions. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Attention and Working Memory in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Functional MRI Study.

PubMed

Rahko, Jukka S; Vuontela, Virve A; Carlson, Synnöve; Nikkinen, Juha; Hurtig, Tuula M; Kuusikko-Gauffin, Sanna; Mattila, Marja-Leena; Jussila, Katja K; Remes, Jukka J; Jansson-Verkasalo, Eira M; Aronen, Eeva T; Pauls, David L; Ebeling, Hanna E; Tervonen, Osmo; Moilanen, Irma K; Kiviniemi, Vesa J

2016-06-01

The present study examined attention and memory load-dependent differences in the brain activation and deactivation patterns between adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and typically developing (TD) controls using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Attentional (0-back) and working memory (WM; 2-back) processing and load differences (0 vs. 2-back) were analysed. WM-related areas activated and default mode network deactivated normally in ASDs as a function of task load. ASDs performed the attentional 0-back task similarly to TD controls but showed increased deactivation in cerebellum and right temporal cortical areas and weaker activation in other cerebellar areas. Increasing task load resulted in multiple responses in ASDs compared to TD and in inadequate modulation of brain activity in right insula, primary somatosensory, motor and auditory cortices. The changes during attentional task may reflect compensatory mechanisms enabling normal behavioral performance. The inadequate memory load-dependent modulation of activity suggests diminished compensatory potential in ASD.

Attention and memory impairments in pediatric patients with cystic fibrosis and inflammatory bowel disease in comparison to healthy controls.

PubMed

Piasecki, Bartosz; Stanisławska-Kubiak, Maia; Strzelecki, Wojciech; Mojs, Ewa

2017-10-01

The main aim of the study was to analyze and compare attention and memory performance in pediatric patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and in healthy controls. 28 patients with CF, 30 patients with IBD and 30 healthy subjects took part in the study (all in age range of 7-17). All subjects were in intellectual norm. To analyze the functioning of attention, the d2 Test of Attention by Brickenkamp (d2 test) was applied. Memory performance was assessed using the Benton Visual Retention Test (BVRT) and the Trial of 10 words. The CF and IBD groups committed significantly more errors in the d2 test than the healthy controls. The CF group also had significantly higher fluctuation rates and received significantly lower scores in overall concentration performance than the control group. Patients with CF made more mistakes and had fewer correct memory projections in BVRT than the healthy controls. Patients with IBD committed significantly more errors in BVRT than the control group. Patients with CF and IBD also got significantly lower scores in the Trial of 10 words than the control group. Pediatric patients with CF and IBD performed more poorly than the healthy controls on attention and memory tests. More distinct cognitive impairments were observed in the CF group. Further research is needed to find the underlying mechanisms and clinical and/or functional significance of observed cognitive deficits. © American Federation for Medical Research (unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Improving attention control in dysphoria through cognitive training: transfer effects on working memory capacity and filtering efficiency.

PubMed

Owens, Max; Koster, Ernst H W; Derakshan, Nazanin

2013-03-01

Impaired filtering of irrelevant information from working memory is thought to underlie reduced working memory capacity for relevant information in dysphoria. The current study investigated whether training-related gains in working memory performance on the adaptive dual n-back task could result in improved inhibitory function. Efficacy of training was monitored in a change detection paradigm allowing measurement of a sustained event-related potential asymmetry sensitive to working memory capacity and the efficient filtering of irrelevant information. Dysphoric participants in the training group showed training-related gains in working memory that were accompanied by gains in working memory capacity and filtering efficiency compared to an active control group. Results provide important initial evidence that behavioral performance and neural function in dysphoria can be improved by facilitating greater attentional control. Copyright © 2013 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Overlapping parietal activity in memory and perception: evidence for the attention to memory model.

PubMed

Cabeza, Roberto; Mazuz, Yonatan S; Stokes, Jared; Kragel, James E; Woldorff, Marty G; Ciaramelli, Elisa; Olson, Ingrid R; Moscovitch, Morris

2011-11-01

The specific role of different parietal regions to episodic retrieval is a topic of intense debate. According to the Attention to Memory (AtoM) model, dorsal parietal cortex (DPC) mediates top-down attention processes guided by retrieval goals, whereas ventral parietal cortex (VPC) mediates bottom-up attention processes captured by the retrieval output or the retrieval cue. This model also hypothesizes that the attentional functions of DPC and VPC are similar for memory and perception. To investigate this last hypothesis, we scanned participants with event-related fMRI whereas they performed memory and perception tasks, each comprising an orienting phase (top-down attention) and a detection phase (bottom-up attention). The study yielded two main findings. First, consistent with the AtoM model, orienting-related activity for memory and perception overlapped in DPC, whereas detection-related activity for memory and perception overlapped in VPC. The DPC overlap was greater in the left intraparietal sulcus, and the VPC overlap in the left TPJ. Around overlapping areas, there were differences in the spatial distribution of memory and perception activations, which were consistent with trends reported in the literature. Second, both DPC and VPC showed stronger connectivity with medial-temporal lobe during the memory task and with visual cortex during the perception task. These findings suggest that, during memory tasks, some parietal regions mediate similar attentional control processes to those involved in perception tasks (orienting in DPC vs. detection in VPC), although on different types of information (mnemonic vs. sensory).

Structural Dissociation of Attentional Control and Memory in Adults with and without Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Niogi, Sumit N.; Mukherjee, Pratik; Ghajar, Jamshid; Johnson, Carl E.; Kolster, Rachel; Lee, Hana; Suh, Minah; Zimmerman, Robert D.; Manley, Geoffrey T.; McCandliss, Bruce D.

2008-01-01

Memory and attentional control impairments are the two most common forms of dysfunction following mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) and lead to significant morbidity in patients, yet these functions are thought to be supported by different brain networks. This 3 T magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) study investigates whether…

Phonological Memory, Attention Control, and Musical Ability: Effects of Individual Differences on Rater Judgments of Second Language Speech

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Isaacs, Talia; Trofimovich, Pavel

2011-01-01

This study examines how listener judgments of second language speech relate to individual differences in listeners' phonological memory, attention control, and musical ability. Sixty native English listeners (30 music majors, 30 nonmusic majors) rated 40 nonnative speech samples for accentedness, comprehensibility, and fluency. The listeners were…

Neuropsychological functioning in older people with type 2 diabetes: the effect of controlling for confounding factors.

PubMed

Asimakopoulou, K G; Hampson, S E; Morrish, N J

2002-04-01

Neuropsychological functioning was examined in a group of 33 older (mean age 62.40 +/- 9.62 years) people with Type 2 diabetes (Group 1) and 33 non-diabetic participants matched with Group 1 on age, sex, premorbid intelligence and presence of hypertension and cardio/cerebrovascular conditions (Group 2). Data statistically corrected for confounding factors obtained from the diabetic group were compared with the matched control group. The results suggested small cognitive deficits in diabetic people's verbal memory and mental flexibility (Logical Memory A and SS7). No differences were seen between the two samples in simple and complex visuomotor attention, sustained complex visual attention, attention efficiency, mental double tracking, implicit memory, and self-reported memory problems. These findings indicate minimal cognitive impairment in relatively uncomplicated Type 2 diabetes and demonstrate the importance of control and matching for confounding factors.

Attentional control activation relates to working memory in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

PubMed

Burgess, Gregory C; Depue, Brendan E; Ruzic, Luka; Willcutt, Erik G; Du, Yiping P; Banich, Marie T

2010-04-01

Attentional control difficulties in individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) might reflect poor working memory (WM) ability, especially because WM ability and attentional control rely on similar brain regions. The current study examined whether WM ability might explain group differences in brain activation between adults with ADHD and normal control subjects during attentional demand. Participants were 20 adults with ADHD combined subtype with no comorbid psychiatric or learning disorders and 23 control subjects similar in age, IQ, and gender. The WM measures were obtained from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III and Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised. Brain activation was assessed with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing a Color-Word Stroop task. Group differences in WM ability explained a portion of the activation in left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), which has been related to the creation and maintenance of an attentional set for task-relevant information. In addition, greater WM ability predicted increased activation of brain regions related to stimulus-driven attention and response selection processes in the ADHD group but not in the control group. The inability to maintain an appropriate task set in young adults with combined type ADHD, associated with decreased activity in left DLPFC, might in part be due to poor WM ability. Furthermore, in individuals with ADHD, higher WM ability might relate to increased recruitment of stimulus-driven attention and response selection processes, perhaps as a compensatory strategy. Copyright 2010 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Working memory and attentional bias on reinforcing efficacy of food.

PubMed

Carr, Katelyn A; Epstein, Leonard H

2017-09-01

Reinforcing efficacy of food, or the relationship between food prices and purchasing, is related to obesity status and energy intake in adults. Determining how to allocate resources for food is a decision making process influenced by executive functions. Attention to appetitive cues, as well as working memory capacity, or the ability to flexibly control attention while mentally retaining information, may be important executive functions involved in food purchasing decisions. In two studies, we examined how attention bias to food and working memory capacity are related to reinforcing efficacy of both high energy-dense and low energy-dense foods. The first study examined 48 women of varying body mass index (BMI) and found that the relationship between attentional processes and reinforcing efficacy was moderated by working memory capacity. Those who avoid food cues and had high working memory capacity had the lowest reinforcing efficacy, as compared to those with low working memory capacity. Study 2 systematically replicated the methods of study 1 with assessment of maintained attention in a sample of 48 overweight/obese adults. Results showed the relationship between maintained attention to food cues and reinforcing efficacy was moderated by working memory capacity. Those with a maintained attention to food and high working memory capacity had higher reinforcing efficacy than low working memory capacity individuals. These studies suggest working memory capacity moderated the relationship between different aspects of attention and food reinforcement. Understanding how decision making process are involved in reinforcing efficacy may help to identify future intervention targets. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Pilot Classroom-Based Study of Attention and Working Memory Strategies for Primary-Aged Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colmar, Susan; Davis, Nash; Sheldon, Linda

2016-01-01

An exploratory applied study, using a set of attention and working memory strategies specifically developed for students and named Memory Mates, was completed with normally developing students attending a primary school. Students in one classroom received the intervention, while the other classroom functioned as a control group. The study was…

fMRI: blood oxygen level-dependent activation during a working memory-selective attention task in children born extremely preterm.

PubMed

Griffiths, Silja Torvik; Gundersen, Hilde; Neto, Emanuel; Elgen, Irene; Markestad, Trond; Aukland, Stein M; Hugdahl, Kenneth

2013-08-01

Extremely preterm (EPT)/extremely low-birth-weight (ELBW) children attaining school age and adolescence often have problems with executive functions such as working memory and selective attention. Our aim was to investigate a hypothesized difference in blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) activation during a selective attention-working memory task in EPT/ELBW children as compared with term-born controls. A regional cohort of 28 EPT/ELBW children and 28 term-born controls underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning at 11 y of age while performing a combined Stroop n-back task. Group differences in BOLD activation were analyzed with Statistical Parametric Mapping 8 analysis software package, and reaction times (RTs) and response accuracy (RA) were compared in a multifactorial ANOVA test. The BOLD activation pattern in the preterm group involved the same areas (cingulate, prefrontal, and parietal cortexes), but all areas displayed significantly less activation than those in the control group, particularly when the cognitive load was increased. The RA results corresponded with the activation data in that the preterm group had significantly fewer correct responses. No group difference was found regarding RTs. Children born EPT/ELBW displayed reduced working memory and selective attention capacity as compared with term-born controls. These impairments had neuronal correlates with reduced BOLD activation in areas responsible for online stimulus monitoring, working memory, and cognitive control.

Impaired Contingent Attentional Capture Predicts Reduced Working Memory Capacity in Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Mayer, Jutta S.; Fukuda, Keisuke; Vogel, Edward K.; Park, Sohee

2012-01-01

Although impairments in working memory (WM) are well documented in schizophrenia, the specific factors that cause these deficits are poorly understood. In this study, we hypothesized that a heightened susceptibility to attentional capture at an early stage of visual processing would result in working memory encoding problems. 30 patients with schizophrenia and 28 demographically matched healthy participants were presented with a search array and asked to report the orientation of the target stimulus. In some of the trials, a flanker stimulus preceded the search array that either matched the color of the target (relevant-flanker capture) or appeared in a different color (irrelevant-flanker capture). Working memory capacity was determined in each individual using the visual change detection paradigm. Patients needed considerably more time to find the target in the no-flanker condition. After adjusting the individual exposure time, both groups showed equivalent capture costs in the irrelevant-flanker condition. However, in the relevant-flanker condition, capture costs were increased in patients compared to controls when the stimulus onset asynchrony between the flanker and the search array was high. Moreover, the increase in relevant capture costs correlated negatively with working memory capacity. This study demonstrates preserved stimulus-driven attentional capture but impaired contingent attentional capture associated with low working memory capacity in schizophrenia. These findings suggest a selective impairment of top-down attentional control in schizophrenia, which may impair working memory encoding. PMID:23152783

Impaired contingent attentional capture predicts reduced working memory capacity in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Mayer, Jutta S; Fukuda, Keisuke; Vogel, Edward K; Park, Sohee

2012-01-01

Although impairments in working memory (WM) are well documented in schizophrenia, the specific factors that cause these deficits are poorly understood. In this study, we hypothesized that a heightened susceptibility to attentional capture at an early stage of visual processing would result in working memory encoding problems. 30 patients with schizophrenia and 28 demographically matched healthy participants were presented with a search array and asked to report the orientation of the target stimulus. In some of the trials, a flanker stimulus preceded the search array that either matched the color of the target (relevant-flanker capture) or appeared in a different color (irrelevant-flanker capture). Working memory capacity was determined in each individual using the visual change detection paradigm. Patients needed considerably more time to find the target in the no-flanker condition. After adjusting the individual exposure time, both groups showed equivalent capture costs in the irrelevant-flanker condition. However, in the relevant-flanker condition, capture costs were increased in patients compared to controls when the stimulus onset asynchrony between the flanker and the search array was high. Moreover, the increase in relevant capture costs correlated negatively with working memory capacity. This study demonstrates preserved stimulus-driven attentional capture but impaired contingent attentional capture associated with low working memory capacity in schizophrenia. These findings suggest a selective impairment of top-down attentional control in schizophrenia, which may impair working memory encoding.

Memory Meets Control in Hippocampal and Striatal Binding of Stimuli, Responses, and Attentional Control States

PubMed Central

Brashier, Nadia M.

2015-01-01

The human brain encodes experience in an integrative fashion by binding together the various features of an event (i.e., stimuli and responses) into memory “event files.” A subsequent reoccurrence of an event feature can then cue the retrieval of the memory file to “prime” cognition and action. Intriguingly, recent behavioral studies indicate that, in addition to linking concrete stimulus and response features, event coding may also incorporate more abstract, “internal” event features such as attentional control states. In the present study, we used fMRI in healthy human volunteers to determine the neural mechanisms supporting this type of holistic event binding. Specifically, we combined fMRI with a task protocol that dissociated the expression of event feature-binding effects pertaining to concrete stimulus and response features, stimulus categories, and attentional control demands. Using multivariate neural pattern classification, we show that the hippocampus and putamen integrate event attributes across all of these levels in conjunction with other regions representing concrete-feature-selective (primarily visual cortex), category-selective (posterior frontal cortex), and control demand-selective (insula, caudate, anterior cingulate, and parietal cortex) event information. Together, these results suggest that the hippocampus and putamen are involved in binding together holistic event memories that link physical stimulus and response characteristics with internal representations of stimulus categories and attentional control states. These bindings then presumably afford shortcuts to adaptive information processing and response selection in the face of recurring events. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Memory binds together the different features of our experience, such as an observed stimulus and concurrent motor responses, into so-called event files. Recent behavioral studies suggest that the observer's internal attentional state might also become integrated into the event memory. Here, we used fMRI to determine the brain areas responsible for binding together event information pertaining to concrete stimulus and response features, stimulus categories, and internal attentional control states. We found that neural signals in the hippocampus and putamen contained information about all of these event attributes and could predict behavioral priming effects stemming from these features. Therefore, medial temporal lobe and dorsal striatum structures appear to be involved in binding internal control states to event memories. PMID:26538657

Effects of emotional content on working memory capacity.

PubMed

Garrison, Katie E; Schmeichel, Brandon J

2018-02-13

Emotional events tend to be remembered better than neutral events, but emotional states and stimuli may also interfere with cognitive processes that underlie memory performance. The current study investigated the effects of emotional content on working memory capacity (WMC), which involves both short term storage and executive attention control. We tested competing hypotheses in a preregistered experiment (N = 297). The emotional enhancement hypothesis predicts that emotional stimuli attract attention and additional processing resources relative to neutral stimuli, thereby making it easier to encode and store emotional information in WMC. The emotional impairment hypothesis, by contrast, predicts that emotional stimuli interfere with attention control and the active maintenance of information in working memory. Participants completed a common measure of WMC (the operation span task; Turner, M. L., & Engle, R. W. [1989]. Is working memory capacity task dependent? Journal of Memory and Language, 28, 127-154) that included either emotional or neutral words. Results revealed that WMC was reduced for emotional words relative to neutral words, consistent with the emotional impairment hypothesis.

Competition with and without priority control: linking rivalry to attention through winner-take-all networks with memory

PubMed Central

Marx, Svenja; Gruenhage, Gina; Walper, Daniel; Rutishauser, Ueli; Einhäuser, Wolfgang

2015-01-01

Competition is ubiquitous in perception. For example, items in the visual field compete for processing resources, and attention controls their priority (biased competition). The inevitable ambiguity in the interpretation of sensory signals yields another form of competition: distinct perceptual interpretations compete for access to awareness. Rivalry, where two equally likely percepts compete for dominance, explicates the latter form of competition. Building upon the similarity between attention and rivalry, we propose to model rivalry by a generic competitive circuit that is widely used in the attention literature—a winner-take-all (WTA) network. Specifically, we show that a network of two coupled WTA circuits replicates three common hallmarks of rivalry: the distribution of dominance durations, their dependence on input strength (“Levelt's propositions”), and the effects of stimulus removal (blanking). This model introduces a form of memory by forming discrete states and explains experimental data better than competitive models of rivalry without memory. This result supports the crucial role of memory in rivalry specifically and in competitive processes in general. Our approach unifies the seemingly distinct phenomena of rivalry, memory, and attention in a single model with competition as the common underlying principle. PMID:25581077

Recoding between Two Types of STM Representation Revealed by the Dynamics of Memory Search

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leszczynski, Marcin; Myers, Nicholas E.; Akyurek, Elkan G.; Schubo, Anna

2012-01-01

Visual STM (VSTM) is thought to be related to visual attention in several ways. Attention controls access to VSTM during memory encoding and plays a role in the maintenance of stored information by strengthening memorized content. We investigated the involvement of visual attention in recall from VSTM. In two experiments, we measured…

Aggregated effects of combining daily milk consumption and aerobic exercise on short-term memory and sustained attention among female students.

PubMed

Leong, In-Tyng; Moghadam, Sedigheh; Hashim, Hairul A

2015-02-01

Regular aerobic exercise and milk consumption have been found to have positive effects on certain cognitive functions such as short-term memory and sustained attention. However, aggregated effects of combining these modalities have not been explored. This study examined the combined effects of milk supplementation and aerobic exercise on the short-term memory and sustained attention of female students aged 16 yr. (N = 81). The intervention involved serving of 250 ml of regular milk during school days and/or a 1-hr. aerobic exercise period twice per week for 6 weeks. The Digit Span Test and Digit Vigilance Test were used to measure short-term memory and sustained attention, respectively. The combination group (milk and exercise) and exercise group performed significantly better than did the milk and control groups in terms of short-term memory. No significant interaction or group differences were found for sustained attention. The results suggest benefits of regular exercise for students' short-term memory.

The effects of adaptive working memory training and mindfulness meditation training on processing efficiency and worry in high worriers.

PubMed

Course-Choi, Jenna; Saville, Harry; Derakshan, Nazanin

2017-02-01

Worry is the principle characteristic of generalised anxiety disorder, and has been linked to deficient attentional control, a main function of working memory (WM). Adaptive WM training and mindfulness meditation practice (MMP) have both shown potential to increase attentional control. The present study hence investigates the individual and combined effects of MMP and a dual adaptive n-back task on a non-clinical, randomised sample of high worriers. 60 participants were tested before and after seven days of training. Assessment included self-report questionnaires, as well as performance tasks measuring attentional control and working memory capacity. Combined training resulted in continued reduction in worry in the week after training, highlighting the potential of utilising n-back training as an adjunct to established clinical treatment. Engagement with WM training correlated with immediate improvements in attentional control and resilience, with worry decreasing over time. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The role of working memory in auditory selective attention.

PubMed

Dalton, Polly; Santangelo, Valerio; Spence, Charles

2009-11-01

A growing body of research now demonstrates that working memory plays an important role in controlling the extent to which irrelevant visual distractors are processed during visual selective attention tasks (e.g., Lavie, Hirst, De Fockert, & Viding, 2004). Recently, it has been shown that the successful selection of tactile information also depends on the availability of working memory (Dalton, Lavie, & Spence, 2009). Here, we investigate whether working memory plays a role in auditory selective attention. Participants focused their attention on short continuous bursts of white noise (targets) while attempting to ignore pulsed bursts of noise (distractors). Distractor interference in this auditory task, as measured in terms of the difference in performance between congruent and incongruent distractor trials, increased significantly under high (vs. low) load in a concurrent working-memory task. These results provide the first evidence demonstrating a causal role for working memory in reducing interference by irrelevant auditory distractors.

Enhancing Spatial Attention and Working Memory in Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Rolle, Camarin E.; Anguera, Joaquin A.; Skinner, Sasha N.; Voytek, Bradley; Gazzaley, Adam

2018-01-01

Daily experiences demand both focused and broad allocation of attention for us to interact efficiently with our complex environments. Many types of attention have shown age-related decline, although there is also evidence that such deficits may be remediated with cognitive training. However, spatial attention abilities have shown inconsistent age-related differences, and the extent of potential enhancement of these abilities remains unknown. Here, we assessed spatial attention in both healthy younger and older adults and trained this ability in both age groups for 5 hr over the course of 2 weeks using a custom-made, computerized mobile training application. We compared training-related gains on a spatial attention assessment and spatial working memory task to age-matched controls who engaged in expectancy-matched, active placebo computerized training. Age-related declines in spatial attention abilities were observed regardless of task difficulty. Spatial attention training led to improved focused and distributed attention abilities as well as improved spatial working memory in both younger and older participants. No such improvements were observed in either of the age-matched control groups. Note that these findings were not a function of improvements in simple response time, as basic motoric function did not change after training. Furthermore, when using change in simple response time as a covariate, all findings remained significant. These results suggest that spatial attention training can lead to enhancements in spatial working memory regardless of age. PMID:28654361

Enhancing Spatial Attention and Working Memory in Younger and Older Adults.

PubMed

Rolle, Camarin E; Anguera, Joaquin A; Skinner, Sasha N; Voytek, Bradley; Gazzaley, Adam

2017-09-01

Daily experiences demand both focused and broad allocation of attention for us to interact efficiently with our complex environments. Many types of attention have shown age-related decline, although there is also evidence that such deficits may be remediated with cognitive training. However, spatial attention abilities have shown inconsistent age-related differences, and the extent of potential enhancement of these abilities remains unknown. Here, we assessed spatial attention in both healthy younger and older adults and trained this ability in both age groups for 5 hr over the course of 2 weeks using a custom-made, computerized mobile training application. We compared training-related gains on a spatial attention assessment and spatial working memory task to age-matched controls who engaged in expectancy-matched, active placebo computerized training. Age-related declines in spatial attention abilities were observed regardless of task difficulty. Spatial attention training led to improved focused and distributed attention abilities as well as improved spatial working memory in both younger and older participants. No such improvements were observed in either of the age-matched control groups. Note that these findings were not a function of improvements in simple response time, as basic motoric function did not change after training. Furthermore, when using change in simple response time as a covariate, all findings remained significant. These results suggest that spatial attention training can lead to enhancements in spatial working memory regardless of age.

Neural effects of cognitive control load on auditory selective attention

PubMed Central

Sabri, Merav; Humphries, Colin; Verber, Matthew; Liebenthal, Einat; Binder, Jeffrey R.; Mangalathu, Jain; Desai, Anjali

2014-01-01

Whether and how working memory disrupts or alters auditory selective attention is unclear. We compared simultaneous event-related potentials (ERP) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) responses associated with task-irrelevant sounds across high and low working memory load in a dichotic-listening paradigm. Participants performed n-back tasks (1-back, 2-back) in one ear (Attend ear) while ignoring task-irrelevant speech sounds in the other ear (Ignore ear). The effects of working memory load on selective attention were observed at 130-210 msec, with higher load resulting in greater irrelevant syllable-related activation in localizer-defined regions in auditory cortex. The interaction between memory load and presence of irrelevant information revealed stronger activations primarily in frontal and parietal areas due to presence of irrelevant information in the higher memory load. Joint independent component analysis of ERP and fMRI data revealed that the ERP component in the N1 time-range is associated with activity in superior temporal gyrus and medial prefrontal cortex. These results demonstrate a dynamic relationship between working memory load and auditory selective attention, in agreement with the load model of attention and the idea of common neural resources for memory and attention. PMID:24946314

A culture of striving augments use of working memory? Implications for attention control.

PubMed

Buszard, Tim; Masters, Rich S W

2017-01-01

A culture of striving was notable in the developmental background of many of the elite and super elite athletes in the Hardy et al. Critically, a culture of striving was credited with a positive influence on a range of issues relevant to elite sports performance, including performance under pressure. Of the six athletes who did not reveal a culture of striving, five reported the greatest difficulty performing in high-pressure situations. We suspect that a culture of striving facilitates the development of attention control ability, which subsequently assists performance under pressure. We discuss attention control from the perspective of working memory and hypothesize that a culture of striving trains individuals to maximize their working memory capacity. © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Attention and Working Memory in Female Adolescents With Chronic Pain and Pain-free Female Adolescents: A Preliminary Pilot Study.

PubMed

Mifflin, Katherine; Chorney, Jill; Dick, Bruce

2016-07-01

Adolescents with chronic pain often report inattention and poor memory. There has been little research on cognitive function in this population. The goal of this preliminary pilot study was to examine differences in cognitive function between adolescents with chronic pain to pain-free adolescents. All participants completed baseline assessments of pain, school absences, depression, anxiety, and sleep habits. Standardized neurocognitive tests were used to examine cognitive function with a focus on working memory and attention. Recruitment from the chronic pain clinic resulted in a female sample of 13 individuals (largely reflective of the clinical population). Pain-free age-matched and sex-matched individuals (n=12) were therefore also recruited as controls. Individuals with chronic pain had significantly lower working memory scores than controls. Differences were found between groups on the most difficult selective attention task and not on tests of sustained attention, divided attention, or attentional switching. In a stepwise regression with baseline characteristics entered in the first step, pain accounted for approximately 15% of the variance in working memory and medication score counted for 49% of the variance. This pilot study is the first study to examine differences in working memory and attention between participants with chronic pain and pain-free adolescents. Our findings suggest that chronic pain may negatively affect adolescents' working memory function and highlights the risk for cognitive difficulties and problems with educational progression in addition to negative health and social effects associated with chronic pain. The study provides a starting point for more research and has the potential to direct better identification and treatment of these cognitive deficits.

A locus coeruleus-norepinephrine account of individual differences in working memory capacity and attention control.

PubMed

Unsworth, Nash; Robison, Matthew K

2017-08-01

Studies examining individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) have suggested that low WMC individuals have particular deficits in attention control processes compared to high WMC individuals. In the current article we suggest that part of the WMC-attention control relation is due to variation in the functioning of the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system (LC-NE). Specifically, we suggest that because of dysregulation of LC-NE functioning, the fronto-parietal control network for low WMC individuals is only weakly activated, resulting in greater default-mode network activity (and greater mind-wandering) for low WMC individuals compared to high WMC individuals. This results in disrupted attention control and overall more erratic performance (more lapses of attention) for low WMC individuals than for high WMC individuals. This framework is used to examine previous studies of individual differences in WMC and attention control, and new evidence is examined on the basis of predictions of the framework to pupillary responses as an indirect marker of LC-NE functioning.

Dissociation of working memory impairments and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in the brain.

PubMed

Mattfeld, Aaron T; Whitfield-Gabrieli, Susan; Biederman, Joseph; Spencer, Thomas; Brown, Ariel; Fried, Ronna; Gabrieli, John D E

2016-01-01

Prevailing neuropsychological models of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) propose that ADHD arises from deficits in executive functions such as working memory, but accumulating clinical evidence suggests a dissociation between ADHD and executive dysfunctions. This study examined whether ADHD and working memory capacity are behaviorally and neurobiologically separable using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants diagnosed with ADHD in childhood who subsequently remitted or persisted in their diagnosis as adults were characterized at follow-up in adulthood as either impaired or unimpaired in spatial working memory relative to controls who never had ADHD. ADHD participants with impaired spatial working memory performed worse than controls and ADHD participants with unimpaired working memory during an n-back working memory task while being scanned. Both controls and ADHD participants with unimpaired working memory exhibited significant linearly increasing activation in the inferior frontal junction, precuneus, lingual gyrus, and cerebellum as a function of working-memory load, and these activations did not differ significantly between these groups. ADHD participants with impaired working memory exhibited significant hypoactivation in the same regions, which was significantly different than both control participants and ADHD participants with unimpaired working memory. These findings support both a behavioral and neurobiological dissociation between ADHD and working memory capacity.

Dissociation of working memory impairments and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in the brain

PubMed Central

Mattfeld, Aaron T.; Whitfield-Gabrieli, Susan; Biederman, Joseph; Spencer, Thomas; Brown, Ariel; Fried, Ronna; Gabrieli, John D.E.

2015-01-01

Prevailing neuropsychological models of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) propose that ADHD arises from deficits in executive functions such as working memory, but accumulating clinical evidence suggests a dissociation between ADHD and executive dysfunctions. This study examined whether ADHD and working memory capacity are behaviorally and neurobiologically separable using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants diagnosed with ADHD in childhood who subsequently remitted or persisted in their diagnosis as adults were characterized at follow-up in adulthood as either impaired or unimpaired in spatial working memory relative to controls who never had ADHD. ADHD participants with impaired spatial working memory performed worse than controls and ADHD participants with unimpaired working memory during an n-back working memory task while being scanned. Both controls and ADHD participants with unimpaired working memory exhibited significant linearly increasing activation in the inferior frontal junction, precuneus, lingual gyrus, and cerebellum as a function of working-memory load, and these activations did not differ significantly between these groups. ADHD participants with impaired working memory exhibited significant hypoactivation in the same regions, which was significantly different than both control participants and ADHD participants with unimpaired working memory. These findings support both a behavioral and neurobiological dissociation between ADHD and working memory capacity. PMID:26900567

Reconciling conflicting electrophysiological findings on the guidance of attention by working memory.

PubMed

Carlisle, Nancy B; Woodman, Geoffrey F

2013-10-01

Maintaining a representation in working memory has been proposed to be sufficient for the execution of top-down attentional control. Two recent electrophysiological studies that recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) during similar paradigms have tested this proposal, but have reported contradictory findings. The goal of the present study was to reconcile these previous reports. To this end, we used the stimuli from one study (Kumar, Soto, & Humphreys, 2009) combined with the task manipulations from the other (Carlisle & Woodman, 2011b). We found that when an item matching a working memory representation was presented in a visual search array, we could use ERPs to quantify the size of the covert attention effect. When the working memory matches were consistently task-irrelevant, we observed a weak attentional bias to these items. However, when the same item indicated the location of the search target, we found that the covert attention effect was approximately four times larger. This shows that simply maintaining a representation in working memory is not equivalent to having a top-down attentional set for that item. Our findings indicate that high-level goals mediate the relationship between the contents of working memory and perceptual attention.

Longitudinal deficits to attention, executive, and working memory in subtypes of mild cognitive impairment.

PubMed

Saunders, Nichole L J; Summers, Mathew J

2011-03-01

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has emerged as a classification for a prodromal phase of cognitive decline that may precede the emergence of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recent research suggests that attention, executive, and working memory deficits may appear much earlier in the progression of AD than traditionally conceptualized, and may be more consistently associated with the later development of AD than memory processing deficits. The present study longitudinally tracked attention, executive and working memory functions in subtypes of MCI. In a longitudinal study, 52 amnestic MCI (a-MCI), 29 nonamnestic MCI (na-MCI), and 25 age- and education-matched controls undertook neuropsychological assessment of visual and verbal memory, attentional processing, executive functioning, working memory capacity, and semantic language at 10 month intervals. Analysis by repeated measures ANOVA indicate that the a-MCI and na-MCI groups displayed a decline in simple sustained attention (ηp² = .054) with a significant decline on a task of divided attention (ηp² = .053) being evident in the a-MCI group. Stable deficits were found on other measures of attention, working memory and executive function in the a-MCI and na-MCI groups. The a-MCI group displayed stable impairments to visual and verbal memory. The results indicate that a-MCI and na-MCI display a stable pattern of deficits to attention, working memory, and executive function. The decline in simple sustained attention in a-MCI and n-MCI groups and to divided attention in a-MCI may be early indicators of possible transition to dementia from MCI. However, further research is required to determine this. (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved

Beyond perceptual load and dilution: a review of the role of working memory in selective attention

PubMed Central

de Fockert, Jan W.

2013-01-01

The perceptual load and dilution models differ fundamentally in terms of the proposed mechanism underlying variation in distractibility during different perceptual conditions. However, both models predict that distracting information can be processed beyond perceptual processing under certain conditions, a prediction that is well-supported by the literature. Load theory proposes that in such cases, where perceptual task aspects do not allow for sufficient attentional selectivity, the maintenance of task-relevant processing depends on cognitive control mechanisms, including working memory. The key prediction is that working memory plays a role in keeping clear processing priorities in the face of potential distraction, and the evidence reviewed and evaluated in a meta-analysis here supports this claim, by showing that the processing of distracting information tends to be enhanced when load on a concurrent task of working memory is high. Low working memory capacity is similarly associated with greater distractor processing in selective attention, again suggesting that the unavailability of working memory during selective attention leads to an increase in distractibility. Together, these findings suggest that selective attention against distractors that are processed beyond perception depends on the availability of working memory. Possible mechanisms for the effects of working memory on selective attention are discussed. PMID:23734139

Beyond perceptual load and dilution: a review of the role of working memory in selective attention.

PubMed

de Fockert, Jan W

2013-01-01

The perceptual load and dilution models differ fundamentally in terms of the proposed mechanism underlying variation in distractibility during different perceptual conditions. However, both models predict that distracting information can be processed beyond perceptual processing under certain conditions, a prediction that is well-supported by the literature. Load theory proposes that in such cases, where perceptual task aspects do not allow for sufficient attentional selectivity, the maintenance of task-relevant processing depends on cognitive control mechanisms, including working memory. The key prediction is that working memory plays a role in keeping clear processing priorities in the face of potential distraction, and the evidence reviewed and evaluated in a meta-analysis here supports this claim, by showing that the processing of distracting information tends to be enhanced when load on a concurrent task of working memory is high. Low working memory capacity is similarly associated with greater distractor processing in selective attention, again suggesting that the unavailability of working memory during selective attention leads to an increase in distractibility. Together, these findings suggest that selective attention against distractors that are processed beyond perception depends on the availability of working memory. Possible mechanisms for the effects of working memory on selective attention are discussed.

Attention, memory, visuoconstructive, and executive task performance in adolescents with anxiety disorders: a case-control community study.

PubMed

Jarros, Rafaela Behs; Salum, Giovanni Abrahão; Silva, Cristiano Tschiedel Belem da; Toazza, Rudineia; Becker, Natália; Agranonik, Marilyn; Salles, Jerusa Fumagalli de; Manfro, Gisele Gus

2017-01-01

The aim of the present study was to assess children and adolescents with mild and severe anxiety disorders for their performance in attention, verbal episodic memory, working memory, visuoconstructive skills, executive functions, and cognitive global functioning and conduct comparative analyses with the performance of children free from anxiety disorders. Our sample comprised 68 children and adolescents aged 10 to 17 years (41 with current diagnoses of anxiety disorders and 27 controls) selected from a larger cross-sectional community sample of adolescents. Children and adolescents with anxiety disorders were categorized into two groups on the basis of anxiety severity (mild or severe). All participants underwent a neuropsychological assessment battery to evaluate attention, verbal episodic memory, working memory, visuoconstructive skills, and executive and cognitive functions. No differences were found in any neuropsychological tests, with the single exception that the group with mild anxiety had better performance on the Digit Span backward test compared to subjects with severe anxiety and to controls (p = 0.041; η2 = 0.11). Not only might anxiety disorders spare main cognitive functions during adolescence, they may even enhance certain working memory processes.

Modulation of selective attention by polarity-specific tDCS effects.

PubMed

Pecchinenda, Anna; Ferlazzo, Fabio; Lavidor, Michal

2015-02-01

Selective attention relies on working memory to maintain an attention set of task priorities. Consequently, selective attention is more efficient when working memory resources are not depleted. However, there is some evidence that distractors are processed even when working memory load is low. We used tDCS to assess whether boosting the activity of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC), involved in selective attention and working memory, would reduce interference from emotional distractors. Findings showed that anodal tDCS over the DLPFC was not sufficient to reduce interference from angry distractors. In contrast, cathodal tDCS over the DLPFC reduced interference from happy distractors. These findings show that altering the DLPFC activity is not sufficient to establish top-down control and increase selective attention efficiency. Although, when the neural signal in the DLPFC is altered by cathodal tDCS, interference from emotional distractors is reduced, leading to an improved performance. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Divided attention reduces resistance to distraction at encoding but not retrieval.

PubMed

Weeks, Jennifer C; Hasher, Lynn

2017-08-01

Older adults show implicit memory for previously seen distraction, an effect attributed to poor attentional control. It is unclear whether this effect results from lack of control over encoding during the distraction task, lack of retrieval constraint during the test task, or both. In the present study, we simulated poor distraction control in young adults using divided attention at encoding, at retrieval, at both times, or not at all. The encoding task was a 1-back task on pictures with distracting superimposed letter strings, some of which were words. The retrieval task was a word fragment completion task testing implicit memory for the distracting words. Attention was divided using an auditory odd digit detection task. Dividing attention at encoding, but not at retrieval, resulted in significant priming for distraction, which suggests that control over encoding processes is a primary determinant of distraction transfer in populations with low inhibitory control (e.g. older adults).

Visuo-spatial processing and executive functions in children with specific language impairment

PubMed Central

Marton, Klara

2007-01-01

Background Individual differences in complex working memory tasks reflect simultaneous processing, executive functions, and attention control. Children with specific language impairment (SLI) show a deficit in verbal working memory tasks that involve simultaneous processing of information. Aims The purpose of the study was to examine executive functions and visuo-spatial processing and working memory in children with SLI and in their typically developing peers (TLD). Experiment 1 included 40 children with SLI (age=5;3–6;10) and 40 children with TLD (age=5;3–6;7); Experiment 2 included 25 children with SLI (age=8;2–11;2) and 25 children with TLD (age=8;3–11;0). It was examined whether the difficulties that children with SLI show in verbal working memory tasks are also present in visuo-spatial working memory. Methods & Procedures In Experiment 1, children's performance was measured with three visuo-spatial processing tasks: space visualization, position in space, and design copying. The stimuli in Experiment 2 were two widely used neuropsychological tests: the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test — 64 (WCST-64) and the Tower of London test (TOL). Outcomes & Results In Experiment 1, children with SLI performed more poorly than their age-matched peers in all visuo-spatial working memory tasks. There was a subgroup within the SLI group that included children whose parents and teachers reported a weakness in the child's attention control. These children showed particular difficulties in the tasks of Experiment 1. The results support Engle's attention control theory: individuals need good attention control to perform well in visuo-spatial working memory tasks. In Experiment 2, the children with SLI produced more perseverative errors and more rule violations than their peers. Conclusions Executive functions have a great impact on SLI children's working memory performance, regardless of domain. Tasks that require an increased amount of attention control and executive functions are more difficult for the children with SLI than for their peers. Most children with SLI scored either below average or in the low average range on the neuropsychological tests that measured executive functions. PMID:17852522

Orienting Attention within Visual Short-Term Memory: Development and Mechanisms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shimi, Andria; Nobre, Anna C.; Astle, Duncan; Scerif, Gaia

2014-01-01

How does developing attentional control operate within visual short-term memory (VSTM)? Seven-year-olds, 11-year-olds, and adults (total n = 205) were asked to report whether probe items were part of preceding visual arrays. In Experiment 1, central or peripheral cues oriented attention to the location of to-be-probed items either prior to…

Maintenance of memory for melodies: Articulation or attentional refreshing?

PubMed

Nees, Michael A; Corrini, Ellen; Leong, Peri; Harris, Joanna

2017-12-01

Past research on the effects of articulatory suppression on working memory for nonverbal sounds has been characterized by discrepant findings, which suggests that multiple mechanisms may be involved in the rehearsal of nonverbal sounds. In two experiments we examined the potential roles of two theoretical mechanisms of verbal working memory-articulatory rehearsal and attentional refreshing-in the maintenance of memory for short melodies. In both experiments, participants performed a same-different melody comparison task. During an 8-s retention interval, interference tasks were introduced to suppress articulatory rehearsal, attentional refreshing, or both. In Experiment 1, only the conditions that featured articulatory suppression resulted in worse memory performance than in a control condition, and the suppression of both attentional refreshing and articulatory rehearsal concurrently did not impair memory more than articulatory suppression alone. Experiment 2 reproduced these findings and also confirmed that the locus of interference was articulatory and not auditory (i.e., the interference was not attributable to the sound of participants' own voices during articulatory suppression). Both experiments suggested that articulatory rehearsal played a role in the maintenance of melodies in memory, whereas attentional refreshing did not. We discuss potential theoretical implications regarding the mechanisms used for the rehearsal of nonverbal sounds in working memory.

Attentional bias for nondrug reward is magnified in addiction.

PubMed

Anderson, Brian A; Faulkner, Monica L; Rilee, Jessica J; Yantis, Steven; Marvel, Cherie L

2013-12-01

Attentional biases for drug-related stimuli play a prominent role in addiction, predicting treatment outcomes. Attentional biases also develop for stimuli that have been paired with nondrug rewards in adults without a history of addiction, the magnitude of which is predicted by visual working-memory capacity and impulsiveness. We tested the hypothesis that addiction is associated with an increased attentional bias for nondrug (monetary) reward relative to that of healthy controls, and that this bias is related to working-memory impairments and increased impulsiveness. Seventeen patients receiving methadone-maintenance treatment for opioid dependence and 17 healthy controls participated. Impulsiveness was measured using the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11; Patton, Stanford, & Barratt, 1995), visual working-memory capacity was measured as the ability to recognize briefly presented color stimuli, and attentional bias was measured as the magnitude of response time slowing caused by irrelevant but previously reward-associated distractors in a visual-search task. The results showed that attention was biased toward the distractors across all participants, replicating previous findings. It is important to note, this bias was significantly greater in the patients than in the controls and was negatively correlated with visual working-memory capacity. Patients were also significantly more impulsive than controls as a group. Our findings demonstrate that patients in treatment for addiction experience greater difficulty ignoring stimuli associated with nondrug reward. This nonspecific reward-related bias could mediate the distracting quality of drug-related stimuli previously observed in addiction.

Attentional Bias for Non-drug Reward is Magnified in Addiction

PubMed Central

Anderson, Brian A.; Faulkner, Monica L.; Rilee, Jessica J.; Yantis, Steven; Marvel, Cherie L.

2014-01-01

Attentional biases for drug-related stimuli play a prominent role in addiction, predicting treatment outcome. Attentional biases also develop for stimuli that have been paired with non-drug reward in adults without a history of addiction, the magnitude of which is predicted by visual working memory capacity and impulsiveness. We tested the hypothesis that addiction is associated with an increased attentional bias for non-drug (monetary) reward relative to that of healthy controls, and that this bias is related to working memory impairments and increased impulsiveness. Seventeen patients receiving methadone maintenance treatment for opioid dependence and seventeen healthy controls participated. Impulsiveness was measured using the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11), visual working memory capacity was measured as the ability to recognize briefly presented color stimuli, and attentional bias was measured as the magnitude of response time slowing caused by irrelevant but previously reward-associated distractors in a visual search task. The results showed that attention was biased toward the distractors across all participants, replicating previous findings. Importantly, this bias was significantly greater in the patients than in the controls and was negatively correlated with visual working memory capacity. Patients were also significantly more impulsive than controls as a group. Our findings demonstrate that patients in treatment for addiction experience greater difficulty ignoring stimuli associated with non-drug reward. This non-specific reward-related bias could mediate the distracting quality of drug-related stimuli previously observed in addiction. PMID:24128148

Differences in emotional stimuli processing in subjects with MTLE with and without depression.

PubMed

Preglej, Lidija; Marinković, Ksenija; Hećimović, Hrvoje

2017-09-01

In healthy people, a preference in attention maintenance and memory for words with emotional valence comparing to neutral words has been shown. The pattern of emotional stimuli processing may be different in people with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) and it may be sensitive to the presence of depressive symptoms. In order to explore these possibilities, we applied the emotional spatial cueing attentional task and the free recall memory task to participants (N=39) with MTLE and compared them with healthy controls. We hypothesized that the pattern of maintaining attention and remembering emotional words is different in people with MTLE. Current literature indicates that this pattern will change from positive bias in the controls, though no emotional bias in the participants with MTLE without depression (MTLE-d), and in this work we examined this pattern in the participants with MTLE with depressive symptoms (MTLE+d). Our results show that in both attention and memory, control subjects exhibit positive emotional bias, the subjects with MTLE-d show nonemotional bias and the subjects with MTLE+d have bias away from positive words. Participants with MTLE+d maintained attention for positive words shorter than others. Participants with MTLE+d had worse recall for positive words than the participants with MTLE-d and for all words when compared to controls. We found that faster attention disengagement from positive words and worse memory for positive words is associated with elevated levels of depressive symptoms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Electrophysiological evidence that top-down knowledge controls working memory processing for subsequent visual search.

PubMed

Kawashima, Tomoya; Matsumoto, Eriko

2016-03-23

Items in working memory guide visual attention toward a memory-matching object. Recent studies have shown that when searching for an object this attentional guidance can be modulated by knowing the probability that the target will match an item in working memory. Here, we recorded the P3 and contralateral delay activity to investigate how top-down knowledge controls the processing of working memory items. Participants performed memory task (recognition only) and memory-or-search task (recognition or visual search) in which they were asked to maintain two colored oriented bars in working memory. For visual search, we manipulated the probability that target had the same color as memorized items (0, 50, or 100%). Participants knew the probabilities before the task. Target detection in 100% match condition was faster than that in 50% match condition, indicating that participants used their knowledge of the probabilities. We found that the P3 amplitude in 100% condition was larger than in other conditions and that contralateral delay activity amplitude did not vary across conditions. These results suggest that more attention was allocated to the memory items when observers knew in advance that their color would likely match a target. This led to better search performance despite using qualitatively equal working memory representations.

The Construct of Attention in Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Luck, Steven J.; Gold, James M.

2008-01-01

Schizophrenia is widely thought to involve deficits of attention. However, the term attention can be defined so broadly that impaired performance on virtually any task could be construed as evidence for a deficit in attention, and this has slowed cumulative progress in understanding attention deficits in schizophrenia. To address this problem, we divide the general concept of attention into two distinct constructs: input selection, the selection of task-relevant inputs for further processing; and rule selection, the selective activation of task-appropriate rules. These constructs are closely tied to working memory, because input selection mechanisms are used to control the transfer of information into working memory and because working memory stores the rules used by rule selection mechanisms. These constructs are also closely tied to executive function, because executive systems are used to guide input selection and because rule selection is itself at key aspect of executive function. Within the domain of input selection, it is important to distinguish between the control of selection—the processes that guide attention to task-relevant inputs—and the implementation of selection—the processes that enhance the processing of the relevant inputs and suppress the irrelevant inputs. Current evidence suggests that schizophrenia involves a significant impairment in the control of selection but little or no impairment in the implementation of selection. Consequently, the CNTRICS participants agreed by consensus that attentional control should be a priority target for measurement and treatment research in schizophrenia. PMID:18374901

Memory-guided selective attention: Single experiences with conflict have long-lasting effects on cognitive control.

PubMed

Brosowsky, Nicholaus P; Crump, Matthew J C

2018-05-17

Adjustments in cognitive control, as measured by congruency sequence effects, are thought to be influenced by both external stimuli and internal goals. However, this dichotomy has often overshadowed the potential contribution of past experience stored in memory. Here, we examine the role of long-term episodic memory in guiding selective attention. Our aim was to demonstrate new evidence that selective attention can be modulated by long-term retrieval of stimulus-specific attentional control settings. All the experiments used a modified flanker task involving multiple unique stimuli. Critically, each stimulus was only presented twice during the experiment: first as a prime, and second as a probe. Experiments 1 and 2 varied the number of intervening trials between prime and probe and manipulated the amount of conflict using a secondary task. Experiment 3 ensured that specific colors assigned to prime stimuli were not repeated when presented as probes. Across both Experiments 1 and 2, we consistently found smaller congruency effects on probe trials when its associated prime trial was incongruent compared with congruent, demonstrating long-term congruency sequence effects. However, Experiment 3 showed no evidence for long-term effects. These findings suggest long-term preservation of selective attention processing at the episodic level, and implicate a role for memory in updating cognitive control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

White matter integrity of the medial forebrain bundle and attention and working memory deficits following traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Owens, Jacqueline A; Spitz, Gershon; Ponsford, Jennie L; Dymowski, Alicia R; Ferris, Nicholas; Willmott, Catherine

2017-02-01

The medial forebrain bundle (MFB) contains ascending catecholamine fibers that project to the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Damage to these fibers following traumatic brain injury (TBI) may alter extracellular catecholamine levels in the PFC and impede attention and working memory ability. This study investigated white matter microstructure of the medial MFB, specifically the supero-lateral branch (slMFB), following TBI, and its association with performance on attention and working memory tasks. Neuropsychological measures of attention and working memory were administered to 20 moderate-severe participants with TBI (posttraumatic amnesia M  = 40.05 ± 37.10 days, median time since injury 10.48 months, range 3.72-87.49) and 20 healthy controls. Probabilistic tractography was used to obtain fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) values for 17 participants with TBI and 20 healthy controls. When compared to controls, participants with TBI were found to have significantly lower FA ( p  < .001) and higher MD ( p  < .001) slMFB values, and they were slower to complete tasks including Trail Making Task-A, Hayling, selective attention task, n -back, and Symbol Digit Modalities Test. This study was the first to demonstrate microstructural white matter damage within the slMFB following TBI. However, no evidence was found for an association of alterations to this tract and performance on attentional tasks.

Memory-guided saccades in youth-onset psychosis and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

PubMed

White, Tonya; Mous, Sabine; Karatekin, Canan

2014-08-01

Working memory deficits have been shown to be present in children and adolescents with schizophrenia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Considering the differences in clinical characteristics between these disorders, it was the goal of this study to assess differences in the specific components of working memory in children and adolescents with psychosis and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Children and adolescents (age range 8-20 years) with either a non-affective psychotic disorder (n = 25), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (n = 33) and controls (n = 58) were administered an oculomotor delayed-response task using both a recall and a control condition. Memory-guided saccades were measured during delay periods of 2, 8 and 20 s. Although both clinical groups were less accurate than controls, there was no evidence of a disproportionate impairment in recall. In addition, there was no evidence of a delay-dependent impairment in psychosis; however, there was a delay-dependent impairment in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder when corrective saccades were included. Speed of information processing was correlated with distance errors in psychosis, suggesting that speed of encoding the stimulus location may have constrained the accuracy of the saccades. Our findings support impairments during encoding in the psychosis group and a delay-dependent deficit in the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder group. © 2013 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Inferior parietal and right frontal contributions to trial-by-trial adaptations of attention to memory.

PubMed

Kizilirmak, Jasmin M; Rösler, Frank; Bien, Siegfried; Khader, Patrick H

2015-07-21

The attention to memory theory (AtoM) proposes that the same brain regions might be involved in selective processing of perceived stimuli (selective attention) and memory representations (selective retrieval). Although this idea is compelling, given consistently found neural overlap between perceiving and remembering stimuli, recent comparisons brought evidence for overlap as well as considerable differences. Here, we present a paradigm that enables the investigation of the AtoM hypothesis from a novel perspective to gain further insight into the neural resources involved in AtoM. Selective attention in perception is often investigated as a control process that shows lingering effects on immediately following trials. Here, we employed a paradigm capable of modulating selective retrieval in a similarly dynamic manner as in such selective-attention paradigms by inducing trial-to-trial shifts between relevant and irrelevant memory representations as well as changes of the width of the internal focus on memory. We found evidence for an involvement of bilateral inferior parietal lobe and right inferior frontal gyrus in reorienting the attentional focus on previously accessed memory representations. Moreover, we could dissociate the right inferior from the parietal activation in separate contrasts, suggesting that the right inferior frontal gyrus plays a role in facilitating attentional reorienting to memory representations when competing representations have been activated in the preceding trial, potentially by resolving this competition. Our results support the AtoM theory, i.e. that ventral frontal and parietal regions are involved in automatic attentional reorienting in memory, and highlight the importance of further investigations of the overlap and differences between regions involved in internal (memory) and external (perceptual) attentional selection. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Working memory and executive function: the influence of content and load on the control of attention.

PubMed

Hester, Robert; Garavan, Hugh

2005-03-01

In a series of three experiments, increasing working memory (WM) load was demonstrated to reduce the executive control of attention, measured via task-switching and inhibitory control paradigms. Uniquely, our paradigms allowed comparison of the ability to exert executive control when the stimulus was either part of the currently rehearsed memory set or an unrelated distractor item. The results demonstrated a content-specific effect-insofar as switching attention away from, or exerting inhibitory control over, items currently held in WM was especially difficult-compounded by increasing WM load. This finding supports the attentional control theory that active maintenance of competing task goals is critical to executive function and WM capacity; however, it also suggests that the increased salience provided to the contents of WM through active rehearsal exerts a content-specific influence on attentional control. These findings are discussed in relation to cue-induced ruminations, where active rehearsal of evocative information (e.g., negative thoughts in depression or drug-related thoughts in addiction) in WM typically results from environmental cuing. The present study has demonstrated that when information currently maintained in WM is reencountered, it is harder to exert executive control over it. The difficulty with suppressing the processing of these stimuli presumably reinforces the maintenance of these items in WM, due to the greater level of attention they are afforded, and may help to explain how the cue-induced craving/rumination cycle is perpetuated.

Brain Mechanisms of Attentional Control.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilke, Thomas

Lack of attentional control--inability to concentrate--has often made the difference between successful and unsuccessful performance on the part of athletes. Attention is controlled neurologically by a very complex interaction of a large portion of the cerebrum and is not localized to any one structure. The mechanism involves a memory retrieval…

Enclothed Cognition and Controlled Attention during Insight Problem-Solving

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Stockum, Charles A., Jr.; DeCaro, Marci S.

2014-01-01

Individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) increase the ability and tendency to devote greater attentional control to a task--improving performance on a wide range of skills. In addition, recent research on enclothed cognition demonstrates that the situational influence of wearing a white lab coat increases controlled attention, due…

Cognitive load and emotional processing in generalized anxiety disorder: electrocortical evidence for increased distractibility.

