Anticipatory cue‐related alpha desynchronization reflects top‐down disinhibitory control during verbal working memory task

Background. There is considerable variability between patients in their expression of the diverse range of symptoms encompassed by the syndrome of schizophrenia, which may modulate functional activation to cognitive processing.Method. Here we investigate associations between schizophrenic subsyndrome scores, identified by factor analysis, and experimentally controlled brain activation. Five factors were defined by rotated principal components analysis of PANSS rating scale measurements in 100 patients with schizophrenia. A subsample of 30 patients and a group of 27 comparison subjects were studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during the performance of two periodically designed cognitive activation experiments: verbal working memory and psychomotor sequencing.Results. Factor analysis replicated the five dimensions consistently reported. Within the patient group, power of activation by working memory was negatively associated with global symptom severity in left lingual and temporo-parietal cortices; negatively associated with positive subsyndrome scores in left inferior frontal and superior temporal cortices and basal ganglia; and positively associated with negative subsyndrome scores in lateral and medial premotor cortex. No relationship was observed between subsyndrome scores and functional activation during the motor task. Between-group comparisons demonstrated reduced power of response to the working memory task by patients in bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal and left pre- and post-central cortices.Conclusions. In this study we observed task-specific modulation of functional response associated with symptom expression in schizophrenia. Our findings are compatible with previous empirical findings and theoretical conceptualization of human brain function, in terms of capacity constraints on activation in the face of competing demands from pathological and task-related cognitive activity.

Download Full-text

Social Skills Intervention Participation and Associated Improvements in Executive Function Performance

Autism Research and Treatment ◽

10.1155/2017/5843851 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2017 ◽

pp. 1-13 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Shawn E. Christ ◽

Janine P. Stichter ◽

Karen V. O’Connor ◽

Kimberly Bodner ◽

Amanda J. Moffitt ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Executive Function ◽

Social Competence ◽

Spatial Working Memory ◽

Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽

Memory Task ◽

Verbal Working Memory ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Mixing Costs ◽

Adolescents With Asd

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in social communication. It has been postulated that such difficulties are related to disruptions in underlying cognitive processes such as executive function. The present study examined potential changes in executive function performance associated with participation in the Social Competence Intervention (SCI) program, a short-term intervention designed to improve social competence in adolescents with ASD. Laboratory behavioral performance measures were used to separately evaluate potential intervention-related changes in individual executive function component processes (i.e., working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility) in a sample of 22 adolescents with ASD both before and after intervention. For comparison purposes, a demographically matched sample of 14 individuals without ASD was assessed at identical time intervals. Intervention-related improvements were observed on the working memory task, with gains evident in spatial working memory and, to a slightly lesser degree, verbal working memory. Significant improvements were also found for a working memory-related aspect of the task switching test (i.e., mixing costs). Taken together, these findings provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that participation in the SCI program is accompanied by changes in underlying neurocognitive processes such as working memory.

Download Full-text

Right parietal hypoactivation in a cocaine-dependent group during a verbal working memory task

Brain Research ◽

10.1016/j.brainres.2010.12.042 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 1375 ◽

pp. 111-119 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Juan-Carlos Bustamante ◽

Alfonso Barrós-Loscertales ◽

Noelia Ventura-Campos ◽

Ana Sanjuán ◽

Juan-José Llopis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Memory Task ◽

Verbal Working Memory

Download Full-text

Sex Differences in Working Memory

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.103.1.214-218 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 103 (1) ◽

pp. 214-218 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Ashley Harness ◽

Lorri Jacot ◽

Shauna Scherf ◽

Adam White ◽

Jason E. Warnick

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Sex Differences ◽

Memory Task ◽

Stimulus Presentation ◽

Verbal Working Memory ◽

Recall Task ◽

Free Recall Task ◽

Men And Women ◽

Distraction Condition ◽

Distraction Task

In two separate studies, sex differences in modal-specific elements of working memory were investigated by utilizing words and pictures as stimuli. Groups of men and women performed a free-recall task of words or pictures in which 20 items were presented concurrently and the number of correct items recalled was measured. Following stimulus presentation, half of the participants were presented a verbal-based distraction task. On the verbal working-memory task, performance of men and women was not significantly different in the no-distraction condition. However, in the distraction condition, women's recall was significantly lower than their performance in the no-distraction condition and men's performance in the distraction condition. These findings are consistent with previous research and point to sex differences in cognitive ability putatively resulting from functional neuroanatomical dissimilarities. On the visual working-memory task, women showed significantly greater recall than men. These findings are inconsistent with previous research and underscore the need for further research.

Download Full-text