Individual differences in cognitive-flexibility: The influence of spontaneous eyeblink rate, trait psychoticism and working memory on attentional set-shifting

Background. Behavioural syndromes (thought disturbance, social withdrawal, depressed behaviour and antisocial behaviour) offer a different perspective from that of symptomatic syndromes on the disability that may be associated with schizophrenia. Few studies have assessed their relationship with neuropsychological deficits. We hypothesized that these syndromes may represent behavioural manifestations of frontal-subcortical impairments, previously described in schizophrenia.Method. Long-stay inpatients (n=54) and community patients (n=43) with enduring schizophrenia were assessed, using measures of symptoms and behaviour and tests of executive functioning. The relationship between syndromes and neuropsychological function was assessed using multiple regression and logistic regression analyses.Results. Significant associations were found between performance on the spatial working memory task and the psychomotor poverty symptomatic syndrome, and between attentional set-shifting ability and both disorganization symptoms and the thought disturbance behavioural syndrome. These results were not explained by the effect of premorbid IQ, geographical location, length of illness or antipsychotic medication. Length of illness was an independent predictor of attentional set-shifting ability but not of working memory performance.Conclusion. The specific relationship between negative symptoms and spatial working memory is consistent with involvement of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The associations between difficulty with set-shifting ability and both disorganization symptoms and behaviours may reflect inability to generalize a rule that had been learned and impaired ability to respond flexibly. The specific relationship of illness duration to set-shifting ability may suggest progressive impairment on some executive tasks. The nature of these relationships and their neurobiological and rehabilitation implications are considered.

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Exploring the link between character, personality disorder, and neuropsychological function

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2003.03.008 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 18 (7) ◽

pp. 334-344 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Å.H Bergvall ◽

T Nilsson ◽

S Hansen

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Personality Disorder ◽

Visual Working Memory ◽

Spatial Working Memory ◽

Neuropsychological Functioning ◽

Neuropsychological Test ◽

Set Shifting ◽

Attentional Set ◽

Attentional Set Shifting ◽

Personality Disordered

AbstractPersonality deviations and deficits in cognitive executive function are common among forensic populations. The present study on incarcerated offenders explored whether there are links between the two domains. Personality was assessed using the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). Neuropsychological performance, including visual working memory, attentional set-shifting and planning, were tested with the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB). Subjects with personality disorders scored high on harm avoidance, and low on self-directedness and cooperativeness. Personality disordered offenders did not differ from the comparison groups (offenders without personality disorder, and non-criminal controls) with regard to CANTAB measures of visual working memory (delayed matching to sample, spatial working memory) and planning (Stockings of Cambridge), but they made a larger number of errors on the attentional set-shifting task. Dimensional analysis of the personality and neuropsychological variables revealed significant associations between self-directedness and cooperativeness on the one hand, and attentional set-shifting on the other. Intellectually disabled, non-criminal individuals (marginal mental retardation) who performed poorly on attentional set-shifting also scored low on self-directedness and cooperativeness. The results indicate that poor development of certain personality traits may be associated with deficits in neuropsychological functioning.

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Fronto-striatal circuits for cognitive flexibility in far from onset Huntington’s disease: evidence from the Young Adult Study

Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry ◽

10.1136/jnnp-2020-324104 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. jnnp-2020-324104 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Christelle Langley ◽