PubMed

MacNamara, Annmarie; Proudfit, Greg Hajcak

2014-08-01

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) may be characterized by emotion regulation deficits attributable to an imbalance between top-down (i.e., goal-driven) and bottom-up (i.e., stimulus-driven) attention. In prior work, these attentional processes were examined by presenting unpleasant and neutral pictures within a working memory paradigm. The late positive potential (LPP) measured attention toward task-irrelevant pictures. Results from this prior work showed that working memory load reduced the LPP across participants; however, this effect was attenuated for individuals with greater self-reported state anxiety, suggesting reduced top-down control. In the current study, the same paradigm was used with 106 medication-free female participants-71 with GAD and 35 without GAD. Unpleasant pictures elicited larger LPPs, and working memory load reduced the picture-elicited LPP. Compared with healthy controls, participants with GAD showed large LPPs to unpleasant pictures presented under high working memory load. Self-reported symptoms of anhedonic depression were related to a reduced effect of working memory load on the LPP elicited by neutral pictures. These results indicate that individuals with GAD show less flexible modulation of attention when confronted with unpleasant stimuli. Furthermore, among those with GAD, anhedonic depression may broaden attentional deficits to neutral distracters. (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Cognitive Risk Factors for Specific Learning Disorder: Processing Speed, Temporal Processing, and Working Memory.

PubMed

Moll, Kristina; Göbel, Silke M; Gooch, Debbie; Landerl, Karin; Snowling, Margaret J

2016-01-01

High comorbidity rates between reading disorder (RD) and mathematics disorder (MD) indicate that, although the cognitive core deficits underlying these disorders are distinct, additional domain-general risk factors might be shared between the disorders. Three domain-general cognitive abilities were investigated in children with RD and MD: processing speed, temporal processing, and working memory. Since attention problems frequently co-occur with learning disorders, the study examined whether these three factors, which are known to be associated with attention problems, account for the comorbidity between these disorders. The sample comprised 99 primary school children in four groups: children with RD, children with MD, children with both disorders (RD+MD), and typically developing children (TD controls). Measures of processing speed, temporal processing, and memory were analyzed in a series of ANCOVAs including attention ratings as covariate. All three risk factors were associated with poor attention. After controlling for attention, associations with RD and MD differed: Although deficits in verbal memory were associated with both RD and MD, reduced processing speed was related to RD, but not MD; and the association with RD was restricted to processing speed for familiar nameable symbols. In contrast, impairments in temporal processing and visuospatial memory were associated with MD, but not RD. © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2014.

Working-memory capacity predicts the executive control of visual search among distractors: the influences of sustained and selective attention.

PubMed

Poole, Bradley J; Kane, Michael J

2009-07-01

Variation in working-memory capacity (WMC) predicts individual differences in only some attention-control capabilities. Whereas higher WMC subjects outperform lower WMC subjects in tasks requiring the restraint of prepotent but inappropriate responses, and the constraint of attentional focus to target stimuli against distractors, they do not differ in prototypical visual-search tasks, even those that yield steep search slopes and engender top-down control. The present three experiments tested whether WMC, as measured by complex memory span tasks, would predict search latencies when the 1-8 target locations to be searched appeared alone, versus appearing among distractor locations to be ignored, with the latter requiring selective attentional focus. Subjects viewed target-location cues and then fixated on those locations over either long (1,500-1,550 ms) or short (300 ms) delays. Higher WMC subjects identified targets faster than did lower WMC subjects only in the presence of distractors and only over long fixation delays. WMC thus appears to affect subjects' ability to maintain a constrained attentional focus over time.

Further evidence for a deficit in switching attention in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Smith, G L; Large, M M; Kavanagh, D J; Karayanidis, F; Barrett, N A; Michie, P T; O'Sullivan, B T

1998-08-01

In this study, sustained, selective, divided, and switching attention, and reloading of working memory were investigated in schizophrenia by using a newly developed Visual Attention Battery (VAB). Twenty-four outpatients with schizophrenia and 24 control participants were studied using the VAB. Performance on VAB components was correlated with performance of standard tests. Patients with schizophrenia were significantly impaired on VAB tasks that required switching of attention and reloading of working memory but had normal performance on tasks involving sustained attention or attention to multiple stimulus features. Switching attention and reloading of working memory were highly correlated with Trails (B-A) score for patients. The decline in performance on the switching-attention task in patients with schizophrenia met criteria for a differential deficit in switching attention. Future research should examine the neurophysiological basis of the switching deficit and its sensitivity and specificity to schizophrenia.

A summary on the effectiveness of the Amsterdam memory and attention training for children (Amat-c) in children with brain injury.

PubMed

Dvorak, Elizabeth; van Heugten, Caroline

2018-01-01

To summarise the current research on the effectiveness of the Amsterdam Memory and Attention Training for Children (Amat-c). A literature search was conducted to find articles published about the Amat-c, using PubMed, psychINFO, and PsychBITE databases. Relevant search terms included Amat-c, attention and memory, and childhood ABI. Our literature search identified 7 articles that described 5 separate studies including 61 children in total (mostly TBI). Only one study had a control group. All results indicated positive effects on memory and attention, although in three of the studies, these results were not statistically tested. Positive results were generally maintained six months follow up. This review showed that the Amat-c is effective for treating attention and memory disturbances in children with ABI. However, evidence is limited and training material is outdated. We suggest that the Amat-c should be digitised and implemented in a school setting and further evaluated.

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Correlates of First-Episode Psychoses during Attentional and Memory Task Performance.

PubMed

Del Casale, Antonio; Kotzalidis, Georgios D; Rapinesi, Chiara; Sorice, Serena; Girardi, Nicoletta; Ferracuti, Stefano; Girardi, Paolo

2016-01-01

The nature of the alteration of the response to cognitive tasks in first-episode psychosis (FEP) still awaits clarification. We used activation likelihood estimation, an increasingly used method in evaluating normal and pathological brain function, to identify activation changes in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of FEP during attentional and memory tasks. We included 11 peer-reviewed fMRI studies assessing FEP patients versus healthy controls (HCs) during performance of attentional and memory tasks. Our database comprised 290 patients with FEP, matched with 316 HCs. Between-group analyses showed that HCs, compared to FEP patients, exhibited hyperactivation of the right middle frontal gyrus (Brodmann area, BA, 9), right inferior parietal lobule (BA 40), and right insula (BA 13) during attentional task performances and hyperactivation of the left insula (BA 13) during memory task performances. Right frontal, parietal, and insular dysfunction during attentional task performance and left insular dysfunction during memory task performance are significant neural functional FEP correlates. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Memory and selective attention in multiple sclerosis: cross-sectional computer-based assessment in a large outpatient sample.

PubMed

Adler, Georg; Lembach, Yvonne

2015-08-01

Cognitive impairments may have a severe impact on everyday functioning and quality of life of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). However, there are some methodological problems in the assessment and only a few studies allow a representative estimate of the prevalence and severity of cognitive impairments in MS patients. We applied a computer-based method, the memory and attention test (MAT), in 531 outpatients with MS, who were assessed at nine neurological practices or specialized outpatient clinics. The findings were compared with those obtained in an age-, sex- and education-matched control group of 84 healthy subjects. Episodic short-term memory was substantially decreased in the MS patients. About 20% of them reached a score of only less than two standard deviations below the mean of the control group. The episodic short-term memory score was negatively correlated with the EDSS score. Minor but also significant impairments in the MS patients were found for verbal short-term memory, episodic working memory and selective attention. The computer-based MAT was found to be useful for a routine assessment of cognition in MS outpatients.

Working Memory Delay Activity Predicts Individual Differences in Cognitive Abilities

PubMed Central

Unsworth, Nash; Fukuda, Keisuke; Awh, Edward; Vogel, Edward K.

2015-01-01

A great deal of prior research has examined the relation between estimates of working memory and cognitive abilities. Yet, the neural mechanisms that account for these relations are still not very well understood. The current study explored whether individual differences in working memory delay activity would be a significant predictor of cognitive abilities. A large number of participants performed multiple measures of capacity, attention control, long-term memory, working memory span, and fluid intelligence, and latent variable analyses were used to examine the data. During two working memory change detection tasks, we acquired EEG data and examined the contra-lateral delay activity. The results demonstrated that the contralateral delay activity was significantly related to cognitive abilities, and importantly these relations were because of individual differences in both capacity and attention control. These results suggest that individual differences in working memory delay activity predict individual differences in a broad range of cognitive abilities, and this is because of both differences in the number of items that can be maintained and the ability to control access to working memory. PMID:25436671

Working memory delay activity predicts individual differences in cognitive abilities.

PubMed

Unsworth, Nash; Fukuda, Keisuke; Awh, Edward; Vogel, Edward K

2015-05-01

A great deal of prior research has examined the relation between estimates of working memory and cognitive abilities. Yet, the neural mechanisms that account for these relations are still not very well understood. The current study explored whether individual differences in working memory delay activity would be a significant predictor of cognitive abilities. A large number of participants performed multiple measures of capacity, attention control, long-term memory, working memory span, and fluid intelligence, and latent variable analyses were used to examine the data. During two working memory change detection tasks, we acquired EEG data and examined the contralateral delay activity. The results demonstrated that the contralateral delay activity was significantly related to cognitive abilities, and importantly these relations were because of individual differences in both capacity and attention control. These results suggest that individual differences in working memory delay activity predict individual differences in a broad range of cognitive abilities, and this is because of both differences in the number of items that can be maintained and the ability to control access to working memory.

Attention problems of very preterm children compared with age-matched term controls at school-age.

PubMed

de Kieviet, Jorrit F; van Elburg, Ruurd M; Lafeber, Harrie N; Oosterlaan, Jaap

2012-11-01

To clarify the severity, specificity, and neurocognitive underpinnings of attention problems in very preterm children. A sample of 66 preterm (<32 weeks gestation), mean (SD) age 7.5 (0.4) years, and 66 age-matched term controls participated. Symptoms of inattention were assessed using parent and teacher-rated questionnaires, and neurocognitive measures included speed and consistency in speed of information processing, lapses of attention (tau), alerting, orienting, and executive attention, as well as verbal and visuospatial working memory. Group differences were investigated using ANOVA, and Sobel tests were used to clarify the mediating role of neurocognitive impairments on attention problems. There was a large decrease in visuospatial working memory abilities (P < .001, d = .87), and medium increases in tau (P = .002, d = 0.55) as well as parent and teacher ratings of inattention (range d = 0.40-0.56) in very preterm children compared with term peers. Tau and visuospatial working memory were significant predictors of parent (R(2) = .161, P < .001 and R(2) = .071, P = .001; respectively) and teacher (R(2) = .152, P < .001 and R(2) = .064, P = .002; respectively) ratings of inattention, and completely explained the effects of very preterm birth on attention problems. Increased lapses of attention and poorer visuospatial working memory fully account for the attention problems in very premature children at school-age. Copyright © 2012 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Neural effects of cognitive control load on auditory selective attention.

PubMed

Sabri, Merav; Humphries, Colin; Verber, Matthew; Liebenthal, Einat; Binder, Jeffrey R; Mangalathu, Jain; Desai, Anjali

2014-08-01

Whether and how working memory disrupts or alters auditory selective attention is unclear. We compared simultaneous event-related potentials (ERP) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) responses associated with task-irrelevant sounds across high and low working memory load in a dichotic-listening paradigm. Participants performed n-back tasks (1-back, 2-back) in one ear (Attend ear) while ignoring task-irrelevant speech sounds in the other ear (Ignore ear). The effects of working memory load on selective attention were observed at 130-210ms, with higher load resulting in greater irrelevant syllable-related activation in localizer-defined regions in auditory cortex. The interaction between memory load and presence of irrelevant information revealed stronger activations primarily in frontal and parietal areas due to presence of irrelevant information in the higher memory load. Joint independent component analysis of ERP and fMRI data revealed that the ERP component in the N1 time-range is associated with activity in superior temporal gyrus and medial prefrontal cortex. These results demonstrate a dynamic relationship between working memory load and auditory selective attention, in agreement with the load model of attention and the idea of common neural resources for memory and attention. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Efficiency of the Prefrontal Cortex during Working Memory in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sheridan, Margaret A.; Hinshaw, Stephen; D'Esposito, Mark

2007-01-01

Objective: Previous research has demonstrated that during task conditions requiring an increase in inhibitory function or working memory, children and adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) exhibit greater and more varied prefrontal cortical(PFC) activation compared to age-matched control participants. This pattern may reflect…

When Higher Working Memory Capacity Hinders Insight

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeCaro, Marci S.; Van Stockum, Charles A., Jr.; Wieth, Mareike B.

2016-01-01

Higher working memory capacity (WMC) improves performance on a range of cognitive and academic tasks. However, a greater ability to control attention sometimes leads individuals with higher WMC to persist in using complex, attention-demanding approaches that are suboptimal for a given task. We examined whether higher WMC would hinder insight…

Design of an online EEG based neurofeedback game for enhancing attention and memory.

PubMed

Thomas, Kavitha P; Vinod, A P; Guan, Cuntai

2013-01-01

Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) is an alternative communication and control channel between brain and computer which finds applications in neuroprosthetics, brain wave controlled computer games etc. This paper proposes an Electroencephalogram (EEG) based neurofeedback computer game that allows the player to control the game with the help of attention based brain signals. The proposed game protocol requires the player to memorize a set of numbers in a matrix, and to correctly fill the matrix using his attention. The attention level of the player is quantified using sample entropy features of EEG. The statistically significant performance improvement of five healthy subjects after playing a number of game sessions demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed game in enhancing their concentration and memory skills.

Individual differences in episodic memory abilities predict successful prospective memory output monitoring.

PubMed

Hunter Ball, B; Pitães, Margarida; Brewer, Gene A

2018-02-07

Output monitoring refers to memory for one's previously completed actions. In the context of prospective memory (PM) (e.g., remembering to take medication), failures of output monitoring can result in repetitions and omissions of planned actions (e.g., over- or under-medication). To be successful in output monitoring paradigms, participants must flexibly control attention to detect PM cues as well as engage controlled retrieval of previous actions whenever a particular cue is encountered. The current study examined individual differences in output monitoring abilities in a group of younger adults differing in attention control (AC) and episodic memory (EM) abilities. The results showed that AC ability uniquely predicted successful cue detection on the first presentation, whereas EM ability uniquely predicted successful output monitoring on the second presentation. The current study highlights the importance of examining external correlates of PM abilities and contributes to the growing body of research on individual differences in PM.

Effects of a Computerized Working Memory Training Program on Working Memory, Attention, and Academics in Adolescents with Severe LD and Comorbid ADHD: A Randomized Controlled Trial

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gray, S. A.; Chaban, P.; Martinussen, R.; Goldberg, R.; Gotlieb, H.; Kronitz, R.; Hockenberry, M.; Tannock, R.

2012-01-01

Background: Youths with coexisting learning disabilities (LD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at risk for poor academic and social outcomes. The underlying cognitive deficits, such as poor working memory (WM), are not well targeted by current treatments for either LD or ADHD. Emerging evidence suggests that WM might be…

Neuropsychological function and suicidal behavior: attention control, memory and executive dysfunction in suicide attempt.

PubMed

Keilp, J G; Gorlyn, M; Russell, M; Oquendo, M A; Burke, A K; Harkavy-Friedman, J; Mann, J J

2013-03-01

Executive dysfunction, distinct from other cognitive deficits in depression, has been associated with suicidal behavior. However, this dysfunction is not found consistently across samples. Medication-free subjects with DSM-IV major depressive episode (major depressive disorder and bipolar type I disorder) and a past history of suicidal behavior (n = 72) were compared to medication-free depressed subjects with no history of suicidal behavior (n = 80) and healthy volunteers (n = 56) on a battery of tests assessing neuropsychological functions typically affected by depression (motor and psychomotor speed, attention, memory) and executive functions reportedly impaired in suicide attempters (abstract/contingent learning, working memory, language fluency, impulse control). All of the depressed subjects performed worse than healthy volunteers on motor, psychomotor and language fluency tasks. Past suicide attempters, in turn, performed worse than depressed non-attempters on attention and memory/working memory tasks [a computerized Stroop task, the Buschke Selective Reminding Task (SRT), the Benton Visual Retention Test (VRT) and an N-back task] but not on other executive function measures, including a task associated with ventral prefrontal function (Object Alternation). Deficits were not accounted for by current suicidal ideation or the lethality of past attempts. A small subsample of those using a violent method in their most lethal attempt showed a pattern of poor executive performance. Deficits in specific components of attention control, memory and working memory were associated with suicidal behavior in a sample where non-violent attempt predominated. Broader executive dysfunction in depression may be associated with specific forms of suicidal behavior, rather than suicidal behavior per se.

The Nature of Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity: Active Maintenance in Primary Memory and Controlled Search from Secondary Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Unsworth, Nash; Engle, Randall W.

2007-01-01

Studies examining individual differences in working memory capacity have suggested that individuals with low working memory capacities demonstrate impaired performance on a variety of attention and memory tasks compared with individuals with high working memory capacities. This working memory limitation can be conceived of as arising from 2…

Working memory and the strategic control of attention in older and younger adults.

PubMed

Hayes, Melissa G; Kelly, Andrew J; Smith, Anderson D

2013-03-01

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of aging on the strategic control of attention and the extent to which this relationship is mediated by working memory capacity (WMC). This study also sought to investigate boundary conditions wherein age differences in selectivity may occur. Across 2 studies, the value-directed remembering task used by Castel and colleagues (Castel, A. D., Balota, D. A., & McCabe, D. P. (2009). Memory efficiency and the strategic control of attention at encoding: Impairments of value-directed remembering in Alzheimer's Disease. Neuropsychology, 23, 297-306) was modified to include value-directed forgetting. Study 2 incorporated valence as an additional task demand, and age differences were predicted in both studies due to increased demands of controlled processing. Automated operation span and Stroop span were included as working memory measures, and working memory was predicted to mediate performance. Results confirmed these predictions, as older adults were less efficient in maximizing selectivity scores when high demands were placed on selectivity processes, and working memory was found to mediate performance on this task. When list length was increased from previous studies and participants were required to actively forget negative-value words, older adults were not able to selectively encode high-value information to the same degree as younger adults. Furthermore, WMC appears to support the ability to selectively encode information.

Focusing the Spotlight: Individual Differences in Visual Attention Control

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heitz, Richard P.; Engle, Randall W.

2007-01-01

A time-course analysis of visual attention focusing (attentional constraint) was conducted in groups of participants with high and low working memory spans, a dimension the authors have argued reflects the ability to control attention. In 4 experiments, participants performed the Eriksen flanker paradigm under increasing levels of speed stress.…

Social anxiety and information processing biases: An integrated theoretical perspective.

PubMed

Peschard, Virginie; Philippot, Pierre

2016-01-01

Models of anxiety disorders posit that information processing biases towards threat may result from an imbalance between top-down attentional control processes and bottom-up attentional processes, such that anxiety could reduce the influence of the former and increase the influence of the latter. However, researchers have recently pointed to limitations of the top-down/bottom-up terminology and outlined the additional contribution of memory processes to attention guidance. The goal of this paper is to provide bridges between recent findings from cognitive psychology and anxiety disorders research. We first provide an integrative overview of the processes influencing the content of working memory, including the availability of attentional control, and the strengths of task goals, stimulus salience, selection history and long-term memory. We then illustrate the interest of this formulation to the study of information processing biases in anxiety disorders, with a specific focus on social anxiety.

The Contribution of Working Memory to Fluid Reasoning: Capacity, Control, or Both?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chuderski, Adam; Necka, Edward

2012-01-01

Fluid reasoning shares a large part of its variance with working memory capacity (WMC). The literature on working memory (WM) suggests that the capacity of the focus of attention responsible for simultaneous maintenance and integration of information within WM, as well as the effectiveness of executive control exerted over WM, determines…

Distinctiveness as a function of spatial expansion in verbal working memory: comment on Kreitz, Furley, Memmert, and Simons (2015).

PubMed

Guida, Alessandro; van Dijck, Jean-Philippe; Abrahamse, Elger

2017-05-01

In a recent study, Kreitz et al. (Psychological Research 79:1034-1041, 2015) reported on a relationship between verbal working memory capacity and visuo-spatial attentional breadth. The authors hinted at attentional control to be the major link underlying this relationship. We put forward an alternative explanation by framing it within the context of a recent theory on serial order in memory: verbal item sequences entering in working memory are coded by adding a spatial context that can be derived from reading/writing habits. The observation by Kreitz et al. (Psychological Research 79:1034-1041, 2015) enriches this framework by suggesting that a larger visuo-spatial attentional breadth allows for internal coding of the verbal items in a more (spatially) distinct manner-thereby increasing working memory performance. As such, Kreitz et al. (Psychological Research 79:1034-1041, 2015) is the first study revealing a functional link between visuo-spatial attentional breadth and verbal working memory size, which strengthens spatial accounts of serial order coding in working memory.

The effects of sequential attention shifts within visual working memory.

PubMed

Li, Qi; Saiki, Jun

2014-01-01

Previous studies have shown conflicting data as to whether it is possible to sequentially shift spatial attention among visual working memory (VWM) representations. The present study investigated this issue by asynchronously presenting attentional cues during the retention interval of a change detection task. In particular, we focused on two types of sequential attention shifts: (1) orienting attention to one location, and then withdrawing attention from it, and (2) switching the focus of attention from one location to another. In Experiment 1, a withdrawal cue was presented after a spatial retro-cue to measure the effect of withdrawing attention. The withdrawal cue significantly reduced the cost of invalid spatial cues, but surprisingly, did not attenuate the benefit of valid spatial cues. This indicates that the withdrawal cue only triggered the activation of facilitative components but not inhibitory components of attention. In Experiment 2, two spatial retro-cues were presented successively to examine the effect of switching the focus of attention. We observed equivalent benefits of the first and second spatial cues, suggesting that participants were able to reorient attention from one location to another within VWM, and the reallocation of attention did not attenuate memory at the first-cued location. In Experiment 3, we found that reducing the validity of the preceding spatial cue did lead to a significant reduction in its benefit. However, performance was still better at first-cued locations than at uncued and neutral locations, indicating that the first cue benefit might have been preserved both partially under automatic control and partially under voluntary control. Our findings revealed new properties of dynamic attentional control in VWM maintenance.

Interactions between attention and visual short-term memory (VSTM): what can be learnt from individual and developmental differences?

PubMed

Astle, Duncan E; Scerif, Gaia

2011-05-01

An ever increasing amount of research in the fields of developmental psychology and adult cognitive neuroscience explores attentional control as a driver of visual short-term and working memory capacity limits ("VSTM" and "VWM", respectively). However, these literatures have thus far been disparate: they use different measures or different labels, and the constructs of interest often appear to be quite distinct. In the current review, we attempt to bridge these gaps across disciplines and explore the extent to which these two literatures might support one another. In order to do this, we explore five principal questions of interest to members of both communities: (1) To what extent are measures of VSTM, VWM and attentional control commensurate across the developmental and adult literatures? (2) To what extent do individual differences in attentional control account for why some children, just like some adults, show poorer VSTM and VWM capacity than others? (3) Can developmental improvements in VSTM and VWM capacity also be explained by differences in attentional control? (4) What novel insights can be gained by studying the developmental cognitive neuroscience of attention and VSTM and VWM? (5) Can visual short-term and working memory capacity be modulated by training and, if so, how can training effects inform the relationships between attention and VSTM? Throughout, we evaluate the central thesis that variability in attentional control, both between individuals and over development, is a driver of variability in VSTM and VWM capacity. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Automatic and Controlled Processing in Sentence Recall: The Role of Long-Term and Working Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jefferies, E.; Lambon Ralph, M.A.; Baddeley, A.D.

2004-01-01

Immediate serial recall is better for sentences than word lists presumably because of the additional support that meaningful material receives from long-term memory. This may occur automatically, without the involvement of attention, or may require additional attentionally demanding processing. For example, the episodic buffer model (Baddeley,…

The Influences of Emotion on Learning and Memory

PubMed Central

Tyng, Chai M.; Amin, Hafeez U.; Saad, Mohamad N. M.; Malik, Aamir S.

2017-01-01

Emotion has a substantial influence on the cognitive processes in humans, including perception, attention, learning, memory, reasoning, and problem solving. Emotion has a particularly strong influence on attention, especially modulating the selectivity of attention as well as motivating action and behavior. This attentional and executive control is intimately linked to learning processes, as intrinsically limited attentional capacities are better focused on relevant information. Emotion also facilitates encoding and helps retrieval of information efficiently. However, the effects of emotion on learning and memory are not always univalent, as studies have reported that emotion either enhances or impairs learning and long-term memory (LTM) retention, depending on a range of factors. Recent neuroimaging findings have indicated that the amygdala and prefrontal cortex cooperate with the medial temporal lobe in an integrated manner that affords (i) the amygdala modulating memory consolidation; (ii) the prefrontal cortex mediating memory encoding and formation; and (iii) the hippocampus for successful learning and LTM retention. We also review the nested hierarchies of circular emotional control and cognitive regulation (bottom-up and top-down influences) within the brain to achieve optimal integration of emotional and cognitive processing. This review highlights a basic evolutionary approach to emotion to understand the effects of emotion on learning and memory and the functional roles played by various brain regions and their mutual interactions in relation to emotional processing. We also summarize the current state of knowledge on the impact of emotion on memory and map implications for educational settings. In addition to elucidating the memory-enhancing effects of emotion, neuroimaging findings extend our understanding of emotional influences on learning and memory processes; this knowledge may be useful for the design of effective educational curricula to provide a conducive learning environment for both traditional “live” learning in classrooms and “virtual” learning through online-based educational technologies. PMID:28883804

Influence of early attentional modulation on working memory

PubMed Central

Gazzaley, Adam

2011-01-01

It is now established that attention influences working memory (WM) at multiple processing stages. This liaison between attention and WM poses several interesting empirical questions. Notably, does attention impact WM via its influences on early perceptual processing? If so, what are the critical factors at play in this attention-perception-WM interaction. I review recent data from our laboratory utilizing a variety of techniques (electroencephalography (EEG), functional MRI (fMRI) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)), stimuli (features and complex objects), novel experimental paradigms, and research populations (younger and older adults), which converge to support the conclusion that top-down modulation of visual cortical activity at early perceptual processing stages (100–200 ms after stimulus onset) impacts subsequent WM performance. Factors that affect attentional control at this stage include cognitive load, task practice, perceptual training, and aging. These developments highlight the complex and dynamic relationships among perception, attention, and memory. PMID:21184764

An attention-gating recurrent working memory architecture for emergent speech representation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elshaw, Mark; Moore, Roger K.; Klein, Michael

2010-06-01

This paper describes an attention-gating recurrent self-organising map approach for emergent speech representation. Inspired by evidence from human cognitive processing, the architecture combines two main neural components. The first component, the attention-gating mechanism, uses actor-critic learning to perform selective attention towards speech. Through this selective attention approach, the attention-gating mechanism controls access to working memory processing. The second component, the recurrent self-organising map memory, develops a temporal-distributed representation of speech using phone-like structures. Representing speech in terms of phonetic features in an emergent self-organised fashion, according to research on child cognitive development, recreates the approach found in infants. Using this representational approach, in a fashion similar to infants, should improve the performance of automatic recognition systems through aiding speech segmentation and fast word learning.

Hippocampal volume and auditory attention on a verbal memory task with adult survivors of pediatric brain tumor.

PubMed

Jayakar, Reema; King, Tricia Z; Morris, Robin; Na, Sabrina

2015-03-01

We examined the nature of verbal memory deficits and the possible hippocampal underpinnings in long-term adult survivors of childhood brain tumor. 35 survivors (M = 24.10 ± 4.93 years at testing; 54% female), on average 15 years post-diagnosis, and 59 typically developing adults (M = 22.40 ± 4.35 years, 54% female) participated. Automated FMRIB Software Library (FSL) tools were used to measure hippocampal, putamen, and whole brain volumes. The California Verbal Learning Test-Second Edition (CVLT-II) was used to assess verbal memory. Hippocampal, F(1, 91) = 4.06, ηp² = .04; putamen, F(1, 91) = 11.18, ηp² = .11; and whole brain, F(1, 92) = 18.51, ηp² = .17, volumes were significantly lower for survivors than controls (p < .05). Hippocampus and putamen volumes were significantly correlated (r = .62, p < .001) with each other, but not with total brain volume (r = .09; r = .08), for survivors and controls. Verbal memory indices of auditory attention list span (Trial 1: F(1, 92) = 12.70, η² = .12) and final list learning (Trial 5: F(1, 92) = 6.01, η² = .06) were significantly lower for survivors (p < .05). Total hippocampal volume in survivors was significantly correlated (r = .43, p = .01) with auditory attention, but none of the other CVLT-II indices. Secondary analyses for the effect of treatment factors are presented. Volumetric differences between survivors and controls exist for the whole brain and for subcortical structures on average 15 years post-diagnosis. Treatment factors seem to have a unique effect on subcortical structures. Memory differences between survivors and controls are largely contingent upon auditory attention list span. Only hippocampal volume is associated with the auditory attention list span component of verbal memory. These findings are particularly robust for survivors treated with radiation. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Competition with and without priority control: linking rivalry to attention through winner-take-all networks with memory.

PubMed

Marx, Svenja; Gruenhage, Gina; Walper, Daniel; Rutishauser, Ueli; Einhäuser, Wolfgang

2015-03-01

Competition is ubiquitous in perception. For example, items in the visual field compete for processing resources, and attention controls their priority (biased competition). The inevitable ambiguity in the interpretation of sensory signals yields another form of competition: distinct perceptual interpretations compete for access to awareness. Rivalry, where two equally likely percepts compete for dominance, explicates the latter form of competition. Building upon the similarity between attention and rivalry, we propose to model rivalry by a generic competitive circuit that is widely used in the attention literature-a winner-take-all (WTA) network. Specifically, we show that a network of two coupled WTA circuits replicates three common hallmarks of rivalry: the distribution of dominance durations, their dependence on input strength ("Levelt's propositions"), and the effects of stimulus removal (blanking). This model introduces a form of memory by forming discrete states and explains experimental data better than competitive models of rivalry without memory. This result supports the crucial role of memory in rivalry specifically and in competitive processes in general. Our approach unifies the seemingly distinct phenomena of rivalry, memory, and attention in a single model with competition as the common underlying principle. © 2015 The Authors. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences published by Wiley Periodicals Inc. on behalf of The New York Academy of Sciences.

Why does working memory capacity predict variation in reading comprehension? On the influence of mind wandering and executive attention.

PubMed

McVay, Jennifer C; Kane, Michael J

2012-05-01

Some people are better readers than others, and this variation in comprehension ability is predicted by measures of working memory capacity (WMC). The primary goal of this study was to investigate the mediating role of mind-wandering experiences in the association between WMC and normal individual differences in reading comprehension, as predicted by the executive-attention theory of WMC (e.g., Engle & Kane, 2004). We used a latent-variable, structural-equation-model approach, testing skilled adult readers on 3 WMC span tasks, 7 varied reading-comprehension tasks, and 3 attention-control tasks. Mind wandering was assessed using experimenter-scheduled thought probes during 4 different tasks (2 reading, 2 attention-control). The results support the executive-attention theory of WMC. Mind wandering across the 4 tasks loaded onto a single latent factor, reflecting a stable individual difference. Most important, mind wandering was a significant mediator in the relationship between WMC and reading comprehension, suggesting that the WMC-comprehension correlation is driven, in part, by attention control over intruding thoughts. We discuss implications for theories of WMC, attention control, and reading comprehension.

Distinct discrimination learning strategies and their relation with spatial memory and attentional control in 4- to 14-year-olds.

PubMed

Schmittmann, Verena D; van der Maas, Han L J; Raijmakers, Maartje E J

2012-04-01

Behavioral, psychophysiological, and neuropsychological studies have revealed large developmental differences in various learning paradigms where learning from positive and negative feedback is essential. The differences are possibly due to the use of distinct strategies that may be related to spatial working memory and attentional control. In this study, strategies in performing a discrimination learning task were distinguished in a cross-sectional sample of 302 children from 4 to 14 years of age. The trial-by-trial accuracy data were analyzed with mathematical learning models. The best-fitting model revealed three learning strategies: hypothesis testing, slow abrupt learning, and nonlearning. The proportion of hypothesis-testing children increased with age. Nonlearners were present only in the youngest age group. Feature preferences for the irrelevant dimension had a detrimental effect on performance in the youngest age group. The executive functions spatial working memory and attentional control significantly predicted posterior learning strategy probabilities after controlling for age. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Development of Cognitive Skills and Gains in Academic School Readiness for Children from Low-Income Families

PubMed Central

Welsh, Janet A.; Nix, Robert L.; Blair, Clancy; Bierman, Karen L.; Nelson, Keith E.

2010-01-01

This study examined developmental associations between growth in domain-general cognitive processes (working memory and attention control) and growth in domain-specific skills (emergent literacy and numeracy) across the pre-kindergarten year, and their relative contributions to kindergarten reading and math achievement. One hundred sixty-four Head Start children (44% African American or Latino; 57% female) were followed longitudinally. Path analyses revealed that working memory and attention control predicted growth in emergent literacy and numeracy skills during the pre-kindergarten year, and furthermore, that growth in these domain-general cognitive skills made unique contributions to the prediction of kindergarten math and reading achievement, controlling for growth in domain-specific skills. These findings extend research highlighting the importance of working memory and attention control for academic learning, demonstrating the effects in early childhood, prior to school entry. We discuss the implications of these findings for pre-kindergarten programs, particularly those designed to reduce the school readiness gaps associated with socio-economic disadvantage. PMID:20411025

Self-initiated encoding facilitates object working memory in schizophrenia: implications for the etiology of working memory deficit.

PubMed

Kim, Jejoong; Park, Sohee; Shin, Yong-Wook; Jin Lee, Kyung; Kwon, Jun Soo

2006-02-15

Working memory (WM) deficit is present in a majority of patients with schizophrenia but it is unclear which components of WM are impaired. Past studies suggest that encoding may be compromised. One important determinant of encoding is the deployment of selective attention to the target stimulus. In addition, attention and encoding are modulated by motivational factors. In this study, we investigated the effects of self-initiated encoding (i.e., voluntary attention) on WM. 19 patients with schizophrenia and 19 matched control subjects participated in visual WM and control tasks. Encoding was manipulated by asking subjects to select from two face targets and memorize 1) one of the two identical faces (Non-preference condition), 2) one that is marked (Non-choice condition), and 3) one they prefer (Preference condition). WM accuracy for both location (spatial) and identity (object) was measured. Overall, patients with schizophrenia were less accurate and slower than the control subjects but the deficit was greater for object WM. However, patients were more accurate in object WM when they selected a preferred face as their target during encoding (preference condition) compared with the other two conditions. This effect was not significant for spatial WM. These results suggest that voluntary, self-initiated attention may facilitate object encoding especially if the selection of the target involves affective choice, and that attention may play different roles in encoding 'what' versus 'where' in WM. Since encoding affects all forms of memory, these results may have a more general implication for memory.

Divided visual attention: A comparison of patients with multiple sclerosis and controls, assessed with an optokinetic nystagmus suppression task.

PubMed

Williams, Isla M; Schofield, Peter; Khade, Neha; Abel, Larry A

2016-12-01

Multiple sclerosis (MS) frequently causes impairment of cognitive function. We compared patients with MS with controls on divided visual attention tasks. The MS patients' and controls' stare optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) was recorded in response to a 24°/s full field stimulus. Suppression of the OKN response, judged by the gain, was measured during tasks dividing visual attention between the fixation target and a second stimulus, central or peripheral, static or dynamic. All participants completed the Audio Recorded Cognitive Screen. MS patients had lower gain on the baseline stare OKN. OKN suppression in divided attention tasks was the same in MS patients as in controls but in both groups was better maintained in static than in dynamic tasks. In only dynamic tasks, older age was associated with less effective OKN suppression. MS patients had lower scores on a timed attention task and on memory. There was no significant correlation between attention or memory and eye movement parameters. Attention, a complex multifaceted construct, has different neural combinations for each task. Despite impairments on some measures of attention, MS patients completed the divided visual attention tasks normally. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The influence of memory and attention on the ear advantage in dichotic listening.

PubMed

D'Anselmo, Anita; Marzoli, Daniele; Brancucci, Alfredo

2016-12-01

The role of memory retention and attentional control on hemispheric asymmetry was investigated using a verbal dichotic listening paradigm, with the consonant-vowel syllables (/ba/,/da/,/ga/,/ka/,/pa/and/ta/), while manipulating the focus of attention and the time interval between stimulus and response. Attention was manipulated using three conditions: non-forced (NF), forced left (FL) and forced right (FR) attention. Memory involvement was varied using four delays (0, 1, 3 and 4 s) between stimulus presentation and response. Results showed a significant right ear advantage (REA) in the NF condition and an increased REA in the FR condition. A left ear advantage (LEA) was found in FL condition. The REA increased significantly in the NF attention condition at the 3-s compared to the 0-s delay and in the FR condition at the 1-s compared to the 0-s delay. No modulation of the left ear advantage was observed in the FL condition. These results are discussed in terms of an interaction between attentional processes and memory retention. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dispositional mindfulness and the wandering mind: Implications for attentional control in older adults.

PubMed

Fountain-Zaragoza, Stephanie; Londerée, Allison; Whitmoyer, Patrick; Prakash, Ruchika Shaurya

2016-08-01

Age-related cognitive decline brings decreases in functional status. Dispositional mindfulness, the tendency towards present-moment attention, is hypothesized to correspond with enhanced attention, whereas mind-wandering may be detrimental to cognition. The relationships among mindfulness, task-related and task-unrelated thought, and attentional control performance on Go/No-Go and Continuous Performance tasks were examined in older adults. Dispositional mindfulness was negatively associated with task-unrelated thought and was positively associated with reactive control, but not proactive control or Go/No-Go performance. Although mind-wandering was not directly associated with performance, task-unrelated thought mediated the mindfulness-proactive control relation. Fewer task-unrelated thoughts were associated with lower proactive control. Interestingly, this effect was moderated by working memory such that it was present for those with low-average, but not high, working memory. This study highlights the importance of dispositional mindfulness and mind-wandering propensity in accounting for individual differences in attentional control in older adults, providing important targets for future cognitive remediation interventions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cognitive training with casual video games: points to consider.

PubMed

Baniqued, Pauline L; Kranz, Michael B; Voss, Michelle W; Lee, Hyunkyu; Cosman, Joshua D; Severson, Joan; Kramer, Arthur F

2014-01-07

Brain training programs have proliferated in recent years, with claims that video games or computer-based tasks can broadly enhance cognitive function. However, benefits are commonly seen only in trained tasks. Assessing generalized improvement and practicality of laboratory exercises complicates interpretation and application of findings. In this study, we addressed these issues by using active control groups, training tasks that more closely resemble real-world demands and multiple tests to determine transfer of training. We examined whether casual video games can broadly improve cognition, and selected training games from a study of the relationship between game performance and cognitive abilities. A total of 209 young adults were randomized into a working memory-reasoning group, an adaptive working memory-reasoning group, an active control game group, and a no-contact control group. Before and after 15 h of training, participants completed tests of reasoning, working memory, attention, episodic memory, perceptual speed, and self-report measures of executive function, game experience, perceived improvement, knowledge of brain training research, and game play outside the laboratory. Participants improved on the training games, but transfer to untrained tasks was limited. No group showed gains in reasoning, working memory, episodic memory, or perceptual speed, but the working memory-reasoning groups improved in divided attention, with better performance in an attention-demanding game, a decreased attentional blink and smaller trail-making costs. Perceived improvements did not differ across training groups and those with low reasoning ability at baseline showed larger gains. Although there are important caveats, our study sheds light on the mixed effects in the training and transfer literature and offers a novel and potentially practical training approach. Still, more research is needed to determine the real-world benefits of computer programs such as casual games.

Selective Attention, Working Memory, and Executive Function as Potential Independent Sources of Cognitive Dysfunction in Schizophrenia.

PubMed

Gold, James M; Robinson, Benjamin; Leonard, Carly J; Hahn, Britta; Chen, Shuo; McMahon, Robert P; Luck, Steven J

2017-11-11

People with schizophrenia demonstrate impairments in selective attention, working memory, and executive function. Given the overlap in these constructs, it is unclear if these represent distinct impairments or different manifestations of one higher-order impairment. To examine this question, we administered tasks from the basic cognitive neuroscience literature to measure visual selective attention, working memory capacity, and executive function in 126 people with schizophrenia and 122 healthy volunteers. Patients demonstrated deficits on all tasks with the exception of selective attention guided by strong bottom-up inputs. Although the measures of top-down control of selective attention, working memory, and executive function were all intercorrelated, several sources of evidence indicate that working memory and executive function are separate sources of variance. Specifically, both working memory and executive function independently contributed to the discrimination of group status and independently accounted for variance in overall general cognitive ability as assessed by the MATRICS battery. These two cognitive functions appear to be separable features of the cognitive impairments observed in schizophrenia. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Prospective memory and intraindividual variability in ongoing task response times in an adult lifespan sample: the role of cue focality.

PubMed

Ihle, Andreas; Ghisletta, Paolo; Kliegel, Matthias

2017-03-01

To contribute to the ongoing conceptual debate of what traditional mean-level ongoing task (OT) costs tell us about the attentional processes underlying prospective memory (PM), we investigated costs to intraindividual variability (IIV) in OT response times as a potentially sensitive indicator of attentional processes. Particularly, we tested whether IIV in OT responses may reflect controlled employment of attentional processes versus lapses of controlled attention, whether these processes differ across adulthood, and whether it is moderated by cue focality. We assessed 150 individuals (19-82 years) in a focal and a nonfocal PM condition. In addition, external measures of inhibition and working memory were assessed. In line with the predictions of the lapses-of-attention/inefficient-executive-control account, our data support the view that costs to IIV in OT trials of PM tasks reflect fluctuations in the efficiency of executive functioning, which was related to failures in prospective remembering, particularly in nonfocal PM tasks, potentially due to their increased executive demands. The additional value of considering costs to IIV over and beyond traditional mean-level OT costs in PM research is discussed.

Individual Differences in Recovery Time From Attentional Capture

PubMed Central

Fukuda, Keisuke; Vogel, Edward K.

2015-01-01

Working memory capacity reflects a core ability of the individual that affects performance on many cognitive tasks. Recent work has suggested that an important covariate of memory capacity is attentional control, and specifically that low-capacity individuals are more susceptible to attentional capture by distractors than high-capacity individuals are, with the latter being able to resist capture. Here, we tested an alternative account according to which all individuals are equally susceptible to attentional capture, but high-capacity individuals recover more quickly than low-capacity individuals. Using psychophysical and electrophysiological methods, we measured recovery time from attentional capture. In two experiments, we found that high- and low-capacity individuals showed equivalent attentional capture effects in the initial moments following capture, but that low-capacity individuals took much longer to recover than high-capacity individuals did. These results suggest that the poor attentional control associated with low capacity is due to slow disengagement from distractors. PMID:21310945

A randomized trial on mineralocorticoid receptor blockade in men: effects on stress responses, selective attention, and memory.

PubMed

Cornelisse, Sandra; Joëls, Marian; Smeets, Tom

2011-12-01

Corticosteroids, released in high amounts after stress, exert their effects via two different receptors in the brain: glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) and mineralocorticoid receptors (MRs). GRs have a role in normalizing stress-induced effects and promoting consolidation, while MRs are thought to be important in determining the threshold for activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. We investigated the effects of MR blockade on HPA axis responses to stress and stress-induced changes in cognitive function. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 64 healthy young men received 400 mg of the MR antagonist spironolactone or placebo. After 1.5 h, they were exposed to either a Trier Social Stress Test or a non-stressful control task. Responses to stress were evaluated by hormonal, subjective, and physiological measurements. Afterwards, selective attention, working memory, and long-term memory performance were assessed. Spironolactone increased basal salivary cortisol levels as well as cortisol levels in response to stress. Furthermore, spironolactone significantly impaired selective attention, but only in the control group. The stress group receiving spironolactone showed impaired working memory performance. By contrast, long-term memory was enhanced in this group. These data support a role of MRs in the regulation of the HPA axis under basal conditions as well as in response to stress. The increased availability of cortisol after spironolactone treatment implies enhanced GR activation, which, in combination with MR blockade, presumably resulted in a decreased MR/GR activation ratio. This condition influences both selective attention and performance in various memory tasks.

Electrophysiological assessment of the effects of obstructive sleep apnea on cognition.

PubMed

Gelir, Ethem; Başaran, Cenk; Bayrak, Sibel; Yağcıoğlu, Süha; Budak, Murat Timur; Fırat, Hikmet; Ungan, Pekcan

2014-01-01

We used electrophysiological measures to investigate the effects of obstructive sleep apnea on attention, learning, and memory. Thirty subjects (OSA group, n = 15, control group n = 15) participated in n-back tests, accompanied by P300 recordings, to investigate working memory and attention. The mirror-drawing test was used to study procedural memory, and the trail-making test (TMT) was used to evaluate divided attention and executive function. No significant group difference in reaction time was found in the 0-back and 1-back tests. In the 2-back test, reaction times of patients were longer than those of the control group. No P300 wave was obtained in the OSA group in any (0-, 1-, or 2-back) n-back test. In contrast, in the control group, significant P300 waves were recorded except for the 2-back test. The mirror-drawing scores were unaffected by sleep apnea. There was no difference between groups in the TMT-A test on any of the trials. Although no group difference was found in the first or second trials of the TMT-B test, OSA patients were less successful in learning on the third trial. According to our study results, OSA affects attention and executive function adversely however, we could not detect a significant effect on working or procedural memory.

Reduced prefrontal efficiency for visuospatial working memory in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

PubMed

Bédard, Anne-Claude V; Newcorn, Jeffrey H; Clerkin, Suzanne M; Krone, Beth; Fan, Jin; Halperin, Jeffrey M; Schulz, Kurt P

2014-09-01

Visuospatial working memory impairments have been implicated in the pathophysiology of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, most ADHD research has focused on the neural correlates of nonspatial mnemonic processes. This study examined brain activation and functional connectivity for visuospatial working memory in youth with and without ADHD. Twenty-four youth with ADHD and 21 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing an N-back test of working memory for spatial position. Block-design analyses contrasted activation and functional connectivity separately for high (2-back) and low (1-back) working memory load conditions versus the control condition (0-back). The effect of working memory load was modeled with linear contrasts. The 2 groups performed comparably on the task and demonstrated similar patterns of frontoparietal activation, with no differences in linear gains in activation as working memory load increased. However, youth with ADHD showed greater activation in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and left posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), greater functional connectivity between the left DLPFC and left intraparietal sulcus, and reduced left DLPFC connectivity with left midcingulate cortex and PCC for the high load contrast compared to controls (p < .01; k > 100 voxels). Reanalysis using a more conservative statistical approach (p < .001; k > 100 voxels) yielded group differences in PCC activation and DLPFC-midcingulate connectivity. Youth with ADHD show decreased efficiency of DLPFC for high-load visuospatial working memory and greater reliance on posterior spatial attention circuits to store and update spatial position than healthy control youth. Findings should be replicated in larger samples. Copyright © 2014 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Set-relevance determines the impact of distractors on episodic memory retrieval.

PubMed

Kwok, Sze Chai; Shallice, Tim; Macaluso, Emiliano

2014-09-01

We investigated the interplay between stimulus-driven attention and memory retrieval with a novel interference paradigm that engaged both systems concurrently on each trial. Participants encoded a 45-min movie on Day 1 and, on Day 2, performed a temporal order judgment task during fMRI. Each retrieval trial comprised three images presented sequentially, and the task required participants to judge the temporal order of the first and the last images ("memory probes") while ignoring the second image, which was task irrelevant ("attention distractor"). We manipulated the content relatedness and the temporal proximity between the distractor and the memory probes, as well as the temporal distance between two probes. Behaviorally, short temporal distances between the probes led to reduced retrieval performance. Distractors that at encoding were temporally close to the first probe image reduced these costs, specifically when the distractor was content unrelated to the memory probes. The imaging results associated the distractor probe temporal proximity with activation of the right ventral attention network. By contrast, the precuneus was activated for high-content relatedness between distractors and probes and in trials including a short distance between the two memory probes. The engagement of the right ventral attention network by specific types of distractors suggests a link between stimulus-driven attention control and episodic memory retrieval, whereas the activation pattern of the precuneus implicates this region in memory search within knowledge/content-based hierarchies.

Neural Conflict–Control Mechanisms Improve Memory for Target Stimuli

PubMed Central

Krebs, Ruth M.; Boehler, Carsten N.; De Belder, Maya; Egner, Tobias

2015-01-01

According to conflict-monitoring models, conflict serves as an internal signal for reinforcing top-down attention to task-relevant information. While evidence based on measures of ongoing task performance supports this idea, implications for long-term consequences, that is, memory, have not been tested yet. Here, we evaluated the prediction that conflict-triggered attentional enhancement of target-stimulus processing should be associated with superior subsequent memory for those stimuli. By combining functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with a novel variant of a face-word Stroop task that employed trial-unique face stimuli as targets, we were able to assess subsequent (incidental) memory for target faces as a function of whether a given face had previously been accompanied by congruent, neutral, or incongruent (conflicting) distracters. In line with our predictions, incongruent distracters not only induced behavioral conflict, but also gave rise to enhanced memory for target faces. Moreover, conflict-triggered neural activity in prefrontal and parietal regions was predictive of subsequent retrieval success, and displayed conflict-enhanced functional coupling with medial-temporal lobe regions. These data provide support for the proposal that conflict evokes enhanced top-down attention to task-relevant stimuli, thereby promoting their encoding into long-term memory. Our findings thus delineate the neural mechanisms of a novel link between cognitive control and memory. PMID:24108799

Daily variability in working memory is coupled with negative affect: the role of attention and motivation.

PubMed

Brose, Annette; Schmiedek, Florian; Lövdén, Martin; Lindenberger, Ulman

2012-06-01

Across days, individuals experience varying levels of negative affect, control of attention, and motivation. We investigated whether this intraindividual variability was coupled with daily fluctuations in working memory (WM) performance. In 100 days, 101 younger individuals worked on a spatial N-back task and rated negative affect, control of attention, and motivation. Results showed that individuals differed in how reliably WM performance fluctuated across days, and that subjective experiences were primarily linked to performance accuracy. WM performance was lower on days with higher levels of negative affect, reduced control of attention, and reduced task-related motivation. Thus, variables that were found to predict WM in between-subjects designs showed important relationships to WM at the within-person level. In addition, there was shared predictive variance among predictors of WM. Days with increased negative affect and reduced performance were also days with reduced control of attention and reduced motivation to work on tasks. These findings are in line with proposed mechanisms linking negative affect and cognitive performance.

Working memory capacity and the top-down control of visual search: Exploring the boundaries of "executive attention".

PubMed

Kane, Michael J; Poole, Bradley J; Tuholski, Stephen W; Engle, Randall W

2006-07-01

The executive attention theory of working memory capacity (WMC) proposes that measures of WMC broadly predict higher order cognitive abilities because they tap important and general attention capabilities (R. W. Engle & M. J. Kane, 2004). Previous research demonstrated WMC-related differences in attention tasks that required restraint of habitual responses or constraint of conscious focus. To further specify the executive attention construct, the present experiments sought boundary conditions of the WMC-attention relation. Three experiments correlated individual differences in WMC, as measured by complex span tasks, and executive control of visual search. In feature-absence search, conjunction search, and spatial configuration search, WMC was unrelated to search slopes, although they were large and reliably measured. Even in a search task designed to require the volitional movement of attention (J. M. Wolfe, G. A. Alvarez, & T. S. Horowitz, 2000), WMC was irrelevant to performance. Thus, WMC is not associated with all demanding or controlled attention processes, which poses problems for some general theories of WMC. Copyright 2006 APA, all rights reserved.

The effects of sequential attention shifts within visual working memory

PubMed Central

Li, Qi; Saiki, Jun

2014-01-01

Previous studies have shown conflicting data as to whether it is possible to sequentially shift spatial attention among visual working memory (VWM) representations. The present study investigated this issue by asynchronously presenting attentional cues during the retention interval of a change detection task. In particular, we focused on two types of sequential attention shifts: (1) orienting attention to one location, and then withdrawing attention from it, and (2) switching the focus of attention from one location to another. In Experiment 1, a withdrawal cue was presented after a spatial retro-cue to measure the effect of withdrawing attention. The withdrawal cue significantly reduced the cost of invalid spatial cues, but surprisingly, did not attenuate the benefit of valid spatial cues. This indicates that the withdrawal cue only triggered the activation of facilitative components but not inhibitory components of attention. In Experiment 2, two spatial retro-cues were presented successively to examine the effect of switching the focus of attention. We observed equivalent benefits of the first and second spatial cues, suggesting that participants were able to reorient attention from one location to another within VWM, and the reallocation of attention did not attenuate memory at the first-cued location. In Experiment 3, we found that reducing the validity of the preceding spatial cue did lead to a significant reduction in its benefit. However, performance was still better at first-cued locations than at uncued and neutral locations, indicating that the first cue benefit might have been preserved both partially under automatic control and partially under voluntary control. Our findings revealed new properties of dynamic attentional control in VWM maintenance. PMID:25237306

Disentangling the adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder endophenotype: parametric measurement of attention.

PubMed

Finke, Kathrin; Schwarzkopf, Wolfgang; Müller, Ulrich; Frodl, Thomas; Müller, Hermann J; Schneider, Werner X; Engel, Rolf R; Riedel, Michael; Möller, Hans-Jürgen; Hennig-Fast, Kristina

2011-11-01

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) persists frequently into adulthood. The decomposition of endophenotypes by means of experimental neuro-cognitive assessment has the potential to improve diagnostic assessment, evaluation of treatment response, and disentanglement of genetic and environmental influences. We assessed four parameters of attentional capacity and selectivity derived from simple psychophysical tasks (verbal report of briefly presented letter displays) and based on a "theory of visual attention." These parameters are mathematically independent, quantitative measures, and previous studies have shown that they are highly sensitive for subtle attention deficits. Potential reductions of attentional capacity, that is, of perceptual processing speed and working memory storage capacity, were assessed with a whole report paradigm. Furthermore, possible pathologies of attentional selectivity, that is, selection of task-relevant information and bias in the spatial distribution of attention, were measured with a partial report paradigm. A group of 30 unmedicated adult ADHD patients and a group of 30 demographically matched healthy controls were tested. ADHD patients showed significant reductions of working memory storage capacity of a moderate to large effect size. Perceptual processing speed, task-based, and spatial selection were unaffected. The results imply a working memory deficit as an important source of behavioral impairments. The theory of visual attention parameter working memory storage capacity might constitute a quantifiable and testable endophenotype of ADHD.

Neural dynamics underlying attentional orienting to auditory representations in short-term memory.

PubMed

Backer, Kristina C; Binns, Malcolm A; Alain, Claude

2015-01-21

Sounds are ephemeral. Thus, coherent auditory perception depends on "hearing" back in time: retrospectively attending that which was lost externally but preserved in short-term memory (STM). Current theories of auditory attention assume that sound features are integrated into a perceptual object, that multiple objects can coexist in STM, and that attention can be deployed to an object in STM. Recording electroencephalography from humans, we tested these assumptions, elucidating feature-general and feature-specific neural correlates of auditory attention to STM. Alpha/beta oscillations and frontal and posterior event-related potentials indexed feature-general top-down attentional control to one of several coexisting auditory representations in STM. Particularly, task performance during attentional orienting was correlated with alpha/low-beta desynchronization (i.e., power suppression). However, attention to one feature could occur without simultaneous processing of the second feature of the representation. Therefore, auditory attention to memory relies on both feature-specific and feature-general neural dynamics. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/351307-12$15.00/0.

