Up-regulation of proactive control is associated with beneficial effects of a childhood gymnastics program on response preparation and working memory

AbstractPreviously, it has been shown that strawberry (SB) or blueberry (BB) supplementations, when fed to rats from 19 to 21 months of age, reverse age-related decrements in motor and cognitive performance. We have postulated that these effects may be the result of a number of positive benefits of the berry polyphenols, including decreased stress signalling, increased neurogenesis, and increased signals involved in learning and memory. Thus, the present study was carried out to examine these mechanisms in aged animals by administering a control, 2 % SB- or 2 % BB-supplemented diet to aged Fischer 344 rats for 8 weeks to ascertain their effectiveness in reversing age-related deficits in behavioural and neuronal function. The results showed that rats consuming the berry diets exhibited enhanced motor performance and improved cognition, specifically working memory. In addition, the rats supplemented with BB and SB diets showed increased hippocampal neurogenesis and expression of insulin-like growth factor 1, although the improvements in working memory performance could not solely be explained by these increases. The diverse polyphenolics in these berry fruits may have additional mechanisms of action that could account for their relative differences in efficacy.

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Aging, working memory capacity and the proactive control of recollection: An event-related potential study

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0180367 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 12 (7) ◽

pp. e0180367 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jessica Keating ◽

Caitlin Affleck-Brodie ◽

Ronny Wiegand ◽

Alexa M. Morcom

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Working Memory Capacity ◽

Memory Capacity ◽

Event Related Potential ◽

Proactive Control ◽

Potential Study

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The effect of sodium nitroprusside on psychotic symptoms and spatial working memory in patients with schizophrenia: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291716002245 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 46 (16) ◽

pp. 3443-3450 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

J. M. Stone ◽

P. D. Morrison ◽

I. Koychev ◽

F. Gao ◽

T. J. Reilly ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Sodium Nitroprusside ◽

Rating Scale ◽

Spatial Working Memory ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Psychotic Symptoms ◽

Double Blind ◽

Double Blind Placebo ◽

Beneficial Effects ◽

Psychiatric Rating Scale

BackgroundSodium nitroprusside (SNP) has been reported to rapidly reduce psychotic symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. This has the potential to revolutionize treatment for schizophrenia. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that SNP leads to a reduction in psychotic symptoms and an improvement in spatial working memory (SWM) performance in patients with schizophrenia.MethodThis was a single-centre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial performed from 27 August 2014 to 10 February 2016 (clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT02176044). Twenty patients with schizophrenia aged 18–60 years with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were recruited from psychiatric outpatient clinics in the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, London, UK. Baseline symptoms were measured using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the 18-item Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS-18), and SWM was assessed using the CANTAB computerized test. Participants received either an infusion of SNP (0.5 μg/kg per min for 4 h) or placebo and were re-assessed for symptoms and SWM performance immediately after the infusion, and 4 weeks later.ResultsSNP did not lead to any reduction in psychotic symptoms or improvement in SWM performance compared to placebo.ConclusionsAlthough this study was negative, it is possible that the beneficial effects of SNP may occur in patients with a shorter history of illness, or with more acute exacerbation of symptoms.

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Working memory capacity and intra-individual variability of proactive control

Acta Psychologica ◽

10.1016/j.actpsy.2017.11.002 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 182 ◽

pp. 21-31 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Elizabeth A. Wiemers ◽

Thomas S. Redick

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Working Memory Capacity ◽

Memory Capacity ◽

Individual Variability ◽

Proactive Control

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P19: Proactive control of interference in working memory – a combined TMS-EEG study

Clinical Neurophysiology ◽

10.1016/s1388-2457(14)50182-4 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 125 ◽

pp. S53

Author(s):

K. Irlbacher ◽

S. Kehrer ◽

A. Kraft ◽

S. Fabian ◽

S.A. Brandt

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Proactive Control

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Reward influences the allocation but not the availability of resources in visual working memory

10.1101/2021.06.08.447414 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

James A Brissenden ◽

Tyler J Adkins ◽

Yu Ting Hsu ◽

Taraz G Lee

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Visual Working Memory ◽

Memory Task ◽

Allocation Of Resources ◽

Proactive Control ◽

Information Studies ◽

Recall Error ◽

Total Capacity ◽

Trial Participants ◽

Total Resource

Visual working memory possesses strict capacity constraints which place limits on the availability of resources for encoding and maintaining information. Studies have shown that prospective rewards improve performance on visual working memory tasks, but it remains unclear whether rewards increase total resource availability or rather influence the allocation of resources without affecting availability. Participants performed a continuous report visual working memory task with oriented grating stimuli. On each trial, participants were presented with a priority cue, which signaled the item most likely to be probed, and a reward cue, which signaled the magnitude of a performance-contingent reward. We showed that rewards decreased recall error for cued items and increased recall error for non-cued items. We further demonstrated that rewards produced a tradeoff in the probability of successfully encoding a cued versus a non-cued item rather than a tradeoff in recall precision or the probability of binding errors. Lastly, we showed that rewards only affected resource allocation when participants were given the opportunity to engage proactive control prior to encoding. These findings indicate that rewards influence the flexible allocation of resources during selection and encoding in visual working memory, but do not augment total capacity.

