Investigating EEG theta and alpha oscillations as measures of value-directed strategic processing in cognitively normal younger and older adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 391 ◽  
pp. 112702
Author(s):  
Lydia T. Nguyen ◽  
Francesco Marini ◽  
Shraddha A. Shende ◽  
Daniel A. Llano ◽  
Raksha A. Mudar
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 714-715
Author(s):  
Lydia Nguyen ◽  
Elizabeth Lydon ◽  
Raksha Mudar

Abstract Value-directed strategic processing involves selectively attending to and processing information deemed more important while ignoring or inhibiting less important information. What we selectively attend to can be driven by the value we ascribe to the information, often based on stimulus factors such as perceptual features that make the information stand out, or conceptual features that make it easy to group information. The current study investigated whether behavioral measures of value-directed strategic processing are differentially affected when value is defined by perceptual versus conceptual features, and how normal cognitive aging impacts processing. Cognitively normal younger (N = 16; mean age: 22.1 ± 2.9 years) and older adults (N = 16; mean age: 66.9 ± 7.3 years) completed two value-directed strategic processing tasks, where value was defined by either perceptual (i.e., uppercase and lowercase letters; Letter Case task) or conceptual (i.e., animals and household items; Categories task) features. Both groups had higher recall on the Categories task compared to the Letter Case task, and higher recall for high- than low-value words. However, older adults recalled fewer total words than younger adults, but the groups did not differ across task types. These findings indicate that manipulating perceptual and/or conceptual features to define value can be used to study value-directed strategic processing in younger and older adults. Furthermore, grouping information based on conceptual features may be more effective for promoting subsequent recall in both younger and older adults.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jahnavi Mundluru ◽  
Abdul Subhan ◽  
Tsz Wai Bentley Lo ◽  
Nathan Churchill ◽  
Luis Fornazzari ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 292-293
Author(s):  
Lydia Nguyen ◽  
Shraddha Shende ◽  
Daniel Llano ◽  
Raksha Mudar

Abstract Value-directed strategic processing is important for daily functioning. It allows selective processing of important information and inhibition of irrelevant information. This ability is relatively preserved in normal cognitive aging, but it is unclear if mild cognitive impairment (MCI) affects strategic processing and its underlying neurophysiological mechanisms. The current study examined behavioral and EEG spectral power differences between 16 cognitively normal older adults (CNOA; mean age: 74.5 ± 4.0 years) and 16 individuals with MCI (mean age: 77.1 ± 4.3 years) linked to a value-directed strategic processing task. The task used five unique word lists where words were assigned high- or low-value based on letter case and were presented sequentially while EEG was recorded. Participants were instructed to recall as many words as possible after each list to maximize their score. Results revealed no group differences in recall of low-value words, but individuals with MCI recalled significantly fewer high-value words and total number of words relative to CNOA. Group differences were observed in theta and alpha bands for low-value words, with greater synchronized theta power for CNOA than MCI and greater desynchronized alpha power for MCI than CNOA. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that more effortful neural processing of low-value words in the MCI group, relative to the CNOA group, allowed them to match their behavioral performance to the CNOA group. Individuals with MCI appear to utilize more cognitive resources to inhibit low-value information and might show memory-related benefits if taught strategies to focus on high-value information processing.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoko Shigemoto ◽  
Daichi Sone ◽  
Miho Ota ◽  
Norihide Maikusa ◽  
Masayo Ogawa ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. S65-S66
Author(s):  
Ashti Shah ◽  
Akiko Mizuno ◽  
Linghai Wang ◽  
Andrea Weinstein ◽  
Howard Aizenstein

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Christopher Gonzalez ◽  
Nicole S. Tommasi ◽  
Danielle Briggs ◽  
Michael J. Properzi ◽  
Rebecca E. Amariglio ◽  
...  

Background: Financial capacity is often one of the first instrumental activities of daily living to be affected in cognitively normal (CN) older adults who later progress to amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the association between financial capacity and regional cerebral tau. Methods: Cross-sectional financial capacity was assessed using the Financial Capacity Instrument –Short Form (FCI-SF) in 410 CN, 199 MCI, and 61 AD dementia participants who underwent flortaucipir tau positron emission tomography from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). Linear regression models with backward elimination were used with FCI-SF total score as the dependent variable and regional tau and tau-amyloid interaction as predictors of interest in separate analyses. Education, age sex, Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test Total Learning, and Trail Making Test B were used as covariates. Results: Significant associations were found between FCI-SF and tau regions (entorhinal: p <  0.001; inferior temporal: p <  0.001; dorsolateral prefrontal: p = 0.01; posterior cingulate: p = 0.03; precuneus: p <  0.001; and supramarginal gyrus: p = 0.005) across all participants. For the tau-amyloid interaction, significant associations were found in four regions (amyloid and dorsolateral prefrontal tau interaction: p = 0.005; amyloid and posterior cingulate tau interaction: p = 0.005; amyloid and precuneus tau interaction: p <  0.001; and amyloid and supramarginal tau interaction: p = 0.002). Conclusion: Greater regional tau burden was modestly associated with financial capacity impairment in early-stage AD. Extending this work with longitudinal analyses will further illustrate the utility of such assessments in detecting clinically meaningful decline, which may aid clinical trials of early-stage AD.


Gerontology ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Ram kinker Mishra ◽  
Catherine Park ◽  
He Zhou ◽  
Bijan Najafi ◽  
T. Adam Thrasher

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Parkinson’s disease (PD) progressively impairs motor and cognitive performance. The current tools to detect decline in motor and cognitive functioning are often impractical for busy clinics and home settings. To address the gap, we designed an instrumented trail-making task (iTMT) based on a wearable sensor (worn on the shin) with interactive game-based software installed on a tablet. The iTMT test includes reaching to 5 indexed circles, a combination of numbers (1–3) and letters (A&amp;B) randomly positioned inside target circles, in a sequential order, which virtually appears on a screen kept in front of the participants, by rotating one’s ankle joint while standing and holding a chair for safety. By measuring time to complete iTMT task (iTMT time), iTMT enables quantifying cognitive-motor performance. <b><i>Purpose:</i></b> This study’s objective is to examine the feasibility of iTMT to detect early cognitive-motor decline in PDs. <b><i>Method:</i></b> Three groups of volunteers, including 14 cognitively normal (CN) older adults, 14 PDs, and 11 mild cognitive impaireds (MCI), were recruited. Participants completed MoCA, 20 m walking test, and 3 trials of iTMT. <b><i>Results:</i></b> All participants enabled to complete iTMT with &#x3c;3 min, indicating high feasibility. The average iTMT time for CN-Older, PD, and MCI participants were 20.9 ± 0.9 s, 32.3 ± 2.4 s, and 40.9 ± 4.5 s, respectively. After adjusting for age and education level, pairwise comparison suggested large effect sizes for iTMT between CN-older versus PD (Cohen’s <i>d</i> = 1.7, <i>p</i> = 0.024) and CN-older versus MCI (<i>d</i> = 1.57, <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.01). Significant correlations were observed when comparing iTMT time with the gait speed (<i>r</i> = −0.4, <i>p</i> = 0.011) and MoCA score (<i>r</i> = −0.56, <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.01). <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> This study demonstrated the feasibility and early results supporting the potential application of iTMT to determine cognitive-motor and distinguishing individuals with MCI and PD from CN-older adults. Future studies are warranted to test the ability of iTMT to track its subtle changes over time.


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