The frontal eye fields limit the capacity of visual short-term memory in rhesus monkeys.

PubMed

Lee, Kyoung-Min; Ahn, Kyung-Ha

2013-01-01

The frontal eye fields (FEF) in rhesus monkeys have been implicated in visual short-term memory (VSTM) as well as control of visual attention. Here we examined the importance of the area in the VSTM capacity and the relationship between VSTM and attention, using the chemical inactivation technique and multi-target saccade tasks with or without the need of target-location memory. During FEF inactivation, serial saccades to targets defined by color contrast were unaffected, but saccades relying on short-term memory were impaired when the target count was at the capacity limit of VSTM. The memory impairment was specific to the FEF-coded retinotopic locations, and subject to competition among targets distributed across visual fields. These results together suggest that the FEF plays a crucial role during the entry of information into VSTM, by enabling attention deployment on targets to be remembered. In this view, the memory capacity results from the limited availability of attentional resources provided by FEF: The FEF can concurrently maintain only a limited number of activations to register the targets into memory. When lesions render part of the area unavailable for activation, the number would decrease, further reducing the capacity of VSTM.

The impact of intelligence on memory and executive functions of children with temporal lobe epilepsy: Methodological concerns with clinical relevance.

PubMed

Rzezak, Patricia; Guimarães, Catarina A; Guerreiro, Marilisa M; Valente, Kette D

2017-05-01

Patients with TLE are prone to have lower IQ scores than healthy controls. Nevertheless, the impact of IQ differences is not usually considered in studies that compared the cognitive functioning of children with and without epilepsy. This study aimed to determine the effect of using IQ as a covariate on memory and attentional/executive functions of children with TLE. Thirty-eight children and adolescents with TLE and 28 healthy controls paired as to age, gender, and sociodemographic factors were evaluated with a comprehensive neuropsychological battery for memory and executive functions. The authors conducted three analyses to verify the impact of IQ scores on the other cognitive domains. First, we compared performance on cognitive tests without controlling for IQ differences between groups. Second, we performed the same analyses, but we included IQ as a confounding factor. Finally, we evaluated the predictive value of IQ on cognitive functioning. Although patients had IQ score in the normal range, they showed lower IQ scores than controls (p = 0.001). When we did not consider IQ in the analyses, patients had worse performance in verbal and visual memory (short and long-term), semantic memory, sustained, divided and selective attention, mental flexibility and mental tracking for semantic information. By using IQ as a covariate, patients showed worse performance only in verbal memory (long-term), semantic memory, sustained and divided attention and in mental flexibility. IQ was a predictor factor of verbal and visual memory (immediate and delayed), working memory, mental flexibility and mental tracking for semantic information. Intelligence level had a significant impact on memory and executive functioning of children and adolescents with TLE without intellectual disability. This finding opens the discussion of whether IQ scores should be considered when interpreting the results of differences in cognitive performance of patients with epilepsy compared to healthy volunteers. Copyright © 2017 European Paediatric Neurology Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Recoding between two types of STM representation revealed by the dynamics of memory search.

PubMed

Leszczyński, Marcin; Myers, Nicholas E; Akyürek, Elkan G; Schubö, Anna

2012-03-01

Visual STM (VSTM) is thought to be related to visual attention in several ways. Attention controls access to VSTM during memory encoding and plays a role in the maintenance of stored information by strengthening memorized content. We investigated the involvement of visual attention in recall from VSTM. In two experiments, we measured electrophysiological markers of attention in a memory search task with varying intervals between VSTM encoding and recall, and so we were able to track recoding of representations in memory. Results confirmed the involvement of attention in VSTM recall. However, the amplitude of the N2pc and N3rs components, which mark orienting of attention and search within VSTM, decreased as a function of delay. Conversely, the amplitude of the P3 and sustained posterior contralateral negativity components increased as a function of delay, effectively the opposite of the N2pc and N3rs modulations. These effects were only observed when verbal memory was not taxed. Thus, the results suggested that gradual recoding from visuospatial orienting of attention into verbal recall mechanisms takes place from short to long retention intervals. Interestingly, recall at longer delays was faster than at short delays, indicating that verbal representation is coupled with faster responses. These results extend the orienting-of-attention hypothesis by including an account of representational recoding during short-term consolidation and its consequences for recall from VSTM.

Transmodal comparison of auditory, motor, and visual post-processing with and without intentional short-term memory maintenance.

PubMed

Bender, Stephan; Behringer, Stephanie; Freitag, Christine M; Resch, Franz; Weisbrod, Matthias

2010-12-01

To elucidate the contributions of modality-dependent post-processing in auditory, motor and visual cortical areas to short-term memory. We compared late negative waves (N700) during the post-processing of single lateralized stimuli which were separated by long intertrial intervals across the auditory, motor and visual modalities. Tasks either required or competed with attention to post-processing of preceding events, i.e. active short-term memory maintenance. N700 indicated that cortical post-processing exceeded short movements as well as short auditory or visual stimuli for over half a second without intentional short-term memory maintenance. Modality-specific topographies pointed towards sensory (respectively motor) generators with comparable time-courses across the different modalities. Lateralization and amplitude of auditory/motor/visual N700 were enhanced by active short-term memory maintenance compared to attention to current perceptions or passive stimulation. The memory-related N700 increase followed the characteristic time-course and modality-specific topography of the N700 without intentional memory-maintenance. Memory-maintenance-related lateralized negative potentials may be related to a less lateralised modality-dependent post-processing N700 component which occurs also without intentional memory maintenance (automatic memory trace or effortless attraction of attention). Encoding to short-term memory may involve controlled attention to modality-dependent post-processing. Similar short-term memory processes may exist in the auditory, motor and visual systems. Copyright © 2010 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Interactions between Attention and Visual Short-Term Memory (VSTM): What Can Be Learnt from Individual and Developmental Differences?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Astle, Duncan E.; Scerif, Gaia

2011-01-01

An ever increasing amount of research in the fields of developmental psychology and adult cognitive neuroscience explores attentional control as a driver of visual short-term and working memory capacity limits ("VSTM" and "VWM", respectively). However, these literatures have thus far been disparate: they use different measures or different labels,…

Memory functioning in children with reading disabilities and/or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a clinical investigation of their working memory and long-term memory functioning.

PubMed

Kibby, Michelle Y; Cohen, Morris J

2008-11-01

We examined memory functioning in children with reading disabilities (RD), Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and RD/ADHD using a clinic sample with a clinical instrument: the Children's Memory Scale, enhancing its generalizability. Participants included 23 children with RD, 30 with ADHD, 30 with RD/ADHD, and 30 controls. Children with RD presented with reduced verbal short-term memory (STM) but intact visual STM, central executive (CE), and long-term memory (LTM) functioning. Their deficit in STM appeared specific to tasks requiring phonetic coding of material. Children with ADHD displayed intact CE and LTM functioning but reduced visual-spatial STM, especially when off stimulant medication. Children with RD/ADHD had deficits consistent with both disorders.

A Little Goes a Long Way: Low Working Memory Load Is Associated with Optimal Distractor Inhibition and Increased Vagal Control under Anxiety.

PubMed

Spangler, Derek P; Friedman, Bruce H

2017-01-01

Anxiety impairs both inhibition of distraction and attentional focus. It is unclear whether these impairments are reduced or exacerbated when loading working memory with non-affective information. Cardiac vagal control has been related to top-down regulation of anxiety; therefore, vagal control may reflect load-related inhibition of distraction under anxiety. The present study examined whether: (1) the enhancing and impairing effects of load on inhibition exist together in a non-linear function, (2) there is a similar association between inhibition and concurrent vagal control under anxiety. During anxiogenic threat-of-noise, 116 subjects maintained a digit series of varying lengths (0, 2, 4, and 6 digits) while completing a visual flanker task. The task was broken into four blocks, with a baseline period preceding each. Electrocardiography was acquired throughout to quantify vagal control as high-frequency heart rate variability (HRV). There were significant quadratic relations of working memory load to flanker performance and to HRV, but no associations between HRV and performance. Results indicate that low load was associated with relatively better inhibition and increased HRV. These findings suggest that attentional performance under anxiety depends on the availability of working memory resources, which might be reflected by vagal control. These results have implications for treating anxiety disorders, in which regulation of anxiety can be optimized for attentional focus.

A Little Goes a Long Way: Low Working Memory Load Is Associated with Optimal Distractor Inhibition and Increased Vagal Control under Anxiety

PubMed Central

Spangler, Derek P.; Friedman, Bruce H.

2017-01-01

Anxiety impairs both inhibition of distraction and attentional focus. It is unclear whether these impairments are reduced or exacerbated when loading working memory with non-affective information. Cardiac vagal control has been related to top–down regulation of anxiety; therefore, vagal control may reflect load-related inhibition of distraction under anxiety. The present study examined whether: (1) the enhancing and impairing effects of load on inhibition exist together in a non-linear function, (2) there is a similar association between inhibition and concurrent vagal control under anxiety. During anxiogenic threat-of-noise, 116 subjects maintained a digit series of varying lengths (0, 2, 4, and 6 digits) while completing a visual flanker task. The task was broken into four blocks, with a baseline period preceding each. Electrocardiography was acquired throughout to quantify vagal control as high-frequency heart rate variability (HRV). There were significant quadratic relations of working memory load to flanker performance and to HRV, but no associations between HRV and performance. Results indicate that low load was associated with relatively better inhibition and increased HRV. These findings suggest that attentional performance under anxiety depends on the availability of working memory resources, which might be reflected by vagal control. These results have implications for treating anxiety disorders, in which regulation of anxiety can be optimized for attentional focus. PMID:28217091

The effects of anticholinergic drugs on attention span and short-term memory skills in children.

PubMed

Giramonti, Karla M; Kogan, Barry A; Halpern, Leslie F

2008-01-01

Studies have shown cognitive problems in adults treated with anticholinergics. It is unclear if children are also susceptible to anticholinergic adverse effects. This study evaluates the effects of long-acting oxybutynin and tolterodine on short-term memory and attention in children with urgency and urge incontinence. Children with urgency or urge incontinence were recruited to take part in a prospective, randomized double-blinded placebo controlled trial using long-acting oxybutynin or tolterodine. Patients underwent a baseline test of their memory/recall ability and attention span using a standardized developmental/neuropsychological assessment tool. They were then randomized to either medication or placebo with retesting in 2 weeks, at which time they were crossed. They were retested after the second 2 weeks. Fourteen children (9 boys and 5 girls), ranging in age from 5 to 11 (M = 7.7) participated in the study. Attention and memory scores increased over time in all children, however, the analyses showed no significant negative effects of anticholinergic medications on attention or memory. Indeed, though not statistically significant, trends were for improvement in test scores in both areas. Our results in a double blinded cross-over trial suggest that long-acting oxybutynin and tolterodine do not have a deleterious effect on children's attention and memory. Other cognitive functions may be affected. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc

The misnomer of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

PubMed

Wasserman, Theodore; Wasserman, Lori Drucker

2015-01-01

We propose that attention-deficit disorder represents an inefficiency of an integrated system designed to allocate working memory to designated tasks rather than the absence or dysfunction of a particular form of attention. A significant portion of this inefficiency in the allocation of working memory represents poor engagement of the reward circuit with distinct circuits of learning and performance that control instrumental conditioning (learning). Efficient attention requires the interaction of these circuits. For a significant percentage of individuals who present with attention-deficit disorder, their problems represent the engagement, or lack thereof, of the motivational and reward circuit as opposed to problems, or disorders of attention traditionally defined as problems with orienting, focusing, and sustaining. We demonstrate that there is an integrated system of working-memory allocation that responds by recruiting relevant aspects of both cortex and subcortex to the demands of the task being encountered. In this model, attention is viewed as a gating function determined by novelty, flight-or-fight response, and reward history/valence affecting motivation. We view the traditional models of attention, rather than describe specific types of attention per se, as representing the description of the behavioral output of this integrated orienting and engagement system designed to allocate working memory to task-specific stimuli.

Top-down modulation: Bridging selective attention and working memory

PubMed Central

Gazzaley, Adam; Nobre, Anna C.

2012-01-01

Selective attention, the ability to focus our cognitive resources on information relevant to our goals, influences working memory (WM) performance. Indeed, attention and working memory are increasingly viewed as overlapping constructs. Here, we review recent evidence from human neurophysiological studies demonstrating that top-down modulation serves as a common neural mechanism underlying these two cognitive operations. The core features include activity modulation in stimulus-selective sensory cortices with concurrent engagement of prefrontal and parietal control regions that function as sources of top-down signals. Notably, top-down modulation is engaged during both stimulus-present and stimulus-absent stages of WM tasks, i.e., expectation of an ensuing stimulus to be remembered, selection and encoding of stimuli, maintenance of relevant information in mind and memory retrieval. PMID:22209601

Contribution of organizational strategy to verbal learning and memory in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

PubMed

Roth, Robert M; Wishart, Heather A; Flashman, Laura A; Riordan, Henry J; Huey, Leighton; Saykin, Andrew J

2004-01-01

Statistical mediation modeling was used to test the hypothesis that poor use of a semantic organizational strategy contributes to verbal learning and memory deficits in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Comparison of 28 adults with ADHD and 34 healthy controls revealed lower performance by the ADHD group on tests of verbal learning and memory, sustained attention, and use of semantic organization during encoding. Mediation modeling indicated that state anxiety, but not semantic organization, significantly contributed to the prediction of both learning and delayed recall in the ADHD group. The pattern of findings suggests that decreased verbal learning and memory in adult ADHD is due in part to situational anxiety and not to poor use of organizational strategies during encoding. ((c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved)

Divided attention deficits in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.

PubMed

Ross, S; Fantie, B; Straus, S F; Grafman, J

2001-01-01

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients and controls were compared on a variety of mood state, personality, and neuropsychological measures, including memory, word finding, and attentional tasks that required participants to focus, sustain, or divide their attention, or to perform a combination of these functions. CFS patients demonstrated a selective deficit on 3 measures of divided attention. Their performance on the other neuropsychological tests of intelligence, fluency, and memory was no different than that of normal controls despite their reports of generally diminished cognitive capacity. There was an inverse relation between CFS patient fatigue severity and performance on 1 of the divided attention measures. Given these findings, it is probable that CFS patients will report more cognitive difficulties in real-life situations that cause them to divide their effort or rapidly reallocate cognitive resources between 2 response channels (vision and audition).

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: the impact of methylphenidate on working memory, inhibition capacity and mental flexibility.

PubMed

Bolfer, Cristiana; Pacheco, Sandra Pasquali; Tsunemi, Miriam Harumi; Carreira, Walter Souza; Casella, Beatriz Borba; Casella, Erasmo Barbante

2017-04-01

To compare children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), before and after the use of methylphenidate, and a control group, using tests of working memory, inhibition capacity and mental flexibility. Neuropsychological tests were administrated to 53 boys, 9-12 years old: the WISC-III digit span backward, and arithmetic; Stroop Color; and Trail Making Tests. The case group included 23 boys with ADHD, who were combined type, treatment-naive, and with normal intelligence without comorbidities. The control group (n = 30) were age and gender matched. After three months on methylphenidate, the ADHD children were retested. The control group was also retested after three months. Before treatment, ADHD children had lower scores than the control group on the tests (p ≤ 0.001) and after methylphenidate had fewer test errors than before (p ≤ 0.001). Methylphenidate treatment improves the working memory, inhibitory control and mental flexibility of ADHD boys.

Why Does Working Memory Capacity Predict Variation in Reading Comprehension? On the Influence of Mind Wandering and Executive Attention

PubMed Central

McVay, Jennifer C.; Kane, Michael J.

2012-01-01

Some people are better readers than others, and this variation in comprehension ability is predicted by measures of working memory capacity (WMC). The primary goal of this study was to investigate the mediating role of mind wandering experiences in the association between WMC and normal individual differences in reading comprehension, as predicted by the executive-attention theory of WMC (e.g., Engle & Kane, 2004). We used a latent-variable, structural-equation-model approach, testing skilled adult readers on three WMC span tasks, seven varied reading comprehension tasks, and three attention-control tasks. Mind wandering was assessed using experimenter-scheduled thought probes during four different tasks (two reading, two attention-control tasks). The results support the executive-attention theory of WMC. Mind wandering across the four tasks loaded onto a single latent factor, reflecting a stable individual difference. Most importantly, mind wandering was a significant mediator in the relationship between WMC and reading comprehension, suggesting that the WMC-comprehension correlation is driven, in part, by attention control over intruding thoughts. We discuss implications for theories of WMC, attention control, and reading comprehension. PMID:21875246

Early auditory evoked potential is modulated by selective attention and related to individual differences in visual working memory capacity.

PubMed

Giuliano, Ryan J; Karns, Christina M; Neville, Helen J; Hillyard, Steven A

2014-12-01

A growing body of research suggests that the predictive power of working memory (WM) capacity for measures of intellectual aptitude is due to the ability to control attention and select relevant information. Crucially, attentional mechanisms implicated in controlling access to WM are assumed to be domain-general, yet reports of enhanced attentional abilities in individuals with larger WM capacities are primarily within the visual domain. Here, we directly test the link between WM capacity and early attentional gating across sensory domains, hypothesizing that measures of visual WM capacity should predict an individual's capacity to allocate auditory selective attention. To address this question, auditory ERPs were recorded in a linguistic dichotic listening task, and individual differences in ERP modulations by attention were correlated with estimates of WM capacity obtained in a separate visual change detection task. Auditory selective attention enhanced ERP amplitudes at an early latency (ca. 70-90 msec), with larger P1 components elicited by linguistic probes embedded in an attended narrative. Moreover, this effect was associated with greater individual estimates of visual WM capacity. These findings support the view that domain-general attentional control mechanisms underlie the wide variation of WM capacity across individuals.

Aging affects the interaction between attentional control and source memory: an fMRI study.

PubMed

Dulas, Michael R; Duarte, Audrey

2014-12-01

Age-related source memory impairments may be due, at least in part, to deficits in executive processes mediated by the PFC at both study and test. Behavioral work suggests that providing environmental support at encoding, such as directing attention toward item-source associations, may improve source memory and reduce age-related deficits in the recruitment of these executive processes. The present fMRI study investigated the effects of directed attention and aging on source memory encoding and retrieval. At study, participants were shown pictures of objects. They were either asked to attend to the objects and their color (source) or to their size. At test, participants determined if objects were seen before, and if so, whether they were the same color as previously. Behavioral results showed that direction of attention improved source memory for both groups; however, age-related deficits persisted. fMRI results revealed that, across groups, direction of attention facilitated medial temporal lobe-mediated contextual binding processes during study and attenuated right PFC postretrieval monitoring effects at test. However, persistent age-related source memory deficits may be related to increased recruitment of medial anterior PFC during encoding, indicative of self-referential processing, as well as underrecruitment of lateral anterior PFC-mediated relational processes. Taken together, this study suggests that, even when supported, older adults may fail to selectively encode goal-relevant contextual details supporting source memory performance.

The impact of attentional and emotional demands on memory performance in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

PubMed

Fink, Jakob; Hendrikx, Friederike; Stierle, Christian; Stengler, Katarina; Jahn, Ina; Exner, Cornelia

2017-08-01

Lower performance on memory tests in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has been repeatedly observed. However, the origins of these performance deficits are not sufficiently explained. In this study we tested if OCD-related extensive focus of attention on thoughts (heightened self-consciousness) could be an explanatory mechanism for lower memory performance. Heightened situational self-consciousness was manipulated by instructing participants to either monitor neutral thoughts or to monitor OCD-related thoughts. We included a Behavioral Avoidance Task based on individual obsessions and compulsions to induce OCD-related thoughts. Participants were asked to perform these monitoring tasks in parallel to a taxing verbal memory task, resulting in learning under divided attention. The two conditions of learning under divided attention were compared to a single-task condition. Twenty-four participants with OCD and 24 healthy controls took part in these three learning conditions. The results indicate that in both groups memory performance deteriorated in the two conditions with divided attention compared to the single task condition. In the OCD-related thought monitoring condition (OTM) self-consciousness and Behavioral Avoidance Task-induced stress and fear were particularly increased and memory performance further deteriorated in the OCD group. This finding highlights an important and underestimated mechanism (personal involvement) which might serve to better understand lower memory performance in OCD. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Working Memory Capacity in a Go/No-Go Task: Age Differences in Interference, Processing Speed, and Attentional Control

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodríguez-Villagra, Odir Antonio; Göthe, Katrin; Oberauer, Klaus; Kliegl, Reinhold

2013-01-01

We tested the limits of working-memory capacity (WMC) of young adults, old adults, and children with a memory-updating task. The task consisted of mentally shifting spatial positions within a grid according to arrows, their color signaling either only go (control) or go/no-go conditions. The interference model (IM) of Oberauer and Kliegl (2006)…

The role of attention in emotional memory enhancement in pathological and healthy aging.

PubMed

Sava, Alina-Alexandra; Paquet, Claire; Dumurgier, Julien; Hugon, Jacques; Chainay, Hanna

2016-01-01

After short delays between encoding and retrieval, healthy young participants have better memory performance for emotional stimuli than for neutral stimuli. Divided-attention paradigms suggest that this emotional enhancement of memory (EEM) is due to different attention mechanisms involved during encoding: automatic processing for negative stimuli, and controlled processing for positive stimuli. As far as we know, no study on the influence of these factors on EEM in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients, as compared to healthy young and older controls, has been conducted. Thus, the goal of our study was to ascertain whether the EEM in these populations depends on the attention resources available at encoding. Participants completed two encoding phases: full attention (FA) and divided attention (DA), followed by two retrieval phases (recognition tasks). There was no EEM on the discrimination accuracy, independently of group and encoding condition. Nevertheless, all participants used a more liberal response criterion for the negative and positive stimuli than for neutral ones. In AD patients, larger numbers of false recognitions for negative and positive stimuli than for neutral ones were observed after both encoding conditions. In MCI patients and in healthy older and younger controls this effect was observed only for negative stimuli, and it depended on the encoding condition. Thus, this effect was observed in young controls after both encoding conditions, in older controls after the DA encoding, and in MCI patients after the FA encoding. In conclusion, our results suggest that emotional valence does not always enhance discrimination accuracy. Nevertheless, in certain conditions related to the attention resources available at encoding, emotional valence, especially the negative one, enhances the subjective feeling of familiarity and, consequently, engenders changes in response bias. This effect seems to be sensitive to the age and the pathology of participants.

Performance in working memory and attentional control is associated with the rs2180619 SNP in the CNR1 gene.

PubMed

Ruiz-Contreras, A E; Carrillo-Sánchez, K; Ortega-Mora, I; Barrera-Tlapa, M A; Román-López, T V; Rosas-Escobar, C B; Flores-Barrera, L; Caballero-Sánchez, U; Muñoz-Torres, Z; Romero-Hidalgo, S; Hernández-Morales, S; González-Barrios, J A; Vadillo-Ortega, F; Méndez-Díaz, M; Aguilar-Roblero, R; Prospéro-García, O

2014-02-01

Individual differences in cognitive performance are partly dependent, on genetic polymporhisms. One of the single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of the CNR1 gene, which codes for cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1R), is the rs2180619, located in a regulatory region of this gene (6q14-q15). The alleles of the rs2180619 are A > G; the G allele has been associated with addiction and high levels of anxiety (when the G allele interacts with the SS genotype of the 5-HTTLPR gene). However, GG genotype is observed also in healthy subjects. Considering G allele as risk for 'psychopathological conditions', it is possible that GG healthy subjects do not be addicted or anxious, but would have reduced performance, compared to AA subjects, in attentional control and working memory processing. One hundred and sixty-four healthy young Mexican-Mestizo subjects (100 women and 64, men; mean age: 22.86 years, SD=2.72) participated in this study, solving a task where attentional control and working memory were required. GG subjects, compared to AA subjects showed: (1) a general lower performance in the task (P = 0.02); (2) lower performance only when a high load of information was held in working memory (P = 0.02); and (3) a higher vulnerability to distractors (P = 0.03). Our results suggest that, although the performance of GG subjects was at normal levels, a lower efficiency of the endocannabinoid system, probably due to a lowered expression of CB1R, produced a reduction in the performance of these subjects when attentional control and working memory processing is challenged. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society.

Attention modulates maintenance of representations in visual short-term memory.

PubMed

Kuo, Bo-Cheng; Stokes, Mark G; Nobre, Anna Christina

2012-01-01

Recent studies have shown that selective attention is of considerable importance for encoding task-relevant items into visual short-term memory (VSTM) according to our behavioral goals. However, it is not known whether top-down attentional biases can continue to operate during the maintenance period of VSTM. We used ERPs to investigate this question across two experiments. Specifically, we tested whether orienting attention to a given spatial location within a VSTM representation resulted in modulation of the contralateral delay activity (CDA), a lateralized ERP marker of VSTM maintenance generated when participants selectively encode memory items from one hemifield. In both experiments, retrospective cues during the maintenance period could predict a specific item (spatial retrocue) or multiple items (neutral retrocue) that would be probed at the end of the memory delay. Our results revealed that VSTM performance is significantly improved by orienting attention to the location of a task-relevant item. The behavioral benefit was accompanied by modulation of neural activity involved in VSTM maintenance. Spatial retrocues reduced the magnitude of the CDA, consistent with a reduction in memory load. Our results provide direct evidence that top-down control modulates neural activity associated with maintenance in VSTM, biasing competition in favor of the task-relevant information.

Cognitive training on stroke patients via virtual reality-based serious games.

PubMed

Gamito, Pedro; Oliveira, Jorge; Coelho, Carla; Morais, Diogo; Lopes, Paulo; Pacheco, José; Brito, Rodrigo; Soares, Fabio; Santos, Nuno; Barata, Ana Filipa

2017-02-01

Use of virtual reality environments in cognitive rehabilitation offers cost benefits and other advantages. In order to test the effectiveness of a virtual reality application for neuropsychological rehabilitation, a cognitive training program using virtual reality was applied to stroke patients. A virtual reality-based serious games application for cognitive training was developed, with attention and memory tasks consisting of daily life activities. Twenty stroke patients were randomly assigned to two conditions: exposure to the intervention, and waiting list control. The results showed significant improvements in attention and memory functions in the intervention group, but not in the controls. Overall findings provide further support for the use of VR cognitive training applications in neuropsychological rehabilitation. Implications for Rehabilitation Improvements in memory and attention functions following a virtual reality-based serious games intervention. Training of daily-life activities using a virtual reality application. Accessibility to training contents.

Resveratrol Supplementation Did Not Improve Cognition in Patients with Schizophrenia: Results from a Randomized Clinical Trial.

PubMed

Zortea, Karine; Franco, Viviane C; Guimarães, Paula; Belmonte-de-Abreu, Paulo S

2016-01-01

Schizophrenia (SZ) is associated with psychotic experiences and cognitive deficits. Therefore, cognitive function is one of the most critical determinants of quality of life in this pathology. Resveratrol has been related to neuroprotective action, but there are no studies evaluating resveratrol in SZ. The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of resveratrol supplementation on cognition in individuals with SZ. This is a 1-month randomized, double-blind, and controlled trial (NCT 02062190), in which 19 men with diagnosis of SZ, aged 18-65 years, were assigned to a resveratrol supplementation group (200 mg) or placebo group (200 mg), with a 1-month follow-up. Applying a series of cognitive tests assessed neuropsychology performance (Hopkins Verbal Learning Test, Stroop Color and Word Test, and Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale) and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale assessed psychopathology severity. There were no significant improvement in neuropsychology performance (episodic memory, working memory, attention and concentration capacity, inhibitory control, interference measures, selective attention, and mental flexibility) and psychopathology severity after 1 month of resveratrol supplementation ( P  > 0.05). In conclusion, we have shown that 1 month of a resveratrol supplementation (200 mg/day) did not improve episodic memory, working memory, attention and concentration capacity, inhibitory control, interference measures, selective attention, and mental flexibility as compared with placebo in patients with SZ.

A distinct pattern of memory and attention deficiency in patients with depression.

PubMed

Luo, Lan-Lan; Chen, Xin; Chai, Yan; Li, Jin-Hong; Zhang, Mian; Zhang, Jian-Ning

2013-03-01

Depression related cognitive deficits are frequently considered as simple epiphenomena of the disorder. However, whether or not the depression might directly bring about cognitive deficits is still under investigation. This study was to investigate the distinct pattern of cognitive deficits in patients with depression by comparing the cognitive function before and after anti-depressive drug therapy. Sixty cases of patients, first-time diagnosed with depression, were assessed by 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD17scale). The memory ability was tested by quantitatively clinical memory scale, while the attention ability by modified Ruff 2&7 Selective Attention Test. Forty-two healthy volunteers were recruited as controls. The depressive patients were treated with Venlafaxine (75 - 300 mg/d), Fluoxetine (20 - 40 mg/d), Paroxetine (20 - 40 mg/d), and Sertraline (50 - 150 mg/d). After 12 weeks treatment, patients were tested again by HAMD17scale, quantitatively clinical memory scale, and modified Ruff 2&7 selective attention test to assess the effect of anti-depressive drugs on cognitive deficits. The memory quotient (MQ) was significantly lowered in depressive patients. The selection speed was also significantly decreased and the number of missing and error hits increased in the depression group as compared to control. However, there was no significant difference in clinical memory scale and Ruff 2&7 selective attention test between mild-to-moderate and severe depression group. Importantly, after anti-depressive drug therapy, the HAMD17 scale scores in depressive patients were significantly decreased, but the MQ, directional memory (DM), free recall (FR), associative learning (AL), and face recognition were comparable with those before the treatment. Furthermore, the selection speed and the number of missing and error hits were also not significantly different after anti-depressive drugs treatment. Depressive patients suffer from short-term memory deficits, and attention extent, stability and rearrangement deficiency. Even though anti-depressive drugs sufficiently relieve the cardinal presentation of depression, they could not successfully alleviate the accompanying cognitive deficits. This might indicate a distinct pattern of cognitive deficits in patients with depression.

Rivastigmine but not vardenafil reverses cannabis-induced impairment of verbal memory in healthy humans.

PubMed

Theunissen, E L; Heckman, P; de Sousa Fernandes Perna, E B; Kuypers, K P C; Sambeth, A; Blokland, A; Prickaerts, J; Toennes, S W; Ramaekers, J G

2015-01-01

One of the most often reported cognitive deficits of acute cannabis administration is an impaired recall of previously learned information. The aim of the present study was to determine whether cannabis-induced memory impairment in humans is mediated via glutamatergic or cholinergic pathways. Fifteen occasional cannabis users participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, six-way cross-over study. On separate test days, subjects received combinations of pretreatment (placebo, vardenafil 20 mg or rivastigmine 3 mg) and treatment (placebo or 1,376 mg cannabis/kg body weight). Cognitive tests were administered immediately after inhalation of treatment was finished and included measures of memory (visual verbal learning task, prospective memory test, Sternberg memory test), perceptual-motor control (critical tracking task), attention (divided attention task) and motor impulsivity (stop signal task). The results of this study demonstrate that subjects under the influence of cannabis were impaired in all memory tasks, in critical tracking, divided attention and the stop signal task. Pretreatment with rivastigmine attenuated the effect of cannabis on delayed recall and showed a trend towards significance on immediate recall. When cannabis was given in combination with vardenafil, there were no significant interaction effects in any of the tasks. The present data therefore suggest that acetylcholine plays an important role in cannabis-induced memory impairment, whereas similar results for glutamate have not been demonstrated in this study.

Neural conflict-control mechanisms improve memory for target stimuli.

PubMed

Krebs, Ruth M; Boehler, Carsten N; De Belder, Maya; Egner, Tobias

2015-03-01

According to conflict-monitoring models, conflict serves as an internal signal for reinforcing top-down attention to task-relevant information. While evidence based on measures of ongoing task performance supports this idea, implications for long-term consequences, that is, memory, have not been tested yet. Here, we evaluated the prediction that conflict-triggered attentional enhancement of target-stimulus processing should be associated with superior subsequent memory for those stimuli. By combining functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with a novel variant of a face-word Stroop task that employed trial-unique face stimuli as targets, we were able to assess subsequent (incidental) memory for target faces as a function of whether a given face had previously been accompanied by congruent, neutral, or incongruent (conflicting) distracters. In line with our predictions, incongruent distracters not only induced behavioral conflict, but also gave rise to enhanced memory for target faces. Moreover, conflict-triggered neural activity in prefrontal and parietal regions was predictive of subsequent retrieval success, and displayed conflict-enhanced functional coupling with medial-temporal lobe regions. These data provide support for the proposal that conflict evokes enhanced top-down attention to task-relevant stimuli, thereby promoting their encoding into long-term memory. Our findings thus delineate the neural mechanisms of a novel link between cognitive control and memory. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

[Cortical potentials evoked to response to a signal to make a memory-guided saccade].

PubMed

Slavutskaia, M V; Moiseeva, V V; Shul'govskiĭ, V V

2010-01-01

The difference in parameters of visually guided and memory-guided saccades was shown. Increase in the memory-guided saccade latency as compared to that of the visually guided saccades may indicate the deceleration of saccadic programming on the basis of information extraction from the memory. The comparison of parameters and topography of evoked components N1 and P1 of the evoked potential on the signal to make a memory- or visually guided saccade suggests that the early stage of the saccade programming associated with the space information processing is performed predominantly with top-down attention mechanism before the memory-guided saccade and bottom-up mechanism before the visually guided saccade. The findings show that the increase in the latency of the memory-guided saccades is connected with decision making at the central stage of the saccade programming. We proposed that wave N2, which develops in the middle of the latent period of the memory-guided saccades, is correlated with this process. Topography and spatial dynamics of components N1, P1 and N2 testify that the memory-guided saccade programming is controlled by the frontal mediothalamic system of selective attention and left-hemispheric brain mechanisms of motor attention.

Do older t'ai chi practitioners have better attention and memory function?

PubMed

Man, David W K; Tsang, William W N; Hui-Chan, Christina W Y

2010-12-01

Cognitive declines are common in older people and can be a major health issue in an aging world. One type of body-mind exercises, t'ai chi, can be a possible means to help maintaining older adults' cognitive abilities, in addition to beneficial effects of physical exercises. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether t'ai chi practitioners had better attention and memory functions than older people with or without regular exercises. A cross-sectional study examining the relationship between t'ai chi practice and age-, gender- and education-similar older peoples' attention and memory functions. Forty-two (42) community-dwelling elderly subjects, aged 60 or older, recruited from t'ai chi clubs in Hong Kong formed the t'ai chi group. Another 49 elderly having regular exercise habits were recruited from community centers for inclusion in the exercise group. A nonexercise group (normal healthy control) consisting of 44 subjects were also recruited by random selection and through contacting local elderly centers. They were also screened by the Modified Barthel Index, Chinese Mini-mental Status Examination, Geriatric Depression Scale, and evaluated by attention tests (Color Trail Form A-1 and 2) and memory tests (including Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test and The Hong Kong List Learning Test). The main finding was that the three groups differed in attention and memory functions, and the t'ai chi group had demonstrated better performance than the other two groups in most subtests. As a causal relationship cannot be assumed in the present cross-sectional study, future research is required to examine how t'ai chi can improve cognitive function using a randomized control trial as well as determining whether t'ai chi practice can lead to better health status among elderly people.

Working memory contents revive the neglected, but suppress the inhibited.

PubMed

Han, Suk Won

2015-12-01

It is well known that attention is biased toward a stimulus matching working memory contents. However, it remains unknown whether the maintenance of information in working memory by itself is sufficient to create memory-driven attentional capture. Notably, in many previous studies showing the memory-driven attentional capture, the task settings might have explicitly or implicitly incentivized participants to strategically attend to a memory-matching stimulus. By innovating an experimental paradigm, the present study overcame this challenge and directly tested whether working memory contents capture attention in the absence of task-level attentional bias toward a memory-matching stimulus. I found that a stimulus that is usually outside the focus of attention, powerfully captured attention when it matched working memory contents, whereas a match between working memory and an inhibited stimulus suppressed attentional allocation toward the memory-matching stimulus. These findings suggest that in the absence of any task-level attentional bias toward memory-matching stimuli, attention is biased toward a memory-matching stimulus, but this memory-driven attentional capture is diminished when top-down inhibition is imposed on the stimulus. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Randomized Clinical Trial of Cogmed Working Memory Training in School-Age Children with ADHD: A Replication in a Diverse Sample Using a Control Condition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chacko, A.; Bedard, A. C.; Marks, D. J.; Feirsen, N.; Uderman, J. Z.; Chimiklis, A.; Rajwan, E.; Cornwell, M.; Anderson, L.; Zwilling, A.; Ramon, M.

2014-01-01

Background: Cogmed Working Memory Training (CWMT) has received considerable attention as a promising intervention for the treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children. At the same time, methodological weaknesses in previous clinical trials call into question reported efficacy of CWMT. In particular, lack of equivalence…

Impaired attention in the 3xTgAD mouse model of Alzheimer's disease: rescue by donepezil (Aricept).

PubMed

Romberg, Carola; Mattson, Mark P; Mughal, Mohamed R; Bussey, Timothy J; Saksida, Lisa M

2011-03-02

Several mouse models of Alzheimer's disease (AD) with abundant β-amyloid and/or aberrantly phosphorylated tau develop memory impairments. However, multiple non-mnemonic cognitive domains such as attention and executive control are also compromised early in AD individuals. Currently, it is unclear whether mutations in the β-amyloid precursor protein (APP) and tau are sufficient to cause similar, AD-like attention deficits in mouse models of the disease. To address this question, we tested 3xTgAD mice (which express APPswe, PS1M146V, and tauP301L mutations) and wild-type control mice on a newly developed touchscreen-based 5-choice serial reaction time test of attention and response control. The 3xTgAD mice attended less accurately to short, spatially unpredictable stimuli when the attentional demand of the task was high, and also showed a general tendency to make more perseverative responses than wild-type mice. The attentional impairment of 3xTgAD mice was comparable to that of AD patients in two aspects: first, although 3xTgAD mice initially responded as accurately as wild-type mice, they subsequently failed to sustain their attention over the duration of the task; second, the ability to sustain attention was enhanced by the cholinesterase inhibitor donepezil (Aricept). These findings demonstrate that familial AD mutations not only affect memory, but also cause significant impairments in attention, a cognitive domain supported by the prefrontal cortex and its afferents. Because attention deficits are likely to affect memory encoding and other cognitive abilities, our findings have important consequences for the assessment of disease mechanisms and therapeutics in animal models of AD.

Impaired Attention in the 3xTgAD Model of Alzheimer’s Disease Assessed Using a Translational Touchscreen Method for Mice: Rescue by Donepezil (Aricept)

PubMed Central

Romberg, Carola; Mattson, Mark P.; Mughal, Mohamed R.; Bussey, Timothy J.; Saksida, Lisa M.

2011-01-01

Several mouse models of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) with abundant β-amyloid and/or aberrantly phosphorylated tau develop memory impairments. However, multiple non-mnemonic cognitive domains such as attention and executive control are also compromised early in AD individuals. Currently, it is unclear whether mutations in the β-amyloid precursor protein (APP) and tau are sufficient to cause similar, AD-like attention deficits in mouse models of the disease. To address this question, we tested 3xTgAD mice (which express APPswe, PS1M146V and tauP301L mutations) and wild type control mice on a newly-developed touchscreen-based 5-choice serial reaction time test of attention and response control. The 3xTgAD mice attended less accurately to short, spatially unpredictable stimuli when the attentional demand of the task was high, and also showed a general tendency to make more perseverative responses than wild type mice. The attentional impairment of 3xTgAD mice was comparable to that of AD patients in two aspects; first, although 3xTgAD mice initially responded as accurately as wild type mice, they subsequently failed to sustain their attention over the duration of the task; second, the ability to sustain attention was enhanced by the cholinesterase inhibitor donepezil (Aricept). These findings demonstrate that familial AD mutations not only affect memory, but also cause significant impairments in attention, a cognitive domain supported by the prefrontal cortex and its afferents. Because attention deficits are likely to affect memory encoding and other cognitive abilities, our findings have important consequences for the assessment of disease mechanisms and therapeutics in animal models of AD. PMID:21368062

Computerized Training of Working Memory in Children with ADHD-A Randomized, Controlled Trial

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klingberg, Torkel; Fernell, Elisabeth; Olesen, Pernille J.; Johnson, Mats; Gustafsson, Per; Dahlstrom, Kerstin; Gillberg, Christopher G.; Forssberg, Hans; Westerberg, Helena

2005-01-01

Objective: Deficits in executive functioning, including working memory (WM) deficits, have been suggested to be important in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). During 2002 to 2003, the authors conducted a multicenter, randomized, controlled, double-blind trial to investigate the effect of improving WM by computerized, systematic…

Context-Dependent Control over Attentional Capture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cosman, Joshua D.; Vecera, Shaun P.

2013-01-01

A number of studies have demonstrated that the likelihood of a salient item capturing attention is dependent on the "attentional set" an individual employs in a given situation. The instantiation of an attentional set is often viewed as a strategic, voluntary process, relying on working memory systems that represent immediate task…

Contralateral Delay Activity Tracks Fluctuations in Working Memory Performance.

PubMed

Adam, Kirsten C S; Robison, Matthew K; Vogel, Edward K

2018-01-08

Neural measures of working memory storage, such as the contralateral delay activity (CDA), are powerful tools in working memory research. CDA amplitude is sensitive to working memory load, reaches an asymptote at known behavioral limits, and predicts individual differences in capacity. An open question, however, is whether neural measures of load also track trial-by-trial fluctuations in performance. Here, we used a whole-report working memory task to test the relationship between CDA amplitude and working memory performance. If working memory failures are due to decision-based errors and retrieval failures, CDA amplitude would not differentiate good and poor performance trials when load is held constant. If failures arise during storage, then CDA amplitude should track both working memory load and trial-by-trial performance. As expected, CDA amplitude tracked load (Experiment 1), reaching an asymptote at three items. In Experiment 2, we tracked fluctuations in trial-by-trial performance. CDA amplitude was larger (more negative) for high-performance trials compared with low-performance trials, suggesting that fluctuations in performance were related to the successful storage of items. During working memory failures, participants oriented their attention to the correct side of the screen (lateralized P1) and maintained covert attention to the correct side during the delay period (lateralized alpha power suppression). Despite the preservation of attentional orienting, we found impairments consistent with an executive attention theory of individual differences in working memory capacity; fluctuations in executive control (indexed by pretrial frontal theta power) may be to blame for storage failures.

Manipulations of attention during eating and their effects on later snack intake.

PubMed

Higgs, Suzanne

2015-09-01

Manipulation of attention during eating has been reported to affect later consumption via changes in meal memory. The aim of the present studies was to examine the robustness of these effects and investigate moderating factors. Across three studies, attention to eating was manipulated via distraction (via a computer game or TV watching) or focusing of attention to eating, and effects on subsequent snack consumption and meal memory were assessed. The participants were predominantly lean, young women students and the designs were between-subjects. Distraction increased later snack intake and this effect was larger when participants were more motivated to engage with the distracter and were offset when the distractor included food-related cues. Attention to eating reduced later snacking and this effect was larger when participants imagined eating from their own perspective than when they imagined eating from a third person perspective. Meal memory was impaired after distraction but focusing on eating did not affect later meal memory, possibly explained by ceiling effects for the memory measure. The pattern of results suggests that attention manipulations during eating have robust effects on later eating and the effect sizes are medium to large. The data are consistent with previous reports and add to the literature by suggesting that type of attention manipulation is important in determining effects on later eating. The results further suggest that attentive eating may be a useful target in interventions to help with appetite control. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

More than a filter: Feature-based attention regulates the distribution of visual working memory resources.

PubMed

Dube, Blaire; Emrich, Stephen M; Al-Aidroos, Naseem

2017-10-01

Across 2 experiments we revisited the filter account of how feature-based attention regulates visual working memory (VWM). Originally drawing from discrete-capacity ("slot") models, the filter account proposes that attention operates like the "bouncer in the brain," preventing distracting information from being encoded so that VWM resources are reserved for relevant information. Given recent challenges to the assumptions of discrete-capacity models, we investigated whether feature-based attention plays a broader role in regulating memory. Both experiments used partial report tasks in which participants memorized the colors of circle and square stimuli, and we provided a feature-based goal by manipulating the likelihood that 1 shape would be probed over the other across a range of probabilities. By decomposing participants' responses using mixture and variable-precision models, we estimated the contributions of guesses, nontarget responses, and imprecise memory representations to their errors. Consistent with the filter account, participants were less likely to guess when the probed memory item matched the feature-based goal. Interestingly, this effect varied with goal strength, even across high probabilities where goal-matching information should always be prioritized, demonstrating strategic control over filter strength. Beyond this effect of attention on which stimuli were encoded, we also observed effects on how they were encoded: Estimates of both memory precision and nontarget errors varied continuously with feature-based attention. The results offer support for an extension to the filter account, where feature-based attention dynamically regulates the distribution of resources within working memory so that the most relevant items are encoded with the greatest precision. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Methylphenidate and Memory and Attention Adaptation Training for Persistent Cognitive Symptoms after Traumatic Brain Injury: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

PubMed

McDonald, Brenna C; Flashman, Laura A; Arciniegas, David B; Ferguson, Robert J; Xing, Li; Harezlak, Jaroslaw; Sprehn, Gwen C; Hammond, Flora M; Maerlender, Arthur C; Kruck, Carrie L; Gillock, Karen L; Frey, Kim; Wall, Rachel N; Saykin, Andrew J; McAllister, Thomas W

2017-08-01

The purpose of this multicenter, prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy of two cognitive rehabilitation interventions (Memory and Attention Adaptation Training (MAAT) and Attention Builders Training (ABT)), with and without pharmacological enhancement (ie, with methylphenidate (MPH) or placebo), for treating persistent cognitive problems after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Adults with a history of TBI at least 4 months before study enrollment with either objective cognitive deficits or subjective cognitive complaints were randomized to receive MPH or placebo and MAAT or ABT, yielding four treatment combinations: MAAT/MPH (N=17), ABT/MPH (N=19), MAAT/placebo (N=17), and ABT/placebo (N=18). Assessments were conducted pre-treatment (baseline) and after 6 weeks of treatment (post treatment). Outcome measures included scores on neuropsychological measures and subjective rating scales. Statistical analyses used linear regression models to predict post-treatment scores for each outcome variable by treatment type, adjusting for relevant covariates. Statistically significant (P<0.05) treatment-related improvements in cognitive functioning were found for word-list learning (MAAT/placebo>ABT/placebo), nonverbal learning (MAAT/MPH>MAAT/placebo and MAAT/MPH>ABT/MPH), and auditory working memory and divided attention (MAAT/MPH>ABT/MPH). These results suggest that combined treatment with metacognitive rehabilitation (MAAT) and pharmacotherapy (MPH) can improve aspects of attention, episodic and working memory, and executive functioning after TBI.

Role of Working Memory in Typically Developing Children's Complex Sentence Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Montgomery, James W.; Magimairaj, Beula M.; O'Malley, Michelle H.

2008-01-01

The influence of three mechanisms of working memory (phonological short-term memory (PSTM capacity), attentional resource control/allocation, and processing speed) on children's complex (and simple) sentence comprehension was investigated. Fifty two children (6-12 years) completed a nonword repetition task (indexing PSTM), concurrent verbal…

The impact of cognitive control on children's goal monitoring in a time-based prospective memory task.

PubMed

Mahy, Caitlin E V; Voigt, Babett; Ballhausen, Nicola; Schnitzspahn, Katharina; Ellis, Judi; Kliegel, Matthias

2015-01-01

The present study investigated whether developmental changes in cognitive control may underlie improvements of time-based prospective memory. Five-, 7-, 9-, and 11-year-olds (N = 166) completed a driving simulation task (ongoing task) in which they had to refuel their vehicle at specific points in time (PM task). The availability of cognitive control resources was experimentally manipulated by imposing a secondary task that required divided attention. Children completed the driving simulation task both in a full-attention condition and a divided-attention condition where they had to carry out a secondary task. Results revealed that older children performed better than younger children on the ongoing task and PM task. Children performed worse on the ongoing and PM tasks in the divided-attention condition compared to the full-attention condition. With respect to time monitoring in the final interval prior to the PM target, divided attention interacted with age such that older children's time monitoring was more negatively affected by the secondary task compared to younger children. Results are discussed in terms of developmental shifts from reactive to proactive monitoring strategies.

[Effect of divided attention on explicit and implicit aspects of recall].

PubMed

Wippich, W; Schmitt, R; Mecklenbräuker, S

1989-01-01

If subjects have to form word images before spelling a word from the image, results of a repetition of the spelling test reveal a reliable priming effect: Old words can be spelled faster than comparable control words, reflecting a form of implicit memory. We investigated whether this kind of repetition priming remains stable under conditions of divided attention in the study phase. The subjects had to spell meaningful words, meaningless non-words, and non-words that were meaningful with a backward spelling direction (troper, for example). In the testing stage, recognition judgments as a form of explicit memory were required, too. Divided attention in the study phase had a negative effect on explicit memory, as revealed by performance on the recognition task, but had little effect on implicit memory, as revealed by performance on the repetition of the spelling test. A further dissociation between implicit and explicit memory showed up as meaningful words were recognized much better than non-words, whereas implicit memory was uninfluenced by the meaningfulness variable. The disadvantage of backward spellings was not reduced with non-words (like troper) spelled backwards. Finally, we analyzed the relations between spelling times and recognition judgments and found a pattern of dependency for non-words only. Generally, the results are discussed within processing-oriented approaches to implicit memory with a special emphasis on controversial findings concerning the role of attention in different expressions of memory.

Paying attention to attention in recognition memory: insights from models and electrophysiology.

PubMed

Dubé, Chad; Payne, Lisa; Sekuler, Robert; Rotello, Caren M

2013-12-01

Reliance on remembered facts or events requires memory for their sources, that is, the contexts in which those facts or events were embedded. Understanding of source retrieval has been stymied by the fact that uncontrolled fluctuations of attention during encoding can cloud results of key importance to theoretical development. To address this issue, we combined electrophysiology (high-density electroencephalogram, EEG, recordings) with computational modeling of behavioral results. We manipulated subjects' attention to an auditory attribute, whether the source of individual study words was a male or female speaker. Posterior alpha-band (8-14 Hz) power in subjects' EEG increased after a cue to ignore the voice of the person who was about to speak. Receiver-operating-characteristic analysis validated our interpretation of oscillatory dynamics as a marker of attention to source information. With attention under experimental control, computational modeling showed unequivocally that memory for source (male or female speaker) reflected a continuous signal detection process rather than a threshold recollection process.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of cognitive bias to food stimuli in people with disordered eating behaviour.

PubMed

Brooks, Samantha; Prince, Alexis; Stahl, Daniel; Campbell, Iain C; Treasure, Janet

2011-02-01

Maladaptive cognitions about food, weight and shape bias attention, memory and judgment and may be linked to disordered eating behaviour. This paper reviews information processing of food stimuli (words, pictures) in people with eating disorders (ED). PubMed, Ovid, ScienceDirect, PsychInfo, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and Google Scholar were searched to December 2009. 63 studies measured attention, memory and judgment bias towards food stimuli in women with ED. Stroop tasks had sufficient sample size for a meta-analyses and effects ranged from small to medium. Other studies of attention bias had variable effects (e.g. the Dot-Probe task, distracter tasks and Startle Eyeblink Modulation). A meta-analysis of memory bias studies in ED and RE yielded insignificant effect. Effect sizes for judgment bias ranged from negligible to large. People with ED have greater attentional bias to food stimuli than healthy controls (HC). Evidence for a memory and judgment bias in ED is limited. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

White Matter Integrity Dissociates Verbal Memory and Auditory Attention Span in Emerging Adults with Congenital Heart Disease.

PubMed

Brewster, Ryan C; King, Tricia Z; Burns, Thomas G; Drossner, David M; Mahle, William T

2015-01-01

White matter disruptions have been identified in individuals with congenital heart disease (CHD). However, no specific theory-driven relationships between microstructural white matter disruptions and cognition have been established in CHD. We conducted a two-part study. First, we identified significant differences in fractional anisotropy (FA) of emerging adults with CHD using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS). TBSS analyses between 22 participants with CHD and 18 demographically similar controls identified five regions of normal appearing white matter with significantly lower FA in CHD, and two higher. Next, two regions of lower FA in CHD were selected to examine theory-driven differential relationships with cognition: voxels along the left uncinate fasciculus (UF; a tract theorized to contribute to verbal memory) and voxels along the right middle cerebellar peduncle (MCP; a tract previously linked to attention). In CHD, a significant positive correlation between UF FA and memory was found, r(20)=.42, p=.049 (uncorrected). There was no correlation between UF and auditory attention span. A positive correlation between MCP FA and auditory attention span was found, r(20)=.47, p=.027 (uncorrected). There was no correlation between MCP and memory. In controls, no significant relationships were identified. These results are consistent with previous literature demonstrating lower FA in younger CHD samples, and provide novel evidence for disrupted white matter integrity in emerging adults with CHD. Furthermore, a correlational double dissociation established distinct white matter circuitry (UF and MCP) and differential cognitive correlates (memory and attention span, respectively) in young adults with CHD.

Elaboration versus suppression of cued memories: influence of memory recall instruction and success on parietal lobe, default network, and hippocampal activity.

PubMed

Gimbel, Sarah I; Brewer, James B

2014-01-01

Functional imaging studies of episodic memory retrieval consistently report task-evoked and memory-related activity in the medial temporal lobe, default network and parietal lobe subregions. Associated components of memory retrieval, such as attention-shifts, search, retrieval success, and post-retrieval processing also influence regional activity, but these influences remain ill-defined. To better understand how top-down control affects the neural bases of memory retrieval, we examined how regional activity responses were modulated by task goals during recall success or failure. Specifically, activity was examined during memory suppression, recall, and elaborative recall of paired-associates. Parietal lobe was subdivided into dorsal (BA 7), posterior ventral (BA 39), and anterior ventral (BA 40) regions, which were investigated separately to examine hypothesized distinctions in sub-regional functional responses related to differential attention-to-memory and memory strength. Top-down suppression of recall abolished memory strength effects in BA 39, which showed a task-negative response, and BA 40, which showed a task-positive response. The task-negative response in default network showed greater negatively-deflected signal for forgotten pairs when task goals required recall. Hippocampal activity was task-positive and was influenced by memory strength only when task goals required recall. As in previous studies, we show a memory strength effect in parietal lobe and hippocampus, but we show that this effect is top-down controlled and sensitive to whether the subject is trying to suppress or retrieve a memory. These regions are all implicated in memory recall, but their individual activity patterns show distinct memory-strength-related responses when task goals are varied. In parietal lobe, default network, and hippocampus, top-down control can override the commonly identified effects of memory strength.

Elaboration versus Suppression of Cued Memories: Influence of Memory Recall Instruction and Success on Parietal Lobe, Default Network, and Hippocampal Activity

PubMed Central

Gimbel, Sarah I.; Brewer, James B.