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Behavioral Measures of Attention and Cognitive Control During a New Auditory Working Memory Paradigm

10.31234/osf.io/ze6ab ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Jürgen Kayser ◽

Lidia Y.X. Wong ◽

Elizabeth Sacchi ◽

Lindsey Casal-Roscum ◽

Jorge E. Alvarenga ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Cognitive Control ◽

Cognitive Impairments ◽

Relevant Information ◽

Auditory Hallucinations ◽

Proactive Control ◽

Behavioral Measures ◽

Response Sensitivity ◽

Functional Deficits ◽

Visual Tasks

Proactive control is the ability to manipulate and maintain goal-relevant information within working memory (WM), allowing individuals to selectively attend to important information while inhibiting irrelevant distractions. Deficits in proactive control may cause multiple cognitive impairments seen in schizophrenia. However, studies of cognitive control have largely relied on visual tasks, even though functional deficits in schizophrenia are more frequent and severe in the auditory domain (i.e., hallucinations). Hence, we developed an auditory analog of a visual Ignore/Suppress paradigm. Healthy adults (N=40) listened to a series of 4 letters (600-ms SOA) presented alternately to each ear, followed by a 3.2-s maintenance interval and a probe. Participants were directed to either selectively ignore (I) to-be-presented letters to one ear, suppress (S) letters already presented to one ear, or remember (R) all presented letters. The critical cue was provided either before (I) or after (S) the encoding series, or simultaneously with the probe (R). Probes were encoding items presented to the attended/not suppressed ear (“Valid”), the ignored/suppressed ear (“Lure”), or not presented (“Control”). Replicating prior findings during visual Ignore/Suppress tasks, response sensitivity and latency revealed poorer performance for Lure than Control trials, particularly during the Suppress condition. Shorter Suppress than Remember latencies suggested a behavioral advantage when discarding encoded items from WM. Paradigm-related internal consistencies and 1-week test-retest reliabilities (n=38) were good to excellent. Findings validate these auditory WM tasks as a reliable manipulation of proactive control and set the stage for studies with schizophrenia patients who experience auditory hallucinations.

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Effects of Daily Almond Consumption for Six Months on Cognitive Measures in Healthy Older Adults: A Randomized Control Trial

Current Developments in Nutrition ◽

10.1093/cdn/nzaa057_029 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_2) ◽

pp. 1213-1213

Author(s):

Elizabeth Johnson ◽

Jelena Mustra Rakic ◽

Jirayu Tanprasertsuk ◽

Tammy M Scott ◽

Helen Rasmussen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Working Memory ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Visual Memory ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Serum Markers ◽

Alpha Tocopherol ◽

Beneficial Effects ◽

Funding Sources ◽

The Impact

Abstract Objectives Cognitive impairment is a major risk factor for the development of dementia. Almonds are rich in nutrients recognized to have beneficial effects on cognitive function. The objective of this study is to determine the impact of almond consumption on cognition in elderly adults. Methods In a 6-mo single-blinded randomized controlled trial the effects of an almond intervention on cognition in healthy middle-aged to older adults were tested. Subjects were assigned to one of three groups: 1.5 oz/d almond (n = 19), 3 oz/d almond (n = 24) or 1.5 oz/d snack mix (matched for macronutrients in 3.0 oz almonds; n = 17). Dietary interviews, serum analyses for tocopherols, magnesium, oxidative status and inflammation biomarkers and cognitive function were assessed at baseline (M0), three (M3) and six (M6) months. Results At M6 serum alpha-tocopherol concentrations were increased by 8% from M0 in the 3 oz almond group (P < 0.05) and no increases were observed in the other groups. Serum markers of oxidative stress and inflammation were not significantly different at M0, M3 and M6 among the three groups. At M6 there were significant improvements in visuospatial working memory, visual memory and learning and spatial planning and working memory in subjects consuming 3 oz/d almonds. The snack mix and 1.5 oz/d almond groups showed no significant changes in these measures. Conclusions The study findings suggest that a long-term intervention with almonds may be an effective dietary strategy for preventing cognitive decline in an older population Funding Sources Almond Board of California, USDA CRIS #8050–51,000-095–02S.

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