Sarah Gregory ◽

Katie Osborne-Crowley ◽

Claire O'Callaghan ◽

Paul Zeun ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Young Adult ◽

Functional Connectivity ◽

Huntington's Disease ◽

Huntington’S Disease ◽

Cognitive Flexibility ◽

Study Cohort ◽

Set Shifting ◽

Attentional Set ◽

Adult Study ◽

Attentional Set Shifting

ObjectivesCognitive flexibility, which is key for adaptive decision-making, engages prefrontal cortex (PFC)-striatal circuitry and is impaired in both manifest and premanifest Huntington’s disease (pre-HD). The aim of this study was to examine cognitive flexibility in a far from onset pre-HD cohort to determine whether an early impairment exists and if so, whether fronto-striatal circuits were associated with this deficit.MethodsIn the present study, we examined performance of 51 pre-HD participants (mean age=29.22 (SD=5.71) years) from the HD Young Adult Study cohort and 53 controls matched for age, sex and IQ, on the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) Intra-Extra Dimensional Set-Shift (IED) task. This cohort is unique as it is the furthest from disease onset comprehensively studied to date (mean years=23.89 (SD=5.96) years). The IED task measures visual discrimination learning, cognitive flexibility and specifically attentional set-shifting. We used resting-state functional MRI to examine whether the functional connectivity between specific fronto-striatal circuits was dysfunctional in pre-HD, compared with controls, and whether these circuits were associated with performance on the critical extradimensional shift stage.ResultsOur results demonstrated that the CANTAB IED task detects a mild early impairment in cognitive flexibility in a pre-HD group far from onset. Attentional set-shifting was significantly related to functional connectivity between the ventrolateral PFC and ventral striatum in healthy controls and to functional connectivity between the dorsolateral PFC and caudate in pre-HD participants.ConclusionWe postulate that this incipient impairment of cognitive flexibility may be associated with intrinsically abnormal functional connectivity of fronto-striatal circuitry in pre-HD.

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A deficit in attentional set-shifting of violent offenders

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291701004317 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 31 (6) ◽

pp. 1095-1105 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Å. H. BERGVALL ◽

H. WESSELY ◽

A. FORSMAN ◽

S. HANSEN

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Neuropsychological Test ◽

Poor Performance ◽

Antisocial Behaviour ◽

Violent Offenders ◽

Set Shifting ◽

Court Order ◽

Perceptual Dimension ◽

Attentional Set ◽

Attentional Set Shifting

Background. Recent brain imaging studies suggest that proneness to violence and antisocial behaviour may be associated with dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex. The present study, therefore, examined aspects of prefrontally guided executive functions in a group of criminal violent men.Methods. Violent offenders undergoing forensic psychiatric examination by court order undertook computerized tasks for planning, visual working memory and attentional set-shifting from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. Their performance was compared to that of subjects with marginal mental retardation and normal controls.Results. Violent offenders performed well on tasks for spatial and figurative working memory, as well as on a test for planning. A marked impairment was observed in the attentional set-shifting task: offenders made significantly more errors than the other groups when required to shift attention from one perceptual dimension to another. Reversal learning was also deficient. Correlational analyses within the offender group revealed that poor performance on the perceptual shift problem was associated with fewer errors in tasks for working memory and planning.Conclusions. The present results suggest that violent offenders show dual impairments in inhibitory cognitive control. First, they are deficient in shifting attention from one category to another. Secondly, the ability to alter behaviour in response to fluctuations in the emotional significance of stimuli is compromised. These deficits might constitute cognitive reflections of the biological prefrontal alterations observed in this group of people.

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Advancing research on cognitive flexibility in eating disorders: The importance of distinguishing attentional set-shifting and reversal learning

International Journal of Eating Disorders ◽

10.1002/eat.22243 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 47 (3) ◽

pp. 227-230 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Jennifer E. Wildes ◽

Erika E. Forbes ◽

Marsha D. Marcus

Keyword(s):

Eating Disorders ◽

Cognitive Flexibility ◽

Reversal Learning ◽

Set Shifting ◽

Attentional Set ◽

Attentional Set Shifting

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Mediodorsal thalamus is critical for updating during extra-dimensional shifts but not reversals in the attentional set-shifting task

10.1101/2021.04.13.439610 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Zakaria Ouhaz ◽

Brook AL Perry ◽

Kouichi Nakamura ◽

Anna S Mitchell

Keyword(s):

Frontal Cortex ◽

Cognitive Flexibility ◽

Optimal Choice ◽

Response Strategy ◽

Choice Response ◽

Set Shifting ◽

Attentional Set ◽

Mediodorsal Thalamus ◽

Attentional Set Shifting ◽

Set Shifting Task

AbstractCognitive flexibility, attributed to frontal cortex, is vital for navigating the complexities of everyday life. The mediodorsal thalamus (MD), interconnected to frontal cortex, may influence cognitive flexibility. Here rats performed an attentional set-shifting task measuring intra-dimensional and extra-dimensional shifts in sensory discriminations. MD lesion rats needed more trials to learn the rewarded sensory dimension. However, once the choice response strategy was established, learning further two-choice discriminations in the same sensory dimension, and reversals of the reward contingencies in the same dimension, were unimpaired. Critically though, MD lesion rats were impaired during the extra-dimensional shift, when they must rapidly update the optimal choice response strategy. Behavioral analyses showed MD lesion rats had significantly reduced ‘on-the-fly’ correct second choice responses. Diminshed c-Fos expression in the prelimbic and orbitofrontal cortex was also documented. This evidence shows transfer of information via the MD is critical when monitoring and rapid updates in established choice response strategies are required.

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