2014-01-01

Functional imaging studies of episodic memory retrieval consistently report task-evoked and memory-related activity in the medial temporal lobe, default network and parietal lobe subregions. Associated components of memory retrieval, such as attention-shifts, search, retrieval success, and post-retrieval processing also influence regional activity, but these influences remain ill-defined. To better understand how top-down control affects the neural bases of memory retrieval, we examined how regional activity responses were modulated by task goals during recall success or failure. Specifically, activity was examined during memory suppression, recall, and elaborative recall of paired-associates. Parietal lobe was subdivided into dorsal (BA 7), posterior ventral (BA 39), and anterior ventral (BA 40) regions, which were investigated separately to examine hypothesized distinctions in sub-regional functional responses related to differential attention-to-memory and memory strength. Top-down suppression of recall abolished memory strength effects in BA 39, which showed a task-negative response, and BA 40, which showed a task-positive response. The task-negative response in default network showed greater negatively-deflected signal for forgotten pairs when task goals required recall. Hippocampal activity was task-positive and was influenced by memory strength only when task goals required recall. As in previous studies, we show a memory strength effect in parietal lobe and hippocampus, but we show that this effect is top-down controlled and sensitive to whether the subject is trying to suppress or retrieve a memory. These regions are all implicated in memory recall, but their individual activity patterns show distinct memory-strength-related responses when task goals are varied. In parietal lobe, default network, and hippocampus, top-down control can override the commonly identified effects of memory strength. PMID:24586492

Cognitive Rehabilitation for Attention and Memory in people with Multiple Sclerosis: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial (CRAMMS).

PubMed

Lincoln, Nadina B; das Nair, Roshan; Bradshaw, Lucy; Constantinescu, Cris S; Drummond, Avril E R; Erven, Alexandra; Evans, Amy L; Fitzsimmons, Deborah; Montgomery, Alan A; Morgan, Miriam

2015-12-08

People with multiple sclerosis have problems with memory and attention. Cognitive rehabilitation is a structured set of therapeutic activities designed to retrain an individual's memory and other cognitive functions. Cognitive rehabilitation may be provided to teach people strategies to cope with these problems, in order to reduce the impact on everyday life. The effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation for people with multiple sclerosis has not been established. This is a multi-centre, randomised controlled trial investigating the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a group-based cognitive rehabilitation programme for attention and memory problems for people with multiple sclerosis. Four hundred people with multiple sclerosis will be randomised from at least four centres. Participants will be eligible if they have memory problems, are 18 to 69 years of age, are able to travel to attend group sessions and give informed consent. Participants will be randomised in a ratio of 6:5 to the group rehabilitation intervention plus usual care or usual care alone. Intervention groups will receive 10 weekly sessions of a manualised cognitive rehabilitation programme. The intervention will include both restitution strategies to retrain impaired attention and memory functions and compensation strategies to enable participants to cope with their cognitive problems. All participants will receive a follow-up questionnaire and an assessment by a research assistant at 6 and 12 months after randomisation. The primary outcome is the Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale (MSIS) Psychological subscale at 12 months. Secondary outcomes include the Everyday Memory Questionnaire, General Health Questionnaire-30, EQ-5D and a service use questionnaire from participants, and the Everyday Memory Questionnaire-relative version and Carer Strain Index from a relative or friend. The primary analysis will be based on intention to treat. A mixed-model regression analysis of the MSIS Psychological subscale at 12 months will be used to estimate the effect of the group cognitive rehabilitation programme. The study will provide evidence regarding the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a group-based cognitive rehabilitation programme for attention and memory problems in people with multiple sclerosis. ISRCTN09697576 . Registered 14 August 2014.

Attending to auditory memory.

PubMed

Zimmermann, Jacqueline F; Moscovitch, Morris; Alain, Claude

2016-06-01

Attention to memory describes the process of attending to memory traces when the object is no longer present. It has been studied primarily for representations of visual stimuli with only few studies examining attention to sound object representations in short-term memory. Here, we review the interplay of attention and auditory memory with an emphasis on 1) attending to auditory memory in the absence of related external stimuli (i.e., reflective attention) and 2) effects of existing memory on guiding attention. Attention to auditory memory is discussed in the context of change deafness, and we argue that failures to detect changes in our auditory environments are most likely the result of a faulty comparison system of incoming and stored information. Also, objects are the primary building blocks of auditory attention, but attention can also be directed to individual features (e.g., pitch). We review short-term and long-term memory guided modulation of attention based on characteristic features, location, and/or semantic properties of auditory objects, and propose that auditory attention to memory pathways emerge after sensory memory. A neural model for auditory attention to memory is developed, which comprises two separate pathways in the parietal cortex, one involved in attention to higher-order features and the other involved in attention to sensory information. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Auditory working memory. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The effect of encoding condition on free recall in Parkinson's disease: incidental and intentional memory are equally affected.

PubMed

Ellfolk, Ulla; Huurinainen, Salla; Joutsa, Juho; Karrasch, Mira

2012-01-01

Free recall memory deficits are common at early stages of Parkinson's disease (PD). As most studies have used intentional memory tasks, there is little information on how non-intentional, incidental encoding conditions affect memory performance in PD. We studied possible differences between PD patients and controls on free recall using incidental and intentional visual memory tasks. Free recall was examined in relation to attentive/executive functioning and subjective memory complaints. A total of 29 non-demented, medicated PD patients (age 60, disease duration 19 months) and 29 healthy controls (age 61) participated in the study. Incidental free recall was studied using a memory-modification of the Boston naming test (Memo-BNT) and intentional free recall with the 20 Objects test. There was a significant main effect for group due to worse free recall performances in the PD group. No statistically significant interaction between group and encoding condition was observed. The free recall deficit in the PD group was related to cognitive/psychomotor slowing, but not to attentive/executive task demands, or to subjective memory complaints. The results indicate that PD patients are impaired on free recall irrespective of encoding condition.

Altered strategy in short-term memory for pictures in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a near-infrared spectroscopy study.

PubMed

Sanefuji, Masafumi; Yamashita, Hiroshi; Torisu, Hiroyuki; Takada, Yui; Imanaga, Hisako; Matsunaga, Mayumi; Ishizaki, Yoshito; Sakai, Yasunari; Yoshida, Keiko; Hara, Toshiro

2014-07-30

Strategy in short-term memory for serially presented pictures shifts gradually from a non-phonological to a phonological method as memory ability increases during typical childhood development. However, little is known about the development of this strategic change in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). To understand the neural basis of ADHD, we investigated short-term memory strategies using near-infrared spectroscopy. ADHD children aged from 6 to 12 years and age- and sex-matched control children were assessed in this study. Regional activity was monitored in the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex to assess strategies used during short-term memory for visual or phonological objects. We examined the hypothesis that the strategic methods used would be correlated with memory ability. Higher memory ability and the phonological strategy were significantly correlated in the control group but not in the ADHD group. Intriguingly, ADHD children receiving methylphenidate treatment exhibited increased use of phonological strategy compared with those without. In conclusion, we found evidence of an altered strategy in short-term memory in ADHD children. The modulatory effect of methylphenidate indicates its therapeutic efficacy. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Working memory maintenance is sufficient to reduce state anxiety.

PubMed

Balderston, Nicholas L; Quispe-Escudero, David; Hale, Elizabeth; Davis, Andrew; O'Connell, Katherine; Ernst, Monique; Grillon, Christian

2016-11-01

According to the attentional control theory (ACT) proposed by Eysenck and colleagues, anxiety interferes with cognitive processing by prioritizing bottom-up attentional processes over top-down attentional processes, leading to competition for access to limited resources in working memory, particularly the central executive (Eysenck, Derakshan, Santos, & Calvo, ). However, previous research using the n-back working memory task suggests that working memory load also reduces state anxiety. Assuming that similar mechanisms underlie the effect of anxiety on cognition, and the effect of cognition on anxiety, one possible implication of the ACT would suggest that the reduction of state anxiety with increasing working memory load is driven by activation of central executive attentional control processes. We tested this hypothesis using the Sternberg working memory paradigm, where maintenance processes can be isolated from central executive processes (Altamura et al., ; Sternberg, ). Consistent with the n-back results, subjects showed decreased state anxiety during the maintenance period of high-load trials relative to low-load trials, suggesting that maintenance processes alone are sufficient to achieve this state anxiety reduction. Given that the Sternberg task does not require central executive engagement, these results are not consistent with an implication of the ACT where the cognition/anxiety relationship and anxiety/cognition relationship are mediated by similar central executive mechanisms. Instead, we propose an extension of the ACT such that engaging working memory maintenance suppresses state anxiety in a load-dependent manner. Furthermore, we hypothesize that the efficacy of this effect may moderate the effect of trait anxiety on cognition. Published 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Attentional networks and visuospatial working memory capacity in social anxiety.

PubMed

Moriya, Jun

2018-02-01

Social anxiety is associated with attentional bias and working memory for emotional stimuli; however, the ways in which social anxiety affects cognitive functions involving non-emotional stimuli remains unclear. The present study focused on the role of attentional networks (i.e. alerting, orienting, and executive control networks) and visuospatial working memory capacity (WMC) for non-emotional stimuli in the context of social anxiety. One hundred and seventeen undergraduates completed questionnaires on social anxiety. They then performed an attentional network test and a change detection task to measure visuospatial WMC. Orienting network and visuospatial WMC were positively correlated with social anxiety. A multiple regression analysis showed significant positive associations of alerting, orienting, and visuospatial WMC with social anxiety. Alerting, orienting networks, and high visuospatial WMC for non-emotional stimuli may predict degree of social anxiety.

Memory-Guided Attention: Independent Contributions of the Hippocampus and Striatum.

PubMed

Goldfarb, Elizabeth V; Chun, Marvin M; Phelps, Elizabeth A

2016-01-20

Memory can strongly influence how attention is deployed in future encounters. Though memory dependent on the medial temporal lobes has been shown to drive attention, how other memory systems could concurrently and comparably enhance attention is less clear. Here, we demonstrate that both reinforcement learning and context memory facilitate attention in a visual search task. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we dissociate the mechanisms by which these memories guide attention: trial by trial, the hippocampus (not the striatum) predicted attention benefits from context memory, while the striatum (not the hippocampus) predicted facilitation from rewarded stimulus-response associations. Responses in these regions were also distinctly correlated with individual differences in each type of memory-guided attention. This study provides novel evidence for the role of the striatum in guiding attention, dissociable from hippocampus-dependent context memory.

Memory-Guided Attention: Independent Contributions of the Hippocampus and Striatum

PubMed Central

Goldfarb, Elizabeth V.; Chun, Marvin M.; Phelps, Elizabeth A.

2015-01-01

SUMMARY Memory can strongly influence how attention is deployed in future encounters. Though memory dependent on the medial temporal lobes has been shown to drive attention, how other memory systems could concurrently and comparably enhance attention is less clear. Here, we demonstrate that both reinforcement learning and context memory facilitate attention in a visual search task. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we dissociate the mechanisms by which these memories guide attention: trial by trial, the hippocampus (not the striatum) predicted attention benefits from context memory, while the striatum (not the hippocampus) predicted facilitation from rewarded stimulus-response associations. Responses in these regions were also distinctly correlated with individual differences in each type of memory-guided attention. This study provides novel evidence for the role of the striatum in guiding attention, dissociable from hippocampus-dependent context memory. PMID:26777274

Conducting the Train of Thought: Working Memory Capacity, Goal Neglect, and Mind Wandering in an Executive-Control Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McVay, Jennifer C.; Kane, Michael J.

2009-01-01

On the basis of the executive-attention theory of working memory capacity (WMC; e.g., M. J. Kane, A. R. A. Conway, D. Z. Hambrick, & R. W. Engle, 2007), the authors tested the relations among WMC, mind wandering, and goal neglect in a sustained attention to response task (SART; a go/no-go task). In 3 SART versions, making conceptual versus…

Differential effects of ADORA2A gene variations in pre-attentive visual sensory memory subprocesses.

PubMed

Beste, Christian; Stock, Ann-Kathrin; Ness, Vanessa; Epplen, Jörg T; Arning, Larissa

2012-08-01

The ADORA2A gene encodes the adenosine A(2A) receptor that is highly expressed in the striatum where it plays a role in modulating glutamatergic and dopaminergic transmission. Glutamatergic signaling has been suggested to play a pivotal role in cognitive functions related to the pre-attentive processing of external stimuli. Yet, the precise molecular mechanism of these processes is poorly understood. Therefore, we aimed to investigate whether ADORA2A gene variation has modulating effects on visual pre-attentive sensory memory processing. Studying two polymorphisms, rs5751876 and rs2298383, in 199 healthy control subjects who performed a partial-report paradigm, we find that ADORA2A variation is associated with differences in the efficiency of pre-attentive sensory memory sub-processes. We show that especially the initial visual availability of stimulus information is rendered more efficiently in the homozygous rare genotype groups. Processes related to the transfer of information into working memory and the duration of visual sensory (iconic) memory are compromised in the homozygous rare genotype groups. Our results show a differential genotype-dependent modulation of pre-attentive sensory memory sub-processes. Hence, we assume that this modulation may be due to differential effects of increased adenosine A(2A) receptor signaling on glutamatergic transmission and striatal medium spiny neuron (MSN) interaction. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. and ECNP. All rights reserved.

Early Auditory Evoked Potential Is Modulated by Selective Attention and Related to Individual Differences in Visual Working Memory Capacity

PubMed Central

Giuliano, Ryan J.; Karns, Christina M.; Neville, Helen J.; Hillyard, Steven A.

2015-01-01

A growing body of research suggests that the predictive power of working memory (WM) capacity for measures of intellectual aptitude is due to the ability to control attention and select relevant information. Crucially, attentional mechanisms implicated in controlling access to WM are assumed to be domain-general, yet reports of enhanced attentional abilities in individuals with larger WM capacities are primarily within the visual domain. Here, we directly test the link between WM capacity and early attentional gating across sensory domains, hypothesizing that measures of visual WM capacity should predict an individual’s capacity to allocate auditory selective attention. To address this question, auditory ERPs were recorded in a linguistic dichotic listening task, and individual differences in ERP modulations by attention were correlated with estimates of WM capacity obtained in a separate visual change detection task. Auditory selective attention enhanced ERP amplitudes at an early latency (ca. 70–90 msec), with larger P1 components elicited by linguistic probes embedded in an attended narrative. Moreover, this effect was associated with greater individual estimates of visual WM capacity. These findings support the view that domain-general attentional control mechanisms underlie the wide variation of WM capacity across individuals. PMID:25000526

Adaptive Working Memory Training Reduces the Negative Impact of Anxiety on Competitive Motor Performance.

PubMed

Ducrocq, Emmanuel; Wilson, Mark; Smith, Tim J; Derakshan, Nazanin

2017-12-01

Optimum levels of attentional control are essential to prevent athletes from experiencing performance breakdowns under pressure. The current study explored whether training attentional control using the adaptive dual n-back paradigm, designed to directly target processing efficiency of the main executive functions of working memory (WM), would result in transferrable effects on sports performance outcomes. A total of 30 tennis players were allocated to an adaptive WM training or active control group and underwent 10 days of training. Measures of WM capacity as well as performance and objective gaze indices of attentional control in a tennis volley task were assessed in low- and high-pressure posttraining conditions. Results revealed significant benefits of training on WM capacity, quiet eye offset, and tennis performance in the high-pressure condition. Our results confirm and extend previous findings supporting the transfer of cognitive training benefits to objective measures of sports performance under pressure.

Role of attentional tags in working memory-driven attentional capture.

PubMed

Kuo, Chun-Yu; Chao, Hsuan-Fu

2014-08-01

Recent studies have demonstrated that the contents of working memory capture attention when performing a visual search task. However, it remains an intriguing and unresolved question whether all kinds of items stored in working memory capture attention. The present study investigated this issue by manipulating the attentional tags (target or distractor) associated with information maintained in working memory. The results showed that working memory-driven attentional capture is a flexible process, and that attentional tags associated with items stored in working memory do modulate attentional capture. When items were tagged as a target, they automatically captured attention; however, when items were tagged as a distractor, attentional capture was reduced.

Shielding cognition from nociception with working memory.

PubMed

Legrain, Valéry; Crombez, Geert; Plaghki, Léon; Mouraux, André

2013-01-01

Because pain often signals the occurrence of potential tissue damage, nociceptive stimuli have the capacity to capture attention and interfere with ongoing cognitive activities. Working memory is known to guide the orientation of attention by maintaining goal priorities active during the achievement of a task. This study investigated whether the cortical processing of nociceptive stimuli and their ability to capture attention are under the control of working memory. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded while participants performed primary tasks on visual targets that required or did not require rehearsal in working memory (1-back vs 0-back conditions). The visual targets were shortly preceded by task-irrelevant tactile stimuli. Occasionally, in order to distract the participants, the tactile stimuli were replaced by novel nociceptive stimuli. In the 0-back conditions, task performance was disrupted by the occurrence of the nociceptive distracters, as reflected by the increased reaction times in trials with novel nociceptive distracters as compared to trials with standard tactile distracters. In the 1-back conditions, such a difference disappeared suggesting that attentional capture and task disruption induced by nociceptive distracters were suppressed by working memory, regardless of task demands. Most importantly, in the conditions involving working memory, the magnitude of nociceptive ERPs, including ERP components at early latency, were significantly reduced. This indicates that working memory is able to modulate the cortical processing of nociceptive input already at its earliest stages, and could explain why working memory reduces consequently ability of nociceptive stimuli to capture attention and disrupt performance of the primary task. It is concluded that protecting cognitive processing against pain interference is best guaranteed by keeping out of working memory pain-related information. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Study of short term memory status in adult bipolar disorder patients in south Indian population.

PubMed

Aslam, Mohammed; Siddiq, Mohamed; Dhundasi, Salim A; Das, Kusal K; Kulkarni, B R

2011-01-01

The present study was undertaken to establish short term memory status in bipolar disorder cases as compared with normal age and sex matched control group in Bijapur (Karnataka). Results showed that a significant decrease in short term memory status in bipolar disorder cases as compared to their control group .Loss of attention, decreased processing speed and executive function patterns may be the probable causes of such observations.

A parieto-medial temporal pathway for the strategic control over working memory biases in human visual attention.

PubMed

Soto, David; Greene, Ciara M; Kiyonaga, Anastasia; Rosenthal, Clive R; Egner, Tobias

2012-12-05

The contents of working memory (WM) can both aid and disrupt the goal-directed allocation of visual attention. WM benefits attention when its contents overlap with goal-relevant stimulus features, but WM leads attention astray when its contents match features of currently irrelevant stimuli. Recent behavioral data have documented that WM biases of attention may be subject to strategic cognitive control processes whereby subjects are able to either enhance or inhibit the influence of WM contents on attention. However, the neural mechanisms supporting cognitive control over WM biases on attention are presently unknown. Here, we characterize these mechanisms by combining human functional magnetic resonance imaging with a task that independently manipulates the relationship between WM cues and attention targets during visual search (with WM contents matching either search targets or distracters), as well as the predictability of this relationship (100 vs 50% predictability) to assess participants' ability to strategically enhance or inhibit WM biases on attention when WM contents reliably matched targets or distracter stimuli, respectively. We show that cues signaling predictable (> unpredictable) WM-attention relations reliably enhanced search performance, and that this strategic modulation of the interplay between WM contents and visual attention was mediated by a neuroanatomical network involving the posterior parietal cortex, the posterior cingulate, and medial temporal lobe structures, with responses in the hippocampus proper correlating with behavioral measures of strategic control of WM biases. Thus, we delineate a novel parieto-medial temporal pathway implementing cognitive control over WM biases to optimize goal-directed selection.

Evidence for two attentional components in visual working memory.

PubMed

Allen, Richard J; Baddeley, Alan D; Hitch, Graham J

2014-11-01

How does executive attentional control contribute to memory for sequences of visual objects, and what does this reveal about storage and processing in working memory? Three experiments examined the impact of a concurrent executive load (backward counting) on memory for sequences of individually presented visual objects. Experiments 1 and 2 found disruptive concurrent load effects of equivalent magnitude on memory for shapes, colors, and colored shape conjunctions (as measured by single-probe recognition). These effects were present only for Items 1 and 2 in a 3-item sequence; the final item was always impervious to this disruption. This pattern of findings was precisely replicated in Experiment 3 when using a cued verbal recall measure of shape-color binding, with error analysis providing additional insights concerning attention-related loss of early-sequence items. These findings indicate an important role for executive processes in maintaining representations of earlier encountered stimuli in an active form alongside privileged storage of the most recent stimulus. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Age differences and format effects in working memory.

PubMed

Foos, Paul W; Goolkasian, Paula

2010-07-01

Format effects refer to lower recall of printed words from working memory when compared to spoken words or pictures. These effects have been attributed to an attenuation of attention to printed words. The present experiment compares younger and older adults' recall of three or six items presented as pictures, spoken words, printed words, and alternating case WoRdS. The latter stimuli have been shown to increase attention to printed words and, thus, reduce format effects. The question of interest was whether these stimuli would also reduce format effects for older adults whose working memory capacity has fewer attentional resources to allocate. Results showed that older adults performed as well as younger adults with three items but less well with six and that format effects were reduced for both age groups, but more for young, when alternating case words were used. Other findings regarding executive control of working memory are discussed. The obtained differences support models of reduced capacity in older adult working memory.

Are Categorical Spatial Relations Encoded by Shifting Visual Attention between Objects?

PubMed Central

Uttal, David; Franconeri, Steven

2016-01-01

Perceiving not just values, but relations between values, is critical to human cognition. We tested the predictions of a proposed mechanism for processing categorical spatial relations between two objects—the shift account of relation processing—which states that relations such as ‘above’ or ‘below’ are extracted by shifting visual attention upward or downward in space. If so, then shifts of attention should improve the representation of spatial relations, compared to a control condition of identity memory. Participants viewed a pair of briefly flashed objects and were then tested on either the relative spatial relation or identity of one of those objects. Using eye tracking to reveal participants’ voluntary shifts of attention over time, we found that when initial fixation was on neither object, relational memory showed an absolute advantage for the object following an attention shift, while identity memory showed no advantage for either object. This result is consistent with the shift account of relation processing. When initial fixation began on one of the objects, identity memory strongly benefited this fixated object, while relational memory only showed a relative benefit for objects following an attention shift. This result is also consistent, although not as uniquely, with the shift account of relation processing. Taken together, we suggest that the attention shift account provides a mechanistic explanation for the overall results. This account can potentially serve as the common mechanism underlying both linguistic and perceptual representations of spatial relations. PMID:27695104

Are Categorical Spatial Relations Encoded by Shifting Visual Attention between Objects?

PubMed

Yuan, Lei; Uttal, David; Franconeri, Steven

2016-01-01

Perceiving not just values, but relations between values, is critical to human cognition. We tested the predictions of a proposed mechanism for processing categorical spatial relations between two objects-the shift account of relation processing-which states that relations such as 'above' or 'below' are extracted by shifting visual attention upward or downward in space. If so, then shifts of attention should improve the representation of spatial relations, compared to a control condition of identity memory. Participants viewed a pair of briefly flashed objects and were then tested on either the relative spatial relation or identity of one of those objects. Using eye tracking to reveal participants' voluntary shifts of attention over time, we found that when initial fixation was on neither object, relational memory showed an absolute advantage for the object following an attention shift, while identity memory showed no advantage for either object. This result is consistent with the shift account of relation processing. When initial fixation began on one of the objects, identity memory strongly benefited this fixated object, while relational memory only showed a relative benefit for objects following an attention shift. This result is also consistent, although not as uniquely, with the shift account of relation processing. Taken together, we suggest that the attention shift account provides a mechanistic explanation for the overall results. This account can potentially serve as the common mechanism underlying both linguistic and perceptual representations of spatial relations.

Dynamic Search and Working Memory in Social Recall

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hills, Thomas T.; Pachur, Thorsten

2012-01-01

What are the mechanisms underlying search in social memory (e.g., remembering the people one knows)? Do the search mechanisms involve dynamic local-to-global transitions similar to semantic search, and are these transitions governed by the general control of attention, associated with working memory span? To find out, we asked participants to…

Complex Sentence Comprehension and Working Memory in Children with Specific Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Montgomery, James W.; Evans, Julia L.

2009-01-01

Purpose: This study investigated the association of 2 mechanisms of working memory (phonological short-term memory [PSTM], attentional resource capacity/allocation) with the sentence comprehension of school-age children with specific language impairment (SLI) and 2 groups of control children. Method: Twenty-four children with SLI, 18 age-matched…

Time-Related Decay or Interference-Based Forgetting in Working Memory?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Portrat, Sophie; Barrouillet, Pierre; Camos, Valerie

2008-01-01

The time-based resource-sharing model of working memory assumes that memory traces suffer from a time-related decay when attention is occupied by concurrent activities. Using complex continuous span tasks in which temporal parameters are carefully controlled, P. Barrouillet, S. Bernardin, S. Portrat, E. Vergauwe, & V. Camos (2007) recently…

Neuropsychological correlates of sustained attention in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Chen, E Y; Lam, L C; Chen, R Y; Nguyen, D G; Chan, C K; Wilkins, A J

1997-04-11

We employed a simple and relatively undemanding task of monotone counting for the assessment of sustained attention in schizophrenic patients. The monotone counting task has been validated neuropsychologically and is particularly sensitive to right prefrontal lesions. We compared the performance of schizophrenic patients with age- and education-matched controls. We then explored the extent to which a range of commonly employed neuropsychological tasks in schizophrenia research are related to attentional impairment as measured in this way. Monotone counting performance was found to be correlated with digit span (WAIS-R-HK), information (WAIS-R-HK), comprehension (WAIS-R-HK), logical memory (immediate recall) (Weschler Memory Scale, WMS), and visual reproduction (WMS). Multiple regression analysis also identified visual reproduction, digit span and comprehension as significant predictors of attention performance. In contrast, logical memory (delay recall) (WMS), similarity (WAIS-R-HK), semantic fluency, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (perseverative errors) were not correlated with attention. In addition, no significant correlation between sustained attention and symptoms was found. These findings are discussed in the context of a weakly modular cognitive system where attentional impairment may contribute selectively to a range of other cognitive deficits.

Influence of early rising on performance in tasks requiring attention and memory.

PubMed

Kumaran, V Shankar; Raghavendra, Bhat Ramachandra; Manjunath, Nandi Krishnamurthy

2012-01-01

Rising early in the morning has been a prescribed discipline of ancient Indian tradition. While there are no scientific studies comparing early rising volitionally versus circumstantially, selected studies on the latter (rising forcefully) have shown negative impact on an individual's peroformance. Hence the present study was undertaken to assess the influence of early rising (during Brahma-muhurtha) on tasks requiring attention and the ability to recall. Fifty four normal healthy male volunteers, with ages ranging from 16-22 years from a residential school were selected. They were randomly allocated to two groups (Brahma-muhurtha and control). They were assessed on day 1, day 10 and day 20 of the intervention, using a digit letter substitution task and verbal and spatial memory task. The Brahma-muhurtha group were asked to rise before 4:30 am in the morning based on the traditional Indian astrological calculations, while the control group were allowed to wake up just before 7 am which was their regular timing for waking. Brahma-muhurtha group after 20 days showed a significant improvement in the net scores for digit letter substitution task as well as scores for verbal and spatial memory tasks. The control group also showed an improvement in the memory task but not in the task requiring attentional processes. The present study suggests that rising early in the morning as described in ancient Indian tradition influences the process of attention and can improve the ability to recall.

How music training enhances working memory: a cerebrocerebellar blending mechanism that can lead equally to scientific discovery and therapeutic efficacy in neurological disorders.

PubMed

Vandervert, Larry

2015-01-01

Following in the vein of studies that concluded that music training resulted in plastic changes in Einstein's cerebral cortex, controlled research has shown that music training (1) enhances central executive attentional processes in working memory, and (2) has also been shown to be of significant therapeutic value in neurological disorders. Within this framework of music training-induced enhancement of central executive attentional processes, the purpose of this article is to argue that: (1) The foundational basis of the central executive begins in infancy as attentional control during the establishment of working memory, (2) In accordance with Akshoomoff, Courchesne and Townsend's and Leggio and Molinari's cerebellar sequence detection and prediction models, the rigors of volitional control demands of music training can enhance voluntary manipulation of information in thought and movement, (3) The music training-enhanced blending of cerebellar internal models in working memory as can be experienced as intuition in scientific discovery (as Einstein often indicated) or, equally, as moments of therapeutic advancement toward goals in the development of voluntary control in neurological disorders, and (4) The blending of internal models as in (3) thus provides a mechanism by which music training enhances central executive processes in working memory that can lead to scientific discovery and improved therapeutic outcomes in neurological disorders. Within the framework of Leggio and Molinari's cerebellar sequence detection model, it is determined that intuitive steps forward that occur in both scientific discovery and during therapy in those with neurological disorders operate according to the same mechanism of adaptive error-driven blending of cerebellar internal models. It is concluded that the entire framework of the central executive structure of working memory is a product of the cerebrocerebellar system which can, through the learning of internal models, incorporate the multi-dimensional rigor and volitional-control demands of music training and, thereby, enhance voluntary control. It is further concluded that this cerebrocerebellar view of the music training-induced enhancement of central executive control in working memory provides a needed mechanism to explain both the highest level of scientific discovery and the efficacy of music training in the remediation of neurological impairments.

Training Attentional Control and Working Memory--Is Younger, Better?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wass, S. V.; Scerif, G.; Johnson, M. H.

2012-01-01

Authors have argued that various forms of interventions may be more effective in younger children. Is cognitive training also more effective, the earlier the training is applied? We review evidence suggesting that functional neural networks, including those subserving attentional control, may be more unspecialised and undifferentiated earlier in…

The cognitive consequences of envy: attention, memory, and self-regulatory depletion.

PubMed

Hill, Sarah E; DelPriore, Danielle J; Vaughan, Phillip W

2011-10-01

In a series of 4 experiments, we provide evidence that--in addition to having an affective component--envy may also have important consequences for cognitive processing. Our first experiment (N = 69) demonstrated that individuals primed with envy better attended to and more accurately recalled information about fictitious peers than did a control group. Studies 2 (N = 187) and 3 (N = 65) conceptually replicated these results, demonstrating that envy elicited by targets predicts attention and later memory for information about them. We demonstrate that these effects cannot be accounted for by admiration or changes in negative affect or arousal elicited by the targets. Study 4 (N = 152) provides evidence that greater memory for envied--but not neutral--targets leads to diminished perseverance on a difficult anagram task. Findings demonstrate that envy may play an important role in attention and memory systems and deplete limited self-regulatory resources available for acts of volition. 2011 APA, all rights reserved

Visual-spatial abilities relate to mathematics achievement in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure

PubMed Central

Crocker, N.; Riley, E.P.; Mattson, S.N.

2014-01-01

Objective The current study examined the relationship between mathematics and attention, working memory, and visual memory in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure and controls. Method Fifty-six children (29 AE, 27 CON) were administered measures of global mathematics achievement (WRAT-3 Arithmetic & WISC-III Written Arithmetic), attention, (WISC-III Digit Span forward and Spatial Span forward), working memory (WISC-III Digit Span backward and Spatial Span backward), and visual memory (CANTAB Spatial Recognition Memory and Pattern Recognition Memory). The contribution of cognitive domains to mathematics achievement was analyzed using linear regression techniques. Attention, working memory and visual memory data were entered together on step 1 followed by group on step 2, and the interaction terms on step 3. Results Model 1 accounted for a significant amount of variance in both mathematics achievement measures, however, model fit improved with the addition of group on step 2. Significant predictors of mathematics achievement were Spatial Span forward and backward and Spatial Recognition Memory. Conclusions These findings suggest that deficits in spatial processing may be related to math impairments seen in FASD. In addition, prenatal alcohol exposure was associated with deficits in mathematics achievement, above and beyond the contribution of general cognitive abilities. PMID:25000323

Visual-spatial abilities relate to mathematics achievement in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure.

PubMed

Crocker, Nicole; Riley, Edward P; Mattson, Sarah N

2015-01-01

The current study examined the relationship between mathematics and attention, working memory, and visual memory in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure and controls. Subjects were 56 children (29 AE, 27 CON) who were administered measures of global mathematics achievement (WRAT-3 Arithmetic & WISC-III Written Arithmetic), attention, (WISC-III Digit Span forward and Spatial Span forward), working memory (WISC-III Digit Span backward and Spatial Span backward), and visual memory (CANTAB Spatial Recognition Memory and Pattern Recognition Memory). The contribution of cognitive domains to mathematics achievement was analyzed using linear regression techniques. Attention, working memory, and visual memory data were entered together on Step 1 followed by group on Step 2, and the interaction terms on Step 3. Model 1 accounted for a significant amount of variance in both mathematics achievement measures; however, model fit improved with the addition of group on Step 2. Significant predictors of mathematics achievement were Spatial Span forward and backward and Spatial Recognition Memory. These findings suggest that deficits in spatial processing may be related to math impairments seen in FASD. In addition, prenatal alcohol exposure was associated with deficits in mathematics achievement, above and beyond the contribution of general cognitive abilities. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Predictors of change in life skills in schizophrenia after cognitive remediation.

PubMed

Kurtz, Matthew M; Seltzer, James C; Fujimoto, Marco; Shagan, Dana S; Wexler, Bruce E

2009-02-01

Few studies have investigated predictors of response to cognitive remediation interventions in patients with schizophrenia. Predictor studies to date have selected treatment outcome measures that were either part of the remediation intervention itself or closely linked to the intervention with few studies investigating factors that predict generalization to measures of everyday life-skills as an index of treatment-related improvement. In the current study we investigated the relationship between four measures of neurocognitive function, crystallized verbal ability, auditory sustained attention and working memory, verbal learning and memory, and problem-solving, two measures of symptoms, total positive and negative symptoms, and the process variables of treatment intensity and duration, to change on a performance-based measure of everyday life-skills after a year of computer-assisted cognitive remediation offered as part of intensive outpatient rehabilitation treatment. Thirty-six patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were studied. Results of a linear regression model revealed that auditory attention and working memory predicted a significant amount of the variance in change in performance-based measures of everyday life skills after cognitive remediation, even when variance for all other neurocognitive variables in the model was controlled. Stepwise regression revealed that auditory attention and working memory predicted change in everyday life-skills across the trial even when baseline life-skill scores, symptoms and treatment process variables were controlled. These findings emphasize the importance of sustained auditory attention and working memory for benefiting from extended programs of cognitive remediation.

Context-dependent control over attentional capture

PubMed Central

Cosman, Joshua D.; Vecera, Shaun P.

2014-01-01

A number of studies have demonstrated that the likelihood of a salient item capturing attention is dependent on the “attentional set” an individual employs in a given situation. The instantiation of an attentional set is often viewed as a strategic, voluntary process, relying on working memory systems that represent immediate task priorities. However, influential theories of attention and automaticity propose that goal-directed control can operate more or less automatically on the basis of longer-term task representations, a notion supported by a number of recent studies. Here, we provide evidence that longer-term contextual learning can rapidly and automatically influence the instantiation of a given attentional set. Observers learned associations between specific attentional sets and specific task-irrelevant background scenes during a training session, and in the ensuing test session simply reinstating particular scenes on a trial by trial basis biased observers to employ the associated attentional set. This directly influenced the magnitude of attentional capture, suggesting that memory for the context in which a task is performed can play an important role in the ability to instantiate a particular attentional set and overcome distraction by salient, task-irrelevant information. PMID:23025581

Associative reinstatement memory measures hippocampal function in Parkinson's Disease.

PubMed

Cohn, Melanie; Giannoylis, Irene; De Belder, Maya; Saint-Cyr, Jean A; McAndrews, Mary Pat

2016-09-01

In Parkinson's Disease (PD), hippocampal atrophy is associated with rapid cognitive decline. Hippocampal function is typically assessed using memory tests but current clinical tools (e.g., free recall) also rely on executive functions or use material that is not optimally engaging hippocampal memory networks. Because of the ubiquity of executive dysfunction in PD, our ability to detect true memory deficits is suboptimal. Our previous behavioural and neuroimaging work in other populations suggests that an experimental memory task - Associative Reinstatement Memory (ARM) - may prove useful in investigating hippocampal function in PD. In this study, we investigated whether ARM is compromised in PD and we assessed its convergent and divergent validity by comparing it to standardized measures of memory and of attention and executive functioning in PD, respectively. Using fMRI, we also investigated whether performance in PD relates to degree of hippocampal engagement. Fifteen participants with PD and 13 age-matched healthy controls completed neuropsychological testing as well as an ARM fMRI recognition paradigm in which they were instructed to identify word pairs comprised of two studied words (intact or rearranged pairs) and those containing at least one new word (new or half new pairs). ARM is measured by the differences in hit rates between intact and rearranged pairs. Behaviourally, ARM was poorer in PD relative to controls and was correlated with verbal memory measures, but not with attention or executive functioning in the PD group. Hippocampal activation associated with ARM was reduced in PD relative to controls and covaried with ARM scores in both groups. To conclude, ARM is a sensitive measure of hippocampal memory function that is unaffected by attention or executive dysfunction in PD. Our study highlights the benefit of integrating cognitive neuroscience frameworks and novel experimental tasks to improve the practice of clinical neuropsychology in PD. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The lasting memory enhancements of retrospective attention

PubMed Central

Reaves, Sarah; Strunk, Jonathan; Phillips, Shekinah; Verhaeghen, Paul; Duarte, Audrey

2016-01-01

Behavioral research has shown that spatial cues that orient attention toward task relevant items being maintained in visual short-term memory (VSTM) enhance item memory accuracy. However, it is unknown if these retrospective attentional cues (“retro-cues”) enhance memory beyond typical short-term memory delays. It is also unknown whether retro-cues affect the spatial information associated with VSTM representations. Emerging evidence suggests that processes that affect short-term memory maintenance may also affect long-term memory (LTM) but little work has investigated the role of attention in LTM. In the current event-related potential (ERP) study, we investigated the duration of retrospective attention effects and the impact of retrospective attention manipulations on VSTM representations. Results revealed that retro-cueing improved both VSTM and LTM memory accuracy and that posterior maximal ERPs observed during VSTM maintenance predicted subsequent LTM performance. N2pc ERPs associated with attentional selection were attenuated by retro-cueing suggesting that retrospective attention may disrupt maintenance of spatial configural information in VSTM. Collectively, these findings suggest that retrospective attention can alter the structure of memory representations, which impacts memory performance beyond short-term memory delays. PMID:27038756

Increase or Decrease of fMRI Activity in Adult Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder: Does It Depend on Task Difficulty?

PubMed

Biehl, Stefanie C; Merz, Christian J; Dresler, Thomas; Heupel, Julia; Reichert, Susanne; Jacob, Christian P; Deckert, Jürgen; Herrmann, Martin J

2016-05-27

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder has been shown to affect working memory, and fMRI studies in children and adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder report hypoactivation in task-related attentional networks. However, studies with adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder patients addressing this issue as well as the effects of clinically valid methylphenidate treatment are scarce. This study contributes to closing this gap. Thirty-five adult patients were randomized to 6 weeks of double-blind placebo or methylphenidate treatment. Patients completed an fMRI n-back working memory task both before and after the assigned treatment, and matched healthy controls were tested and compared to the untreated patients. There were no whole-brain differences between any of the groups. However, when specified regions of interest were investigated, the patient group showed enhanced BOLD responses in dorsal and ventral areas before treatment. This increase was correlated with performance across all participants and with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms in the patient group. Furthermore, we found an effect of treatment in the right superior frontal gyrus, with methylphenidate-treated patients exhibiting increased activation, which was absent in the placebo-treated patients. Our results indicate distinct activation differences between untreated adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder patients and matched healthy controls during a working memory task. These differences might reflect compensatory efforts by the patients, who are performing at the same level as the healthy controls. We furthermore found a positive effect of methylphenidate on the activation of a frontal region of interest. These observations contribute to a more thorough understanding of adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and provide impulses for the evaluation of therapy-related changes. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of CINP.

The Influence of Genetic and Environmental Factors among MDMA Users in Cognitive Performance

PubMed Central

Cuyàs, Elisabet; Verdejo-García, Antonio; Fagundo, Ana Beatriz; Khymenets, Olha; Rodríguez, Joan; Cuenca, Aida; de Sola Llopis, Susana; Langohr, Klaus; Peña-Casanova, Jordi; Torrens, Marta; Martín-Santos, Rocío; Farré, Magí; de la Torre, Rafael

2011-01-01

This study is aimed to clarify the association between MDMA cumulative use and cognitive dysfunction, and the potential role of candidate genetic polymorphisms in explaining individual differences in the cognitive effects of MDMA. Gene polymorphisms related to reduced serotonin function, poor competency of executive control and memory consolidation systems, and high enzymatic activity linked to bioactivation of MDMA to neurotoxic metabolites may contribute to explain variations in the cognitive impact of MDMA across regular users of this drug. Sixty ecstasy polydrug users, 110 cannabis users and 93 non-drug users were assessed using cognitive measures of Verbal Memory (California Verbal Learning Test, CVLT), Visual Memory (Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test, ROCFT), Semantic Fluency, and Perceptual Attention (Symbol Digit Modalities Test, SDMT). Participants were also genotyped for polymorphisms within the 5HTT, 5HTR2A, COMT, CYP2D6, BDNF, and GRIN2B genes using polymerase chain reaction and TaqMan polymerase assays. Lifetime cumulative MDMA use was significantly associated with poorer performance on visuospatial memory and perceptual attention. Heavy MDMA users (>100 tablets lifetime use) interacted with candidate gene polymorphisms in explaining individual differences in cognitive performance between MDMA users and controls. MDMA users carrying COMT val/val and SERT s/s had poorer performance than paired controls on visuospatial attention and memory, and MDMA users with CYP2D6 ultra-rapid metabolizers performed worse than controls on semantic fluency. Both MDMA lifetime use and gene-related individual differences influence cognitive dysfunction in ecstasy users. PMID:22110616

Temporal dynamics of attention during encoding vs. maintenance of working memory: complementary views from event-related potentials and alpha-band oscillations

PubMed Central

Myers, Nicholas E.; Walther, Lena; Wallis, George; Stokes, Mark G.; Nobre, Anna C.

2015-01-01

Working memory (WM) is strongly influenced by attention. In visual working-memory tasks, recall performance can be improved by an attention-guiding cue presented before encoding (precue) or during maintenance (retrocue). Although precues and retrocues recruit a similar fronto-parietal control network, the two are likely to exhibit some processing differences, since precues invite anticipation of upcoming information, while retrocues may guide prioritisation, protection, and selection of information already in mind. Here we explored the behavioral and electrophysiological differences between precueing and retrocueing in a new visual working-memory task designed to permit a direct comparison between cueing conditions. We found marked differences in event-related potential (ERP) profiles between the precue and retrocue conditions. In line with precues primarily generating an anticipatory shift of attention toward the location of an upcoming item, we found a robust lateralization in late cue-evoked potentials associated with target anticipation. Retrocues elicited a different pattern of ERPs that was compatible with an early selection mechanism, but not with stimulus anticipation. In contrast to the distinct ERP patterns, alpha band (8-14 Hz) lateralization was indistinguishable between cue types (reflecting, in both conditions, the location of the cued item). We speculate that whereas alpha-band lateralization after a precue is likely to enable anticipatory attention, lateralization after a retrocue may instead enable the controlled spatiotopic access to recently encoded visual information. PMID:25244118

The effects of working memory load and attention refocusing on delay discounting rates in alcohol use disorder with comorbid antisocial personality disorder.

PubMed

Gunn, Rachel L; Gerst, Kyle R; Lake, Allison J; Finn, Peter R

2018-02-01

Executive working memory capacity (eWMC) is central to adaptive decision-making. Research has revealed reduced eWMC and higher rates of impulsive decision making in individuals with alcohol use disorders (AUDs: DSM-IV Alcohol Dependence of Alcohol Abuse) and antisocial psychopathology (AP). Recent work has shown that placing a load on working memory (WM) further increases impulsive decision making on the delay discounting (DD) task in those with AUDs and AP. The current study examined the effects of an attention refocusing manipulation to offset the effects of this WM-load on DD rates in control subjects, those with AUDs without AP, and AUDs with AP (AUD-AP). Results revealed that 1) the AUD-AP group had higher DD rates (i.e., more impulsive decision-making) than the AUD group, followed by controls, and 2) attention refocusing after a load is placed on WM was associated with lower DD rates compared to the load without refocusing in both AUD groups, but not controls. Results suggest that refocusing attention after a cognitive load may be an effective cognitive strategy for reducing the impulsivity-enhancing effects of cognitive load on decision making in individuals with AUDs and AP. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The relationship between visual working memory and attention: retention of precise colour information in the absence of effects on perceptual selection.

PubMed

Hollingworth, Andrew; Hwang, Seongmin

2013-10-19

We examined the conditions under which a feature value in visual working memory (VWM) recruits visual attention to matching stimuli. Previous work has suggested that VWM supports two qualitatively different states of representation: an active state that interacts with perceptual selection and a passive (or accessory) state that does not. An alternative hypothesis is that VWM supports a single form of representation, with the precision of feature memory controlling whether or not the representation interacts with perceptual selection. The results of three experiments supported the dual-state hypothesis. We established conditions under which participants retained a relatively precise representation of a parcticular colour. If the colour was immediately task relevant, it reliably recruited attention to matching stimuli. However, if the colour was not immediately task relevant, it failed to interact with perceptual selection. Feature maintenance in VWM is not necessarily equivalent with feature-based attentional selection.

Scope of Attention, Control of Attention, and Intelligence in Children and Adults

PubMed Central

Cowan, Nelson; Fristoe, Nathanael M.; Elliott, Emily M.; Brunner, Ryan P.; Saults, J. Scott

2006-01-01

Recent experimentation has shown that cognitive aptitude measures are predicted by tests of the scope of an individual’s attention or capacity in simple working-memory tasks, and also by the ability to control attention. However, these experiments do not indicate how separate or related the scope and control of attention are. An experiment with 52 children 10 to 11 years old and 52 college students included measures of the scope and control of attention as well as verbal and nonverbal aptitude measures. The children showed little evidence of using sophisticated attentional control, but the scope of attention predicted intelligence in that group. In adults, the scope and control of attention both varied among individuals, and they accounted for considerable individual variance in intelligence. About 1/3 that variance was shared between scope and control, the rest being unique to one or the other. Scope and control of attention appear to be related but distinct contributors to intelligence. PMID:17489300

Conversion disorder in children and adolescents: a disorder of cognitive control.

PubMed

Kozlowska, Kasia; Palmer, Donna M; Brown, Kerri J; Scher, Stephen; Chudleigh, Catherine; Davies, Fiona; Williams, Leanne M

2015-03-01

To assess cognitive function in children and adolescents presenting with acute conversion symptoms. Fifty-seven participants aged 8.5-18 years (41 girls and 16 boys) with conversion symptoms and 57 age- and gender-matched healthy controls completed the IntegNeuro neurocognitive battery, an estimate of intelligence, and self-report measures of subjective emotional distress. Participants with conversion symptoms showed poorer performance within attention, executive function, and memory domains. Poorer performance was reflected in more errors on specific tests: Switching of Attention (t(79) = 2.17, p = .03); Verbal Interference (t(72) = 2.64, p = .01); Go/No-Go (t(73) = 2.20, p = .03); Memory Recall and Verbal Learning (interference errors for memory recall; t(61) = 3.13, p < .01); and short-delay recall (t(75) = 2.05, p < .01) and long-delay recall (t(62) = 2.24, p = .03). Poorer performance was also reflected in a reduced span of working memory on the Digit Span Test for both forward recall span (t(103) = -3.64, p < .001) and backward recall span (t(100) = -3.22, p < .01). There was no difference between participants and controls on IQ estimate (t(94) = -589, p = .56), and there was no correlation between cognitive function and perceived distress. Children and adolescents with acute conversion symptoms have a reduced capacity to manipulate and retain information, to block interfering information, and to inhibit responses, all of which are required for effective attention, executive function, and memory. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.

Selective attention on representations in working memory: cognitive and neural mechanisms.

PubMed

Ku, Yixuan

2018-01-01

Selective attention and working memory are inter-dependent core cognitive functions. It is critical to allocate attention on selected targets during the capacity-limited working memory processes to fulfill the goal-directed behavior. The trends of research on both topics are increasing exponentially in recent years, and it is considered that selective attention and working memory share similar underlying neural mechanisms. Different types of attention orientation in working memory are introduced by distinctive cues, and the means using retrospective cues are strengthened currently as it is manipulating the representation in memory, instead of the perceptual representation. The cognitive and neural mechanisms of the retro-cue effects are further reviewed, as well as the potential molecular mechanism. The frontal-parietal network that is involved in both attention and working memory is also the neural candidate for attention orientation during working memory. Neural oscillations in the gamma and alpha/beta oscillations may respectively be employed for the feedforward and feedback information transfer between the sensory cortices and the association cortices. Dopamine and serotonin systems might interact with each other subserving the communication between memory and attention. In conclusion, representations which attention shifts towards are strengthened, while representations which attention moves away from are degraded. Studies on attention orientation during working memory indicates the flexibility of the processes of working memory, and the beneficial way that overcome the limited capacity of working memory.

Selective attention on representations in working memory: cognitive and neural mechanisms

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Selective attention and working memory are inter-dependent core cognitive functions. It is critical to allocate attention on selected targets during the capacity-limited working memory processes to fulfill the goal-directed behavior. The trends of research on both topics are increasing exponentially in recent years, and it is considered that selective attention and working memory share similar underlying neural mechanisms. Different types of attention orientation in working memory are introduced by distinctive cues, and the means using retrospective cues are strengthened currently as it is manipulating the representation in memory, instead of the perceptual representation. The cognitive and neural mechanisms of the retro-cue effects are further reviewed, as well as the potential molecular mechanism. The frontal-parietal network that is involved in both attention and working memory is also the neural candidate for attention orientation during working memory. Neural oscillations in the gamma and alpha/beta oscillations may respectively be employed for the feedforward and feedback information transfer between the sensory cortices and the association cortices. Dopamine and serotonin systems might interact with each other subserving the communication between memory and attention. In conclusion, representations which attention shifts towards are strengthened, while representations which attention moves away from are degraded. Studies on attention orientation during working memory indicates the flexibility of the processes of working memory, and the beneficial way that overcome the limited capacity of working memory. PMID:29629245

A Controlled Trial of Working Memory Training for Children and Adolescents with ADHD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beck, Steven J.; Hanson, Christine A.; Puffenberger, Synthia S.; Benninger, Kristen L.; Benninger, William B.

2010-01-01

This study assessed the efficacy of a 5-week, intensive working memory training program for 52 children and adolescents (ages 7-17) who had Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and other comorbid diagnoses. This study provided a treatment replication since the waitlist control group also completed training and was included in the…

A Performance of Individual Differences in Selective Attention.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wahl, Otto

A reliable, easily administered performance test of selective attentional ability was sought. A monaural listening task provided a baseline control for adequate hearing and memory; a dichotic listening task then provided indices of ability to focus attention and resist distraction while a simultaneous listening task provided measures of ability to…

The Development of Attention Systems and Working Memory in Infancy

PubMed Central

Reynolds, Greg D.; Romano, Alexandra C.

2016-01-01

In this article, we review research and theory on the development of attention and working memory in infancy using a developmental cognitive neuroscience framework. We begin with a review of studies examining the influence of attention on neural and behavioral correlates of an earlier developing and closely related form of memory (i.e., recognition memory). Findings from studies measuring attention utilizing looking measures, heart rate, and event-related potentials (ERPs) indicate significant developmental change in sustained and selective attention across the infancy period. For example, infants show gains in the magnitude of the attention related response and spend a greater proportion of time engaged in attention with increasing age (Richards and Turner, 2001). Throughout infancy, attention has a significant impact on infant performance on a variety of tasks tapping into recognition memory; however, this approach to examining the influence of infant attention on memory performance has yet to be utilized in research on working memory. In the second half of the article, we review research on working memory in infancy focusing on studies that provide insight into the developmental timing of significant gains in working memory as well as research and theory related to neural systems potentially involved in working memory in early development. We also examine issues related to measuring and distinguishing between working memory and recognition memory in infancy. To conclude, we discuss relations between the development of attention systems and working memory. PMID:26973473

The Development of Attention Systems and Working Memory in Infancy.

PubMed

Reynolds, Greg D; Romano, Alexandra C

2016-01-01

In this article, we review research and theory on the development of attention and working memory in infancy using a developmental cognitive neuroscience framework. We begin with a review of studies examining the influence of attention on neural and behavioral correlates of an earlier developing and closely related form of memory (i.e., recognition memory). Findings from studies measuring attention utilizing looking measures, heart rate, and event-related potentials (ERPs) indicate significant developmental change in sustained and selective attention across the infancy period. For example, infants show gains in the magnitude of the attention related response and spend a greater proportion of time engaged in attention with increasing age (Richards and Turner, 2001). Throughout infancy, attention has a significant impact on infant performance on a variety of tasks tapping into recognition memory; however, this approach to examining the influence of infant attention on memory performance has yet to be utilized in research on working memory. In the second half of the article, we review research on working memory in infancy focusing on studies that provide insight into the developmental timing of significant gains in working memory as well as research and theory related to neural systems potentially involved in working memory in early development. We also examine issues related to measuring and distinguishing between working memory and recognition memory in infancy. To conclude, we discuss relations between the development of attention systems and working memory.

Metacontrast masking and attention do not interact.

PubMed

Agaoglu, Sevda; Breitmeyer, Bruno; Ogmen, Haluk

2016-07-01

Visual masking and attention have been known to control the transfer of information from sensory memory to visual short-term memory. A natural question is whether these processes operate independently or interact. Recent evidence suggests that studies that reported interactions between masking and attention suffered from ceiling and/or floor effects. The objective of the present study was to investigate whether metacontrast masking and attention interact by using an experimental design in which saturation effects are avoided. We asked observers to report the orientation of a target bar randomly selected from a display containing either two or six bars. The mask was a ring that surrounded the target bar. Attentional load was controlled by set-size and masking strength by the stimulus onset asynchrony between the target bar and the mask ring. We investigated interactions between masking and attention by analyzing two different aspects of performance: (i) the mean absolute response errors and (ii) the distribution of signed response errors. Our results show that attention affects observers' performance without interacting with masking. Statistical modeling of response errors suggests that attention and metacontrast masking exert their effects by independently modulating the probability of "guessing" behavior. Implications of our findings for models of attention are discussed.

Memantine improves attention and episodic memory in Parkinson's disease dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies.

PubMed

Wesnes, Keith A; Aarsland, Dag; Ballard, Clive; Londos, Elisabet

2015-01-01

In both dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD), attentional dysfunction is a core clinical feature together with disrupted episodic memory. This study evaluated the cognitive effects of memantine in DLB and PDD using automated tests of attention and episodic memory. A randomised double-blind, placebo-controlled, 24-week three centre trial of memantine (20 mg/day) was conducted in which tests of attention (simple and choice reaction time) and word recognition (immediate and delayed) from the CDR System were administered prior to dosing and again at 12 and 24 weeks. Although other results from this study have been published, the data from the CDR System tests were not included and are presented here for the first time. Data were available for 51 patients (21 DLB and 30 PDD). In both populations, memantine produced statistically significant medium to large effect sized improvements to choice reaction time, immediate and delayed word recognition. These are the first substantial improvements on cognitive tests of attention and episodic recognition memory identified with memantine in either DLB or PDD. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Asymmetrical Effects of Divided Attention on Encoding and Retrieval Processes: A Different View Based on an Interference with the Episodic Register

PubMed Central

Guez, Jonathan; Naveh-Benjamin, Moshe

2013-01-01

In this study, we evaluate the conceptualization of encoding and retrieval processes established in previous studies that used a divided attention (DA) paradigm. These studies indicated that there were considerable detrimental effects of DA at encoding on later memory performance, but only minimal effects, if any, on divided attention at retrieval. We suggest that this asymmetry in the effects of DA on memory can be due, at least partially, to a confound between the memory phase (encoding and retrieval) and the memory requirements of the task (memory “for” encoded information versus memory “at” test). To control for this confound, we tested memory for encoded information and for retrieved information by introducing a second test that assessed memory for the retrieved information from the first test. We report the results of four experiments that use measures of memory performance, retrieval latency, and performance on the concurrent task, all of which consistently show that DA at retrieval strongly disrupts later memory for the retrieved episode, similarly to the effects of DA at encoding. We suggest that these symmetrical disruptive effects of DA at encoding and retrieval on later retrieval reflect a disruption of an episodic buffer (EB) or episodic register component (ER), rather than a failure of encoding or retrieval operations per se. PMID:24040249

The asymmetrical effects of divided attention on encoding and retrieval processes: a different view based on an interference with the episodic register.

PubMed

Guez, Jonathan; Naveh-Benjamin, Moshe

2013-01-01

In this study, we evaluate the conceptualization of encoding and retrieval processes established in previous studies that used a divided attention (DA) paradigm. These studies indicated that there were considerable detrimental effects of DA at encoding on later memory performance, but only minimal effects, if any, on divided attention at retrieval. We suggest that this asymmetry in the effects of DA on memory can be due, at least partially, to a confound between the memory phase (encoding and retrieval) and the memory requirements of the task (memory "for" encoded information versus memory "at" test). To control for this confound, we tested memory for encoded information and for retrieved information by introducing a second test that assessed memory for the retrieved information from the first test. We report the results of four experiments that use measures of memory performance, retrieval latency, and performance on the concurrent task, all of which consistently show that DA at retrieval strongly disrupts later memory for the retrieved episode, similarly to the effects of DA at encoding. We suggest that these symmetrical disruptive effects of DA at encoding and retrieval on later retrieval reflect a disruption of an episodic buffer (EB) or episodic register component (ER), rather than a failure of encoding or retrieval operations per se.

What top-down task sets do for us: an ERP study on the benefits of advance preparation in visual search.

PubMed

Eimer, Martin; Kiss, Monika; Nicholas, Susan

2011-12-01

When target-defining features are specified in advance, attentional target selection in visual search is controlled by preparatory top-down task sets. We used ERP measures to study voluntary target selection in the absence of such feature-specific task sets, and to compare it to selection that is guided by advance knowledge about target features. Visual search arrays contained two different color singleton digits, and participants had to select one of these as target and report its parity. Target color was either known in advance (fixed color task) or had to be selected anew on each trial (free color-choice task). ERP correlates of spatially selective attentional target selection (N2pc) and working memory processing (SPCN) demonstrated rapid target selection and efficient exclusion of color singleton distractors from focal attention and working memory in the fixed color task. In the free color-choice task, spatially selective processing also emerged rapidly, but selection efficiency was reduced, with nontarget singleton digits capturing attention and gaining access to working memory. Results demonstrate the benefits of top-down task sets: Feature-specific advance preparation accelerates target selection, rapidly resolves attentional competition, and prevents irrelevant events from attracting attention and entering working memory.

Saccade Generation by the Frontal Eye Fields in Rhesus Monkeys Is Separable from Visual Detection and Bottom-Up Attention Shift

PubMed Central

Lee, Kyoung-Min; Ahn, Kyung-Ha; Keller, Edward L.

2012-01-01

The frontal eye fields (FEF), originally identified as an oculomotor cortex, have also been implicated in perceptual functions, such as constructing a visual saliency map and shifting visual attention. Further dissecting the area’s role in the transformation from visual input to oculomotor command has been difficult because of spatial confounding between stimuli and responses and consequently between intermediate cognitive processes, such as attention shift and saccade preparation. Here we developed two tasks in which the visual stimulus and the saccade response were dissociated in space (the extended memory-guided saccade task), and bottom-up attention shift and saccade target selection were independent (the four-alternative delayed saccade task). Reversible inactivation of the FEF in rhesus monkeys disrupted, as expected, contralateral memory-guided saccades, but visual detection was demonstrated to be intact at the same field. Moreover, saccade behavior was impaired when a bottom-up shift of attention was not a prerequisite for saccade target selection, indicating that the inactivation effect was independent of the previously reported dysfunctions in bottom-up attention control. These findings underscore the motor aspect of the area’s functions, especially in situations where saccades are generated by internal cognitive processes, including visual short-term memory and long-term associative memory. PMID:22761923

Saccade generation by the frontal eye fields in rhesus monkeys is separable from visual detection and bottom-up attention shift.

PubMed

Lee, Kyoung-Min; Ahn, Kyung-Ha; Keller, Edward L

2012-01-01

The frontal eye fields (FEF), originally identified as an oculomotor cortex, have also been implicated in perceptual functions, such as constructing a visual saliency map and shifting visual attention. Further dissecting the area's role in the transformation from visual input to oculomotor command has been difficult because of spatial confounding between stimuli and responses and consequently between intermediate cognitive processes, such as attention shift and saccade preparation. Here we developed two tasks in which the visual stimulus and the saccade response were dissociated in space (the extended memory-guided saccade task), and bottom-up attention shift and saccade target selection were independent (the four-alternative delayed saccade task). Reversible inactivation of the FEF in rhesus monkeys disrupted, as expected, contralateral memory-guided saccades, but visual detection was demonstrated to be intact at the same field. Moreover, saccade behavior was impaired when a bottom-up shift of attention was not a prerequisite for saccade target selection, indicating that the inactivation effect was independent of the previously reported dysfunctions in bottom-up attention control. These findings underscore the motor aspect of the area's functions, especially in situations where saccades are generated by internal cognitive processes, including visual short-term memory and long-term associative memory.

Psychopathic Personality Traits Associated with Abnormal Selective Attention and Impaired Cognitive Control

PubMed Central

Sadeh, Naomi; Verona, Edelyn

2008-01-01

The current study investigated how mechanisms of attention that have been well-characterized in the cognitive psychology literature (Lavie, Hirst, De Fockert, & Viding, 2004; Maylor & Lavie, 1998) may be differentially associated with psychopathic traits in non-incarcerated men. Previous research on cognition and psychopathy indicates that primary psychopathic traits are associated with over-focused attention and/or reduced processing of information peripheral to the focus of attention. Conversely, deficits in executive functioning, such as working memory and cognitive control, are implicated in secondary psychopathic traits. Results revealed a significant relationship between traits typically associated with primary psychopathy (e.g., low anxiety, social dominance, fearlessness, callousness) and reduced processing of task-irrelevant distractors, suggesting diminished basic attentional capacity among individuals high on these traits. In contrast, some characteristics linked to secondary psychopathy (e.g., social alienation, cynicism) showed a positive relationship with impaired working memory functioning, indicative of deficits in cognitive control, whereas other traits (i.e., self-centeredness, antagonism) did not. These results suggest that psychopathic traits are differentially related to selective impairments in attentional functioning, which may help explain the observed heterogeneity in psychopathic manifestations. PMID:18763886

Neural correlates of visuospatial working memory in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and healthy controls.

PubMed

van Ewijk, Hanneke; Weeda, Wouter D; Heslenfeld, Dirk J; Luman, Marjolein; Hartman, Catharina A; Hoekstra, Pieter J; Faraone, Stephen V; Franke, Barbara; Buitelaar, Jan K; Oosterlaan, Jaap

2015-08-30

Impaired visuospatial working memory (VSWM) is suggested to be a core neurocognitive deficit in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), yet the underlying neural activation patterns are poorly understood. Furthermore, it is unclear to what extent age and gender effects may play a role in VSWM-related brain abnormalities in ADHD. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were collected from 109 individuals with ADHD (60% male) and 103 controls (53% male), aged 8-25 years, during a spatial span working memory task. VSWM-related brain activation was found in a widespread network, which was more widespread compared with N-back tasks used in the previous literature. Higher brain activation was associated with higher age and male gender. In comparison with controls, individuals with ADHD showed greater activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the lateral frontal pole during memory load increase, effects explained by reduced activation on the low memory load in the IFG pars triangularis and increased activation during high load in the IFG pars opercularis. Age and gender effects did not differ between controls and individuals with ADHD. Results indicate that individuals with ADHD have difficulty in efficiently and sufficiently recruiting left inferior frontal brain regions with increasing task difficulty. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emotional decision-making and its dissociable components in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder: a behavioural and MRI investigation.

PubMed

Premkumar, Preethi; Fannon, Dominic; Kuipers, Elizabeth; Simmons, Andrew; Frangou, Sophia; Kumari, Veena

2008-01-01

Cognitive decision-making is known to be deficient, but relatively less is known about emotional decision-making in schizophrenia. The Iowa gambling task (IGT) is considered a reliable probe of emotional decision-making and believed to reflect orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) function. The expectancy-valence model of IGT performance implicates three dissociable components, namely, attention to reward, memory for past, relative to recent, outcomes and impulsivity in emotional decision-making. We examined IGT performance, its three components, and their grey matter volume (GMV) correlates in 75 stable patients with schizophrenia, relative to 25 healthy individuals. Patients, relative to controls, showed impaired IGT performance and poor memory for past, relative to recent, outcomes. IGT performance correlated with GMV in the OFC in controls, but not patients. There were associations between (a) attention to reward and GMV in the frontal, temporal, parietal and striatal regions in controls, and in the temporal and thalamic regions in patients, (b) memory for past outcomes and GMV in the temporal region in controls, and the frontal and temporal regions in patients, and (c) low impulsivity and greater GMV in the frontal, temporal, posterior cingulate and occipital regions in controls, and in the frontal, temporal and posterior cingulate regions in patients. Most IGT-GMV associations were stronger in controls. It is concluded that (i) poor memory, rather than less attention to reward or impulsivity, contributes to IGT performance deficit, and (ii) the relationship of IGT performance and its components with GMVs especially in the frontal and temporal lobes is lost or attenuated in schizophrenia.

Video game experience and its influence on visual attention parameters: an investigation using the framework of the Theory of Visual Attention (TVA).

PubMed

Schubert, Torsten; Finke, Kathrin; Redel, Petra; Kluckow, Steffen; Müller, Hermann; Strobach, Tilo

2015-05-01

Experts with video game experience, in contrast to non-experienced persons, are superior in multiple domains of visual attention. However, it is an open question which basic aspects of attention underlie this superiority. We approached this question using the framework of Theory of Visual Attention (TVA) with tools that allowed us to assess various parameters that are related to different visual attention aspects (e.g., perception threshold, processing speed, visual short-term memory storage capacity, top-down control, spatial distribution of attention) and that are measurable on the same experimental basis. In Experiment 1, we found advantages of video game experts in perception threshold and visual processing speed; the latter being restricted to the lower positions of the used computer display. The observed advantages were not significantly moderated by general person-related characteristics such as personality traits, sensation seeking, intelligence, social anxiety, or health status. Experiment 2 tested a potential causal link between the expert advantages and video game practice with an intervention protocol. It found no effects of action video gaming on perception threshold, visual short-term memory storage capacity, iconic memory storage, top-down control, and spatial distribution of attention after 15 days of training. However, observations of a selected improvement of processing speed at the lower positions of the computer screen after video game training and of retest effects are suggestive for limited possibilities to improve basic aspects of visual attention (TVA) with practice. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Selective Control of Attention Supports the Positivity Effect in Aging

PubMed Central

Sasse, Laura K.; Gamer, Matthias; Büchel, Christian; Brassen, Stefanie

2014-01-01

There is emerging evidence for a positivity effect in healthy aging, which describes an age-specific increased focus on positive compared to negative information. Life-span researchers have attributed this effect to the selective allocation of cognitive resources in the service of prioritized emotional goals. We explored the basic principles of this assumption by assessing selective attention and memory for visual stimuli, differing in emotional content and self-relevance, in young and old participants. To specifically address the impact of cognitive control, voluntary attentional selection during the presentation of multiple-item displays was analyzed and linked to participants' general ability of cognitive control. Results revealed a positivity effect in older adults' selective attention and memory, which was particularly pronounced for self-relevant stimuli. Focusing on positive and ignoring negative information was most evident in older participants with a generally higher ability to exert top-down control during visual search. Our findings highlight the role of controlled selectivity in the occurrence of a positivity effect in aging. Since the effect has been related to well-being in later life, we suggest that the ability to selectively allocate top-down control might represent a resilience factor for emotional health in aging. PMID:25093459

Selective control of attention supports the positivity effect in aging.

PubMed

Sasse, Laura K; Gamer, Matthias; Büchel, Christian; Brassen, Stefanie

2014-01-01

There is emerging evidence for a positivity effect in healthy aging, which describes an age-specific increased focus on positive compared to negative information. Life-span researchers have attributed this effect to the selective allocation of cognitive resources in the service of prioritized emotional goals. We explored the basic principles of this assumption by assessing selective attention and memory for visual stimuli, differing in emotional content and self-relevance, in young and old participants. To specifically address the impact of cognitive control, voluntary attentional selection during the presentation of multiple-item displays was analyzed and linked to participants' general ability of cognitive control. Results revealed a positivity effect in older adults' selective attention and memory, which was particularly pronounced for self-relevant stimuli. Focusing on positive and ignoring negative information was most evident in older participants with a generally higher ability to exert top-down control during visual search. Our findings highlight the role of controlled selectivity in the occurrence of a positivity effect in aging. Since the effect has been related to well-being in later life, we suggest that the ability to selectively allocate top-down control might represent a resilience factor for emotional health in aging.

Vulnerability to the Irrelevant Sound Effect in Adult ADHD.

PubMed

Pelletier, Marie-France; Hodgetts, Helen M; Lafleur, Martin F; Vincent, Annick; Tremblay, Sébastien

2016-04-01

An ecologically valid adaptation of the irrelevant sound effect paradigm was employed to examine the relative roles of short-term memory, selective attention, and sustained attention in ADHD. In all, 32 adults with ADHD and 32 control participants completed a serial recall task in silence or while ignoring irrelevant background sound. Serial recall performance in adults with ADHD was reduced relative to controls in both conditions. The degree of interference due to irrelevant sound was greater for adults with ADHD. Furthermore, a positive correlation was observed between task performance under conditions of irrelevant sound and the extent of attentional problems reported by patients on a clinical symptom scale. The results demonstrate that adults with ADHD exhibit impaired short-term memory and a low resistance to distraction; however, their capacity for sustained attention is preserved as the impact of irrelevant sound diminished over the course of the task. © The Author(s) 2013.

Compromised encoding of proprioceptively determined joint angles in older adults: the role of working memory and attentional load.

PubMed

Goble, Daniel J; Mousigian, Marianne A; Brown, Susan H

2012-01-01

Perceiving the positions and movements of one's body segments (i.e., proprioception) is critical for movement control. However, this ability declines with older age as has been demonstrated by joint angle matching paradigms in the absence of vision. The aim of the present study was to explore the extent to which reduced working memory and attentional load influence older adult proprioceptive matching performance. Older adults with relatively HIGH versus LOW working memory ability as determined by backward digit span and healthy younger adults, performed memory-based elbow position matching with and without attentional load (i.e., counting by 3 s) during target position encoding. Even without attentional load, older adults with LOW digit spans (i.e., 4 digits or less) had larger matching errors than younger adults. Further, LOW older adults made significantly greater errors when attentional loads were present during proprioceptive target encoding as compared to both younger and older adults with HIGH digit span scores (i.e., 5 digits or greater). These results extend previous position matching results that suggested greater errors in older adults were due to degraded input signals from peripheral mechanoreceptors. Specifically, the present work highlights the role cognitive factors play in the assessment of older adult proprioceptive acuity using memory-based matching paradigms. Older adults with LOW working memory appear prone to compromised proprioceptive encoding, especially when secondary cognitive tasks must be concurrently executed. This may ultimately result in poorer performance on various activities of daily living.

Cognitive predictors of a common multitasking ability: Contributions from working memory, attention control, and fluid intelligence.

PubMed

Redick, Thomas S; Shipstead, Zach; Meier, Matthew E; Montroy, Janelle J; Hicks, Kenny L; Unsworth, Nash; Kane, Michael J; Hambrick, D Zachary; Engle, Randall W

2016-11-01

Previous research has identified several cognitive abilities that are important for multitasking, but few studies have attempted to measure a general multitasking ability using a diverse set of multitasks. In the final dataset, 534 young adult subjects completed measures of working memory (WM), attention control, fluid intelligence, and multitasking. Correlations, hierarchical regression analyses, confirmatory factor analyses, structural equation models, and relative weight analyses revealed several key findings. First, although the complex tasks used to assess multitasking differed greatly in their task characteristics and demands, a coherent construct specific to multitasking ability was identified. Second, the cognitive ability predictors accounted for substantial variance in the general multitasking construct, with WM and fluid intelligence accounting for the most multitasking variance compared to attention control. Third, the magnitude of the relationships among the cognitive abilities and multitasking varied as a function of the complexity and structure of the various multitasks assessed. Finally, structural equation models based on a multifaceted model of WM indicated that attention control and capacity fully mediated the WM and multitasking relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

The lasting memory enhancements of retrospective attention.

PubMed

Reaves, Sarah; Strunk, Jonathan; Phillips, Shekinah; Verhaeghen, Paul; Duarte, Audrey

2016-07-01

Behavioral research has shown that spatial cues that orient attention toward task relevant items being maintained in visual short-term memory (VSTM) enhance item memory accuracy. However, it is unknown if these retrospective attentional cues ("retro-cues") enhance memory beyond typical short-term memory delays. It is also unknown whether retro-cues affect the spatial information associated with VSTM representations. Emerging evidence suggests that processes that affect short-term memory maintenance may also affect long-term memory (LTM) but little work has investigated the role of attention in LTM. In the current event-related potential (ERP) study, we investigated the duration of retrospective attention effects and the impact of retrospective attention manipulations on VSTM representations. Results revealed that retro-cueing improved both VSTM and LTM memory accuracy and that posterior maximal ERPs observed during VSTM maintenance predicted subsequent LTM performance. N2pc ERPs associated with attentional selection were attenuated by retro-cueing suggesting that retrospective attention may disrupt maintenance of spatial configural information in VSTM. Collectively, these findings suggest that retrospective attention can alter the structure of memory representations, which impacts memory performance beyond short-term memory delays. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Memory capacity, selective control, and value-directed remembering in children with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

PubMed

Castel, Alan D; Lee, Steve S; Humphreys, Kathryn L; Moore, Amy N

2011-01-01

The ability to select what is important to remember, to attend to this information, and to recall high-value items leads to the efficient use of memory. The present study examined how children with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) performed on an incentive-based selectivity task in which to-be-remembered items were worth different point values. Participants were 6-9 year old children with ADHD (n = 57) and without ADHD (n = 59). Using a selectivity task, participants studied words paired with point values and were asked to maximize their score, which was the overall value of the items they recalled. This task allows for measures of memory capacity and the ability to selectively remember high-value items. Although there were no significant between-groups differences in the number of words recalled (memory capacity), children with ADHD were less selective than children in the control group in terms of the value of the items they recalled (control of memory). All children recalled more high-value items than low-value items and showed some learning with task experience, but children with ADHD Combined type did not efficiently maximize memory performance (as measured by a selectivity index) relative to children with ADHD Inattentive type and healthy controls, who did not differ significantly from one another. Children with ADHD Combined type exhibit impairments in the strategic and efficient encoding and recall of high-value items. The findings have implications for theories of memory dysfunction in childhood ADHD and the key role of metacognition, cognitive control, and value-directed remembering when considering the strategic use of memory. (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved

Memantine Improves Attentional Processes in Fragile X-Associated Tremor/Ataxia Syndrome: Electrophysiological Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Yang, Jin-Chen; Rodriguez, Annette; Royston, Ashley; Niu, Yu-Qiong; Avar, Merve; Brill, Ryan; Simon, Christa; Grigsby, Jim; Hagerman, Randi J; Olichney, John M

2016-02-22

Progressive cognitive deficits are common in patients with fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS), with no targeted treatment yet established. In this substudy of the first randomized controlled trial for FXTAS, we examined the effects of NMDA antagonist memantine on attention and working memory. Data were analyzed for patients (24 in each arm) who completed both the primary memantine trial and two EEG recordings (at baseline and follow-up) using an auditory "oddball" task. Results demonstrated significantly improved attention/working memory performance after one year only for the memantine group. The event-related potential P2 amplitude elicited by non-targets was significantly enhanced in the treated group, indicating memantine-associated improvement in attentional processes at the stimulus identification/discrimination level. P2 amplitude increase was positively correlated with improvement on the behavioral measure of attention/working memory during target detection. Analysis also revealed that memantine treatment normalized the P2 habituation effect at the follow-up visit. These findings indicate that memantine may benefit attentional processes that represent fundamental components of executive function/dysfunction, thought to comprise the core cognitive deficit in FXTAS. The results provide evidence of target engagement of memantine, as well as therapeutically relevant information that could further the development of specific cognitive or disease-modifying therapies for FXTAS.

Cognitive deficits after aneurysmal and angiographically negative subarachnoid hemorrhage: Memory, attention, executive functioning, and emotion recognition.

PubMed

Buunk, Anne M; Groen, Rob J M; Veenstra, Wencke S; Metzemaekers, Jan D M; van der Hoeven, Johannes H; van Dijk, J Marc C; Spikman, Jacoba M

2016-11-01

The authors' aim was to investigate cognitive outcome in patients with aneurysmal and angiographically negative subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH and anSAH), by comparing them to healthy controls and to each other. Besides investigating cognitive functions as memory and attention, they focused on higher-order prefrontal functions, namely executive functioning (EF) and emotion recognition. Patients and healthy controls were assessed with tests measuring memory (15 Words Test, Digit Span), attention and processing speed (Trail Making Test A and B), EF (Zoo Map, Letter Fluency, Dysexecutive Questionnaire), and emotion recognition (Facial Expressions of Emotion Stimuli and Tests). Between-groups comparisons of test performances were made. Patients with aSAH scored significantly lower than healthy controls on measures of memory, processing speed, and attention, but anSAH patients did not. In the higher-order prefrontal functions (EF and emotion recognition), aSAH patients were clearly impaired when compared to healthy controls. However, anSAH patients did not perform significantly better than aSAH patients on the majority of the tests. In the subacute phase after SAH, cognitive functions, including the higher-order prefrontal functions EF and emotion recognition, were clearly impaired in aSAH patients. Patients with anSAH did not perform better than aSAH patients, which indicates that these functions may also be affected to some extent in anSAH patients. Considering the importance of these higher-order prefrontal functions for daily life functioning, and following the results of the present study, tests that measure emotion recognition and EF should be part of the standard neuropsychological assessment after SAH. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Attention and material-specific memory in children with lateralized epilepsy.

PubMed

Engle, Jennifer A; Smith, Mary Lou

2010-01-01

Epilepsy is frequently associated with attention and memory problems. In adults, lateralization of seizure focus impacts the type of memory affected (left-sided lesions primarily impact verbal memory, while right-sided lesions primarily impact visual memory), but the relationship between seizure focus and the nature of the memory impairment is less clear in children. The current study examines the correlation between parent-reported attention problems and material-specific memory (verbal or visual-spatial) in 65 children (ages 6-16) with medically intractable lateralized epilepsy. There were no significant differences in attention and memory between those with left-lateralized epilepsy (n=25) and those with right-lateralized epilepsy (n=40). However, in the left-lateralized group attention problems were significantly negatively correlated only with delayed visual memory (r=-.450, p<.05), while the right-lateralized group demonstrated the opposite pattern (attention problems significantly negatively correlated with delayed verbal memory; r=-.331, p<.05). These findings suggest that lateralization of seizure focus may in fact impact children's memory in a material-specific manner, while problems with attention may impact memory more globally. Therefore, interventions designed to improve attention in children with epilepsy may have utility in improving certain aspects of memory, but further suggest that in children with lateralized epilepsy, material-specific memory deficits may not resolve with such interventions.

Challenges in the Detection of Working Memory and Attention Decrements among Overweight Adolescent Girls.

PubMed

Bauer, Lance O; Manning, Kevin J

2016-01-01

The present study is unique in employing unusually difficult attention and working memory tasks to reveal subtle cognitive decrements among overweight/obese adolescents. It evaluated novel measures of background electroencephalographic (EEG) activity during one of the tasks and tested correlations of these and other measures with psychological and psychiatric predictors of obesity maintenance or progression. Working memory and sustained attention tasks were presented to 158 female adolescents who were rated on dichotomous (body mass index percentile <85 vs. ≥85) and continuous (triceps skinfold thickness) measures of adiposity. The results revealed a significant association between excess adiposity and performance errors during the working memory task. During the sustained attention task, overweight/obese adolescents exhibited more EEG frontal beta power as well as greater intraindividual variability in reaction time and beta power across task periods than their normal-weight peers. Secondary analyses showed that frontal beta power during the sustained attention task was positively correlated with anxiety, panic, borderline personality features, drug abuse, and loss of control over food intake. The findings suggest that working memory and sustained attention decrements do exist among overweight/obese adolescent girls. The reliable detection of the decrements may depend on the difficulty of the tasks as well as the manner in which performance and brain activity are measured. Future studies should examine the relevance of these decrements to dietary education efforts and treatment response. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Hold it! Memory affects attentional dwell time.

PubMed

Parks, Emily L; Hopfinger, Joseph B

2008-12-01

The allocation of attention, including the initial orienting and the subsequent dwell time, is affected by several bottom-up and top-down factors. How item memory affects these processes, however, remains unclear. Here, we investigated whether item memory affects attentional dwell time by using a modified version of the attentional blink (AB) paradigm. Across four experiments, our results revealed that the AB was significantly affected by memory status (novel vs. old), but critically, this effect depended on the ongoing memory context. Specifically, items that were unique in terms of memory status demanded more resources, as measured by a protracted AB. The present findings suggest that a more comprehensive understanding of memory's effects on attention can be obtained by accounting for an item's memorial context, as well as its individual item memory strength. Our results provide new evidence that item memory and memory context play a significant role in the temporal allocation of attention.

Executive and Perceptual Distraction in Visual Working Memory

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

The contents of visual working memory are likely to reflect the influence of both executive control resources and information present in the environment. We investigated whether executive attention is critical in the ability to exclude unwanted stimuli by introducing concurrent potentially distracting irrelevant items to a visual working memory paradigm, and manipulating executive load using simple or more demanding secondary verbal tasks. Across 7 experiments varying in presentation format, timing, stimulus set, and distractor number, we observed clear disruptive effects of executive load and visual distraction, but relatively minimal evidence supporting an interactive relationship between these factors. These findings are in line with recent evidence using delay-based interference, and suggest that different forms of attentional selection operate relatively independently in visual working memory. PMID:28414499

Attentional selection in visual perception, memory and action: a quest for cross-domain integration

PubMed Central

Schneider, Werner X.; Einhäuser, Wolfgang; Horstmann, Gernot

2013-01-01

For decades, the cognitive and neural sciences have benefitted greatly from a separation of mind and brain into distinct functional domains. The tremendous success of this approach notwithstanding, it is self-evident that such a view is incomplete. Goal-directed behaviour of an organism requires the joint functioning of perception, memory and sensorimotor control. A prime candidate for achieving integration across these functional domains are attentional processes. Consequently, this Theme Issue brings together studies of attentional selection from many fields, both experimental and theoretical, that are united in their quest to find overreaching integrative principles of attention between perception, memory and action. In all domains, attention is understood as combination of competition and priority control (‘bias’), with the task as a decisive driving factor to ensure coherent goal-directed behaviour and cognition. Using vision as the predominant model system for attentional selection, many studies of this Theme Issue focus special emphasis on eye movements as a selection process that is both a fundamental action and serves a key function in perception. The Theme Issue spans a wide range of methods, from measuring human behaviour in the real word to recordings of single neurons in the non-human primate brain. We firmly believe that combining such a breadth in approaches is necessary not only for attentional selection, but also to take the next decisive step in all of the cognitive and neural sciences: to understand cognition and behaviour beyond isolated domains. PMID:24018715

Interference Impacts Working Memory in Mild Cognitive Impairment

PubMed Central

Aurtenetxe, Sara; García-Pacios, Javier; del Río, David; López, María E.; Pineda-Pardo, José A.; Marcos, Alberto; Delgado Losada, Maria L.; López-Frutos, José M.; Maestú, Fernando

2016-01-01

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is considered a transitional stage between healthy aging and dementia, specifically Alzheimer's disease (AD). The most common cognitive impairment of MCI includes episodic memory loss and difficulties in working memory (WM). Interference can deplete WM, and an optimal WM performance requires an effective control of attentional resources between the memoranda and the incoming stimuli. Difficulties in handling interference lead to forgetting. However, the interplay between interference and WM in MCI is not well-understood and needs further investigation. The current study investigated the effect of interference during a WM task in 20 MCIs and 20 healthy elder volunteers. Participants performed a delayed match-to-sample paradigm which consisted in two interference conditions, distraction and interruption, and one control condition without any interference. Results evidenced a disproportionate impact of interference on the WM performance of MCIs, mainly in the presence of interruption. These findings demonstrate that interference, and more precisely interruption, is an important proxy for memory-related deficits in MCI. Thus, the current findings reveal novel evidence regarding the causes of WM forgetting in MCI patients, associated with difficulties in the mechanisms of attentional control. PMID:27790082

[Methylphenidate and short-term memory in young females with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. A study using functional magnetic resonance imaging].

PubMed

Gonzalez-Garrido, A A; Barrios, F A; de la Serna-Tuya, J M; Cocula-León, H; Gómez-Velázquez, F R

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common behavioral disorder found mainly in males, thus current knowledge on its clinical expression in female adults is extremely limited. AIM. To evaluate the behavioral and neural substrates associated with the performance of a short-term memory task in female ADHD adults, with and without methylphenidate exposure, with respect to a control group. Two groups of eight young right-handed, female, university students with ADHD and healthy controls matched by age, gender, handedness and academic level, voluntarily participated. All subjects performed twice an easy auditory short-term memory task (ADHD group without, and 90 minutes post-intake of methylphenidate 0.4 mg/kg in a counterbalanced order). The BOLD-fMRI response was used as a measure of neural activity during task performance. ADHD subjects showed a tendency to improve their performances under medication, showing an increased widespread functional activation, especially relevant over left frontal and cerebellar areas, in comparison with control subjects. Methylphenidate slightly improves short-term memory task performance in adult female ADHD subjects by modifying underlying neural functioning patterns.

Verbal working memory-related functional connectivity alterations in boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and the effects of methylphenidate.

PubMed

Wu, Zhao-Min; Bralten, Janita; An, Li; Cao, Qing-Jiu; Cao, Xiao-Hua; Sun, Li; Liu, Lu; Yang, Li; Mennes, Maarten; Zang, Yu-Feng; Franke, Barbara; Hoogman, Martine; Wang, Yu-Feng

2017-08-01

Few studies have investigated verbal working memory-related functional connectivity patterns in participants with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Thus, we aimed to compare working memory-related functional connectivity patterns in healthy children and those with ADHD, and study effects of methylphenidate (MPH). Twenty-two boys with ADHD were scanned twice, under either MPH (single dose, 10 mg) or placebo, in a randomised, cross-over, counterbalanced placebo-controlled design. Thirty healthy boys were scanned once. We used fMRI during a numerical n-back task to examine functional connectivity patterns in case-control and MPH-placebo comparisons, using independent component analysis. There was no significant difference in behavioural performance between children with ADHD, treated with MPH or placebo, and healthy controls. Compared with controls, participants with ADHD under placebo showed increased functional connectivity within fronto-parietal and auditory networks, and decreased functional connectivity within the executive control network. MPH normalized the altered functional connectivity pattern and significantly enhanced functional connectivity within the executive control network, though in non-overlapping areas. Our study contributes to the identification of the neural substrates of working memory. Single dose of MPH normalized the altered brain functional connectivity network, but had no enhancing effect on (non-impaired) behavioural performance.

Brain systems underlying attentional control and emotional distraction during working memory encoding.

PubMed

Ziaei, Maryam; Peira, Nathalie; Persson, Jonas

2014-02-15

Goal-directed behavior requires that cognitive operations can be protected from emotional distraction induced by task-irrelevant emotional stimuli. The brain processes involved in attending to relevant information while filtering out irrelevant information are still largely unknown. To investigate the neural and behavioral underpinnings of attending to task-relevant emotional stimuli while ignoring irrelevant stimuli, we used fMRI to assess brain responses during attentional instructed encoding within an emotional working memory (WM) paradigm. We showed that instructed attention to emotion during WM encoding resulted in enhanced performance, by means of increased memory performance and reduced reaction time, compared to passive viewing. A similar performance benefit was also demonstrated for recognition memory performance, although for positive pictures only. Functional MRI data revealed a network of regions involved in directed attention to emotional information for both positive and negative pictures that included medial and lateral prefrontal cortices, fusiform gyrus, insula, the parahippocampal gyrus, and the amygdala. Moreover, we demonstrate that regions in the striatum, and regions associated with the default-mode network were differentially activated for emotional distraction compared to neutral distraction. Activation in a sub-set of these regions was related to individual differences in WM and recognition memory performance, thus likely contributing to performing the task at an optimal level. The present results provide initial insights into the behavioral and neural consequences of instructed attention and emotional distraction during WM encoding. © 2013.

The effects of cognitive load on attention control in subclinical anxiety and Generalized Anxiety Disorder

PubMed Central

Najmi, Sadia; Amir, Nader; Frosio, Kristen E.; Ayers, Catherine

2014-01-01

Poor regulation of emotions may involve impaired attention control. In the current paper, we report the results of two studies examining the interaction of anxiety, attention control, and cognitive load. In Study I, using a performance-based task to assess attention control, we examined whether anxiety is associated with impaired attention control, and whether these effects are influenced by working memory load. In Study II we examined these effects in patients with a diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) compared to non-anxious control (NAC) participants. Results of Study I showed that high anxiety was associated with increased attention control, that is decreased interference from distractors, but only under high cognitive load. These results were replicated in Study II such that individuals with GAD showed increased attention control relative to NACs, but only under high cognitive load. These results help clarify previous predictions regarding the effect of anxiety on attention control. PMID:25355423

[Learning difficulties in mathematics in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder].

PubMed

Miranda-Casas, A; Meliá-de Alba, A; Marco-Taverner, R; Roselló, B; Mulas, F

2006-02-13

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning difficulties are two diagnostic categories of great social importance and impact, and which are associated in around 25-35% of cases. One explanation offered by researchers to account for this overlap is a deficit in executive functioning (EF). 1) To compare EF and applied mathematical knowledge in children with ADHD, difficulties in learning mathematics (DLM) or ADHD + DLM, and to identify the deficiencies they experience. 2) To verify whether the phenotype hypothesis is fulfilled in the case of the ADHD + DLM condition. The study involved a quasi-experimental 2 x 2 design, with a sample made up of 78 participants (6-13 years old) who were divided into four groups: ADHD (n = 33), DLM (n = 15), ADHD + DLM (n = 15) and a control group (n = 15). Tests aimed at evaluating different cognitive processes as well as applied mathematical knowledge were administered: inhibitory control (go/no go); verbal working (backward digit-recall and counting memory task) and temporal-visual-spatial memory; short-term memory (direct digit-recall); attention (CPT); calculation speed (Canals) and real-life problems. Taking the variables age, gender and intelligence quotient as covariables, results showed that the three groups with problems displayed a deficit of attention and in working memory; the DLM group stood out from the other owing to the presence of a specific deficiency affecting the ability to recall temporal-visual-spatial information. In contrast, deficits in inhibitory control were seen to be specific to ADHD. Finally, findings did not support the phenotype hypothesis, and it was therefore an accumulative profile.

Nicotinic α4β2 Cholinergic Receptor Influences on Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortical Neuronal Firing during a Working Memory Task.

PubMed

Sun, Yongan; Yang, Yang; Galvin, Veronica C; Yang, Shengtao; Arnsten, Amy F; Wang, Min

2017-05-24

The primate dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) subserves top-down regulation of attention and working memory abilities. Depletion studies show that the neuromodulator acetylcholine (ACh) is essential to dlPFC working memory functions, but the receptor and cellular bases for cholinergic actions are just beginning to be understood. The current study found that nicotinic receptors comprised of α4 and β2 subunits (α4β2-nAChR) enhance the task-related firing of delay and fixation cells in the dlPFC of monkeys performing a working memory task. Iontophoresis of α4β2-nAChR agonists increased the neuronal firing and enhanced the spatial tuning of delay cells, neurons that represent visual space in the absence of sensory stimulation. These enhancing effects were reversed by coapplication of a α4β2-nAChR antagonist, consistent with actions at α4β2-nAChR. Delay cell firing was reduced when distractors were presented during the delay epoch, whereas stimulation of α4β2-nAChR protected delay cells from these deleterious effects. Iontophoresis of α4β2-nAChR agonists also enhanced the firing of fixation cells, neurons that increase firing when the monkey initiates a trial, and maintain firing until the trial is completed. These neurons are thought to contribute to sustained attention and top-down motor control and have never before been the subject of pharmacological inquiry. These findings begin to build a picture of the cellular actions underlying the beneficial effects of ACh on attention and working memory. The data may also help to explain why genetic insults to α4 subunits are associated with working memory and attentional deficits and why α4β2-nAChR agonists may have therapeutic potential. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The acetylcholine (ACh) arousal system in the brain is needed for robust attention and working memory functions, but the receptor and cellular bases for its beneficial effects are poorly understood in the newly evolved primate brain. The current study found that ACh stimulation of nicotinic receptors comprised of α4 and β2 subunits (α4β2-nAChR) enhanced the firing of neurons in the primate prefrontal cortex that subserve top-down attentional control and working memory. α4β2-nAChR stimulation also protected neuronal responding from the detrimental effects of distracters presented during the delay epoch, when information is held in working memory. These results illuminate how ACh strengthens higher cognition and help to explain why genetic insults to the α4 subunit weaken cognitive and attentional abilities. Copyright © 2017 the authors 0270-6474/17/375366-12$15.00/0.

Executive functions deficit in mild cognitive impairment.

PubMed

Traykov, Latchezar; Raoux, Nadine; Latour, Florence; Gallo, Livia; Hanon, Olivier; Baudic, Sophie; Bayle, Catherine; Wenisch, Emilie; Remy, Philippe; Rigaud, Anne-Sophie

2007-12-01

To investigate whether patients diagnosed with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have also impairment in attention/executive functions, and therefore to clarify whether all subcomponents of executive control are equally affected in MCI. MCI refers to the transitional state between normal aging and dementia. Amnestic MCI is characterized by impaired episodic memory, although subtle impairment of executive functions has been noted on neuropsychologic tests. We investigated 20 MCI patients and 20 normal controls using episodic memory, attention/executive functions, language, and praxis tests. MCI patients had significantly lower scores on all measures of the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (P<0.05 to 0.01) than controls. Furthermore, MCI had a greater number of perseverations (P<0.01) on Modified Card Sorting Test and the lowest performance on the Stroop Test (P<0.02). Our findings showed impairment in episodic memory performance in MCI as compared with that of controls. In addition, MCI patients had problems with response inhibition, switching, and cognitive flexibility, which encompass various aspects of executive functions. This suggests that MCI may be identified by using a more detailed procedure for the assessment of cognitive decline than the evaluation of memory alone.

Enhanced emotional interference on working memory performance in adults with ADHD.

PubMed

Marx, Ivo; Domes, Gregor; Havenstein, Carolin; Berger, Christoph; Schulze, Lars; Herpertz, Sabine C

2011-09-01

Subjects with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) suffer from both executive dysfunction and deficits in emotion regulation. However, up to now, there has been no research demonstrating a clear impact of emotional dysregulation on cognitive performance in subjects with ADHD. Male and female adults with ADHD (n=39) and gender- and IQ-matched control subjects (n=40) performed an emotional working memory task (n-back task). In the background of the task, we presented neutral and negative stimuli varied in emotional saliency (negative pictures with low saliency, negative pictures with high saliency), but subjects were instructed to ignore these pictures and to process the working memory task as quickly and as accurately as possible. Compared to control subjects, ADHD patients showed both a general working memory deficit and enhanced distractability by emotionally salient stimuli in terms of lower n-back performance accuracy. In particular, while controls showed impaired WM performance when presented with highly arousing negative background pictures, a comparable decrement was observed in the ADHD group already with lowly arousing pictures. Our results suggest that difficulties in suppressing attention towards emotionally laden stimuli might result from deficient executive control in ADHD.

Shifting attention among working memory representations: testing cue type, awareness, and strategic control.

PubMed

Berryhill, Marian E; Richmond, Lauren L; Shay, Cara S; Olson, Ingrid R

2012-01-01

It is well known that visual working memory (VWM) performance is modulated by attentional cues presented during encoding. Interestingly, retrospective cues presented after encoding, but prior to the test phase also improve performance. This improvement in performance is termed the retro-cue benefit. We investigated whether the retro-cue benefit is sensitive to cue type, whether participants were aware of their improvement in performance due to the retro-cue, and whether the effect was under strategic control. Experiment 1 compared the potential cueing benefits of abrupt onset retro-cues relying on bottom-up attention, number retro-cues relying on top-down attention, and arrow retro-cues, relying on a mixture of both. We found a significant retro-cue effect only for arrow retro-cues. In Experiment 2, we tested participants' awareness of their use of the informative retro-cue and found that they were aware of their improved performance. In Experiment 3, we asked whether participants have strategic control over the retro-cue. The retro-cue was difficult to ignore, suggesting that strategic control is low. The retro-cue effect appears to be within conscious awareness but not under full strategic control.

Allium sativum L. Improves Visual Memory and Attention in Healthy Human Volunteers

PubMed Central

Tasnim, Sara; Haque, Parsa Sanjana; Bari, Md. Sazzadul; Hossain, Md. Monir; Islam, Sardar Mohd. Ashraful; Shahriar, Mohammad; Bhuiyan, Mohiuddin Ahmed; Bin Sayeed, Muhammad Shahdaat

2015-01-01

Studies have shown that Allium sativum L. (AS) protects amyloid-beta peptide-induced apoptosis, prevents oxidative insults to neurons and synapses, and thus prevent Alzheimer's disease progression in experimental animals. However, there is no experimental evidence in human regarding its putative role in memory and cognition. We have studied the effect of AS consumption by healthy human volunteers on visual memory, verbal memory, attention, and executive function in comparison to control subjects taking placebo. The study was conducted over five weeks and twenty volunteers of both genders were recruited and divided randomly into two groups: A (AS) and B (placebo). Both groups participated in the 6 computerized neuropsychological tests of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) twice: at the beginning and after five weeks of the study. We found statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) in several parameters of visual memory and attention due to AS ingestion. We also found statistically nonsignificant (p > 0.05) beneficial effects on verbal memory and executive function within a short period of time among the volunteers. Study for a longer period of time with patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases might yield more relevant results regarding the potential therapeutic role of AS. PMID:26351508

Response control networks are selectively modulated by attention to rare events and memory load regardless of the need for inhibition.

PubMed

Wijeakumar, Sobanawartiny; Magnotta, Vincent A; Buss, Aaron T; Ambrose, Joseph P; Wifall, Timothy A; Hazeltine, Eliot; Spencer, John P

2015-10-15

Recent evidence has sparked debate about the neural bases of response selection and inhibition. In the current study, we employed two reactive inhibition tasks, the Go/Nogo (GnG) and Simon tasks, to examine questions central to these debates. First, we investigated whether a fronto-cortical-striatal system was sensitive to the need for inhibition per se or the presentation of infrequent stimuli, by manipulating the proportion of trials that do not require inhibition (Go/Compatible trials) relative to trials that require inhibition (Nogo/Incompatible trials). A cortico-subcortical network composed of insula, putamen, and thalamus showed greater activation on salient and infrequent events, regardless of the need for inhibition. Thus, consistent with recent findings, key parts of the fronto-cortical-striatal system are engaged by salient events and do not appear to play a selective role in response inhibition. Second, we examined how the fronto-cortical-striatal system is modulated by working memory demands by varying the number of stimulus-response (SR) mappings. Right inferior parietal lobule showed decreasing activation as the number of SR mappings increased, suggesting that a form of associative memory - rather than working memory - might underlie performance in these tasks. A broad motor planning and control network showed similar trends that were also modulated by the number of motor responses required in each task. Finally, bilateral lingual gyri were more robustly engaged in the Simon task, consistent with the role of this area in shifts of visuo-spatial attention. The current study sheds light on how the fronto-cortical-striatal network is selectively engaged in reactive control tasks and how control is modulated by manipulations of attention and memory load. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Acoustic behavior of echolocating bats in complex environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moss, Cynthia; Ghose, Kaushik; Jensen, Marianne; Surlykke, Annemarie

2004-05-01

The echolocating bat controls the direction of its sonar beam, just as visually dominant animals control the movement of their eyes to foveate targets of interest. The sonar beam aim of the echolocating bat can therefore serve as an index of the animal's attention to objects in the environment. Until recently, spatial attention has not been studied in the context of echolocation, perhaps due to the difficulty in obtaining an objective measure. Here, we describe measurements of the bat's sonar beam aim, serving as an index of acoustic gaze and attention to objects, in tasks that require localization of obstacles and insect prey. Measurements of the bat's sonar beam aim are taken from microphone array recordings of vocal signals produced by a free-flying bat under experimentally controlled conditions. In some situations, the animal relies on spatial memory over reflected sounds, perhaps because its perceptual system cannot easily organize cascades of echoes from obstacles and prey. This highlights the complexity of the bat's orientation behavior, which can alternate between active sensing and spatial memory systems. The bat's use of spatial memory for orientation also will be addressed in this talk. [Work supported by NSF-IBN-0111973 and the Danish Research Council.

Individual differences in susceptibility to inattentional blindness.

PubMed

Seegmiller, Janelle K; Watson, Jason M; Strayer, David L

2011-05-01

Inattentional blindness refers to the finding that people do not always see what appears in their gaze. Though inattentional blindness affects large percentages of people, it is unclear if there are individual differences in susceptibility. The present study addressed whether individual differences in attentional control, as reflected by variability in working memory capacity, modulate susceptibility to inattentional blindness. Participants watched a classic inattentional blindness video (Simons & Chabris, 1999) and were instructed to count passes among basketball players, wherein 58% noticed the unexpected: a person wearing a gorilla suit. When participants were accurate with their pass counts, individuals with higher working memory capacity were more likely to report seeing the gorilla (67%) than those with lesser working memory capacity (36%). These results suggest that variability in attentional control is a potential mechanism underlying the apparent modulation of inattentional blindness across individuals.

On supertaskers and the neural basis of efficient multitasking.

PubMed

Medeiros-Ward, Nathan; Watson, Jason M; Strayer, David L

2015-06-01

The present study used brain imaging to determine the neural basis of individual differences in multitasking, the ability to successfully perform at least two attention-demanding tasks at once. Multitasking is mentally taxing and, therefore, should recruit the prefrontal cortex to maintain task goals when coordinating attentional control and managing the cognitive load. To investigate this possibility, we used functional neuroimaging to assess neural activity in both extraordinary multitaskers (Supertaskers) and control subjects who were matched on working memory capacity. Participants performed a challenging dual N-back task in which auditory and visual stimuli were presented simultaneously, requiring independent and continuous maintenance, updating, and verification of the contents of verbal and spatial working memory. With the task requirements and considerable cognitive load that accompanied increasing N-back, relative to the controls, the multitasking of Supertaskers was characterized by more efficient recruitment of anterior cingulate and posterior frontopolar prefrontal cortices. Results are interpreted using neuropsychological and evolutionary perspectives on individual differences in multitasking ability and the neural correlates of attentional control.

Effects of repeated anodal tDCS coupled with cognitive training for patients with severe traumatic brain injury: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Leśniak, Marcin; Polanowska, Katarzyna; Seniów, Joanna; Członkowska, Anna

2014-01-01

To determine whether cumulative anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (A-tDCS) of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) could enhance rehabilitation of memory and attention in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Inpatient and outpatient neurorehabilitation unit. Twenty-three adult patients, 4- to 92- months post severe TBI. Participants were randomly allocated to 2 groups. The experimental group received A-tDCS (10 minutes; 1 mA; in the DLPFC), followed by rehabilitative cognitive training, daily for 15 days. Controls received A-tDCS for 25 seconds (sham condition) with the same rehabilitation. Battery of memory and attention tests, which included visual and auditory modalities. Participants were tested twice before beginning rehabilitation (to control for spontaneous recovery), after rehabilitation completion, and 4 months later. Tests scores in both groups were similar at 3 weeks before and immediately before treatment. After treatment, the experimental group exhibited larger effect sizes in 6 of 8 cognitive outcome measures, but they were not significantly different from controls. At follow-up, differences remained insignificant. In contrast to previous studies, our study did not provide sufficient evidence to support the efficacy of repeated A-tDCS for enhancing rehabilitation of memory and attention in patients after severe TBI.

Individual differences in the executive control of attention, memory, and thought, and their associations with schizotypy.

PubMed

Kane, Michael J; Meier, Matt E; Smeekens, Bridget A; Gross, Georgina M; Chun, Charlotte A; Silvia, Paul J; Kwapil, Thomas R

2016-08-01

A large correlational study took a latent-variable approach to the generality of executive control by testing the individual-differences structure of executive-attention capabilities and assessing their prediction of schizotypy, a multidimensional construct (with negative, positive, disorganized, and paranoid factors) conveying risk for schizophrenia. Although schizophrenia is convincingly linked to executive deficits, the schizotypy literature is equivocal. Subjects completed tasks of working memory capacity (WMC), attention restraint (inhibiting prepotent responses), and attention constraint (focusing visual attention amid distractors), the latter 2 in an effort to fractionate the "inhibition" construct. We also assessed mind-wandering propensity (via in-task thought probes) and coefficient of variation in response times (RT CoV) from several tasks as more novel indices of executive attention. WMC, attention restraint, attention constraint, mind wandering, and RT CoV were correlated but separable constructs, indicating some distinctions among "attention control" abilities; WMC correlated more strongly with attentional restraint than constraint, and mind wandering correlated more strongly with attentional restraint, attentional constraint, and RT CoV than with WMC. Across structural models, no executive construct predicted negative schizotypy and only mind wandering and RT CoV consistently (but modestly) predicted positive, disorganized, and paranoid schizotypy; stalwart executive constructs in the schizophrenia literature-WMC and attention restraint-showed little to no predictive power, beyond restraint's prediction of paranoia. Either executive deficits are consequences rather than risk factors for schizophrenia, or executive failures barely precede or precipitate diagnosable schizophrenia symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Focusing on attention: the effects of working memory capacity and load on selective attention.

PubMed

Ahmed, Lubna; de Fockert, Jan W

2012-01-01

Working memory (WM) is imperative for effective selective attention. Distractibility is greater under conditions of high (vs. low) concurrent working memory load (WML), and in individuals with low (vs. high) working memory capacity (WMC). In the current experiments, we recorded the flanker task performance of individuals with high and low WMC during low and high WML, to investigate the combined effect of WML and WMC on selective attention. In Experiment 1, distractibility from a distractor at a fixed distance from the target was greater when either WML was high or WMC was low, but surprisingly smaller when both WML was high and WMC low. Thus we observed an inverted-U relationship between reductions in WM resources and distractibility. In Experiment 2, we mapped the distribution of spatial attention as a function of WMC and WML, by recording distractibility across several target-to-distractor distances. The pattern of distractor effects across the target-to-distractor distances demonstrated that the distribution of the attentional window becomes dispersed as WM resources are limited. The attentional window was more spread out under high compared to low WML, and for low compared to high WMC individuals, and even more so when the two factors co-occurred (i.e., under high WML in low WMC individuals). The inverted-U pattern of distractibility effects in Experiment 1, replicated in Experiment 2, can thus be explained by differences in the spread of the attentional window as a function of WM resource availability. The current findings show that limitations in WM resources, due to either WML or individual differences in WMC, affect the spatial distribution of attention. The difference in attentional constraining between high and low WMC individuals demonstrated in the current experiments helps characterise the nature of previously established associations between WMC and controlled attention.

Effects of Attention and Levels of Processing on Explicit and Implicit Memory Function with Interesting and Uninteresting Tasks in University Students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahdavian, Alireza; Kormi-Nouri, Reza

This study aims to investigate the effect of attention and levels of processing on memory function and recalling words in two situations when students are interested in the subject and when they are not. This is an experimental study of 160 students conducted individually using a computer software. Results reveal focused attention, interest in the subject and deep processing caused the explicit memory to be at its highest level of functionality. On the contrary, shallow processing, divided attention and lack of interest in the subject plunged memory function into its lowest levels. Variables have different effects on attention, explicit and implicit memory. That is, interesting tasks with focused attention and deep processing have the highest effect on explicit memory in order. Also, interesting tasks, focused attention, respectively affect implicit memory. But level of processing does not affect implicit memory significantly.

Glucose administration prior to a divided attention task improves tracking performance but not word recognition: evidence against differential memory enhancement?

PubMed

Scholey, Andrew B; Sünram-Lea, Sandra I; Greer, Joanna; Elliott, Jade; Kennedy, David O

2009-01-01

The cognition-enhancing effects of glucose administration to humans have been well-documented; however, it remains unclear whether this effect preferentially targets episodic memory or other cognitive domains. The effect of glucose on the allocation of attentional resources during memory encoding was assessed using a sensitive dual-attention paradigm. One hundred and twenty volunteers (mean age 21.60, SD 4.89, 77 females) took part in this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel groups study where each consumed a 25-g glucose drink or a placebo. Half of the participants in each drink condition attempted to track a moving on-screen target during auditory word presentation. The distance between the cursor and the tracking target was used as an index of attentional cost during encoding. Effects of drink and tracking on recognition memory and drink on tracking performance were assessed. Self-rated appetite and mood were co-monitored. Co-performing the tracking task significantly impaired memory performance irrespective of drink condition. In the placebo-tracking condition, there was a cost to tracking manifest as greater deviation from target during and immediately following word presentation. Compared with placebo, the glucose drink significantly improved tracking performance during encoding. There were significant time-related changes in thirst and alertness ratings but these were not differentially affected by drink or tracking conditions. Tracking but not memory was enhanced by glucose. This finding suggests that, under certain task conditions, glucose administrations does not preferentially enhance memory performance. One mechanism through which glucose acts as a cognition enhancer is through allowing greater allocation of attentional resources.

Interference control in working memory: comparing groups of children with atypical development.

PubMed

Palladino, Paola; Ferrari, Marcella

2013-01-01

The study aimed to test whether working memory deficits in children at risk of Learning Disabilities (LD) and/or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can be attributed to deficits in interference control, thereby implicating prefrontal systems. Two groups of children known for showing poor working memory (i.e., children with poor comprehension and children with ADHD) were compared to a group of children with specific reading decoding problems (i.e., having severe problems in phonological rather than working memory) and to a control group. All children were tested with a verbal working memory task. Interference control of irrelevant items was examined by a lexical decision task presented immediately after the final recall in about half the trials, selected at random. The interference control measure was therefore directly related to working memory performance. Results confirmed deficient working memory performance in poor comprehenders and children at risk of ADHD + LD. More interestingly, this working memory deficit was associated with greater activation of irrelevant information than in the control group. Poor decoders showed more efficient interference control, in contrast to poor comprehenders and ADHD + LD children. These results indicated that interfering items were still highly accessible to working memory in children who fail the working memory task. In turn, these findings strengthen and clarify the role of interference control, one of the most critical prefrontal functions, in working memory.

Basic numerical processing, calculation, and working memory in children with dyscalculia and/or ADHD symptoms.

PubMed

Kuhn, Jörg-Tobias; Ise, Elena; Raddatz, Julia; Schwenk, Christin; Dobel, Christian

2016-09-01

Deficits in basic numerical skills, calculation, and working memory have been found in children with developmental dyscalculia (DD) as well as children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This paper investigates cognitive profiles of children with DD and/or ADHD symptoms (AS) in a double dissociation design to obtain a better understanding of the comorbidity of DD and ADHD. Children with DD-only (N = 33), AS-only (N = 16), comorbid DD+AS (N = 20), and typically developing controls (TD, N = 40) were assessed on measures of basic numerical processing, calculation, working memory, processing speed, and neurocognitive measures of attention. Children with DD (DD, DD+AS) showed deficits in all basic numerical skills, calculation, working memory, and sustained attention. Children with AS (AS, DD+AS) displayed more selective difficulties in dot enumeration, subtraction, verbal working memory, and processing speed. Also, they generally performed more poorly in neurocognitive measures of attention, especially alertness. Children with DD+AS mostly showed an additive combination of the deficits associated with DD-only and A_Sonly, except for subtraction tasks, in which they were less impaired than expected. DD and AS appear to be related to largely distinct patterns of cognitive deficits, which are present in combination in children with DD+AS.

Transcranial direct current stimulation to enhance cognition in euthymic bipolar disorder.

PubMed

Martin, Donel M; Chan, Herng-Nieng; Alonzo, Angelo; Green, Melissa J; Mitchell, Philip B; Loo, Colleen K

2015-12-01

To investigate the use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for enhancing working memory and sustained attention in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder. Fifteen patients with bipolar disorder received anodal left prefrontal tDCS with an extracephalic cathode (prefrontal condition), anodal left prefrontal and cathodal cerebellar tDCS (fronto-cerebellar condition), and sham tDCS given 'online' during performance on a working memory and sustained attention task in an intra-individual, cross-over, sham-controlled experimental design. Exploratory cluster analyses examined responders and non-responders for the different active tDCS conditions on both tasks. For working memory, approximately one-third of patients in both active tDCS conditions showed performance improvement. For sustained attention, three of 15 patients showed performance improvement with prefrontal tDCS. Responders to active tDCS for working memory performed more poorly on the task during sham tDCS compared to non-responders. A single session of active prefrontal or fronto-cerebellar tDCS failed to improve working memory or sustained attention performance in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder. Several important considerations are discussed in relation to future studies investigating tDCS for enhancing cognition in patients with bipolar disorder. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Using maintenance rehearsal to explore recognition memory.

PubMed

Humphreys, Michael S; Maguire, Angela M; McFarlane, Kimberley A; Burt, Jennifer S; Bolland, Scott W; Murray, Krista L; Dunn, Ryan

2010-01-01

We examined associative and item recognition using the maintenance rehearsal paradigm. Our intent was to control for mnemonic strategies; to produce a low, graded level of learning; and to provide evidence of the role of attention in long-term memory. An advantage for low-frequency words emerged in both associative and item recognition at very low levels of learning. This early emergence casts doubt on explanations based on the traditional concept of recollection. A comparison of false alarms supports a role for item information or the joint use of cues but not familiarity in producing associative false alarms. We may also have found a way to measure the amount of attention being paid to a to-be-learned item or pair, independently of memory performance on the attended item. This result may be an important step in determining whether coherent theories about the role of attention in long- and short-term memory can be created. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Working memory load reduces the late positive potential and this effect is attenuated with increasing anxiety.

PubMed

MacNamara, Annmarie; Ferri, Jamie; Hajcak, Greg

2011-09-01

Emotion regulation decreases the processing of arousing stimuli, as indexed by the late positive potential (LPP), an electrocortical component that varies in amplitude with emotional arousal. Emotion regulation increases activity in the prefrontal areas associated with cognitive control, including the dosolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). The present study manipulated working memory load, known to activate the DLPFC, and recorded the LPP elicited by aversive and neutral IAPS pictures presented during the retention interval. The LPP was larger on low-load compared to high-load trials, and on trials with aversive compared to neutral pictures. These LPP data suggest that emotional content and working memory load have opposing effects on attention to distracting stimuli. State anxiety was associated with reduced modulation of the LPP by working memory load. Results are discussed in terms of competition for attention between emotion and cognition and suggest a relationship between DLPFC activation and the allocation of attentional resources to distracting visual stimuli-a relationship that may be disrupted with increasing anxiety.

Chip architecture - A revolution brewing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guterl, F.

1983-07-01

Techniques being explored by microchip designers and manufacturers to both speed up memory access and instruction execution while protecting memory are discussed. Attention is given to hardwiring control logic, pipelining for parallel processing, devising orthogonal instruction sets for interchangeable instruction fields, and the development of hardware for implementation of virtual memory and multiuser systems to provide memory management and protection. The inclusion of microcode in mainframes eliminated logic circuits that control timing and gating of the CPU. However, improvements in memory architecture have reduced access time to below that needed for instruction execution. Hardwiring the functions as a virtual memory enhances memory protection. Parallelism involves a redundant architecture, which allows identical operations to be performed simultaneously, and can be directed with microcode to avoid abortion of intermediate instructions once on set of instructions has been completed.

Spatial working memory interferes with explicit, but not probabilistic cuing of spatial attention.

PubMed

Won, Bo-Yeong; Jiang, Yuhong V

2015-05-01

Recent empirical and theoretical work has depicted a close relationship between visual attention and visual working memory. For example, rehearsal in spatial working memory depends on spatial attention, whereas adding a secondary spatial working memory task impairs attentional deployment in visual search. These findings have led to the proposal that working memory is attention directed toward internal representations. Here, we show that the close relationship between these 2 constructs is limited to some but not all forms of spatial attention. In 5 experiments, participants held color arrays, dot locations, or a sequence of dots in working memory. During the memory retention interval, they performed a T-among-L visual search task. Crucially, the probable target location was cued either implicitly through location probability learning or explicitly with a central arrow or verbal instruction. Our results showed that whereas imposing a visual working memory load diminished the effectiveness of explicit cuing, it did not interfere with probability cuing. We conclude that spatial working memory shares similar mechanisms with explicit, goal-driven attention but is dissociated from implicitly learned attention. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Spatial working memory interferes with explicit, but not probabilistic cuing of spatial attention

PubMed Central

Won, Bo-Yeong; Jiang, Yuhong V.

2014-01-01

Recent empirical and theoretical work has depicted a close relationship between visual attention and visual working memory. For example, rehearsal in spatial working memory depends on spatial attention, whereas adding a secondary spatial working memory task impairs attentional deployment in visual search. These findings have led to the proposal that working memory is attention directed toward internal representations. Here we show that the close relationship between these two constructs is limited to some but not all forms of spatial attention. In five experiments, participants held color arrays, dot locations, or a sequence of dots in working memory. During the memory retention interval they performed a T-among-L visual search task. Crucially, the probable target location was cued either implicitly through location probability learning, or explicitly with a central arrow or verbal instruction. Our results showed that whereas imposing a visual working memory load diminished the effectiveness of explicit cuing, it did not interfere with probability cuing. We conclude that spatial working memory shares similar mechanisms with explicit, goal-driven attention but is dissociated from implicitly learned attention. PMID:25401460

Working memory, perceptual priming, and the perception of hierarchical forms: opposite effects of priming and working memory without memory refreshing.

PubMed

Kim, Jeong-Im; Humphreys, Glyn W

2010-08-01

Previous research has shown that stimuli held in working memory (WM) can influence spatial attention. Using Navon stimuli, we explored whether and how items in WM affect the perception of visual targets at local and global levels in compound letters. Participants looked for a target letter presented at a local or global level while holding a regular block letter as a memory item. An effect of holding the target's identity in WM was found. When memory items and targets were the same, performance was better than in a neutral condition when the memory item did not appear in the hierarchical letter (a benefit from valid cuing). When the memory item matched the distractor in the hierarchical stimulus, performance was worse than in the neutral baseline (a cost on invalid trials). These effects were greatest when the WM cue matched the global level of the hierarchical stimulus, suggesting that WM biases attention to the global level of form. Interestingly, in a no-memory priming condition, target perception was faster in the invalid condition than in the neutral baseline, reversing the effect in the WM condition. A further control experiment ruled out the effects of WM being due to participants' refreshing their memory from the hierarchical stimulus display. The data show that information in WM biases the selection of hierarchical forms, whereas priming does not. Priming alters the perceptual processing of repeated stimuli without biasing attention.

Attention to memory: orienting attention to sound object representations.

PubMed

Backer, Kristina C; Alain, Claude

2014-01-01

Despite a growing acceptance that attention and memory interact, and that attention can be focused on an active internal mental representation (i.e., reflective attention), there has been a paucity of work focusing on reflective attention to 'sound objects' (i.e., mental representations of actual sound sources in the environment). Further research on the dynamic interactions between auditory attention and memory, as well as its degree of neuroplasticity, is important for understanding how sound objects are represented, maintained, and accessed in the brain. This knowledge can then guide the development of training programs to help individuals with attention and memory problems. This review article focuses on attention to memory with an emphasis on behavioral and neuroimaging studies that have begun to explore the mechanisms that mediate reflective attentional orienting in vision and more recently, in audition. Reflective attention refers to situations in which attention is oriented toward internal representations rather than focused on external stimuli. We propose four general principles underlying attention to short-term memory. Furthermore, we suggest that mechanisms involved in orienting attention to visual object representations may also apply for orienting attention to sound object representations.

Triazolam and zolpidem: effects on human memory and attentional processes.

PubMed

Mintzer, M Z; Griffiths, R R

1999-05-01

The imidazopyridine hypnotic zolpidem may produce less memory and cognitive impairment than classic benzodiazepines, due to its relatively low binding affinity for the benzodiazepine receptor subtypes found in areas of the brain which are involved in learning and memory. The study was designed to compare the acute effects of single oral doses of zolpidem (5, 10, 20 mg/70 kg) and the benzodiazepine hypnotic triazolam (0.125, 0.25, and 0.5 mg/70 kg) on specific memory and attentional processes. Drug effects on memory for target (i.e., focal) information and contextual information (i.e., peripheral details surrounding a target stimulus presentation) were evaluated using a source monitoring paradigm, and drug effects on selective attention mechanisms were evaluated using a negative priming paradigm, in 18 healthy volunteers in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design. Triazolam and zolpidem produced strikingly similar dose-related effects on memory for target information. Both triazolam and zolpidem impaired subjects' ability to remember whether a word stimulus had been presented to them on the computer screen or whether they had been asked to generate the stimulus based on an antonym cue (memory for the origin of a stimulus, which is one type of contextual information). The results suggested that triazolam, but not zolpidem, impaired memory for the screen location of picture stimuli (spatial contextual information). Although both triazolam and zolpidem increased overall reaction time in the negative priming task, only triazolam increased the magnitude of negative priming relative to placebo. The observed differences between triazolam and zolpidem have implications for the cognitive and pharmacological mechanisms underlying drug-induced deficits in specific memory and attentional processes, as well for the cognitive and brain mechanisms underlying these processes.

Sex-related differences in attention and memory.

PubMed

Solianik, Rima; Brazaitis, Marius; Skurvydas, Albertas

2016-01-01

The sex differences and similarities in cognitive abilities is a continuing topic of major interest. Besides, the influences of trends over time and possible effects of sex steroid and assessment time on cognition have expanded the necessity to re-evaluate differences between men and women. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare cognitive performance between men and women in a strongly controlled experiment. In total, 28 men and 25 women were investigated. Variables of body temperature and heart rate were assessed. A cognitive test battery was used to assess attention (visual search, unpredictable task switching as well as complex visual search and predictable task switching tests) and memory (forced visual memory, forward digit span and free recall test). The differences in heart rate and body temperatures between men and women were not significant. There were no differences in the mean values of attention and memory abilities between men and women. Coefficients of variation of unpredictable task switching response and forward digit span were lower (P<0.05) in men. Coefficients of variation positively correlated (P<0.05) with attention task incorrect response and negatively correlated (P<0.05) with correct answers in the memory task. Current study showed no sex differences in the mean values of cognition, whereas higher intra-individual variability of short-term memory and attention switching was identified in women, indicating that their performance was lower on these cognitive abilities. Copyright © 2016 The Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier Urban & Partner Sp. z o.o. All rights reserved.

Effects of preventive surgery for unruptured intracranial aneurysms on attention, executive function, learning and memory: a prospective cohort study.

PubMed

Chung, Joonho; Seok, Jeong-Ho; Kwon, Min A; Kim, Yong Bae; Joo, Jin-Yang; Hong, Chang-Ki

2016-01-01

We prospectively evaluated the effects of preventive surgery for unruptured intracranial aneurysms on attention, executive function, learning and memory. Between March 2012 and June 2013, 56 patients were recruited for this study. Fifty-one patients met the inclusion criteria and were enrolled. Inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) age ≤65 years and (2) planned microsurgery or endovascular surgery for unruptured intracranial aneurysm. Exclusion criteria were as follows: (1) preoperative intelligence quotient <80 (n = 3); (2) initial modified Rankin scale ≥1 (n = 1); (3) loss to follow-up (n = 1). An auditory controlled continuous performance test (ACCPT), word-color test (WCT) and verbal learning test (VLT) were performed before and after (6 months) preventive surgery. ACCPT (attention), WCT (executive function) and VLT (learning and memory) scores did not change significantly between the pre- and postoperative evaluations. The ACCPT, WCT, total VLT scores (verbal learning) and delayed VLT scores (memory) did not differ significantly between patients undergoing microsurgery and those undergoing endovascular surgery. However, ACCPT, WCT and delayed VLT scores decreased postoperatively in patients with leukoaraiosis on preoperative FLAIR images (OR 9.899, p = 0.041; OR 11.421, p = 0.006; OR 2.952, p = 0.024, respectively). Preventive surgery for unruptured intracranial aneurysms did not affect attention, executive function, learning or memory. However, patients with leukoaraiosis on FLAIR images might be prone to deficits in attention, executive function and memory postoperatively, whereas learning might not be affected.

Working memory load and distraction: dissociable effects of visual maintenance and cognitive control.

PubMed

Konstantinou, Nikos; Beal, Eleanor; King, Jean-Remi; Lavie, Nilli

2014-10-01

We establish a new dissociation between the roles of working memory (WM) cognitive control and visual maintenance in selective attention as measured by the efficiency of distractor rejection. The extent to which focused selective attention can prevent distraction has been shown to critically depend on the level and type of load involved in the task. High perceptual load that consumes perceptual capacity leads to reduced distractor processing, whereas high WM load that reduces WM ability to exert priority-based executive cognitive control over the task results in increased distractor processing (e.g., Lavie, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9(2), 75-82, 2005). WM also serves to maintain task-relevant visual representations, and such visual maintenance is known to recruit the same sensory cortices as those involved in perception (e.g., Pasternak & Greenlee, Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 6(2), 97-107, 2005). These findings led us to hypothesize that loading WM with visual maintenance would reduce visual capacity involved in perception, thus resulting in reduced distractor processing-similar to perceptual load and opposite to WM cognitive control load. Distractor processing was assessed in a response competition task, presented during the memory interval (or during encoding; Experiment 1a) of a WM task. Loading visual maintenance or encoding by increased set size for a memory sample of shapes, colors, and locations led to reduced distractor response competition effects. In contrast, loading WM cognitive control with verbal rehearsal of a random letter set led to increased distractor effects. These findings confirm load theory predictions and provide a novel functional distinction between the roles of WM maintenance and cognitive control in selective attention.

The role of metacognition in prospective memory: anticipated task demands influence attention allocation strategies.

PubMed

Rummel, Jan; Meiser, Thorsten

2013-09-01

The present study investigates how individuals distribute their attentional resources between a prospective memory task and an ongoing task. Therefore, metacognitive expectations about the attentional demands of the prospective-memory task were manipulated while the factual demands were held constant. In Experiments 1a and 1b, we found attentional costs from a prospective-memory task with low factual demands to be significantly reduced when information about the low to-be-expected demands were provided, while prospective-memory performance remained largely unaffected. In Experiment 2, attentional monitoring in a more demanding prospective-memory task also varied with information about the to-be-expected demands (high vs. low) and again there were no equivalent changes in prospective-memory performance. These findings suggest that attention-allocation strategies of prospective memory rely on metacognitive expectations about prospective-memory task demands. Furthermore, the results suggest that attentional monitoring is only functional for prospective memory to the extent to which anticipated task demands reflect objective task demands. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dynamic modulation of the perceptual load on microsaccades during a selective spatial attention task.

PubMed

Xue, Linyan; Huang, Dan; Wang, Tong; Hu, Qiyi; Chai, Xinyu; Li, Liming; Chen, Yao

2017-11-28

Selective spatial attention enhances task performance at restricted regions within the visual field. The magnitude of this effect depends on the level of attentional load, which determines the efficiency of distractor rejection. Mechanisms of attentional load include perceptual selection and/or cognitive control involving working memory. Recent studies have provided evidence that microsaccades are influenced by spatial attention. Therefore, microsaccade activities may be exploited to help understand the dynamic control of selective attention under different load levels. However, previous reports in humans on the effect of attentional load on microsaccades are inconsistent, and it is not clear to what extent these results and the dynamic changes of microsaccade activities are similar in monkeys. We trained monkeys to perform a color detection task in which the perceptual load was manipulated by task difficulty with limited involvement of working memory. Our results indicate that during the task with high perceptual load, the rate and amplitude of microsaccades immediately before the target color change were significantly suppressed. We also found that the occurrence of microsaccades before the monkeys' detection response deteriorated their performance, especially in the hard task. We propose that the activity of microsaccades might be an efficacious indicator of the perceptual load.

[Comparison between the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with the DSM-5 and neuropsychological evaluation of the executive functions].

PubMed

Abad-Mas, L; Caloca-Catala, O; Mulas, F; Ruiz-Andres, R

2017-02-24

The attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has a prevalence among 3-7% in scholar population and it is associated with learning disabilities and executive dysfunctions. To study the relationship between the ADHD diagnostic through DSM-5 criteria and the neuropshychology evaluation of executive functions. The sample of this study consisted in 50 subjects, 12 females and 38 males, with an age between 8 and 10 years old. To evaluate the inhibitory control, we used the Stroop Test and the Continuous Performance Test (CPT), to evaluate intelligence and working memory we use the Wechsler Intelligence Scale WISC-IV, to evaluate attention we used the CPT and Selective Attention Test. There weren't significant differences between both subtypes of ADHD regarding working memory, on the other hand the female group had better abilities in cognitive flexibility task than males and subjects diagnosed with combined ADHD had more difficulties in inhibitory control. We can confirm that the definition of ADHD in DSM-5 isn't enough as them are imprecise. Therefore, the disease definition it's performed by a specific evaluation of attention and inhibitory control mechanisms and its necessary a neuropshychological evaluation of these brain functions.

Risperidone Added to Psychostimulant in Children with Severe Aggression and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Lack of Effect on Attention and Short-Term Memory.

PubMed

Farmer, Cristan A; Epstein, Jeffery N; Findling, Robert L; Gadow, Kenneth D; Arnold, L Eugene; Kipp, Heidi; Kolko, David J; Butter, Eric; Schneider, Jayne; Bukstein, Oscar G; McNamara, Nora K; Molina, Brooke S G; Aman, Michael G

2017-03-01

Professionals have periodically expressed concern that atypical antipsychotics may cause cognitive blunting in treated patients. In this study, we report data from a double-blind, randomized, controlled study of stimulant plus placebo versus combined stimulant and risperidone to evaluate the effects of the atypical antipsychotic on attention and short-term memory. A total of 165 (n = 83 combined treatment; n = 82 stimulant plus placebo) children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and severe physical aggression, aged 6-12 years, were evaluated with Conners' Continuous Performance Test (CPT-II) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III (WISC) Digit Span subscale at baseline, after 3 weeks of stimulant-only treatment, and after six additional weeks of randomized treatment (stimulant+placebo vs. stimulant+risperidone). At 3 weeks, improvement on CPT-II performance (Commissions and Reaction Time Standard Error; p < 0.001) and on Digit Span memory performance (p < 0.006) was noted for the full sample. At study week 9, no difference in CPT-II or Digit Span performance was observed between the randomized groups (ps = 0.41 to 0.83). Similar to other studies, we found no deleterious effects on attention and short-term memory associated with short-term use of risperidone. NCT00796302.

Location-specific effects of attention during visual short-term memory maintenance.

PubMed

Matsukura, Michi; Cosman, Joshua D; Roper, Zachary J J; Vatterott, Daniel B; Vecera, Shaun P

2014-06-01

Recent neuroimaging studies suggest that early sensory areas such as area V1 are recruited to actively maintain a selected feature of the item held in visual short-term memory (VSTM). These findings raise the possibility that visual attention operates in similar manners across perceptual and memory representations to a certain extent, despite memory-level and perception-level selections are functionally dissociable. If VSTM operates by retaining "reasonable copies" of scenes constructed during sensory processing (Serences et al., 2009, p. 207, the sensory recruitment hypothesis), then it is possible that selective attention can be guided by both exogenous (peripheral) and endogenous (central) cues during VSTM maintenance. Yet, the results from the previous studies that examined this issue are inconsistent. In the present study, we investigated whether attention can be directed to a specific item's location represented in VSTM with the exogenous cue in a well-controlled setting. The results from the four experiments suggest that, as observed with the endogenous cue, the exogenous cue can efficiently guide selective attention during VSTM maintenance. The finding is not only consistent with the sensory recruitment hypothesis but also validates the legitimacy of the exogenous cue use in past and future studies. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Working memory-driven attention improves spatial resolution: Support for perceptual enhancement.

PubMed

Pan, Yi; Luo, Qianying; Cheng, Min

2016-08-01

Previous research has indicated that attention can be biased toward those stimuli matching the contents of working memory and thereby facilitates visual processing at the location of the memory-matching stimuli. However, whether this working memory-driven attentional modulation takes place on early perceptual processes remains unclear. Our present results showed that working memory-driven attention improved identification of a brief Landolt target presented alone in the visual field. Because the suprathreshold target appeared without any external noise added (i.e., no distractors or masks), the results suggest that working memory-driven attention enhances the target signal at early perceptual stages of visual processing. Furthermore, given that performance in the Landolt target identification task indexes spatial resolution, this attentional facilitation indicates that working memory-driven attention can boost early perceptual processing via enhancement of spatial resolution at the attended location.

Modularity, Working Memory and Language Acquisition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baddeley, Alan D.

2017-01-01

The concept of modularity is used to contrast the approach to working memory proposed by Truscott with the Baddeley and Hitch multicomponent model. This proposes four sub components comprising the "central executive," an executive control system of limited attentional capacity that utilises storage based on separate but interlinked…

A Cluster-Randomised, Controlled Trial of the Impact of Cogmed Working Memory Training on Both Academic Performance and Regulation of Social, Emotional and Behavioural Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hitchcock, Caitlin; Westwell, Martin S.

2017-01-01

Background: We explored whether school-based Cogmed Working Memory Training (CWMT) may optimise both academic and psychological outcomes at school. Training of executive control skills may form a novel approach to enhancing processes that predict academic achievement, such as task-related attention, and thereby academic performance, but also has…

Executive control of stimulus-driven and goal-directed attention in visual working memory.

PubMed

Hu, Yanmei; Allen, Richard J; Baddeley, Alan D; Hitch, Graham J

2016-10-01

We examined the role of executive control in stimulus-driven and goal-directed attention in visual working memory using probed recall of a series of objects, a task that allows study of the dynamics of storage through analysis of serial position data. Experiment 1 examined whether executive control underlies goal-directed prioritization of certain items within the sequence. Instructing participants to prioritize either the first or final item resulted in improved recall for these items, and an increase in concurrent task difficulty reduced or abolished these gains, consistent with their dependence on executive control. Experiment 2 examined whether executive control is also involved in the disruption caused by a post-series visual distractor (suffix). A demanding concurrent task disrupted memory for all items except the most recent, whereas a suffix disrupted only the most recent items. There was no interaction when concurrent load and suffix were combined, suggesting that deploying selective attention to ignore the distractor did not draw upon executive resources. A final experiment replicated the independent interfering effects of suffix and concurrent load while ruling out possible artifacts. We discuss the results in terms of a domain-general episodic buffer in which information is retained in a transient, limited capacity privileged state, influenced by both stimulus-driven and goal-directed processes. The privileged state contains the most recent environmental input together with goal-relevant representations being actively maintained using executive resources.

Automatic semantic encoding in verbal short-term memory: evidence from the concreteness effect.

PubMed

Campoy, Guillermo; Castellà, Judit; Provencio, Violeta; Hitch, Graham J; Baddeley, Alan D

2015-01-01

The concreteness effect in verbal short-term memory (STM) tasks is assumed to be a consequence of semantic encoding in STM, with immediate recall of concrete words benefiting from richer semantic representations. We used the concreteness effect to test the hypothesis that semantic encoding in standard verbal STM tasks is a consequence of controlled, attention-demanding mechanisms of strategic semantic retrieval and encoding. Experiment 1 analysed the effect of presentation rate, with slow presentations being assumed to benefit strategic, time-dependent semantic encoding. Experiments 2 and 3 provided a more direct test of the strategic hypothesis by introducing three different concurrent attention-demanding tasks. Although Experiment 1 showed a larger concreteness effect with slow presentations, the following two experiments yielded strong evidence against the strategic hypothesis. Limiting available attention resources by concurrent tasks reduced global memory performance, but the concreteness effect was equivalent to that found in control conditions. We conclude that semantic effects in STM result from automatic semantic encoding and provide tentative explanations for the interaction between the concreteness effect and the presentation rate.

Effect of supplementation with long-chain ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on behavior and cognition in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): a randomized placebo-controlled intervention trial.

PubMed

Widenhorn-Müller, Katharina; Schwanda, Simone; Scholz, Elke; Spitzer, Manfred; Bode, Harald

2014-01-01

To determine whether supplementation with the long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) affects behavioral symptoms and cognitive impairments in children 6-12 years of age diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled 16 weeks trial was conducted with 95 children diagnosed with ADHD according to DSM-IV criteria. Behavior was assessed by parents, teachers and investigators using standardized rating scales and questionnaires. Further outcome variables were working memory, speed of information processing and various measures of attention. For a subgroup of 81 participants, erythrocyte membrane fatty acid composition was analyzed before and after the intervention. Supplementation with the omega-3 fatty acid mix increased EPA and DHA concentrations in erythrocyte membranes and improved working memory function, but had no effect on other cognitive measures and parent- and teacher-rated behavior in the study population. Improved working memory correlated significantly with increased EPA, DHA and decreased AA (arachidonic acid). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Developing brain networks of attention.

PubMed

Posner, Michael I; Rothbart, Mary K; Voelker, Pascale

2016-12-01

Attention is a primary cognitive function critical for perception, language, and memory. We provide an update on brain networks related to attention, their development, training, and pathologies. An executive attention network, also called the cingulo-opercular network, allows voluntary control of behavior in accordance with goals. Individual differences among children in self-regulation have been measured by a higher order factor called effortful control, which is related to the executive network and to the size of the anterior cingulate cortex. Brain networks of attention arise in infancy and are related to individual differences, including pathology during childhood. Methods of training attention may improve performance and ameliorate pathology.

The Deployment of Visual Attention

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-03-01

targets: Evidence for memory-based control of attention. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review , 11(1), 71-76. Torralba, A. (2003). Modeling global scene...S., Fencsik, D. E., Tran, L., & Wolfe, J. M. (in press). How do we track invisible objects? Psychonomic Bulletin & Review . *Horowitz, T. S. (in press

The relationship between visual working memory and attention: retention of precise colour information in the absence of effects on perceptual selection

PubMed Central

Hollingworth, Andrew; Hwang, Seongmin

2013-01-01

We examined the conditions under which a feature value in visual working memory (VWM) recruits visual attention to matching stimuli. Previous work has suggested that VWM supports two qualitatively different states of representation: an active state that interacts with perceptual selection and a passive (or accessory) state that does not. An alternative hypothesis is that VWM supports a single form of representation, with the precision of feature memory controlling whether or not the representation interacts with perceptual selection. The results of three experiments supported the dual-state hypothesis. We established conditions under which participants retained a relatively precise representation of a parcticular colour. If the colour was immediately task relevant, it reliably recruited attention to matching stimuli. However, if the colour was not immediately task relevant, it failed to interact with perceptual selection. Feature maintenance in VWM is not necessarily equivalent with feature-based attentional selection. PMID:24018723

Consequences of mild traumatic brain injury on information processing assessed with attention and short-term memory tasks.

PubMed

Malojcic, Branko; Mubrin, Zdenko; Coric, Bojana; Susnic, Mirica; Spilich, George J

2008-01-01

In this investigation, we explored the impact of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) upon short term or working memory and attention. The performance of 37 individuals with mTBI was compared with that of 53 age, sex and education-matched controls. All participants were staff members or individuals seeking medical care at a University hospital serving a large metropolitan area. A battery of computerized tests measured sustained visual attention, short-term memory (STM), simple reaction time, and decision time. Individuals with mTBI showed a performance deficit at sustained visual attention, STM scanning and a trend towards slowing in choice decision making. These observed changes in the cognitive performance of mTBI individuals are hypothesized to be a consequence of impaired central information processing. Our results suggest that mTBI can elicit meaningful cognitive deficits for several months post-injury. Additionally, we believe that the tasks employed in the current investigation demonstrate their utility for understanding cognitive deficits in mTBI individuals.

Regulation of Cognitive Resources During an N-Back Task in Youth-Onset Psychosis and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

PubMed Central

Karatekin, Canan; Bingham, Christopher; White, Tonya

2009-01-01

The goals of the current study were to use behavioral and pupillary measures to examine working memory on a spatial n-back task in 8-20-year-olds with youth-onset psychosis or ADHD (Combined subtype) and healthy controls to determine the contribution of different attentional factors to spatial working memory impairments, and to examine if age-related changes in performance differed across groups. Although both clinical groups had lower perceptual sensitivity on both 0- and 1-back, there was no evidence of an impairment in spatial working memory or differential order effects on the 0-back. Instead, results suggest that both clinical groups had difficulty encoding the stimuli. They also appeared to have difficulty maintaining attention and/or readiness to respond, and, to a lesser extent, recruiting resources on a trial-to-trial basis. It is likely that these attentional problems prevented the clinical groups from encoding the stimuli effectively and contributed to their general performance deficits. PMID:19427339

Where to start? Bottom-up attention improves working memory by determining encoding order.

PubMed

Ravizza, Susan M; Uitvlugt, Mitchell G; Hazeltine, Eliot

2016-12-01

The present study aimed to characterize the mechanism by which working memory is enhanced for items that capture attention because of their novelty or saliency-that is, via bottom-up attention. The first experiment replicated previous research by corroborating that bottom-up attention directed to an item is sufficient for enhancing working memory and, moreover, generalized the effect to the domain of verbal working memory. The subsequent 3 experiments sought to determine how bottom-up attention affects working memory. We considered 2 hypotheses: (1) Bottom-up attention enhances the encoded representation of the stimulus, similar to how voluntary attention functions, or (2) It affects the order of encoding by shifting priority onto the attended stimulus. By manipulating how stimuli were presented (simultaneous/sequential display) and whether the cue predicted the tested items, we found evidence that bottom-up attention improves working memory performance via the order of encoding hypothesis. This finding was observed across change detection and free recall paradigms. In contrast, voluntary attention improved working memory regardless of encoding order and showed greater effects on working memory. We conclude that when multiple information sources compete, bottom-up attention prioritizes the location at which encoding should begin. When encoding order is set, bottom-up attention has little or no benefit to working memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Age-dependent and -independent changes in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) during spatial working memory performance.

PubMed

Bollmann, Steffen; Ghisleni, Carmen; Poil, Simon-Shlomo; Martin, Ernst; Ball, Juliane; Eich-Höchli, Dominique; Klaver, Peter; O'Gorman, Ruth L; Michels, Lars; Brandeis, Daniel

2017-06-01

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been associated with spatial working memory as well as frontostriatal core deficits. However, it is still unclear how the link between these frontostriatal deficits and working memory function in ADHD differs in children and adults. This study examined spatial working memory in adults and children with ADHD, focussing on identifying regions demonstrating age-invariant or age-dependent abnormalities. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine a group of 26 children and 35 adults to study load manipulated spatial working memory in patients and controls. In comparison to healthy controls, patients demonstrated reduced positive parietal and frontostriatal load effects, i.e., less increase in brain activity from low to high load, despite similar task performance. In addition, younger patients showed negative load effects, i.e., a decrease in brain activity from low to high load, in medial prefrontal regions. Load effect differences between ADHD and controls that differed between age groups were found predominantly in prefrontal regions. Age-invariant load effect differences occurred predominantly in frontostriatal regions. The age-dependent deviations support the role of prefrontal maturation and compensation in ADHD, while the age-invariant alterations observed in frontostriatal regions provide further evidence that these regions reflect a core pathophysiology in ADHD.

Consolidation power of extrinsic rewards: reward cues enhance long-term memory for irrelevant past events.

PubMed

Murayama, Kou; Kitagami, Shinji

2014-02-01

Recent research suggests that extrinsic rewards promote memory consolidation through dopaminergic modulation processes. However, no conclusive behavioral evidence exists given that the influence of extrinsic reward on attention and motivation during encoding and consolidation processes are inherently confounded. The present study provides behavioral evidence that extrinsic rewards (i.e., monetary incentives) enhance human memory consolidation independently of attention and motivation. Participants saw neutral pictures, followed by a reward or control cue in an unrelated context. Our results (and a direct replication study) demonstrated that the reward cue predicted a retrograde enhancement of memory for the preceding neutral pictures. This retrograde effect was observed only after a delay, not immediately upon testing. An additional experiment showed that emotional arousal or unconscious resource mobilization cannot explain the retrograde enhancement effect. These results provide support for the notion that the dopaminergic memory consolidation effect can result from extrinsic reward.

The Development of Memory Efficiency and Value-Directed Remembering across the Life Span: A Cross-Sectional Study of Memory and Selectivity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Castel, Alan D.; Humphreys, Kathryn L.; Lee, Steve S.; Galvan, Adriana; Balota, David A.; McCabe, David P.

2011-01-01

Although attentional control and memory change considerably across the life span, no research has examined how the ability to strategically remember important information (i.e., value-directed remembering) changes from childhood to old age. The present study examined this in different age groups across the life span (N = 320, 5-96 years old). A…

Selective attention and the three-process memory model for the interpretation of verbal free recall in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

PubMed

Christidi, Foteini; Zalonis, Ioannis; Smyrnis, Nikolaos; Evdokimidis, Ioannis

2012-09-01

The present study investigates selective attention and verbal free recall in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and examines the contribution of selective attention, encoding, consolidation, and retrieval memory processes to patients' verbal free recall. We examined 22 non-demented patients with sporadic ALS and 22 demographically related controls using Stroop Neuropsychological Screening Test (SNST; selective attention) and Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT; immediate & delayed verbal free recall). The item-specific deficit approach (ISDA) was applied to RAVLT to evaluate encoding, consolidation, and retrieval difficulties. ALS patients performed worse than controls on SNST (p < .001) and RAVLT immediate and delayed recall (p < .001) and showed deficient encoding (p = .001) and consolidation (p = .002) but not retrieval (p = .405). Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that SNST and ISDA indices accounted for: (a) 91.1% of the variance in RAVLT immediate recall, with encoding (p = .016), consolidation (p < .001), and retrieval (p = .032) significantly contributing to the overall model and the SNST alone accounting for 41.6%; and (b) 85.2% of the variance in RAVLT delayed recall, with consolidation (p < .001) and retrieval (p = .008) significantly contributing to the overall model and the SNST alone accounting for 39.8%. Thus, selective attention, encoding, and consolidation, and to a lesser extent of retrieval, influenced both immediate and delayed verbal free recall. Concluding, selective attention and the memory processes of encoding, consolidation, and retrieval should be considered while interpreting patients' impaired free recall. (JINS, 2012, 18, 1-10).

Decreasing internal focus of attention improves postural control during quiet standing in young healthy adults.

PubMed

Nafati, Gilel; Vuillerme, Nicolas

2011-12-01

This experiment was designed to investigate whether and how decreasing the amount of attentional focus invested in postural control could affect bipedal postural control. Twelve participants were asked to stand upright as immobile as possible on a force platform in one control condition and one cognitive condition. In the latter condition, they performed a short-term digit-span memory task. Decreased center-of-gravity displacements and decreased center-of-foot-pressure displacements minus center-of-gravity displacements were observed in the cognitive condition relative to the control condition. These results suggest that shifting the attentional focus away from postural control by executing a concurrent attention-demanding task could increase postural performance and postural efficiency.

Biases in attention and memory for body shape images in eating disorders.

PubMed

Pona, Ashleigh A; Jones, Angela C; Masterson, Tracy L; Ben-Porath, Denise D

2017-12-28

To investigate attentional and memorial biases towards body shape pictures among female patients with clinical eating disorders and healthy female controls. A visual dot-probe task was used to assess attention towards pictures reflecting either a thin, normal, or obese female body shape. Pictures were presented in pairs; each pair depicted two different body shapes and were presented twice. Participant responses were compared across time and population. Overall, the eating disorder patients responded more slowly than controls, F(1,63) = 20.32, p < .001. Both groups showed an attentional bias towards the larger of two body shapes, F(1,63) = 4.30, p = .04, and responded more quickly the second time they viewed the picture pairs, F(1,63) = 33.80, p < .001. Upon second viewing of picture pairs, the eating disorder patients had a larger decrease in reaction time (86 ms) than the control sample (33 ms) only when both pictures included extreme body shapes (thin and obese); the decrease in reaction time when one of the pictures included a normal body shape was the same across groups upon second viewing (eating disorder: 37 ms; control: 32 ms), F(1,63) = 9.32, p = .003. These findings suggest that individuals with eating disorders may be biased towards recall of dichotomous and/or extreme body shape images. While it remains unclear whether attentional and/or memorial bias is a risk, maintenance, or causal factor in eating disorders, future studies should employ longitudinal, prospective research designs to address these questions. Level II, comparative study.

Iconic memory is not a case of attention-free awareness.

PubMed

Mack, Arien; Erol, Muge; Clarke, Jason

2015-05-01

Whether or not awareness entails attention is a much debated question. Since iconic memory has been generally assumed to be attention-free, it has been considered an important piece of evidence that it does not (Koch & Tsuchiya, 2007). Therefore the question of the role of attention in iconic memory matters. Recent evidence (Persuh, Genzer, & Melara, 2012), suggests that iconic memory does depend on attention. Because of the centrality of iconic memory to this debate, we looked again at the role of attention in iconic memory using a standard whole versus partial report task of letters in a 3×2 matrix. We manipulated attention to the array by coupling it with a second task that was either easy or hard and by manipulating the probability of which task was to be performed on any given trial. When attention was maximally diverted from the matrix, participants were able to report less than a single item, confirming the prior results and supporting the conclusion that iconic memory entails attention. It is not an instance of attention-free awareness. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

On the Role of Cognitive Abilities in Second Language Vowel Learning.

PubMed

Ghaffarvand Mokari, Payam; Werner, Stefan

2018-03-01

This study investigated the role of different cognitive abilities-inhibitory control, attention control, phonological short-term memory (PSTM), and acoustic short-term memory (AM)-in second language (L2) vowel learning. The participants were 40 Azerbaijani learners of Standard Southern British English. Their perception of L2 vowels was tested through a perceptual discrimination task before and after five sessions of high-variability phonetic training. Inhibitory control was significantly correlated with gains from training in the discrimination of L2 vowel pairs. However, there were no significant correlations between attention control, AM, PSTM, and gains from training. These findings suggest the potential role of inhibitory control in L2 phonological learning. We suggest that inhibitory control facilitates the processing of L2 sounds by allowing learners to ignore the interfering information from L1 during training, leading to better L2 segmental learning.

Manipulating motor performance and memory through real-time fMRI neurofeedback.

PubMed

Scharnowski, Frank; Veit, Ralf; Zopf, Regine; Studer, Petra; Bock, Simon; Diedrichsen, Jörn; Goebel, Rainer; Mathiak, Klaus; Birbaumer, Niels; Weiskopf, Nikolaus

2015-05-01

Task performance depends on ongoing brain activity which can be influenced by attention, arousal, or motivation. However, such modulating factors of cognitive efficiency are unspecific, can be difficult to control, and are not suitable to facilitate neural processing in a regionally specific manner. Here, we non-pharmacologically manipulated regionally specific brain activity using technically sophisticated real-time fMRI neurofeedback. This was accomplished by training participants to simultaneously control ongoing brain activity in circumscribed motor and memory-related brain areas, namely the supplementary motor area and the parahippocampal cortex. We found that learned voluntary control over these functionally distinct brain areas caused functionally specific behavioral effects, i.e. shortening of motor reaction times and specific interference with memory encoding. The neurofeedback approach goes beyond improving cognitive efficiency by unspecific psychological factors such as attention, arousal, or motivation. It allows for directly manipulating sustained activity of task-relevant brain regions in order to yield specific behavioral or cognitive effects. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Interference control, working memory, concept shifting, and verbal fluency in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

PubMed

Marchetta, Natalie D J; Hurks, Petra P M; Krabbendam, Lydia; Jolles, Jelle

2008-01-01

In this study, the authors aimed to examine 4 domains of executive functioning in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)--namely interference control, concept shifting, verbal fluency, and verbal working memory. Four groups of participants were included: (a) adults diagnosed with ADHD (ADHD-super(-); n = 20), (b) adults diagnosed with both ADHD and 1 or more comorbid disorder(s) (ADHD-super(+); n = 22), (c) adults referred for ADHD because of ADHD symptomatology but not diagnosed as such (non-ADHD; n = 34), and (d) healthy controls (n = 136). ADHD-related deficits (independent of comorbidity) were revealed for concept shifting and verbal working memory. In addition, the ADHD-super(+) and non-ADHD groups displayed deficits in terms of general processing speed. Given that these deficits were not found in the ADHD-super(-) group, the authors contend that these deficits are likely attributable to comorbidity rather than ADHD itself. Contrary to the authors' expectations, these findings do not correspond with the cognitive subtype hypothesis.

Manipulating motor performance and memory through real-time fMRI neurofeedback

PubMed Central

Scharnowski, Frank; Veit, Ralf; Zopf, Regine; Studer, Petra; Bock, Simon; Diedrichsen, Jörn; Goebel, Rainer; Mathiak, Klaus; Birbaumer, Niels; Weiskopf, Nikolaus

2015-01-01

Task performance depends on ongoing brain activity which can be influenced by attention, arousal, or motivation. However, such modulating factors of cognitive efficiency are unspecific, can be difficult to control, and are not suitable to facilitate neural processing in a regionally specific manner. Here, we non-pharmacologically manipulated regionally specific brain activity using technically sophisticated real-time fMRI neurofeedback. This was accomplished by training participants to simultaneously control ongoing brain activity in circumscribed motor and memory-related brain areas, namely the supplementary motor area and the parahippocampal cortex. We found that learned voluntary control over these functionally distinct brain areas caused functionally specific behavioral effects, i.e. shortening of motor reaction times and specific interference with memory encoding. The neurofeedback approach goes beyond improving cognitive efficiency by unspecific psychological factors such as attention, arousal, or motivation. It allows for directly manipulating sustained activity of task-relevant brain regions in order to yield specific behavioral or cognitive effects. PMID:25796342

Episodic memory impairment in Addison's disease: results from a telephonic cognitive assessment.

PubMed

Henry, Michelle; Thomas, Kevin G F; Ross, Ian L

2014-06-01

Patients with Addison's disease frequently self-report memory and attention difficulties, even when on standard replacement therapy. However, few published studies examine, using objective measures and assessing across multiple domains, the cognitive functioning of Addison's disease patients relative to healthy controls. The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether the previously reported subjective cognitive deficits in Addison's disease are confirmed by objective measures. Conducting comprehensive neuropsychological assessments of patients with relatively rare clinical disorders, such as Addison's disease, is challenging because access to those patients is often limited, and because their medical condition might prevent extended testing sessions. Brief telephonic cognitive assessments are a useful tool in such circumstances. Hence, we administered the Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone to 27 Addison's disease patients and 27 matched healthy controls. The instrument provides objective assessment of episodic memory, working memory, executive functioning, reasoning, and speed of processing. Statistical analyses confirmed that, as expected, patients performed significantly more poorly than controls on the episodic memory subtest. There were, however, no significant between-group differences on the attention, executive functioning, reasoning, and speed of processing subtests. Furthermore, patients with a longer duration of illness performed more poorly across all domains of cognition. We conclude that, for Addison's disease patients, previously reported subjective cognitive deficits are matched by objective impairment, but only in the domain of episodic memory. Future research might investigate (a) whether these memory deficits are material-specific (i.e., whether non-verbal memory is also affected), and (b) the neurobiological mechanisms underlying these deficits.

Spatial attention interacts with serial-order retrieval from verbal working memory.

PubMed

van Dijck, Jean-Philippe; Abrahamse, Elger L; Majerus, Steve; Fias, Wim

2013-09-01

The ability to maintain the serial order of events is recognized as a major function of working memory. Although general models of working memory postulate a close link between working memory and attention, such a link has so far not been proposed specifically for serial-order working memory. The present study provided the first empirical demonstration of a direct link between serial order in verbal working memory and spatial selective attention. We show that the retrieval of later items of a sequence stored in working memory-compared with that of earlier items-produces covert attentional shifts toward the right. This observation suggests the conceptually surprising notion that serial-order working memory, even for nonspatially defined verbal items, draws on spatial attention.

Influence of acute high-intensity aerobic interval exercise bout on selective attention and short-term memory tasks.

PubMed

Alves, Christiano R R; Tessaro, Victor H; Teixeira, Luis A C; Murakava, Karina; Roschel, Hamilton; Gualano, Bruno; Takito, Monica Y

2014-02-01

Acute moderate intensity continuous aerobic exercise can improve specific cognitive functions, such as short-term memory and selective attention. Moreover, high-intensity interval training (HIT) has been recently proposed as a time-efficient alternative to traditional cardiorespiratory exercise. However, considering previous speculations that the exercise intensity affects cognition in a U-shaped fashion, it was hypothesized that a HIT session may impair cognitive performance. Therefore, this study assessed the effects of an acute HIT session on selective attention and short-term memory tasks. 22 healthy middle-aged individuals (M age = 53.7 yr.) engaged in both (1) a HIT session, 10 1 min. cycling bouts at the intensity corresponding to 80% of the reserve heart rate interspersed by 1 min. active pauses cycling at 60% of the reserve heart rate and (2) a control session, consisting of an active condition with low-intensity active stretching exercise. Before and after each experimental session, cognitive performance was assessed by the Victoria Version of the Stroop test (a selective attention test) and the Digit Span test (a short-term memory test). Following the HIT session, the time to complete the Stroop "Color word" test was significantly lower when compared with that of the control session. The performances in the other subtasks of the Stroop test as well as in the Digit Span test were not significantly different. A HIT session can improve cognitive function.

Working memory training and semantic structuring improves remembering future events, not past events.

PubMed

Richter, Kim Merle; Mödden, Claudia; Eling, Paul; Hildebrandt, Helmut

2015-01-01

Objectives. Memory training in combination with practice in semantic structuring and word fluency has been shown to improve memory performance. This study investigated the efficacy of a working memory training combined with exercises in semantic structuring and word fluency and examined whether training effects generalize to other cognitive tasks. Methods. In this double-blind randomized control study, 36 patients with memory impairments following brain damage were allocated to either the experimental or the active control condition, with both groups receiving 9 hours of therapy. The experimental group received a computer-based working memory training and exercises in word fluency and semantic structuring. The control group received the standard memory therapy provided in the rehabilitation center. Patients were tested on a neuropsychological test battery before and after therapy, resulting in composite scores for working memory; immediate, delayed, and prospective memory; word fluency; and attention. Results. The experimental group improved significantly in working memory and word fluency. The training effects also generalized to prospective memory tasks. No specific effect on episodic memory could be demonstrated. Conclusion. Combined treatment of working memory training with exercises in semantic structuring is an effective method for cognitive rehabilitation of organic memory impairment. © The Author(s) 2014.

Parietal structure and function explain human variation in working memory biases of visual attention.

PubMed

Soto, David; Rotshtein, Pia; Kanai, Ryota

2014-04-01

Recent research indicates that human attention appears inadvertently biased by items that match the contents of working memory (WM). WM-biases can lead to attentional costs when the memory content matches goal-irrelevant items and to attentional benefits when it matches the sought target. Here we used functional and structural MRI data to determine the neural basis of human variation in WM biases. We asked whether human variation in WM-benefits and WM-costs merely reflects the process of attentional capture by the contents of WM or whether variation in WM biases may be associated with distinct forms of cognitive control over internal WM signals based on selection goals. Human ability to use WM contents to facilitate selection was positively correlated with gray matter volume in the left superior posterior parietal cortex (PPC), while the ability to overcome interference by WM-matching distracters was associated with the left inferior PPC in the anterior IPS. Functional activity in the left PPC, measured by functional MRI, also predicted the magnitude of WM-costs on selection. Both structure and function of left PPC mediate the expression of WM biases in human visual attention. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Executive function in children with high and low attentional skills: correspondences between behavioural and cognitive profiles.

PubMed

Scope, Alison; Empson, Janet; McHale, Sue

2010-06-01

Cognitive performance was compared between two groups of typically developing children, who had been observed and rated as differing significantly in their attentional skills at school. The participants were 24 8- and 9-year-old children scoring poorly relative to peers, on a classroom observation scale and teacher rating scale for attention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity [low-attentional skills (LAS) group] and 24 sex- and age-matched children scoring at a high level compared to peers [high-attentional skills (HAS) group]. The two groups were compared on a series of cognitive tasks to assess executive function (EF). The LAS group performed within the typical range yetat a significantly lower level than the HAS group on the majority of the EF tasks administered, namely working memory and inhibition measures, even though there were no significant differences between the groups on a measure of intellectual ability. Working memory measures followed by measures of inhibition emerged as the best predictors of group membership. These findings provide empirical evidence that there are individual differences in attentional skills. Specifically, that there is a relationship between behavioural inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity and cognitive performance on working memory and inhibitory control tasks.

The Benefit of Attention-to-Memory Depends on the Interplay of Memory Capacity and Memory Load

PubMed Central

Lim, Sung-Joo; Wöstmann, Malte; Geweke, Frederik; Obleser, Jonas

2018-01-01

Humans can be cued to attend to an item in memory, which facilitates and enhances the perceptual precision in recalling this item. Here, we demonstrate that this facilitating effect of attention-to-memory hinges on the overall degree of memory load. The benefit an individual draws from attention-to-memory depends on her overall working memory performance, measured as sensitivity (d′) in a retroactive cue (retro-cue) pitch discrimination task. While listeners maintained 2, 4, or 6 auditory syllables in memory, we provided valid or neutral retro-cues to direct listeners’ attention to one, to-be-probed syllable in memory. Participants’ overall memory performance (i.e., perceptual sensitivity d′) was relatively unaffected by the presence of valid retro-cues across memory loads. However, a more fine-grained analysis using psychophysical modeling shows that valid retro-cues elicited faster pitch-change judgments and improved perceptual precision. Importantly, as memory load increased, listeners’ overall working memory performance correlated with inter-individual differences in the degree to which precision improved (r = 0.39, p = 0.029). Under high load, individuals with low working memory profited least from attention-to-memory. Our results demonstrate that retrospective attention enhances perceptual precision of attended items in memory but listeners’ optimal use of informative cues depends on their overall memory abilities. PMID:29520246

Too Much Control Can Hurt: A Threaded Cognition Model of the Attentional Blink

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taatgen, Niels A.; Juvina, Ion; Schipper, Marc; Borst, Jelmer P.; Martens, Sander

2009-01-01

Explanations for the attentional blink (AB; a deficit in identifying the second of two targets when presented 200-500ms after the first) have recently shifted from limitations in memory consolidation to disruptions in cognitive control. With a new model based on the threaded cognition theory of multi-tasking we propose a different explanation: the…

Attending to items in working memory: Evidence that refreshing and memory search are closely related

PubMed Central

Vergauwe, Evie; Cowan, Nelson

2014-01-01

Refreshing refers to the use of attention to reactivate items in working memory (WM). The current study aims at testing the hypothesis that refreshing is closely related to memory search. The assumption is that refreshing and memory search both rely on a basic covert memory process that quickly retrieves the memory items into the focus of attention, thereby reactivating the information (Cowan, 1992; Vergauwe & Cowan, 2014). Consistent with the idea that people use their attention to prevent loss from WM, previous research has shown that increasing the proportion of time during which attention is occupied by concurrent processing, thereby preventing refreshing, results in poorer recall performance in complex span tasks (Barrouillet, Portrat, & Camos, 2011). Here, we tested whether recall performance is differentially affected by prolonged attentional capture caused by memory search. If memory search and refreshing both rely on retrieval from WM, then prolonged attentional capture caused by memory search should not lead to forgetting because memory items are assumed to be reactivated during memory search, in the same way as they would if that period of time were to be used for refreshing. Consistent with this idea, prolonged attentional capture had a disruptive effect when it was caused by the need to retrieve knowledge from long-term memory but not when it was caused by the need to search through the content of WM. The current results support the idea that refreshing operates through a process of retrieval of information into the focus of attention. PMID:25361821

The contribution of visual processing to academic achievement in adolescents born extremely preterm or extremely low birth weight.

PubMed

Molloy, Carly S; Di Battista, Ashley M; Anderson, Vicki A; Burnett, Alice; Lee, Katherine J; Roberts, Gehan; Cheong, Jeanie Ly; Anderson, Peter J; Doyle, Lex W

2017-04-01

Children born extremely preterm (EP, <28 weeks) and/or extremely low birth weight (ELBW, <1000 g) have more academic deficiencies than their term-born peers, which may be due to problems with visual processing. The aim of this study is to determine (1) if visual processing is related to poor academic outcomes in EP/ELBW adolescents, and (2) how much of the variance in academic achievement in EP/ELBW adolescents is explained by visual processing ability after controlling for perinatal risk factors and other known contributors to academic performance, particularly attention and working memory. A geographically determined cohort of 228 surviving EP/ELBW adolescents (mean age 17 years) was studied. The relationships between measures of visual processing (visual acuity, binocular stereopsis, eye convergence, and visual perception) and academic achievement were explored within the EP/ELBW group. Analyses were repeated controlling for perinatal and social risk, and measures of attention and working memory. It was found that visual acuity, convergence and visual perception are related to scores for academic achievement on univariable regression analyses. After controlling for potential confounds (perinatal and social risk, working memory and attention), visual acuity, convergence and visual perception remained associated with reading and math computation, but only convergence and visual perception are related to spelling. The additional variance explained by visual processing is up to 6.6% for reading, 2.7% for spelling, and 2.2% for math computation. None of the visual processing variables or visual motor integration are associated with handwriting on multivariable analysis. Working memory is generally a stronger predictor of reading, spelling, and math computation than visual processing. It was concluded that visual processing difficulties are significantly related to academic outcomes in EP/ELBW adolescents; therefore, specific attention should be paid to academic remediation strategies incorporating the management of working memory and visual processing in EP/ELBW children.

Feature bindings are maintained in visual short-term memory without sustained focused attention.

PubMed

Delvenne, Jean-François; Cleeremans, Axel; Laloyaux, Cédric

2010-01-01

Does the maintenance of feature bindings in visual short-term memory (VSTM) require sustained focused attention? This issue was investigated in three experiments, in which memory for single features (i.e., colors or shapes) was compared with memory for feature bindings (i.e., the link between the color and shape of an object). Attention was manipulated during the memory retention interval with a retro-cue, which allows attention to be directed and focused on a subset of memory items. The retro-cue was presented 700 ms after the offset of the memory display and 700 ms before the onset of the test display. If the maintenance of feature bindings - but not of individual features - in memory requires sustained focused attention, the retro-cue should not affect memory performance. Contrary to this prediction, we found that both memory for feature bindings and memory for individual features were equally improved by the retro-cue. Therefore, this finding does not support the view that the sustained focused attention is needed to properly maintain feature bindings in VSTM.

Visuo-Spatial Processing and Executive Functions in Children with Specific Language Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marton, Klara

2008-01-01

Background: Individual differences in complex working memory tasks reflect simultaneous processing, executive functions, and attention control. Children with specific language impairment (SLI) show a deficit in verbal working memory tasks that involve simultaneous processing of information. Aims: The purpose of the study was to examine executive…

Why Does Working Memory Capacity Predict RAPM Performance? A Possible Role of Distraction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jarosz, Andrew F.; Wiley, Jennifer

2012-01-01

Current theories concerning individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) suggest that WMC reflects the ability to control the focus of attention and resist interference and distraction. The current set of experiments tested whether susceptibility to distraction is partially responsible for the established relationship between…

Cognitive training with casual video games: points to consider

PubMed Central

Baniqued, Pauline L.; Kranz, Michael B.; Voss, Michelle W.; Lee, Hyunkyu; Cosman, Joshua D.; Severson, Joan; Kramer, Arthur F.

2014-01-01

Brain training programs have proliferated in recent years, with claims that video games or computer-based tasks can broadly enhance cognitive function. However, benefits are commonly seen only in trained tasks. Assessing generalized improvement and practicality of laboratory exercises complicates interpretation and application of findings. In this study, we addressed these issues by using active control groups, training tasks that more closely resemble real-world demands and multiple tests to determine transfer of training. We examined whether casual video games can broadly improve cognition, and selected training games from a study of the relationship between game performance and cognitive abilities. A total of 209 young adults were randomized into a working memory–reasoning group, an adaptive working memory–reasoning group, an active control game group, and a no-contact control group. Before and after 15 h of training, participants completed tests of reasoning, working memory, attention, episodic memory, perceptual speed, and self-report measures of executive function, game experience, perceived improvement, knowledge of brain training research, and game play outside the laboratory. Participants improved on the training games, but transfer to untrained tasks was limited. No group showed gains in reasoning, working memory, episodic memory, or perceptual speed, but the working memory–reasoning groups improved in divided attention, with better performance in an attention-demanding game, a decreased attentional blink and smaller trail-making costs. Perceived improvements did not differ across training groups and those with low reasoning ability at baseline showed larger gains. Although there are important caveats, our study sheds light on the mixed effects in the training and transfer literature and offers a novel and potentially practical training approach. Still, more research is needed to determine the real-world benefits of computer programs such as casual games. PMID:24432009

Infant Visual Recognition Memory: Independent Contributions of Speed and Attention.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rose, Susan A.; Feldman, Judith F.; Jankowski, Jeffery J.

2003-01-01

Examined contributions of cognitive processing speed, short-term memory capacity, and attention to infant visual recognition memory. Found that infants who showed better attention and faster processing had better recognition memory. Contributions of attention and processing speed were independent of one another and similar at all ages studied--5,…

Spatial Working Memory Interferes with Explicit, but Not Probabilistic Cuing of Spatial Attention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Won, Bo-Yeong; Jiang, Yuhong V.

2015-01-01

Recent empirical and theoretical work has depicted a close relationship between visual attention and visual working memory. For example, rehearsal in spatial working memory depends on spatial attention, whereas adding a secondary spatial working memory task impairs attentional deployment in visual search. These findings have led to the proposal…

Impact of co-morbid attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder on cognitive function in male children with Tourette syndrome: A controlled study.

PubMed

Termine, Cristiano; Luoni, Chiara; Fontolan, Stefania; Selvini, Claudia; Perego, Livia; Pavone, Francesca; Rossi, Giorgio; Balottin, Umberto; Cavanna, Andrea E

2016-09-30

Tourette syndrome (TS) and attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are co-morbid neurodevelopmental conditions affecting more commonly male patients. We set out to determine the impact of co-morbid ADHD on cognitive function in male children with TS by conducting a controlled study. Participants included four matched groups of unmedicated children (age range 6-15 years): TS (n=13), TS+ADHD (n=8), ADHD (n=39), healthy controls (n=66). Following clinical assessment, each participant completed a battery of tests from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III, the Italian Battery for ADHD, the Tower of London test, the Corsi test, and the Digit Span test. All patient groups reported significantly lower scores than healthy controls across the neuropsychological tests involving executive functions. The TS+ADHD group was the most severely affected, followed by the ADHD group and the TS group, particularly in the tests assessing planning ability, inhibitory function, working memory and visual attention, but not auditory attention. Problems in executive functions are more common in patients with neurodevelopmental disorders than controls. Deficits in planning ability, inhibitory function, working memory and visual attention reported by children with TS appear to be more strongly related to the presence of co-morbid ADHD symptoms than core TS symptoms. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Divided Attention on Emotion-Induced Memory Narrowing

PubMed Central

Steinmetz, Katherine R. Mickley; Waring, Jill D.; Kensinger, Elizabeth A.

2014-01-01

Individuals are more likely to remember emotional than neutral information, but this benefit does not always extend to the surrounding background information. This memory narrowing is theorized to be linked to the availability of attentional resources at encoding. In contrast to the predictions of this theoretical account, altering participants’ attentional resources at encoding, by dividing attention, did not affect the emotion-induced memory narrowing. Attention was divided using three separate manipulations: a digit ordering task (Experiment 1), an arithmetic task (Experiment 2), and an auditory discrimination task (Experiment 3). Across all three experiments, divided attention decreased memory across-the-board but did not affect the degree of memory narrowing. These findings suggest that theories to explain memory narrowing must be expanded to include other potential mechanisms beyond limitations of attentional resources. PMID:24295041

The effect of divided attention on emotion-induced memory narrowing.

PubMed

Mickley Steinmetz, Katherine R; Waring, Jill D; Kensinger, Elizabeth A

2014-01-01

Individuals are more likely to remember emotional than neutral information, but this benefit does not always extend to the surrounding background information. This memory narrowing is theorised to be linked to the availability of attentional resources at encoding. In contrast to the predictions of this theoretical account, altering participants' attentional resources at encoding by dividing attention did not affect emotion-induced memory narrowing. Attention was divided using three separate manipulations: a digit ordering task (Experiment 1), an arithmetic task (Experiment 2) and an auditory discrimination task (Experiment 3). Across all three experiments, divided attention decreased memory across the board but did not affect the degree of memory narrowing. These findings suggest that theories to explain memory narrowing must be expanded to include other potential mechanisms beyond the limitations of attentional resources.

Effects of tobacco smoke constituents, anabasine and anatabine, on memory and attention in female rats.

PubMed

Levin, Edward D; Hao, Ian; Burke, Dennis A; Cauley, Marty; Hall, Brandon J; Rezvani, Amir H

2014-10-01

Nicotine has been well characterized to improve memory and attention. Nicotine is the primary, but not only neuroactive compound in tobacco. Other tobacco constituents such as anabasine and anatabine also have agonist actions on nicotinic receptors. The current study investigated the effects of anabasine and anatabine on memory and attention. Adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were trained on a win-shift spatial working and reference memory task in the 16-arm radial maze or a visual signal detection operant task to test attention. Acute dose-effect functions of anabasine and anatabine over two orders of magnitude were evaluated for both tasks. In the radial-arm maze memory test, anabasine but not anatabine significantly reduced the memory impairment caused by the NMDA antagonist dizocilpine (MK-801). In the signal detection attentional task, anatabine but not anabasine significantly attenuated the attentional impairment caused by dizocilpine. These studies show that non-nicotine nicotinic agonists in tobacco, similar to nicotine, can significantly improve memory and attentional function. Both anabasine and anatabine produced cognitive improvement, but their effectiveness differed with regard to memory and attention. Follow-up studies with anabasine and anatabine are called for to determine their efficacy as therapeutics for memory and attentional dysfunction. © The Author(s) 2014.

Visual working memory gives up attentional control early in learning: ruling out interhemispheric cancellation.

PubMed

Reinhart, Robert M G; Carlisle, Nancy B; Woodman, Geoffrey F

2014-08-01

Current research suggests that we can watch visual working memory surrender the control of attention early in the process of learning to search for a specific object. This inference is based on the observation that the contralateral delay activity (CDA) rapidly decreases in amplitude across trials when subjects search for the same target object. Here, we tested the alternative explanation that the role of visual working memory does not actually decline across learning, but instead lateralized representations accumulate in both hemispheres across trials and wash out the lateralized CDA. We show that the decline in CDA amplitude occurred even when the target objects were consistently lateralized to a single visual hemifield. Our findings demonstrate that reductions in the amplitude of the CDA during learning are not simply due to the dilution of the CDA from interhemispheric cancellation. Copyright © 2014 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

A combination of green tea extract and l-theanine improves memory and attention in subjects with mild cognitive impairment: a double-blind placebo-controlled study.

PubMed

Park, Sang-Ki; Jung, In-Chul; Lee, Won Kyung; Lee, Young Sun; Park, Hyoung Kook; Go, Hyo Jin; Kim, Kiseong; Lim, Nam Kyoo; Hong, Jin Tae; Ly, Sun Yung; Rho, Seok Seon

2011-04-01

A combination of green tea extract and l-theanine (LGNC-07) has been reported to have beneficial effects on cognition in animal studies. In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, the effect of LGNC-07 on memory and attention in subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) was investigated. Ninety-one MCI subjects whose Mini Mental State Examination-K (MMSE-K) scores were between 21 and 26 and who were in either stage 2 or 3 on the Global Deterioration Scale were enrolled in this study. The treatment group (13 men, 32 women; 57.58 ± 9.45 years) took 1,680 mg of LGNC-07, and the placebo group (12 men, 34 women; 56.28 ± 9.92 years) received an equivalent amount of maltodextrin and lactose for 16 weeks. Neuropsychological tests (Rey-Kim memory test and Stroop color-word test) and electroencephalography were conducted to evaluate the effect of LGNC-07 on memory and attention. Further analyses were stratified by baseline severity to evaluate treatment response on the degree of impairment (MMSE-K 21-23 and 24-26). LGNC-07 led to improvements in memory by marginally increasing delayed recognition in the Rey-Kim memory test (P = .0572). Stratified analyses showed that LGNC-07 improved memory and selective attention by significantly increasing the Rey-Kim memory quotient and word reading in the subjects with MMSE-K scores of 21-23 (LGNC-07, n = 11; placebo, n = 9). Electroencephalograms were recorded in 24 randomly selected subjects hourly for 3 hours in eye-open, eye-closed, and reading states after a single dose of LGNC-07 (LGNC-07, n = 12; placebo, n = 12). Brain theta waves, an indicator of cognitive alertness, were increased significantly in the temporal, frontal, parietal, and occipital areas after 3 hours in the eye-open and reading states. Therefore, this study suggests that LGNC-07 has potential as an intervention for cognitive improvement.

Effects of load on the guidance of visual attention from working memory.

PubMed

Zhang, Bao; Zhang, John X; Huang, Sai; Kong, Lingyue; Wang, Suiping

2011-12-08

An active recent line of research on working memory and attention has shown that the visual attention can be top-down guided by working memory contents. The present study examined whether the guidance effect is modulated by memory load, i.e., the amount of information maintained in working memory. In a set of three experiments, participants were asked to perform a visual search task while maintaining several objects in working memory. The memory-driven attentional guidance effect was observed in all experiments when there were spare working memory resources. When memory load was increased from one item to two items, there was no sign that the guidance effect was attenuated. When load was further increased to four items, the guidance effect disappeared completely, indicating a clear impact of memory load on attentional guidance. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Simultaneous attentional guidance by working-memory and selection history reveals two distinct sources of attention.

PubMed

Schwark, Jeremy D; Dolgov, Igor; Sandry, Joshua; Volkman, C Brooks

2013-10-01

Recent theories of attention have proposed that selection history is a separate, dissociable source of information that influences attention. The current study sought to investigate the simultaneous involvement of selection history and working-memory on attention during visual search. Experiments 1 and 2 used target feature probability to manipulate selection history and found significant effects of both working-memory and selection history, although working-memory dominated selection history when they cued different locations. Experiment 3 eliminated the contribution of voluntary refreshing of working-memory and replicated the main effects, although selection history became dominant. Using the same methodology, but with reduced probability cue validity, both effects were present in Experiment 4 and did not significantly differ in their contribution to attention. Effects of selection history and working-memory never interacted. These results suggest that selection history and working-memory are separate influences on attention and have little impact on each other. Theoretical implications for models of attention are discussed. © 2013.

Content-Specific Working Memory Modulation of the Attentional Blink

PubMed Central

Akyürek, Elkan G.; Abedian-Amiri, Ali; Ostermeier, Sonja M.

2011-01-01

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of working memory content on temporal attention in a rapid serial visual presentation attentional blink paradigm. It was shown that categorical similarity between working memory content and the target stimuli pertaining to the attentional task (both digits) increased attentional blink magnitude compared to a condition in which this similarity was absent (colors and digits, respectively). This effect was only observed when the items in working memory were not presented as conjunctions of the involved categories (i.e., colored digits). This suggested that storage and retrieval from working memory was at least preferentially conjunctive in this case. It was furthermore shown that the content of working memory enhanced the identification rate of the second target, by means of repetition priming, when inter-target lag was short and the attentional blink was in effect. The results are incompatible with theories of temporal attention that assume working memory has no causal role in the attentional blink and support theories that do. PMID:21311753

Attention and memory evaluation across the life span: heterogeneous effects of age and education.

PubMed

Gómez-Pérez, Esther; Ostrosky-Solís, Feggy

2006-05-01

The developmental sequences of attention and memory were studied by utilizing normative data derived from the neuropsychological battery named NEUROPSI ATTENTION AND MEMORY. A sample of 521 Spanish-speaking individuals, aged 6 to 85 years, participated in this study. In the adult sample, educational level ranged from 0 to 22 years of education. Data from subtests measuring orientation, attention and concentration, executive functions, working memory, immediate and delayed verbal memory, and immediate and delayed visual memory were included. The factor structure of the analyzed battery is presented. The effects of age and education on this structure were analyzed. Results suggested that although attention and memory are related, their developmental sequences are separated from one another. During childhood, the development of selective and sustained attention, attentional-working memory, and executive functions showed a fast improvement in performance. Development of verbal memory and place and person orientation showed a slower increment in scores. In the adult sample it was found that factors related to memory are sensitive to age, whereas those related to attention and executive functions are sensitive to education. The consideration of both the developmental sequence, as well as differential effects of education, can improve the sensitivity and specificity of neuropsychological measures, allowing early diagnosis of cognitive dysfunction and implementation of adequate rehabilitation programs.

Improvements in Concentration, Working Memory, and Sustained Attention Following Consumption of a Natural Citicoline-Caffeine Beverage

PubMed Central

Bruce, Steven E.; Werner, Kimberly B.; Preston, Brittany F.; Baker, Laurie M.

2015-01-01

The present study examined the neurocognitive and electrophysiological effects of a citicoline-caffeine-based beverage in 60 healthy adult participants enrolled in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Measures of electrical brain activity using electroencephalogram (EEG) and neuropsychological measures examining attention, concentration, and reaction time were administered. Compared to placebo, participants receiving the citicoline-caffeine beverage exhibited significantly faster maze learning times and reaction times on a continuous performance test, fewer errors in a Go No-Go task, and better accuracy on a measure of information processing speed. EEG results examining P450 event related potentials (ERP) revealed that participants receiving the citicoline-caffeine beverage exhibited higher P450 amplitudes than controls, suggesting an increase in sustained attention. Overall, these findings suggest that the beverage significantly improved sustained attention, cognitive effort, and reaction times in healthy adults. Evidence of improved P450 amplitude indicates a general improvement in the ability to accommodate new and relevant information within working memory and overall enhanced brain activation. PMID:25046515

Attention and P300-based BCI performance in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

PubMed Central

Riccio, Angela; Simione, Luca; Schettini, Francesca; Pizzimenti, Alessia; Inghilleri, Maurizio; Belardinelli, Marta Olivetti; Mattia, Donatella; Cincotti, Febo

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the support of attentional and memory processes in controlling a P300-based brain-computer interface (BCI) in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Eight people with ALS performed two behavioral tasks: (i) a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task, screening the temporal filtering capacity and the speed of the update of the attentive filter, and (ii) a change detection task, screening the memory capacity and the spatial filtering capacity. The participants were also asked to perform a P300-based BCI spelling task. By using correlation and regression analyses, we found that only the temporal filtering capacity in the RSVP task was a predictor of both the P300-based BCI accuracy and of the amplitude of the P300 elicited performing the BCI task. We concluded that the ability to keep the attentional filter active during the selection of a target influences performance in BCI control. PMID:24282396

[Memory characteristic in boys with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder comorbid learning disability].

PubMed

Wu, Zhaomin; Wang, Na; Qian, Qiujin; Yang, Li; Qian, Ying; Liu, Lu; Liu, Yuxin; Cheng, Jia; Sun, Li; Cao, Qingjiu; Wang, Yufeng

2014-06-10

To explore the memory characteristic in boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) plus learning disability (LD). A total of 97 ADHD boys with comorbid LD (ADHD+LD), 97 ADHD boys without comorbid LD (ADHD-LD) and 97 healthy controls (based on the criteria of DSM-IV) were recruited from the outpatient clinic of Peking University Sixth Hospital from December 2003 to September 2012. Individuals across three groups were matched by ages, intelligence quotient (IQ) and ADHD subtypes. The Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) was used to access the characteristics of several memory domains. ADHD +LD group performed the worst and control group the best in memory quotient (MQ) (90 ± 15 vs 98 ± 14 & 104 ± 14) and long-term memory domain ((36.0 ± 10.2) vs (42.1 ± 7.8) & (45.6 ± 6.7) score, all P < 0.05) . ADHD+LD group scored significantly lower than the control group in short-term memory ( (53.0 ± 9.2) vs (58.0 ± 9.7) score, P < 0.05) and immediate memory domains ((10.0 ± 3.3) vs (11.3 ± 3.5) score, P < 0.05). However, ADHD+LD group scored slightly but not significantly lower than the ADHD-LD group ((54.9 ± 10.7),(10.8 ± 3.2) score, P > 0.05). In most subscales of WMS, ADHD+LD group scored significantly lower than both ADHD-LD and control group in current information and orientation, mental control (1→100) , mental control (100→1) and associate learning subscales ( (8.8 ± 3.1) vs (10.0 ± 3.0) & (9.9 ± 2.3) score, (8.7 ± 4.1) vs (10.0 ± 3.9) & (11.1 ± 3.6) score, (10.7 ± 3.9) vs (12.9 ± 2.8) & (13.7 ± 2.2) score, (9.8 ± 3.1) vs (10.8 ± 2.6) & (11.1 ± 2.1) score, all P < 0.05) . In mental control (accumulation) subscale, all pairwise comparisons were statistically significant (all P < 0.05) . In subscales of figure memory, visual reproduction and digit span, ADHD+LD scored significantly lower than the control group (all P < 0.05), but not the ADHD-LD group (all P > 0.05). Boys with ADHD comorbid LD show deficits in overall memory function and long-term memory while short-term memory is partially damaged. Impairment in immediate memory is not detected.

Efficacy of a Computer-Assisted Cognitive Rehabilitation Intervention in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Patients: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

Kosmidis, Mary H.; Zampakis, Petros; Malefaki, Sonia; Ntoskou, Katerina; Nousia, Anastasia; Bakirtzis, Christos; Papathanasopoulos, Panagiotis

2017-01-01

Cognitive impairment is frequently encountered in multiple sclerosis (MS) affecting between 40–65% of individuals, irrespective of disease duration and severity of physical disability. In the present multicenter randomized controlled trial, fifty-eight clinically stable RRMS patients with mild to moderate cognitive impairment and relatively low disability status were randomized to receive either computer-assisted (RehaCom) functional cognitive training with an emphasis on episodic memory, information processing speed/attention, and executive functions for 10 weeks (IG; n = 32) or standard clinical care (CG; n = 26). Outcome measures included a flexible comprehensive neuropsychological battery of tests sensitive to MS patient deficits and feedback regarding personal benefit gained from the intervention on four verbal questions. Only the IG group showed significant improvements in verbal and visuospatial episodic memory, processing speed/attention, and executive functioning from pre - to postassessment. Moreover, the improvement obtained on attention was retained over 6 months providing evidence on the long-term benefits of this intervention. Group by time interactions revealed significant improvements in composite cognitive domain scores in the IG relative to the demographically and clinically matched CG for verbal episodic memory, processing speed, verbal fluency, and attention. Treated patients rated the intervention positively and were more confident about their cognitive abilities following treatment. PMID:29463950

Quantifying precision and availability of location memory in everyday pictures and some implications for picture database design.

PubMed

Lansdale, Mark W; Oliff, Lynda; Baguley, Thom S

2005-06-01

The authors investigated whether memory for object locations in pictures could be exploited to address known difficulties of designing query languages for picture databases. M. W. Lansdale's (1998) model of location memory was adapted to 4 experiments observing memory for everyday pictures. These experiments showed that location memory is quantified by 2 parameters: a probability that memory is available and a measure of its precision. Availability is determined by controlled attentional processes, whereas precision is mostly governed by picture composition beyond the viewer's control. Additionally, participants' confidence judgments were good predictors of availability but were insensitive to precision. This research suggests that databases using location memory are feasible. The implications of these findings for database design and for further research and development are discussed. (c) 2005 APA

The role of overt attention in emotion-modulated memory.

PubMed

Riggs, Lily; McQuiggan, Douglas A; Farb, Norman; Anderson, Adam K; Ryan, Jennifer D

2011-08-01

The presence of emotional stimuli results in a central/peripheral tradeoff effect in memory: memory for central details is enhanced at the cost of peripheral items. It has been assumed that emotion-modulated differences in memory are the result of differences in attention, but this has not been tested directly. The present experiment used eye movement monitoring as an index of overt attention allocation and mediation analysis to determine whether differences in attention were related to subsequent memory. Participants viewed negative and neutral scenes surrounded by three neutral objects and were then given a recognition memory test. The results revealed evidence in support of a central/peripheral tradeoff in both attention and memory. However, contrary with previous assumptions, whereas attention partially mediated emotion-enhanced memory for central pictures, it did not explain the entire relationship. Further, although centrally presented emotional stimuli led to decreased number of eye fixations toward the periphery, these differences in viewing did not contribute to emotion-impaired memory for specific details pertaining to the periphery. These findings suggest that the differential influence of negative emotion on central versus peripheral memory may result from other cognitive influences in addition to overt visual attention or on postencoding processes. 2011 APA, all rights reserved

Aging, Memory Efficiency and the Strategic Control of Attention at Encoding: Impairments of Value-Directed Remembering in Alzheimer's Disease

PubMed Central

Castel, Alan D.; Balota, David A.; McCabe, David P.

2009-01-01

Selecting what is important to remember, attending to this information, and then later recalling it can be thought of in terms of the strategic control of attention and the efficient use of memory. In order to examine whether aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD) influenced this ability, the present study used a selectivity task, where studied items were worth various point values and participants were asked to maximize the value of the items they recalled. Relative to younger adults (N=35) and healthy older adults (N=109), individuals with very mild AD (N=41) and mild AD (N=13) showed impairments in the strategic and efficient encoding and recall of high value items. Although individuals with AD recalled more high value items than low value items, they did not efficiently maximize memory performance (as measured by a selectivity index) relative to healthy older adults. Performance on complex working memory span tasks was related to the recall of the high value items but not low value items. This pattern suggests that relative to healthy aging, AD leads to impairments in strategic control at encoding and value-directed remembering. PMID:19413444

Preserved memory-based orienting of attention with impaired explicit memory in healthy ageing

PubMed Central

Salvato, Gerardo; Patai, Eva Z.; Nobre, Anna C.

2016-01-01

It is increasingly recognised that spatial contextual long-term memory (LTM) prepares neural activity for guiding visuo-spatial attention in a proactive manner. In the current study, we investigated whether the decline in explicit memory observed in healthy ageing would compromise this mechanism. We compared the behavioural performance of younger and older participants on learning new contextual memories, on orienting visual attention based on these learnt contextual associations, and on explicit recall of contextual memories. We found a striking dissociation between older versus younger participants in the relationship between the ability to retrieve contextual memories versus the ability to use these to guide attention to enhance performance on a target-detection task. Older participants showed significant deficits in the explicit retrieval task, but their behavioural benefits from memory-based orienting of attention were equivalent to those in young participants. Furthermore, memory-based orienting correlated significantly with explicit contextual LTM in younger adults but not in older adults. These results suggest that explicit memory deficits in ageing might not compromise initial perception and encoding of events. Importantly, the results also shed light on the mechanisms of memory-guided attention, suggesting that explicit contextual memories are not necessary. PMID:26649914

Working Memory and Parent-Rated Components of Attention in Middle Childhood: A Behavioral Genetic Study

PubMed Central

Deater-Deckard, Kirby; Cutting, Laurie; Thompson, Lee A.; Petrill, Stephen A.

2012-01-01

The purpose of the current study was to investigate potential genetic and environmental correlations between working memory and three behavioral aspects of the attention network (i.e., executive, alerting, and orienting) using a twin design. Data were from 90 monozygotic (39% male) and 112 same-sex dizygotic (41% male) twins. Individual differences in working memory performance (digit span) and parent-rated measures of executive, alerting, and orienting attention included modest to moderate genetic variance, modest shared environmental variance, and modest to moderate nonshared environmental variance. As hypothesized, working memory performance was correlated with executive and alerting attention, but not orienting attention. The correlation between working memory, executive attention, and alerting attention was completely accounted for by overlapping genetic covariance, suggesting a common genetic mechanism or mechanisms underlying the links between working memory and certain parent-rated indicators of attentive behavior. PMID:21948215

Control of working memory: effects of attention training on target recognition and distractor salience in an auditory selection task.

PubMed

Melara, Robert D; Tong, Yunxia; Rao, Aparna

2012-01-09

Behavioral and electrophysiological measures of target and distractor processing were examined in an auditory selective attention task before and after three weeks of distractor suppression training. Behaviorally, training improved target recognition and led to less conservative and more rapid responding. Training also effectively shortened the temporal distance between distractors and targets needed to achieve a fixed level of target sensitivity. The effects of training on event-related potentials were restricted to the distracting stimulus: earlier N1 latency, enhanced P2 amplitude, and weakened P3 amplitude. Nevertheless, as distractor P2 amplitude increased, so too did target P3 amplitude, connecting experience-dependent changes in distractor processing with greater distinctiveness of targets in working memory. We consider the effects of attention training on the processing priorities, representational noise, and inhibitory processes operating in working memory. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Facilitating change in health-related behaviors and intentions: a randomized controlled trial of a multidimensional memory program for older adults.

PubMed

Wiegand, Melanie A; Troyer, Angela K; Gojmerac, Christina; Murphy, Kelly J

2013-01-01

Many older adults are concerned about memory changes with age and consequently seek ways to optimize their memory function. Memory programs are known to be variably effective in improving memory knowledge, other aspects of metamemory, and/or objective memory, but little is known about their impact on implementing and sustaining lifestyle and healthcare-seeking intentions and behaviors. We evaluated a multidimensional, evidence-based intervention, the Memory and Aging Program, that provides education about memory and memory change, training in the use of practical memory strategies, and support for implementation of healthy lifestyle behavior changes. In a randomized controlled trial, 42 healthy older adults participated in a program (n = 21) or a waitlist control (n = 21) group. Relative to the control group, participants in the program implemented more healthy lifestyle behaviors by the end of the program and maintained these changes 1 month later. Similarly, program participants reported a decreased intention to seek unnecessary medical attention for their memory immediately after the program and 1 month later. Findings support the use of multidimensional memory programs to promote healthy lifestyles and influence healthcare-seeking behaviors. Discussion focuses on implications of these changes for maximizing cognitive health and minimizing impact on healthcare resources.

Neuropsychological findings in childhood neglect and their relationships to pediatric PTSD.

PubMed

DE Bellis, Michael D; Hooper, Stephen R; Spratt, Eve G; Woolley, Donald P

2009-11-01

Although child neglect is the most prevalent form of child maltreatment, the neurocognitive effects of neglect are understudied. We examined IQ, reading, mathematics, and neurocognitive domains of fine-motor skills, language, visual-spatial, memory/learning, and attention/executive functions in two groups of nonsexually abused medically healthy neglected children, one with DSM-IV posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and one without, and a demographically similar healthy nonmaltreated control group. Significantly lower IQ, reading, mathematics, and selected differences in complex visual attention, visual memory, language, verbal memory and learning, planning, problem solving, and speeded naming were seen in Neglect Groups. The Neglect with PTSD Group performed worse than controls on NEPSY Design Copying, NEPSY Tower, and Mathematics; and performed worse than controls and Neglect without PTSD on NEPSY Memory for Faces-Delayed. Negative correlations were seen between PTSD symptoms, PTSD severity, and maltreatment variables, and IQ, Academic Achievement, and neurocognitive domains. Neglected children demonstrated significantly lower neurocognitive outcomes and academic achievement than controls. Lower IQ, neurocognitive functions, and achievement may be associated with more PTSD symptoms (particularly re-experiencing symptoms), greater PTSD severity, and a greater number of maltreatment experiences. Trauma experiences may additionally contribute to subsequent neurodevelopmental risk in neglected children. (JINS, 2009, 15, 868-878.).

Neuropsychological Findings in Childhood Neglect and their Relationships to Pediatric PTSD

PubMed Central

De Bellis, Michael D.; Hooper, Stephen R.; Spratt, Eve G.; Woolley, Donald P.

2011-01-01

Statement of the problem Although child neglect is the most prevalent form of child maltreatment, the neurocognitive effects of neglect is understudied. Methods We examined IQ, reading, mathematics, and neurocognitive domains of fine-motor skills, language, visual-spatial, memory/learning, and attention/executive functions in two groups of non-sexually abused medically healthy neglected children, one with DSM-IV posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and one without, and a demographically similar healthy non-maltreated control group. Key findings Significantly lower IQ, reading, mathematics, and selected differences in complex visual attention, visual memory, language, verbal memory and learning, planning, problem solving, and speeded naming were seen in Neglect Groups. The Neglect with PTSD Group performed worse than controls on NEPSY Design Copying, NEPSY Tower, and Mathematics; and performed worse than controls and Neglect without PTSD on NEPSY Memory for Faces-Delayed. Negative correlations were seen between PTSD symptoms, PTSD severity, and maltreatment variables, and IQ, Academic Achievement, and neurocognitive domains. Conclusions Neglected children demonstrated significantly lower neurocognitive outcomes and academic achievement than controls. Lower IQ, neurocognitive functions, and achievement may be associated with more PTSD symptoms (particularly re-experiencing symptoms), greater PTSD severity, and a greater number of maltreatment experiences. Trauma experiences may additionally contribute to subsequent neurodevelopmental risk in neglected children. PMID:19703321

Individual Differences In The Executive Control Of Attention, Memory, And Thought, And Their Associations With Schizotypy

PubMed Central

Kane, Michael J.; Meier, Matt E.; Smeekens, Bridget A.; Gross, Georgina M.; Chun, Charlotte A.; Silvia, Paul J.; Kwapil, Thomas R.

2016-01-01

A large correlational study took a latent-variable approach to the generality of executive control by testing the individual-differences structure of executive-attention capabilities and assessing their prediction of schizotypy, a multidimensional construct (with negative, positive, disorganized, and paranoid factors) conveying risk for schizophrenia. Although schizophrenia is convincingly linked to executive deficits, the schizotypy literature is equivocal. Subjects completed tasks of working memory capacity (WMC), attention restraint (inhibiting prepotent responses), and attention constraint (focusing visual attention amid distractors), the latter two in an effort to fractionate the “inhibition” construct. We also assessed mind-wandering propensity (via in-task thought probes) and coefficient of variation in response times (RT CoV) from several tasks as more novel indices of executive attention. WMC, attention restraint, attention constraint, mind wandering, and RT CoV were correlated but separable constructs, indicating some distinctions among “attention control” abilities; WMC correlated more strongly with attentional restraint than constraint, and mind wandering correlated more strongly with attentional restraint, attentional constraint, and RT CoV than with WMC. Across structural models, no executive construct predicted negative schizotypy and only mind wandering and RT CoV consistently (but modestly) predicted positive, disorganized, and paranoid schizotypy; stalwart executive constructs in the schizophrenia literature — WMC and attention restraint — showed little to no predictive power, beyond restraint’s prediction of paranoia. Either executive deficits are consequences rather than risk factors for schizophrenia, or executive failures barely precede or precipitate diagnosable schizophrenia symptoms. PMID:27454042

Top-down and bottom-up attention to memory: a hypothesis (AtoM) on the role of the posterior parietal cortex in memory retrieval.

PubMed

Ciaramelli, Elisa; Grady, Cheryl L; Moscovitch, Morris

2008-01-01

Recent neuroimaging studies have implicated the posterior parietal cortex in episodic memory retrieval, but there is uncertainty about its specific role. Research in the attentional domain has shown that superior parietal lobe (SPL) regions along the intraparietal sulcus are implicated in the voluntary orienting of attention to relevant aspects of the environment, whereas inferior parietal lobe (IPL) regions at the temporo-parietal junction mediate the automatic allocation of attention to task-relevant information. Here we propose that the SPL and the IPL play conceptually similar roles in episodic memory retrieval. We hypothesize that the SPL allocates top-down attention to memory retrieval, whereas the IPL mediates the automatic, bottom-up attentional capture by retrieved memory contents. By reviewing the existing fMRI literature, we show that the posterior intraparietal sulcus of SPL is consistently active when the need for top-down assistance to memory retrieval is supposedly maximal, e.g., for memories retrieved with low vs. high confidence, for familiar vs. recollected memories, for recognition of high vs. low frequency words. On the other hand, the supramarginal gyrus of IPL is consistently active when the attentional capture by memory contents is supposedly maximal, i.e., for strong vs. weak memories, for vividly recollected vs. familiar memories, for memories retrieved with high vs. low confidence. We introduce a model of episodic memory retrieval that characterizes contributions of posterior parietal cortex.

A cluster-randomised, controlled trial of the impact of Cogmed Working Memory Training on both academic performance and regulation of social, emotional and behavioural challenges.

PubMed

Hitchcock, Caitlin; Westwell, Martin S

2017-02-01

We explored whether school-based Cogmed Working Memory Training (CWMT) may optimise both academic and psychological outcomes at school. Training of executive control skills may form a novel approach to enhancing processes that predict academic achievement, such as task-related attention, and thereby academic performance, but also has the potential to improve the regulation of emotion, social problems and behavioural difficulties. Primary school children (Mean age = 12 years, N = 148) were cluster-randomised to complete active CWMT, a nonadaptive/placebo version of CWMT, or no training. No evidence was found for training effects on task-related attention when performing academic tasks, or performance on reading comprehension and mathematics tasks, or teacher-reported social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. CWMT did not improve control of attention in the classroom, or regulation of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. © 2016 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Sequenced neurocognitive and behavioral parent training for the treatment of ADHD in school-age children.

PubMed

Chacko, A; Bedard, A-C V; Marks, D; Gopalan, G; Feirsen, N; Uderman, J; Chimiklis, A; Heber, E; Cornwell, M; Anderson, L; Zwilling, A; Ramon, M

2018-05-01

The present study examines the potential of sequencing a neurocognitive intervention with behavioral parent training (BPT) to improve executive functions (EFs), psychiatric symptoms, and multiple indices of functional impairment in school-age children aged 7 to 11 years who have been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Specifically, in a randomized controlled trial design, 85 children were assigned to either Cogmed Working Memory Training (CWMT) followed by an empirically supported, manualized BPT intervention, or to a placebo version of CWMT followed by the same BPT intervention. Working memory maintenance (i.e., attention control/short-term memory), working memory processing and manipulation, ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms, impairment in parent-child dynamics, familial impairment, and overall functional compromise were evaluated as outcomes. The results suggest specific effects of the combined CWMT and BPT program on verbal and nonverbal working memory storage and nonverbal working memory processing and manipulation but no incremental benefits in regard to ADHD symptoms, ODD symptoms, and functional outcomes. The present findings do not support the hypothesis regarding the complementary and augmentative benefits of sequenced neurocognitive and BPT interventions for the treatment of ADHD. These results, the study's limitations, and future directions for research are further discussed.

Working memory dysfunctions predict social problem solving skills in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Huang, Jia; Tan, Shu-ping; Walsh, Sarah C; Spriggens, Lauren K; Neumann, David L; Shum, David H K; Chan, Raymond C K

2014-12-15

The current study aimed to examine the contribution of neurocognition and social cognition to components of social problem solving. Sixty-seven inpatients with schizophrenia and 31 healthy controls were administrated batteries of neurocognitive tests, emotion perception tests, and the Chinese Assessment of Interpersonal Problem Solving Skills (CAIPSS). MANOVAs were conducted to investigate the domains in which patients with schizophrenia showed impairments. Correlations were used to determine which impaired domains were associated with social problem solving, and multiple regression analyses were conducted to compare the relative contribution of neurocognitive and social cognitive functioning to components of social problem solving. Compared with healthy controls, patients with schizophrenia performed significantly worse in sustained attention, working memory, negative emotion, intention identification and all components of the CAIPSS. Specifically, sustained attention, working memory and negative emotion identification were found to correlate with social problem solving and 1-back accuracy significantly predicted the poor performance in social problem solving. Among the dysfunctions in schizophrenia, working memory contributed most to deficits in social problem solving in patients with schizophrenia. This finding provides support for targeting working memory in the development of future social problem solving rehabilitation interventions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cingulo-opercular activity affects incidental memory encoding for speech in noise.

PubMed

Vaden, Kenneth I; Teubner-Rhodes, Susan; Ahlstrom, Jayne B; Dubno, Judy R; Eckert, Mark A

2017-08-15

Correctly understood speech in difficult listening conditions is often difficult to remember. A long-standing hypothesis for this observation is that the engagement of cognitive resources to aid speech understanding can limit resources available for memory encoding. This hypothesis is consistent with evidence that speech presented in difficult conditions typically elicits greater activity throughout cingulo-opercular regions of frontal cortex that are proposed to optimize task performance through adaptive control of behavior and tonic attention. However, successful memory encoding of items for delayed recognition memory tasks is consistently associated with increased cingulo-opercular activity when perceptual difficulty is minimized. The current study used a delayed recognition memory task to test competing predictions that memory encoding for words is enhanced or limited by the engagement of cingulo-opercular activity during challenging listening conditions. An fMRI experiment was conducted with twenty healthy adult participants who performed a word identification in noise task that was immediately followed by a delayed recognition memory task. Consistent with previous findings, word identification trials in the poorer signal-to-noise ratio condition were associated with increased cingulo-opercular activity and poorer recognition memory scores on average. However, cingulo-opercular activity decreased for correctly identified words in noise that were not recognized in the delayed memory test. These results suggest that memory encoding in difficult listening conditions is poorer when elevated cingulo-opercular activity is not sustained. Although increased attention to speech when presented in difficult conditions may detract from more active forms of memory maintenance (e.g., sub-vocal rehearsal), we conclude that task performance monitoring and/or elevated tonic attention supports incidental memory encoding in challenging listening conditions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

High visual working memory capacity in trait social anxiety.

PubMed

Moriya, Jun; Sugiura, Yoshinori

2012-01-01

Working memory capacity is one of the most important cognitive functions influencing individual traits, such as attentional control, fluid intelligence, and also psychopathological traits. Previous research suggests that anxiety is associated with impaired cognitive function, and studies have shown low verbal working memory capacity in individuals with high trait anxiety. However, the relationship between trait anxiety and visual working memory capacity is still unclear. Considering that people allocate visual attention more widely to detect danger under threat, visual working memory capacity might be higher in anxious people. In the present study, we show that visual working memory capacity increases as trait social anxiety increases by using a change detection task. When the demand to inhibit distractors increased, however, high visual working memory capacity diminished in individuals with social anxiety, and instead, impaired filtering of distractors was predicted by trait social anxiety. State anxiety was not correlated with visual working memory capacity. These results indicate that socially anxious people could potentially hold a large amount of information in working memory. However, because of an impaired cognitive function, they could not inhibit goal-irrelevant distractors and their performance decreased under highly demanding conditions.

Differential performance on tasks of affective processing and decision-making in patients with Panic Disorder and Panic Disorder with comorbid Major Depressive Disorder.

PubMed

Kaplan, Johanna S; Erickson, Kristine; Luckenbaugh, David A; Weiland-Fiedler, Petra; Geraci, Marilla; Sahakian, Barbara J; Charney, Dennis; Drevets, Wayne C; Neumeister, Alexander

2006-10-01

Neuropsychological studies have provided evidence for deficits in psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and mood disorders. However, neuropsychological function in Panic Disorder (PD) or PD with a comorbid diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) has not been comprehensively studied. The present study investigated neuropsychological functioning in patients with PD and PD + MDD by focusing on tasks that assess attention, psychomotor speed, executive function, decision-making, and affective processing. Twenty-two unmedicated patients with PD, eleven of whom had a secondary diagnosis of MDD, were compared to twenty-two healthy controls, matched for gender, age, and intelligence on tasks of attention, memory, psychomotor speed, executive function, decision-making, and affective processing from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB), Cambridge Gamble Task, and Affective Go/No-go Task. Relative to matched healthy controls, patients with PD + MDD displayed an attentional bias toward negatively-valenced verbal stimuli (Affective Go/No-go Task) and longer decision-making latencies (Cambridge Gamble Task). Furthermore, the PD + MDD group committed more errors on a task of memory and visual discrimination compared to their controls. In contrast, no group differences were found for PD patients relative to matched control subjects. The sample size was limited, however, all patients were drug-free at the time of testing. The PD + MDD patients demonstrated deficits on a task involving visual discrimination and working memory, and an attentional bias towards negatively-valenced stimuli. In addition, patients with comorbid depression provided qualitatively different responses in the areas of affective and decision-making processes.

Cognitive rehabilitation in patients with gliomas: a randomized, controlled trial.

PubMed

Gehring, Karin; Sitskoorn, Margriet M; Gundy, Chad M; Sikkes, Sietske A M; Klein, Martin; Postma, Tjeerd J; van den Bent, Martin J; Beute, Guus N; Enting, Roelien H; Kappelle, Arnoud C; Boogerd, Willem; Veninga, Theo; Twijnstra, Albert; Boerman, Dolf H; Taphoorn, Martin J B; Aaronson, Neil K

2009-08-01

Patients with gliomas often experience cognitive deficits, including problems with attention and memory. This randomized, controlled trial evaluated the effects of a multifaceted cognitive rehabilitation program (CRP) on cognitive functioning and selected quality-of-life domains in patients with gliomas. One hundred forty adult patients with low-grade and anaplastic gliomas, favorable prognostic factors, and both subjective cognitive symptoms and objective cognitive deficits were recruited from 11 hospitals in the Netherlands. Patients were randomly assigned to an intervention group or to a waiting-list control group. The intervention incorporated both computer-based attention retraining and compensatory skills training of attention, memory, and executive functioning. Participants completed a battery of neuropsychological (NP) tests and self-report questionnaires on cognitive functioning, fatigue, mental health-related quality of life, and community integration at baseline, after completion of the CRP, and at 6-month follow-up. At the immediate post-treatment evaluation, statistically significant intervention effects were observed for measures of subjective cognitive functioning and its perceived burden but not for the objective NP outcomes or for any of the other self-report measures. At the 6-month follow-up, the CRP group performed significantly better than the control group on NP tests of attention and verbal memory and reported less mental fatigue. Group differences in other subjective outcomes were not significant at 6 months. The CRP has a salutary effect on short-term cognitive complaints and on longer-term cognitive performance and mental fatigue. Additional research is needed to identify which elements of the intervention are most effective.

Enhancing cognition with video games: a multiple game training study.

PubMed

Oei, Adam C; Patterson, Michael D

2013-01-01

Previous evidence points to a causal link between playing action video games and enhanced cognition and perception. However, benefits of playing other video games are under-investigated. We examined whether playing non-action games also improves cognition. Hence, we compared transfer effects of an action and other non-action types that required different cognitive demands. We instructed 5 groups of non-gamer participants to play one game each on a mobile device (iPhone/iPod Touch) for one hour a day/five days a week over four weeks (20 hours). Games included action, spatial memory, match-3, hidden- object, and an agent-based life simulation. Participants performed four behavioral tasks before and after video game training to assess for transfer effects. Tasks included an attentional blink task, a spatial memory and visual search dual task, a visual filter memory task to assess for multiple object tracking and cognitive control, as well as a complex verbal span task. Action game playing eliminated attentional blink and improved cognitive control and multiple-object tracking. Match-3, spatial memory and hidden object games improved visual search performance while the latter two also improved spatial working memory. Complex verbal span improved after match-3 and action game training. Cognitive improvements were not limited to action game training alone and different games enhanced different aspects of cognition. We conclude that training specific cognitive abilities frequently in a video game improves performance in tasks that share common underlying demands. Overall, these results suggest that many video game-related cognitive improvements may not be due to training of general broad cognitive systems such as executive attentional control, but instead due to frequent utilization of specific cognitive processes during game play. Thus, many video game training related improvements to cognition may be attributed to near-transfer effects.

Behavioral and Neural Markers of Flexible Attention over Working Memory in Aging.

PubMed

Mok, Robert M; Myers, Nicholas E; Wallis, George; Nobre, Anna Christina

2016-04-01

Working memory (WM) declines as we age and, because of its fundamental role in higher order cognition, this can have highly deleterious effects in daily life. We investigated whether older individuals benefit from flexible orienting of attention within WM to mitigate cognitive decline. We measured magnetoencephalography (MEG) in older adults performing a WM precision task with cues during the maintenance period that retroactively predicted the location of the relevant items for performance (retro-cues). WM performance of older adults significantly benefitted from retro-cues. Whereas WM maintenance declined with age, retro-cues conferred strong attentional benefits. A model-based analysis revealed an increase in the probability of recalling the target, a lowered probability of retrieving incorrect items or guessing, and an improvement in memory precision. MEG recordings showed that retro-cues induced a transient lateralization of alpha (8-14 Hz) and beta (15-30 Hz) oscillatory power. Interestingly, shorter durations of alpha/beta lateralization following retro-cues predicted larger cueing benefits, reinforcing recent ideas about the dynamic nature of access to WM representations. Our results suggest that older adults retain flexible control over WM, but individual differences in control correspond to differences in neural dynamics, possibly reflecting the degree of preservation of control in healthy aging. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

Diabetes and Cognitive Deficits in Chronic Schizophrenia: A Case-Control Study

PubMed Central

Han, Mei; Huang, Xu-Feng; Chen, Da Chun; Xiu, Meihong; Kosten, Thomas R.; Zhang, Xiang Yang

2013-01-01

Cognitive impairment occurs in both schizophrenia and diabetes. There is currently limited understanding whether schizophrenia with diabetes has more serious cognitive deficits than schizophrenia without diabetes or diabetes only. This study assessed cognitive performance in 190 healthy controls, 106 diabetes only, 127 schizophrenia without diabetes and 55 schizophrenia with diabetes. This study was conducted from January 2008 to December 2010. Compared to healthy controls, all patient groups had significantly decreased total and five index RBANS scores (all p<0.01–p<0.001), except for the visuospatial/constructional index. Schizophrenia with diabetes performed worse than schizophrenia without diabetes in immediate memory (p<0.01) and total RBANS scores (<0.05), and showed a trend for decreased attention (p = 0.052) and visuospatial/constructional capacity (p = 0.063). Schizophrenia with diabetes performed worse than diabetes only in immediate memory (p<0.001) and attention (p<0.05), and showed a trend for decreased total RBANS scores (p = 0.069). Regression analysis showed that the RBANS had modest correlations with schizophrenia’ PANSS scores, their duration of current antipsychotic treatment, and diagnosis of diabetes. Schizophrenia with co-morbid diabetes showed more cognitive impairment than schizophrenia without diabetes and diabetes only, especially in immediate memory and attention. PMID:23840437

Behavioral and Neural Markers of Flexible Attention over Working Memory in Aging

PubMed Central

Mok, Robert M.; Myers, Nicholas E.; Wallis, George; Nobre, Anna Christina

2016-01-01

Working memory (WM) declines as we age and, because of its fundamental role in higher order cognition, this can have highly deleterious effects in daily life. We investigated whether older individuals benefit from flexible orienting of attention within WM to mitigate cognitive decline. We measured magnetoencephalography (MEG) in older adults performing a WM precision task with cues during the maintenance period that retroactively predicted the location of the relevant items for performance (retro-cues). WM performance of older adults significantly benefitted from retro-cues. Whereas WM maintenance declined with age, retro-cues conferred strong attentional benefits. A model-based analysis revealed an increase in the probability of recalling the target, a lowered probability of retrieving incorrect items or guessing, and an improvement in memory precision. MEG recordings showed that retro-cues induced a transient lateralization of alpha (8–14 Hz) and beta (15–30 Hz) oscillatory power. Interestingly, shorter durations of alpha/beta lateralization following retro-cues predicted larger cueing benefits, reinforcing recent ideas about the dynamic nature of access to WM representations. Our results suggest that older adults retain flexible control over WM, but individual differences in control correspond to differences in neural dynamics, possibly reflecting the degree of preservation of control in healthy aging. PMID:26865653

Changes in cognitive functioning in sick-listed participants in occupational rehabilitation: A feasibility study.

PubMed

Johansen, Thomas; Skjerve, Arvid; Jensen, Chris; Dittrich, Winand H; Øyeflaten, Irene

2016-11-01

Individuals on long-term sick leave attending occupational rehabilitation often complain about impairments in cognitive functions such as memory and attention. Knowledge of cognitive functioning in these individuals is limited. Such knowledge is clinically relevant for improving occupational rehabilitation programmes. The aims of this feasibility study were to assess the methodological design and to investigate changes in memory and attention on participants during occupational rehabilitation. Individuals attending occupational rehabilitation (n = 28) and individuals working full time (n = 25) matched for age, gender, and education participated. The two groups were administered cognitive tests targeting memory and attention and self-reported questionnaires at pre-test and post-test. Outcome measures were speed and accuracy of responses on the cognitive tests and self-reported work ability, subjective health complaints, and symptoms of depression and anxiety. In total, 35% of all invited participants agreed to take part and 93% of these also completed the second test. The mean gain scores in the intervention group were significantly higher than in the control group in response latency on simple and choice reaction time and errors in spatial working memory. The results of this study indicate that the motivation of participants to complete testing was high. Improvements in memory and attention were evident in rehabilitation participants indicating that rehabilitation may have an effect on cognitive functions.

Disentangling cognition and emotion in older adults: the role of cognitive control and mental health in emotional conflict adaptation.

PubMed

Hantke, Nathan C; Gyurak, Anett; Van Moorleghem, Katie; Waring, Jill D; Adamson, Maheen M; O'Hara, Ruth; Beaudreau, Sherry A

2017-08-01

Recent research suggests cognition has a bidirectional relationship with emotional processing in older adults, yet the relationship is still poorly understood. We aimed to examine a potential relationship between late-life cognitive function, mental health symptoms, and emotional conflict adaptation. We hypothesized that worse cognitive control abilities would be associated with poorer emotional conflict adaptation. We further hypothesized that a higher severity of mental health symptoms would be associated with poorer emotional conflict adaptation. Participants included 83 cognitively normal community-dwelling older adults who completed a targeted mental health and cognitive battery, and emotion and gender conflict-adaptation tasks. Consistent with our hypothesis, poorer performance on components of cognitive control, specifically attention and working memory, was associated with poorer emotional conflict adaptation. This association with attention and working memory was not observed in the non-affective-based gender conflict adaptation task. Mental health symptoms did not predict emotional conflict adaptation, nor did performance on other cognitive measures. Our findings suggest that emotion conflict adaptation is disrupted in older individuals who have poorer attention and working memory. Components of cognitive control may therefore be an important potential source of inter-individual differences in late-life emotion regulation and cognitive affective deficits. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Child-Level Predictors of Responsiveness to Evidence-Based Mathematics Intervention.

PubMed

Powell, Sarah R; Cirino, Paul T; Malone, Amelia S

2017-07-01

We identified child-level predictors of responsiveness to 2 types of mathematics (calculation and word-problem) intervention among 2nd-grade children with mathematics difficulty. Participants were 250 children in 107 classrooms in 23 schools pretested on mathematics and general cognitive measures and posttested on mathematics measures. We assigned classrooms randomly assigned to calculation intervention, word-problem intervention, or business-as-usual control. Intervention lasted 17 weeks. Path analyses indicated that scores on working memory and language comprehension assessments moderated responsiveness to calculation intervention. No moderators were identified for responsiveness to word-problem intervention. Across both intervention groups and the control group, attentive behavior predicted both outcomes. Initial calculation skill predicted the calculation outcome, and initial language comprehension predicted word-problem outcomes. These results indicate that screening for calculation intervention should include a focus on working memory, language comprehension, attentive behavior, and calculations. Screening for word-problem intervention should focus on attentive behavior and word problems.

Executive Functions

PubMed Central

Diamond, Adele

2014-01-01

Executive functions (EFs) make possible mentally playing with ideas; taking the time to think before acting; meeting novel, unanticipated challenges; resisting temptations; and staying focused. Core EFs are inhibition [response inhibition (self-control—resisting temptations and resisting acting impulsively) and interference control (selective attention and cognitive inhibition)], working memory, and cognitive flexibility (including creatively thinking “outside the box,” seeing anything from different perspectives, and quickly and flexibly adapting to changed circumstances). The developmental progression and representative measures of each are discussed. Controversies are addressed (e.g., the relation between EFs and fluid intelligence, self-regulation, executive attention, and effortful control, and the relation between working memory and inhibition and attention). The importance of social, emotional, and physical health for cognitive health is discussed because stress, lack of sleep, loneliness, or lack of exercise each impair EFs. That EFs are trainable and can be improved with practice is addressed, including diverse methods tried thus far. PMID:23020641

Trait anxiety and impaired control of reflective attention in working memory.

PubMed

Hoshino, Takatoshi; Tanno, Yoshihiko

2016-01-01

The present study investigated whether the control of reflective attention in working memory (WM) is impaired in high trait anxiety individuals. We focused on the consequences of refreshing-a simple reflective process of thinking briefly about a just-activated representation in mind-on the subsequent processing of verbal stimuli. Participants performed a selective refreshing task, in which they initially refreshed or read one word from a three-word set, and then refreshed a non-selected item from the initial phrase or read aloud a new word. High trait anxiety individuals exhibited greater latencies when refreshing a word after experiencing the refreshing of a word from the same list of semantic associates. The same pattern was observed for reading a new word after prior refreshing. These findings suggest that high trait anxiety individuals have difficulty resolving interference from active distractors when directing reflective attention towards contents in WM or processing a visually presented word.

Memory Performance for Everyday Motivational and Neutral Objects Is Dissociable from Attention

PubMed Central

Schomaker, Judith; Wittmann, Bianca C.

2017-01-01

Episodic memory is typically better for items coupled with monetary reward or punishment during encoding. It is yet unclear whether memory is also enhanced for everyday objects with appetitive or aversive values learned through a lifetime of experience, and to what extent episodic memory enhancement for motivational and neutral items is attributable to attention. In a first experiment, we investigated attention to everyday motivational objects using eye-tracking during free-viewing and subsequently tested episodic memory using a remember/know procedure. Attention was directed more to aversive stimuli, as evidenced by longer viewing durations, whereas recollection was higher for both appetitive and aversive objects. In the second experiment, we manipulated the visual contrast of neutral objects through changes of contrast to further dissociate attention and memory encoding. While objects presented with high visual contrast were looked at longer, recollection was best for objects presented in unmodified, medium contrast. Generalized logistic mixed models on recollection performance showed that attention as measured by eye movements did not enhance subsequent memory, while motivational value (Experiment 1) and visual contrast (Experiment 2) had quadratic effects in opposite directions. Our findings suggest that an enhancement of incidental memory encoding for appetitive items can occur without an increase in attention and, vice versa, that enhanced attention towards salient neutral objects is not necessarily associated with memory improvement. Together, our results provide evidence for a double dissociation of attention and memory effects under certain conditions. PMID:28694774

Selective attention neutralizes the adverse effects of low socioeconomic status on memory in 9-month-old infants

PubMed Central

Markant, Julie; Ackerman, Laura K.; Nussenbaum, Kate; Amso, Dima

2015-01-01

Socioeconomic status (SES) has a documented impact on brain and cognitive development. We demonstrate that engaging spatial selective attention mechanisms may counteract this negative influence of impoverished environments on early learning. We previously used a spatial cueing task to compare target object encoding in the context of basic orienting (“facilitation”) versus a spatial selective attention orienting mechanism that engages distractor suppression (“IOR”). This work showed that object encoding in the context of IOR boosted 9-month-old infants’ recognition memory relative to facilitation (Markant and Amso, 2013). Here we asked whether this attention-memory links further interacted with SES in infancy. Results indicated that SES was related to memory but not attention orienting efficacy. However, the correlation between SES and memory performance was moderated by the attention mechanism engaged during encoding. SES predicted memory performance when objects were encoded with basic orienting processes, with infants from low-SES environments showing poorer memory than those from high-SES environments. However, SES did not predict memory performance among infants who engaged selective attention during encoding. Spatial selective attention engagement mitigated the effects of SES on memory and may offer an effective mechanism for promoting learning among infants at risk for poor cognitive outcomes related to SES. PMID:26597046

Limited Near and Far Transfer Effects of Jungle Memory Working Memory Training on Learning Mathematics in Children with Attentional and Mathematical Difficulties.

PubMed

Nelwan, Michel; Kroesbergen, Evelyn H

2016-01-01

The goal of this randomized controlled trial was to investigate whether Jungle Memory working memory training (JM) affects performance on working memory tasks, performance in mathematics and gains made on a mathematics training (MT) in school aged children between 9-12 years old ( N = 64) with both difficulties in mathematics, as well as attention and working memory. Children were randomly assigned to three groups and were trained in two periods: (1) JM first, followed by MT, (2) MT first, followed by JM, and (3) a control group that received MT only. Bayesian analyses showed possible short term effects of JM on near transfer measures of verbal working memory, but none on visual working memory. Furthermore, support was found for the hypothesis that children that received JM first, performed better after MT than children who did not follow JM first or did not train with JM at all. However, these effects could be explained at least partly by frequency of training effects, possibly due to motivational issues, and training-specific factors. Furthermore, it remains unclear whether the effects found on improving mathematics were actually mediated by gains in working memory. It is argued that JM might not train the components of working memory involved in mathematics sufficiently. Another possible explanation can be found in the training's lack of adaptivity, therefore failing to provide the children with tailored instruction and feedback. Finally, it was hypothesized that, since effect sizes are generally small, training effects are bound to a critical period in development.

Limited Near and Far Transfer Effects of Jungle Memory Working Memory Training on Learning Mathematics in Children with Attentional and Mathematical Difficulties

PubMed Central

Nelwan, Michel; Kroesbergen, Evelyn H.

2016-01-01

The goal of this randomized controlled trial was to investigate whether Jungle Memory working memory training (JM) affects performance on working memory tasks, performance in mathematics and gains made on a mathematics training (MT) in school aged children between 9–12 years old (N = 64) with both difficulties in mathematics, as well as attention and working memory. Children were randomly assigned to three groups and were trained in two periods: (1) JM first, followed by MT, (2) MT first, followed by JM, and (3) a control group that received MT only. Bayesian analyses showed possible short term effects of JM on near transfer measures of verbal working memory, but none on visual working memory. Furthermore, support was found for the hypothesis that children that received JM first, performed better after MT than children who did not follow JM first or did not train with JM at all. However, these effects could be explained at least partly by frequency of training effects, possibly due to motivational issues, and training-specific factors. Furthermore, it remains unclear whether the effects found on improving mathematics were actually mediated by gains in working memory. It is argued that JM might not train the components of working memory involved in mathematics sufficiently. Another possible explanation can be found in the training’s lack of adaptivity, therefore failing to provide the children with tailored instruction and feedback. Finally, it was hypothesized that, since effect sizes are generally small, training effects are bound to a critical period in development. PMID:27708595

Visual short-term memory always requires general attention.

PubMed

Morey, Candice C; Bieler, Malte

2013-02-01

The role of attention in visual memory remains controversial; while some evidence has suggested that memory for binding between features demands no more attention than does memory for the same features, other evidence has indicated cognitive costs or mnemonic benefits for explicitly attending to bindings. We attempted to reconcile these findings by examining how memory for binding, for features, and for features during binding is affected by a concurrent attention-demanding task. We demonstrated that performing a concurrent task impairs memory for as few as two visual objects, regardless of whether each object includes one or more features. We argue that this pattern of results reflects an essential role for domain-general attention in visual memory, regardless of the simplicity of the to-be-remembered stimuli. We then discuss the implications of these findings for theories of visual working memory.

Neural hyperactivity related to working memory in drug-naive boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

PubMed

Li, Yuanyuan; Li, Fei; He, Ning; Guo, Lanting; Huang, Xiaoqi; Lui, Su; Gong, Qiyong

2014-08-04

Impaired working memory is thought to be a core feature of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Previous imaging studies investigating working memory in ADHD have used tasks involving different cognitive resources and ignoring the categorical judgments about objects that are essential parts of performance in visual working memory tasks, thus complicating the interpretation of their findings. In the present study, we explored differential neural activation in children and adolescents with ADHD and in healthy controls using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with the categorical n-back task (CN-BT), which maximized demands for executive reasoning while holding memory demands constant. A total of 33 drug-naive, right-handed male ADHD without comorbidity (mean age 9.9±2.4 years) and 27 right-handed, healthy male controls (mean age 10.9±2.7 years) were recruited in the present study. Event-related fMRI was used to study differences in brain activity during the CN-BT between the two groups. The two groups did not differ in their accuracy in the CN-BT, although the ADHD patients showed significantly shorter reaction times to correct responses than did the controls. During the CN-BT, both ADHD patients and controls showed significant positive and negative activations by the correct responses, mainly in the sensory-motor pathways and the striato-cerebellum circuit. Additionally, the ADHD patients showed significantly higher activation in the bilateral globus pallidus and the right hippocampus compared with the controls. There was also a positive correlation between hyperactivation of the left globus pallidus and the reaction time to correct responses in ADHD. In contrast to controls, ADHD patients showed neural hyperactivation in the striatum and mediotemporal areas during a working memory task involving categorization. Hyperfunction in these areas might be the pathophysiological foundation of ADHD, related to the deficits of working memory and the impulsive symptoms. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Randomized Controlled Trial of Exercise for ADHD and Disruptive Behavior Disorders.

PubMed

Bustamante, Eduardo Esteban; Davis, Catherine Lucy; Frazier, Stacy Lynn; Rusch, Dana; Fogg, Louis F; Atkins, Marc S; Marquez, David Xavier

2016-07-01

The objective of this study is to test the feasibility and impact of a 10-wk after-school exercise program for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and/or disruptive behavior disorders living in an urban poor community. Children were randomized to an exercise program (n = 19) or a comparable but sedentary attention control program (n = 16). Cognitive and behavioral outcomes were collected pre-/posttest. Intent-to-treat mixed models tested group-time and group-time-attendance interactions. Effect sizes were calculated within and between groups. Feasibility was evidenced by 86% retention, 60% attendance, and average 75% maximum HR. Group-time results were null on the primary outcome, parent-reported executive function. Among secondary outcomes, between-group effect sizes favored exercise on hyperactive symptoms (d = 0.47) and verbal working memory (d = 0.26), and controls on visuospatial working memory (d = -0.21) and oppositional defiant symptoms (d = -0.37). In each group, within-group effect sizes were moderate to large on most outcomes (d = 0.67 to 1.60). A group-time-attendance interaction emerged on visuospatial working memory (F[1,33] = 7.42, P < 0.05), such that attendance to the control program was related to greater improvements (r = 0.72, P < 0.01), whereas attendance to the exercise program was not (r = 0.25, P = 0.34). Although between-group findings on the primary outcome, parent-reported executive function, were null, between-group effect sizes on hyperactivity and visuospatial working memory may reflect adaptations to the specific challenges presented by distinct formats. Both groups demonstrated substantial within-group improvements on clinically relevant outcomes. Findings underscore the importance of programmatic features, such as routines, engaging activities, behavior management strategies, and adult attention, and highlight the potential for after-school programs to benefit children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and disruptive behavior disorder living in urban poverty where health needs are high and services resources few.

Gender Differences in Self-Reported Symptomatology and Working Memory in College Students with ADHD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kercood, Suneeta; Lineweaver, Tara T.; Kugler, Jennifer

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine gender differences in self-reported symptomatology and working memory (visuospatial and auditory) in college students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Forty-seven college students with ADHD and 44 non-affected control participants completed two self-report questionnaires and six tests…

Children with ADHD Symptoms Are Less Susceptible to Gap-Filling Errors than Typically Developing Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mirandola, C.; Paparella, G.; Re, A. M.; Ghetti, S.; Cornoldi, C.

2012-01-01

Enhanced semantic processing is associated with increased false recognition of items consistent with studied material, suggesting that children with poor semantic skills could produce fewer false memories. We examined whether memory errors differed in children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and controls. Children viewed 18…

Using Maintenance Rehearsal to Explore Recognition Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Humphreys, Michael S.; Maguire, Angela M.; McFarlane, Kimberley A.; Burt, Jennifer S.; Bolland, Scott W.; Murray, Krista L.; Dunn, Ryan

2010-01-01

We examined associative and item recognition using the maintenance rehearsal paradigm. Our intent was to control for mnemonic strategies; to produce a low, graded level of learning; and to provide evidence of the role of attention in long-term memory. An advantage for low-frequency words emerged in both associative and item recognition at very low…

Risperidone Added to Psychostimulant in Children with Severe Aggression and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Lack of Effect on Attention and Short-Term Memory

PubMed Central

Epstein, Jeffery N.; Findling, Robert L.; Gadow, Kenneth D.; Arnold, L. Eugene; Kipp, Heidi; Kolko, David J.; Butter, Eric; Schneider, Jayne; Bukstein, Oscar G.; McNamara, Nora K.; Molina, Brooke S.G.; Aman, Michael G.

2017-01-01

Abstract Objective: Professionals have periodically expressed concern that atypical antipsychotics may cause cognitive blunting in treated patients. In this study, we report data from a double-blind, randomized, controlled study of stimulant plus placebo versus combined stimulant and risperidone to evaluate the effects of the atypical antipsychotic on attention and short-term memory. Methods: A total of 165 (n = 83 combined treatment; n = 82 stimulant plus placebo) children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and severe physical aggression, aged 6–12 years, were evaluated with Conners' Continuous Performance Test (CPT-II) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III (WISC) Digit Span subscale at baseline, after 3 weeks of stimulant-only treatment, and after six additional weeks of randomized treatment (stimulant+placebo vs. stimulant+risperidone). Results: At 3 weeks, improvement on CPT-II performance (Commissions and Reaction Time Standard Error; p < 0.001) and on Digit Span memory performance (p < 0.006) was noted for the full sample. At study week 9, no difference in CPT-II or Digit Span performance was observed between the randomized groups (ps = 0.41 to 0.83). Conclusions: Similar to other studies, we found no deleterious effects on attention and short-term memory associated with short-term use of risperidone. NCT00796302. PMID:27348211

Selective maintenance in visual working memory does not require sustained visual attention.

PubMed

Hollingworth, Andrew; Maxcey-Richard, Ashleigh M

2013-08-01

In four experiments, we tested whether sustained visual attention is required for the selective maintenance of objects in visual working memory (VWM). Participants performed a color change-detection task. During the retention interval, a valid cue indicated the item that would be tested. Change-detection performance was higher in the valid-cue condition than in a neutral-cue control condition. To probe the role of visual attention in the cuing effect, on half of the trials, a difficult search task was inserted after the cue, precluding sustained attention on the cued item. The addition of the search task produced no observable decrement in the magnitude of the cuing effect. In a complementary test, search efficiency was not impaired by simultaneously prioritizing an object for retention in VWM. The results demonstrate that selective maintenance in VWM can be dissociated from the locus of visual attention. 2013 APA, all rights reserved

Eye movements and attention: The role of pre-saccadic shifts of attention in perception, memory and the control of saccades

PubMed Central

Gersch, Timothy M.; Schnitzer, Brian S.; Dosher, Barbara A.; Kowler, Eileen

2012-01-01

Saccadic eye movements and perceptual attention work in a coordinated fashion to allow selection of the objects, features or regions with the greatest momentary need for limited visual processing resources. This study investigates perceptual characteristics of pre-saccadic shifts of attention during a sequence of saccades using the visual manipulations employed to study mechanisms of attention during maintained fixation. The first part of this paper reviews studies of the connections between saccades and attention, and their significance for both saccadic control and perception. The second part presents three experiments that examine the effects of pre-saccadic shifts of attention on vision during sequences of saccades. Perceptual enhancements at the saccadic goal location relative to non-goal locations were found across a range of stimulus contrasts, with either perceptual discrimination or detection tasks, with either single or multiple perceptual targets, and regardless of the presence of external noise. The results show that the preparation of saccades can evoke a variety of attentional effects, including attentionally-mediated changes in the strength of perceptual representations, selection of targets for encoding in visual memory, exclusion of external noise, or changes in the levels of internal visual noise. The visual changes evoked by saccadic planning make it possible for the visual system to effectively use saccadic eye movements to explore the visual environment. PMID:22809798

Attention Effects During Visual Short-Term Memory Maintenance: Protection or Prioritization?

PubMed Central

Matsukura, Michi; Luck, Steven J.; Vecera, Shaun P.

2007-01-01

Interactions between visual attention and visual short-term memory (VSTM) play a central role in cognitive processing. For example, attention can assist in selectively encoding items into visual memory. Attention appears to be able to influence items already stored in visual memory as well; cues that appear long after the presentation of an array of objects can affect memory for those objects (Griffin & Nobre, 2003). In five experiments, we distinguished two possible mechanisms for the effects of cues on items currently stored in VSTM. A protection account proposes that attention protects the cued item from becoming degraded during the retention interval. By contrast, a prioritization account suggests that attention increases a cued item’s priority during the comparison process that occurs when memory is tested. The results of the experiments were consistent with the first of these possibilities, suggesting that attention can serve to protect VSTM representations while they are being maintained. PMID:18078232

Selective attention meets spontaneous recognition memory: Evidence for effects at retrieval.

PubMed

Moen, Katherine C; Miller, Jeremy K; Lloyd, Marianne E

2017-03-01

Previous research on the effects of Divided Attention on recognition memory have shown consistent impairments during encoding but more variable effects at retrieval. The present study explored whether effects of Selective Attention at retrieval and subsequent testing were parallel to those of Divided Attention. Participants studied a list of pictures and then had a recognition memory test that included both full attention and selective attention (the to be responded to object was overlaid atop a blue outlined object) trials. All participants then completed a second recognition memory test. The results of 2 experiments suggest that subsequent tests consistently show impacts of the status of the ignored stimulus, and that having an initial test changes performance on a later test. The results are discussed in relation to effect of attention on memory more generally as well as spontaneous recognition memory research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Preserved memory-based orienting of attention with impaired explicit memory in healthy ageing.

PubMed

Salvato, Gerardo; Patai, Eva Z; Nobre, Anna C

2016-01-01

It is increasingly recognised that spatial contextual long-term memory (LTM) prepares neural activity for guiding visuo-spatial attention in a proactive manner. In the current study, we investigated whether the decline in explicit memory observed in healthy ageing would compromise this mechanism. We compared the behavioural performance of younger and older participants on learning new contextual memories, on orienting visual attention based on these learnt contextual associations, and on explicit recall of contextual memories. We found a striking dissociation between older versus younger participants in the relationship between the ability to retrieve contextual memories versus the ability to use these to guide attention to enhance performance on a target-detection task. Older participants showed significant deficits in the explicit retrieval task, but their behavioural benefits from memory-based orienting of attention were equivalent to those in young participants. Furthermore, memory-based orienting correlated significantly with explicit contextual LTM in younger adults but not in older adults. These results suggest that explicit memory deficits in ageing might not compromise initial perception and encoding of events. Importantly, the results also shed light on the mechanisms of memory-guided attention, suggesting that explicit contextual memories are not necessary. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

The effect of instructions on postural-suprapostural interactions in three working memory tasks.

PubMed

Burcal, Christopher J; Drabik, Evan C; Wikstrom, Erik A

2014-06-01

Examining postural control while simultaneously performing a cognitive, or suprapostural task, has shown a fairly consistent trend of improving postural control in young healthy adults and provides insight into postural control mechanisms used in everyday life. However, the role of attention driven by explicit verbal instructions while dual-tasking is less understood. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation is to determine the effects of explicit verbal instructions on the postural-suprapostural interactions among various domains of working memory. A total of 22 healthy young adults with a heterogeneous history of ankle sprains volunteered to participate (age: 22.2±5.1 years; n=10 history of ankle sprains, n=12 no history). Participants were asked to perform single-limb balance trials while performing three suprapostural tasks: backwards counting, random number generation, and the manikin test. In addition, each suprapostural task was completed under three conditions of instruction: no instructions, focus on the postural control task, focus on the suprapostural task. The results indicate a significant effect of instructions on postural control outcomes, with postural performance improving in the presence of instructions across all three cognitive tasks which each stress different aspects of working memory. Further, postural-suprapostural interactions appear to be related to the direction or focus of an individual's attention as instructions to focus on the suprapostural task resulted in the greatest postural control improvements.Thus, attention driven by explicit verbal instructions influence postural-suprapostural interactions as measured by a temporal-spatial postural control outcome, time-to-boundary, regardless of the suprapostural task performed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evaluating the Role of Attention in the Context of Unconscious Thought Theory: Differential Impact of Attentional Scope and Load on Preference and Memory

PubMed Central

Srinivasan, Narayanan; Mukherjee, Sumitava; Mishra, Maruti V.; Kesarwani, Smriti

2013-01-01

Attention is a key process used to conceptualize and define modes of thought, but we lack information about the role of specific attentional processes on preferential choice and memory in multi-attribute decision making. In this study, we examine the role of attention based on two dimensions, attentional scope and load on choice preference strength and memory using a paradigm that arguably elicits unconscious thought. Scope of attention was manipulated by using global or local processing during distraction (Experiment 1) and before the information-encoding stage (Experiment 2). Load was manipulated by using the n-back task in Experiment 1. Results from Experiment 1 show that global processing or distributed attention during distraction results in stronger preference irrespective of load but better memory only at low cognitive load. Task difficulty or load did not have any effect on preference or memory. In Experiment 2, distributed attention before attribute encoding facilitated only memory but did not influence preference. Results show that attentional processes at different stages of processing like distraction and information-encoding influence decision making processes. Scope of attention not only influences preference and memory but the manner in which attentional scope influences them depends on both load and stage of information processing. The results indicate the important role of attention in processes critical for decision making and calls for a re-evaluation of the unconscious thought theory (UTT) and the need for reconceptualizing the role of attention. PMID:23382726

Evaluating the role of attention in the context of unconscious thought theory: differential impact of attentional scope and load on preference and memory.

PubMed

Srinivasan, Narayanan; Mukherjee, Sumitava; Mishra, Maruti V; Kesarwani, Smriti

2013-01-01

Attention is a key process used to conceptualize and define modes of thought, but we lack information about the role of specific attentional processes on preferential choice and memory in multi-attribute decision making. In this study, we examine the role of attention based on two dimensions, attentional scope and load on choice preference strength and memory using a paradigm that arguably elicits unconscious thought. Scope of attention was manipulated by using global or local processing during distraction (Experiment 1) and before the information-encoding stage (Experiment 2). Load was manipulated by using the n-back task in Experiment 1. Results from Experiment 1 show that global processing or distributed attention during distraction results in stronger preference irrespective of load but better memory only at low cognitive load. Task difficulty or load did not have any effect on preference or memory. In Experiment 2, distributed attention before attribute encoding facilitated only memory but did not influence preference. Results show that attentional processes at different stages of processing like distraction and information-encoding influence decision making processes. Scope of attention not only influences preference and memory but the manner in which attentional scope influences them depends on both load and stage of information processing. The results indicate the important role of attention in processes critical for decision making and calls for a re-evaluation of the unconscious thought theory (UTT) and the need for reconceptualizing the role of attention.

Oculomotor Performance Identifies Underlying Cognitive Deficits in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loe, Irene M.; Feldman, Heidi M.; Yasui, Enami; Luna, Beatriz

2009-01-01

The evaluation of the cognitive control in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder through the use of oculomotor tests reveal that this group showed susceptibility to peripheral distractors and deficits in response inhibition. All subjects were found to have intact sensorimotor function and working memory.

Load Theory of Selective Attention and Cognitive Control

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lavie, Nilli; Hirst, Aleksandra; de Fockert, Jan W.; Viding, Essi

2004-01-01

A load theory of attention in which distractor rejection depends on the level and type of load involved in current processing was tested. A series of experiments demonstrates that whereas high perceptual load reduces distractor interference, working memory load or dual-task coordination load increases distractor interference. These findings…

Effects of selective serotonin reuptake and dual serotonergic-noradrenergic reuptake treatments on attention and executive functions in patients with major depressive disorder.

PubMed

Herrera-Guzmán, Ixchel; Herrera-Abarca, Jorge E; Gudayol-Ferré, Esteve; Herrera-Guzmán, Daniel; Gómez-Carbajal, Lizbeth; Peña-Olvira, Miriam; Villuendas-González, Erwin; Joan, Guàrdia-Olmos

2010-05-30

Several reports suggest that antidepressants may improve cognitive functioning in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). The present work aims to study the effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonergic-noradrenergic reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) treatments on the performance of working memory, attention and executive functions in patients with MDD. A total of 73 subjects meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders version IV (DSM-IV) criteria for MDD, and 37 control subjects were assessed with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and a neuropsychological battery. The subjects were medicated with escitalopram (n=36) or duloxetine (n=37) for 24 weeks. At the end of the trial, the subjects were assessed again with the same tests. The depressed subjects showed alterations in attention and cognitive functions when compared to the control group. The administration of both treatments improved working memory, as well as attention and all the executive functions, but the cognitive functions of depressed patients do not improve enough to reach the levels of performance of the control subjects. Our results suggest that both SSRI and SNRI treatments presented the same efficacy in improving attention and the remaining executive functions. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Attentional capture by working memory contents.

PubMed

Pan, Yi

2010-06-01

There has been controversy on whether working memory (WM) contents automatically guide attention. The present study tried to replicate the effect of WM-based attentional capture using an adaption of Downing's (2000) paradigm, in which WM and attentional capture were combined. Subjects were presented with an attention display containing two objects, one of which could be precued by a matching item being held in WM. As measured by a probe discrimination task, the memory-matching object had a privileged status to capture attention regardless of the stimulus onset asynchronies between the memory cue and the attention display, even when there was absolutely no benefit for subjects to bias attention in favour of the memory match. These results suggest that WM contents guide attention in an involuntary manner. The implications of current findings for understanding of WM effects on visual selection are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

The protective effects of brief mindfulness meditation training.

PubMed

Banks, Jonathan B; Welhaf, Matthew S; Srour, Alexandra

2015-05-01

Mindfulness meditation has gained a great deal of attention in recent years due to the variety of physical and psychological benefits, including improved working memory, decreased mind wandering and reduced impact of stress on working memory. The current study examined a 1-week at home mindfulness meditation intervention compared to an active control intervention. Results suggest that mindfulness meditation does not increase working memory or decrease mind wandering but does prevent stress related working memory impairments. Mindfulness meditation appears to alter the factors that impair working memory such that the negative impact of mind wandering on working memory was only evident at higher levels of negative affect. The use of cognitive mechanism words in narratives of stressful events did not differ by condition but predicted poorer working memory in the control condition. The results support the use of an at home mindfulness meditation intervention for reducing stress-related impairments. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neural Mechanisms Underlying Visual Short-Term Memory Gain for Temporally Distinct Objects.

PubMed

Ihssen, Niklas; Linden, David E J; Miller, Claire E; Shapiro, Kimron L

2015-08-01

Recent research has shown that visual short-term memory (VSTM) can substantially be improved when the to-be-remembered objects are split in 2 half-arrays (i.e., sequenced) or the entire array is shown twice (i.e., repeated), rather than presented simultaneously. Here we investigate the hypothesis that sequencing and repeating displays overcomes attentional "bottlenecks" during simultaneous encoding. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we show that sequencing and repeating displays increased brain activation in extrastriate and primary visual areas, relative to simultaneous displays (Study 1). Passively viewing identical stimuli did not increase visual activation (Study 2), ruling out a physical confound. Importantly, areas of the frontoparietal attention network showed increased activation in repetition but not in sequential trials. This dissociation suggests that repeating a display increases attentional control by allowing attention to be reallocated in a second encoding episode. In contrast, sequencing the array poses fewer demands on control, with competition from nonattended objects being reduced by the half-arrays. This idea was corroborated by a third study in which we found optimal VSTM for sequential displays minimizing attentional demands. Importantly these results provide support within the same experimental paradigm for the role of stimulus-driven and top-down attentional control aspects of biased competition theory in setting constraints on VSTM. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Adjunctive raloxifene treatment improves attention and memory in men and women with schizophrenia.

PubMed

Weickert, T W; Weinberg, D; Lenroot, R; Catts, S V; Wells, R; Vercammen, A; O'Donnell, M; Galletly, C; Liu, D; Balzan, R; Short, B; Pellen, D; Curtis, J; Carr, V J; Kulkarni, J; Schofield, P R; Weickert, C S

2015-06-01

There is increasing clinical and molecular evidence for the role of hormones and specifically estrogen and its receptor in schizophrenia. A selective estrogen receptor modulator, raloxifene, stimulates estrogen-like activity in brain and can improve cognition in older adults. The present study tested the extent to which adjunctive raloxifene treatment improved cognition and reduced symptoms in young to middle-age men and women with schizophrenia. Ninety-eight patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were recruited into a dual-site, thirteen-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial of adjunctive raloxifene treatment in addition to their usual antipsychotic medications. Symptom severity and cognition in the domains of working memory, attention/processing speed, language and verbal memory were assessed at baseline, 6 and 13 weeks. Analyses of the initial 6-week phase of the study using a parallel groups design (with 39 patients receiving placebo and 40 receiving raloxifene) revealed that participants receiving adjunctive raloxifene treatment showed significant improvement relative to placebo in memory and attention/processing speed. There was no reduction in symptom severity with treatment compared with placebo. There were significant carryover effects, suggesting some cognitive benefits are sustained even after raloxifene withdrawal. Analysis of the 13-week crossover data revealed significant improvement with raloxifene only in attention/processing speed. This is the first study to show that daily, oral adjunctive raloxifene treatment at 120 mg per day has beneficial effects on attention/processing speed and memory for both men and women with schizophrenia. Thus, raloxifene may be useful as an adjunctive treatment for cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia.

Children’s visuospatial memory predicts mathematics achievement through early adolescence

PubMed Central

Li, Yaoran

2017-01-01

A previous study showed that gains in visuospatial memory from first to fifth grade predicted end-of-fifth grade mathematics but not reading achievement, controlling other factors. In this follow up study, these relations were assessed from sixth to ninth grade, inclusive (n = 145). The results showed that growth in visuospatial memory across the elementary school years was related to growth in mathematics achievement after fifth grade, controlling intelligence, the central executive and phonological memory components of working memory, in-class attentive behavior, parental education, and fifth grade mathematics achievement. As found for fifth grade, this relation was not found for reading achievement after fifth grade. In total, the results suggest that visuospatial memory has a unique influence on ease of learning some types of mathematics and that this influence becomes more important across successive grades. PMID:28192484

Children's visuospatial memory predicts mathematics achievement through early adolescence.

PubMed

Li, Yaoran; Geary, David C

2017-01-01

A previous study showed that gains in visuospatial memory from first to fifth grade predicted end-of-fifth grade mathematics but not reading achievement, controlling other factors. In this follow up study, these relations were assessed from sixth to ninth grade, inclusive (n = 145). The results showed that growth in visuospatial memory across the elementary school years was related to growth in mathematics achievement after fifth grade, controlling intelligence, the central executive and phonological memory components of working memory, in-class attentive behavior, parental education, and fifth grade mathematics achievement. As found for fifth grade, this relation was not found for reading achievement after fifth grade. In total, the results suggest that visuospatial memory has a unique influence on ease of learning some types of mathematics and that this influence becomes more important across successive grades.

Mental rotation impairs attention shifting and short-term memory encoding: neurophysiological evidence against the response-selection bottleneck model of dual-task performance.

PubMed

Pannebakker, Merel M; Jolicœur, Pierre; van Dam, Wessel O; Band, Guido P H; Ridderinkhof, K Richard; Hommel, Bernhard

2011-09-01

Dual tasks and their associated delays have often been used to examine the boundaries of processing in the brain. We used the dual-task procedure and recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate how mental rotation of a first stimulus (S1) influences the shifting of visual-spatial attention to a second stimulus (S2). Visual-spatial attention was monitored by using the N2pc component of the ERP. In addition, we examined the sustained posterior contralateral negativity (SPCN) believed to index the retention of information in visual short-term memory. We found modulations of both the N2pc and the SPCN, suggesting that engaging mechanisms of mental rotation impairs the deployment of visual-spatial attention and delays the passage of a representation of S2 into visual short-term memory. Both results suggest interactions between mental rotation and visual-spatial attention in capacity-limited processing mechanisms indicating that response selection is not pivotal in dual-task delays and all three processes are likely to share a common resource like executive control. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neurofibromatosis type 1 and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a case study and literature review

PubMed Central

Miguel, Carmen Sílvia; Chaim-Avancini, Tiffany M; Silva, Maria Aparecida; Louzã, Mario Rodrigues

2015-01-01

Background The cognitive profile of children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been well characterized, but few studies have evaluated the cognitive abilities of adults with NF1 and ADHD. Objectives We investigated 1) the cognitive profile of an adult patient with NF1 and inattention problems, 2) changes in his cognition after 14 months of follow-up, and 3) whether the patient exhibited comorbid NF1 and ADHD or secondary ADHD-like symptoms. Methods We administered neuropsychological tests of executive function, attention, verbal and visual memory, visuospatial function, and language during two evaluations separated by 14 months. Results We found no changes in sustained attention, language, or verbal memory. Visual memory, verbal learning, selective attention inhibitory control, and problem solving declined over time, whereas visual search, psychomotor speed, visuospatial function, and mental flexibility improved. Conclusion Our patient exhibited a cognitive profile characteristic of both NF1 and ADHD, leading to the hypothesis that the patient had comorbid ADHD instead of secondary ADHD-like symptoms. More studies are necessary to characterize the cognition of patients with NF1 and ADHD. PMID:25848279

Behavioral decoding of working memory items inside and outside the focus of attention.

PubMed

Mallett, Remington; Lewis-Peacock, Jarrod A

2018-03-31

How we attend to our thoughts affects how we attend to our environment. Holding information in working memory can automatically bias visual attention toward matching information. By observing attentional biases on reaction times to visual search during a memory delay, it is possible to reconstruct the source of that bias using machine learning techniques and thereby behaviorally decode the content of working memory. Can this be done when more than one item is held in working memory? There is some evidence that multiple items can simultaneously bias attention, but the effects have been inconsistent. One explanation may be that items are stored in different states depending on the current task demands. Recent models propose functionally distinct states of representation for items inside versus outside the focus of attention. Here, we use behavioral decoding to evaluate whether multiple memory items-including temporarily irrelevant items outside the focus of attention-exert biases on visual attention. Only the single item in the focus of attention was decodable. The other item showed a brief attentional bias that dissipated until it returned to the focus of attention. These results support the idea of dynamic, flexible states of working memory across time and priority. © 2018 New York Academy of Sciences.

Posterior parietal cortex and episodic encoding: insights from fMRI subsequent memory effects and dual-attention theory.

PubMed

Uncapher, Melina R; Wagner, Anthony D

2009-02-01

The formation of episodic memories--memories for life events--is affected by attention during event processing. A leading neurobiological model of attention posits two separate yet interacting systems that depend on distinct regions in lateral posterior parietal cortex (PPC). From this dual-attention perspective, dorsal PPC is thought to support the goal-directed allocation of attention, whereas ventral PPC is thought to support reflexive orienting to information that automatically captures attention. To advance understanding of how parietal mechanisms may impact event encoding, we review functional MRI studies that document the relationship between lateral PPC activation during encoding and subsequent memory performance (e.g., later remembering or forgetting). This review reveals that (a) encoding-related activity is frequently observed in human lateral PPC, (b) increased activation in dorsal PPC is associated with later memory success, and (c) increased activation in ventral PPC predominantly correlates with later memory failure. From a dual-attention perspective, these findings suggest that allocating goal-directed attention during event processing increases the probability that the event will be remembered later, whereas the capture of reflexive attention during event processing may have negative consequences for event encoding. The prevalence of encoding-related activation in parietal cortex suggests that neurobiological models of episodic memory should consider how parietal-mediated attentional mechanisms regulate encoding.

Focusing on Attention: The Effects of Working Memory Capacity and Load on Selective Attention

PubMed Central

Ahmed, Lubna; de Fockert, Jan W.

2012-01-01

Background Working memory (WM) is imperative for effective selective attention. Distractibility is greater under conditions of high (vs. low) concurrent working memory load (WML), and in individuals with low (vs. high) working memory capacity (WMC). In the current experiments, we recorded the flanker task performance of individuals with high and low WMC during low and high WML, to investigate the combined effect of WML and WMC on selective attention. Methodology/Principal Findings In Experiment 1, distractibility from a distractor at a fixed distance from the target was greater when either WML was high or WMC was low, but surprisingly smaller when both WML was high and WMC low. Thus we observed an inverted-U relationship between reductions in WM resources and distractibility. In Experiment 2, we mapped the distribution of spatial attention as a function of WMC and WML, by recording distractibility across several target-to-distractor distances. The pattern of distractor effects across the target-to-distractor distances demonstrated that the distribution of the attentional window becomes dispersed as WM resources are limited. The attentional window was more spread out under high compared to low WML, and for low compared to high WMC individuals, and even more so when the two factors co-occurred (i.e., under high WML in low WMC individuals). The inverted-U pattern of distractibility effects in Experiment 1, replicated in Experiment 2, can thus be explained by differences in the spread of the attentional window as a function of WM resource availability. Conclusions/Significance The current findings show that limitations in WM resources, due to either WML or individual differences in WMC, affect the spatial distribution of attention. The difference in attentional constraining between high and low WMC individuals demonstrated in the current experiments helps characterise the nature of previously established associations between WMC and controlled attention. PMID:22952636

Transcranial oscillatory direct current stimulation during sleep improves declarative memory consolidation in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder to a level comparable to healthy controls.

PubMed

Prehn-Kristensen, Alexander; Munz, Manuel; Göder, Robert; Wilhelm, Ines; Korr, Katharina; Vahl, Wiebke; Wiesner, Christian D; Baving, Lioba

2014-01-01

Slow oscillations (<1 Hz) during slow wave sleep (SWS) promote the consolidation of declarative memory. Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been shown to display deficits in sleep-dependent consolidation of declarative memory supposedly due to dysfunctional slow brain rhythms during SWS. Using transcranial oscillating direct current stimulation (toDCS) at 0.75 Hz, we investigated whether an externally triggered increase in slow oscillations during early SWS elevates memory performance in children with ADHD. 12 children with ADHD underwent a toDCS and a sham condition in a double-blind crossover study design conducted in a sleep laboratory. Memory was tested using a 2D object-location task. In addition, 12 healthy children performed the same memory task in their home environment. Stimulation enhanced slow oscillation power in children with ADHD and boosted memory performance to the same level as in healthy children. These data indicate that increasing slow oscillation power during sleep by toDCS can alleviate declarative memory deficits in children with ADHD. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Fragmented Perception: Slower Space-Based but Faster Object-Based Attention in Recent-Onset Psychosis with and without Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Smid, Henderikus G. O. M.; Bruggeman, Richard; Martens, Sander

2013-01-01

Background Schizophrenia is associated with impairments of the perception of objects, but how this affects higher cognitive functions, whether this impairment is already present after recent onset of psychosis, and whether it is specific for schizophrenia related psychosis, is not clear. We therefore tested the hypothesis that because schizophrenia is associated with impaired object perception, schizophrenia patients should differ in shifting attention between objects compared to healthy controls. To test this hypothesis, a task was used that allowed us to separately observe space-based and object-based covert orienting of attention. To examine whether impairment of object-based visual attention is related to higher order cognitive functions, standard neuropsychological tests were also administered. Method Patients with recent onset psychosis and normal controls performed the attention task, in which space- and object-based attention shifts were induced by cue-target sequences that required reorienting of attention within an object, or reorienting attention between objects. Results Patients with and without schizophrenia showed slower than normal spatial attention shifts, but the object-based component of attention shifts in patients was smaller than normal. Schizophrenia was specifically associated with slowed right-to-left attention shifts. Reorienting speed was significantly correlated with verbal memory scores in controls, and with visual attention scores in patients, but not with speed-of-processing scores in either group. Conclusions deficits of object-perception and spatial attention shifting are not only associated with schizophrenia, but are common to all psychosis patients. Schizophrenia patients only differed by having abnormally slow right-to-left visual field reorienting. Deficits of object-perception and spatial attention shifting are already present after recent onset of psychosis. Studies investigating visual spatial attention should take into account the separable effects of space-based and object-based shifting of attention. Impaired reorienting in patients was related to impaired visual attention, but not to deficits of processing speed and verbal memory. PMID:23536901

Fragmented perception: slower space-based but faster object-based attention in recent-onset psychosis with and without Schizophrenia.

PubMed

Smid, Henderikus G O M; Bruggeman, Richard; Martens, Sander

2013-01-01

Schizophrenia is associated with impairments of the perception of objects, but how this affects higher cognitive functions, whether this impairment is already present after recent onset of psychosis, and whether it is specific for schizophrenia related psychosis, is not clear. We therefore tested the hypothesis that because schizophrenia is associated with impaired object perception, schizophrenia patients should differ in shifting attention between objects compared to healthy controls. To test this hypothesis, a task was used that allowed us to separately observe space-based and object-based covert orienting of attention. To examine whether impairment of object-based visual attention is related to higher order cognitive functions, standard neuropsychological tests were also administered. Patients with recent onset psychosis and normal controls performed the attention task, in which space- and object-based attention shifts were induced by cue-target sequences that required reorienting of attention within an object, or reorienting attention between objects. Patients with and without schizophrenia showed slower than normal spatial attention shifts, but the object-based component of attention shifts in patients was smaller than normal. Schizophrenia was specifically associated with slowed right-to-left attention shifts. Reorienting speed was significantly correlated with verbal memory scores in controls, and with visual attention scores in patients, but not with speed-of-processing scores in either group. deficits of object-perception and spatial attention shifting are not only associated with schizophrenia, but are common to all psychosis patients. Schizophrenia patients only differed by having abnormally slow right-to-left visual field reorienting. Deficits of object-perception and spatial attention shifting are already present after recent onset of psychosis. Studies investigating visual spatial attention should take into account the separable effects of space-based and object-based shifting of attention. Impaired reorienting in patients was related to impaired visual attention, but not to deficits of processing speed and verbal memory.

From brain synapses to systems for learning and memory: Object recognition, spatial navigation, timed conditioning, and movement control.

PubMed

Grossberg, Stephen

2015-09-24

This article provides an overview of neural models of synaptic learning and memory whose expression in adaptive behavior depends critically on the circuits and systems in which the synapses are embedded. It reviews Adaptive Resonance Theory, or ART, models that use excitatory matching and match-based learning to achieve fast category learning and whose learned memories are dynamically stabilized by top-down expectations, attentional focusing, and memory search. ART clarifies mechanistic relationships between consciousness, learning, expectation, attention, resonance, and synchrony. ART models are embedded in ARTSCAN architectures that unify processes of invariant object category learning, recognition, spatial and object attention, predictive remapping, and eye movement search, and that clarify how conscious object vision and recognition may fail during perceptual crowding and parietal neglect. The generality of learned categories depends upon a vigilance process that is regulated by acetylcholine via the nucleus basalis. Vigilance can get stuck at too high or too low values, thereby causing learning problems in autism and medial temporal amnesia. Similar synaptic learning laws support qualitatively different behaviors: Invariant object category learning in the inferotemporal cortex; learning of grid cells and place cells in the entorhinal and hippocampal cortices during spatial navigation; and learning of time cells in the entorhinal-hippocampal system during adaptively timed conditioning, including trace conditioning. Spatial and temporal processes through the medial and lateral entorhinal-hippocampal system seem to be carried out with homologous circuit designs. Variations of a shared laminar neocortical circuit design have modeled 3D vision, speech perception, and cognitive working memory and learning. A complementary kind of inhibitory matching and mismatch learning controls movement. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Brain and Memory. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Taming a wandering attention: short-form mindfulness training in student cohorts.

PubMed

Morrison, Alexandra B; Goolsarran, Merissa; Rogers, Scott L; Jha, Amishi P

2014-01-06

Mindfulness training (MT) is a form of mental training in which individuals engage in exercises to cultivate an attentive, present centered, and non-reactive mental mode. The present study examines the putative benefits of MT in University students for whom mind wandering can interfere with learning and academic success. We tested the hypothesis that short-form MT (7 h over 7 weeks) contextualized for the challenges and concerns of University students may reduce mind wandering and improve working memory. Performance on the sustained attention to response task (SART) and two working memory tasks (operation span, delayed-recognition with distracters) was indexed in participants assigned to a waitlist control group or the MT course. Results demonstrated MT-related benefits in SART performance. Relative to the control group, MT participants had higher task accuracy and self-reported being more "on-task" after the 7-week training period. MT did not significantly benefit the operation span task or accuracy on the delayed-recognition task. Together these results suggest that while short-form MT did not bolster working memory task performance, it may help curb mind wandering and should, therefore, be further investigated for its use in academic contexts.

The iconic memory skills of brain injury survivors and non-brain injured controls after visual scanning training.

PubMed

McClure, J T; Browning, R T; Vantrease, C M; Bittle, S T

1994-01-01

Previous research suggests that traumatic brain injury (TBI) results in impairment of iconic memory abilities.We would like to acknowledge the contribution of Jeffrey D. Vantrease, who wrote the software program for the Iconic Memory procedure and measurement. This raises serious implications for brain injury rehabilitation. Most cognitive rehabilitation programs do not include iconic memory training. Instead it is common for cognitive rehabilitation programs to focus on attention and concentration skills, memory skills, and visual scanning skills.This study compared the iconic memory skills of brain-injury survivors and control subjects who all reached criterion levels of visual scanning skills. This involved previous training for the brain-injury survivors using popular visual scanning programs that allowed them to visually scan with response time and accuracy within normal limits. Control subjects required only minimal training to reach normal limits criteria. This comparison allows for the dissociation of visual scanning skills and iconic memory skills.The results are discussed in terms of their implications for cognitive rehabilitation and the relationship between visual scanning training and iconic memory skills.

Short-term retention of visual information: Evidence in support of feature-based attention as an underlying mechanism.

PubMed

Sneve, Markus H; Sreenivasan, Kartik K; Alnæs, Dag; Endestad, Tor; Magnussen, Svein

2015-01-01

Retention of features in visual short-term memory (VSTM) involves maintenance of sensory traces in early visual cortex. However, the mechanism through which this is accomplished is not known. Here, we formulate specific hypotheses derived from studies on feature-based attention to test the prediction that visual cortex is recruited by attentional mechanisms during VSTM of low-level features. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of human visual areas revealed that neural populations coding for task-irrelevant feature information are suppressed during maintenance of detailed spatial frequency memory representations. The narrow spectral extent of this suppression agrees well with known effects of feature-based attention. Additionally, analyses of effective connectivity during maintenance between retinotopic areas in visual cortex show that the observed highlighting of task-relevant parts of the feature spectrum originates in V4, a visual area strongly connected with higher-level control regions and known to convey top-down influence to earlier visual areas during attentional tasks. In line with this property of V4 during attentional operations, we demonstrate that modulations of earlier visual areas during memory maintenance have behavioral consequences, and that these modulations are a result of influences from V4. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prospective memory: effects of divided attention on spontaneous retrieval.

PubMed

Harrison, Tyler L; Mullet, Hillary G; Whiffen, Katie N; Ousterhout, Hunter; Einstein, Gilles O

2014-02-01

We examined the effects of divided attention on the spontaneous retrieval of a prospective memory intention. Participants performed an ongoing lexical decision task with an embedded prospective memory demand, and also performed a divided-attention task during some segments of lexical decision trials. In all experiments, monitoring was highly discouraged, and we observed no evidence that participants engaged monitoring processes. In Experiment 1, performing a moderately demanding divided-attention task (a digit detection task) did not affect prospective memory performance. In Experiment 2, performing a more challenging divided-attention task (random number generation) impaired prospective memory. Experiment 3 showed that this impairment was eliminated when the prospective memory cue was perceptually salient. Taken together, the results indicate that spontaneous retrieval is not automatic and that challenging divided-attention tasks interfere with spontaneous retrieval and not with the execution of a retrieved intention.

The role of executive functioning in children's attentional pain control: an experimental analysis.

PubMed

Verhoeven, Katrien; Dick, Bruce; Eccleston, Christopher; Goubert, Liesbet; Crombez, Geert

2014-02-01

Directing attention away from pain is often used in children's pain treatment programs to control pain. However, empirical evidence concerning its effectiveness is inconclusive. We therefore sought to understand other influencing factors, including executive function and its role in the pain experience. This study investigates the role of executive functioning in the effectiveness of distraction. School children (n=164) completed executive functioning tasks (inhibition, switching, and working memory) and performed a cold-pressor task. One half of the children simultaneously performed a distracting tone-detection task; the other half did not. Results showed that participants in the distraction group were engaged in the distraction task and were reported to pay significantly less attention to pain than controls. Executive functioning influenced distraction task engagement. More specifically, participants with good inhibition and working memory abilities performed the distraction task better; participants with good switching abilities reported having paid more attention to the distraction task. Furthermore, distraction was found to be ineffective in reducing pain intensity and affect. Executive functioning did not influence the effectiveness of distraction. However, a relationship was found between executive functioning and pain affect, indicating that participants with good inhibition and working memory abilities experienced the cold-pressor task as less stressful and unpleasant. Our findings suggest that distraction as a process for managing pain is complex. While it appears that executive function may play a role in adult distraction, in this study it did not direct attention away from pain. It may instead be involved in the overall pain experience. Copyright © 2013 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The role of processing difficulty in the predictive utility of working memory span.

PubMed

Bunting, Michael

2006-12-01

Storage-plus-processing working memory span tasks (e.g., operation span [OSPAN]) are strong predictors of higher order cognition, including general fluid intelligence. This is due, in part, to the difficulty of the processing component. When the processing component prevents only articulatory rehearsal, but not executive attentional control, the predictive utility is attenuated. Participants in one experiment (N = 59) completed Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM) and multiple versions of OSPAN and probed recall (PR). A distractor task (high or low difficulty) was added to PR, and OSPAN's processing component was manipulated for difficulty. OSPAN and PR correlated with RAPM when the processing component took executive attentional control. These results are suggestive of resource sharing between processing and storage.

The relaxation response: reducing stress and improving cognition in healthy aging adults.

PubMed

Galvin, Jennifer A; Benson, Herbert; Deckro, Gloria R; Fricchione, Gregory L; Dusek, Jeffery A

2006-08-01

Aging adults are vulnerable to the effects of a negative emotional state. The relaxation response (RR) is a mind-body intervention that counteracts the harmful effects of stress. Previous studies with relaxation techniques have shown the non-pharmacological benefit of reducing stress and improving the memory of healthy older adults. Our pilot study evaluated whether a RR training program would decrease anxiety levels, improve attention, declarative memory performance and/or decrease salivary cortisol levels in healthy older adults. Fifteen adults participated and were randomly assigned to a RR training or control groups. Mean age was 71.3 years and mean education level was 17.9 years. Reaction time on a simple attention/psychomotor task was significantly improved (p<0.0025) with RR training, whereas there was no significant improvement on complex tasks of attention, verbal, or visual declarative memory tests. Self-reported state anxiety levels showed a marginally significant reduction (p<0.066). All subjects' salivary cortisol levels were within low-normal range and did not significantly change. Our 5-week program in highly educated, mobile, healthy, aging adults significantly improved performance on a simple attention task.

The effects of divided attention on auditory priming.

PubMed

Mulligan, Neil W; Duke, Marquinn; Cooper, Angela W

2007-09-01

Traditional theorizing stresses the importance of attentional state during encoding for later memory, based primarily on research with explicit memory. Recent research has begun to investigate the role of attention in implicit memory but has focused almost exclusively on priming in the visual modality. The present experiments examined the effect of divided attention on auditory implicit memory, using auditory perceptual identification, word-stem completion and word-fragment completion. Participants heard study words under full attention conditions or while simultaneously carrying out a distractor task (the divided attention condition). In Experiment 1, a distractor task with low response frequency failed to disrupt later auditory priming (but diminished explicit memory as assessed with auditory recognition). In Experiment 2, a distractor task with greater response frequency disrupted priming on all three of the auditory priming tasks as well as the explicit test. These results imply that although auditory priming is less reliant on attention than explicit memory, it is still greatly affected by at least some divided-attention manipulations. These results are consistent with research using visual priming tasks and have relevance for hypotheses regarding attention and auditory priming.

Selective attention neutralizes the adverse effects of low socioeconomic status on memory in 9-month-old infants.

PubMed

Markant, Julie; Ackerman, Laura K; Nussenbaum, Kate; Amso, Dima

2016-04-01

Socioeconomic status (SES) has a documented impact on brain and cognitive development. We demonstrate that engaging spatial selective attention mechanisms may counteract this negative influence of impoverished environments on early learning. We previously used a spatial cueing task to compare target object encoding in the context of basic orienting ("facilitation") versus a spatial selective attention orienting mechanism that engages distractor suppression ("IOR"). This work showed that object encoding in the context of IOR boosted 9-month-old infants' recognition memory relative to facilitation (Markant and Amso, 2013). Here we asked whether this attention-memory link further interacted with SES in infancy. Results indicated that SES was related to memory but not attention orienting efficacy. However, the correlation between SES and memory performance was moderated by the attention mechanism engaged during encoding. SES predicted memory performance when objects were encoded with basic orienting processes, with infants from low-SES environments showing poorer memory than those from high-SES environments. However, SES did not predict memory performance among infants who engaged selective attention during encoding. Spatial selective attention engagement mitigated the effects of SES on memory and may offer an effective mechanism for promoting learning among infants at risk for poor cognitive outcomes related to SES. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Improving visual memory, attention, and school function with atomoxetine in boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

PubMed

Shang, Chi-Yung; Gau, Susan Shur-Fen

2012-10-01

Atomoxetine is efficacious in reducing symptoms of attention- deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but its effect on visual memory and attention needs more investigation. This study aimed to assess the effect of atomoxetine on visual memory, attention, and school function in boys with ADHD in Taiwan. This was an open-label 12 week atomoxetine treatment trial among 30 drug-naíve boys with ADHD, aged 8-16 years. Before administration of atomoxetine, the participants were assessed using psychiatric interviews, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 3rd edition (WISC-III), the school function of the Chinese version of the Social Adjustment Inventory for Children and Adolescents (SAICA), the Conners' Continuous Performance Test (CPT), and the tasks of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) involving visual memory and attention: Pattern Recognition Memory, Spatial Recognition Memory, and Reaction Time, which were reassessed at weeks 4 and 12. Our results showed there was significant improvement in pattern recognition memory and spatial recognition memory as measured by the CANTAB tasks, sustained attention and response inhibition as measured by the CPT, and reaction time as measured by the CANTAB after treatment with atomoxetine for 4 weeks or 12 weeks. In addition, atomoxetine significantly enhanced school functioning in children with ADHD. Our findings suggested that atomoxetine was associated with significant improvement in visual memory, attention, and school functioning in boys with ADHD.

Longitudinal and concurrent links between memory span, anxiety symptoms, and subsequent executive functioning in young children

PubMed Central

Visu-Petra, Laura; Stanciu, Oana; Benga, Oana; Miclea, Mircea; Cheie, Lavinia

2014-01-01

It has been conjectured that basic individual differences in attentional control influence higher-level executive functioning and subsequent academic performance in children. The current study sets out to complement the limited body of research on early precursors of executive functions (EFs). It provides both a cross-sectional, as well as a longitudinal exploration of the relationship between EF and more basic attentional control mechanisms, assessed via children's performance on memory storage tasks, and influenced by individual differences in anxiety. Multiple measures of verbal and visuospatial short-term memory (STM) were administered to children between 3 and 6 years old, alongside a non-verbal measure of intelligence, and a parental report of anxiety symptoms. After 9 months, children were re-tested on the same STM measures, at which time we also administered multiple measures of executive functioning: verbal and visuospatial working memory (WM), inhibition, and shifting. A cross-sectional view of STM development indicated that between 3 and 6 years the trajectory of visuospatial STM and EF underwent a gradual linear improvement. However, between 5 and 6 years progress in verbal STM performance stagnated. Hierarchical regression models revealed that trait anxiety was negatively associated with WM and shifting, while non-verbal intelligence was positively related to WM span. When age, gender, non-verbal intelligence, and anxiety were controlled for, STM (measured at the first assessment) was a very good predictor of overall executive performance. The models were most successful in predicting WM, followed by shifting, yet poorly predicted inhibition measures. Further longitudinal research is needed to directly address the contribution of attentional control mechanisms to emerging executive functioning and to the development of problematic behavior during early development. PMID:24904462