14 – Unique and overlapping abnormalities in brain activation during verbal working memory task performance: A comparison between patients with schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder

Neuroimaging methods have been used to study differences of brain function between males and females. Differences in working memory have been also investigated, but results of such studies are mixed with respect to behavioral data, reaction times and activated brain areas. We tried to analyze functional MRI data acquired during the working memory task and search for differences of brain activation between genders. 20 healthy right-handed volunteers (10 males and 10 females) participated in the study. All of them were university students or fresh graduates. Subjects underwent block designed verbal working memory task (Item Recognition Task) inside the MRI scanner. Standard single-subject pre-processing and group fMRI analyses were performed using the FEAT software from FSL library. In the behavioral data, there was no statistically significant difference in the number of correct responses during the task. The task activated similar bilateral regions of frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital lobes, basal ganglia, the brainstem and in the cerebellum, which corresponds to the previous verbal working memory neuroimaging research. In direct comparison, there was no statistically significant difference in brain activation between small samples of male and female young healthy volunteers.

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Midlife Arterial Stiffness and Brain Activation During Working Memory Task

The Open Hypertension Journal ◽

10.2174/1876526201406010003 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 3-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Kayla A. Steward ◽

Evan Pasha ◽

Katyoon Goudarzi ◽

Ahmed Elmenshawy ◽

Mohammed Alkatan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Early Intervention ◽

Arterial Stiffness ◽

Memory Task ◽

Brain Activation ◽

Verbal Working Memory ◽

Stiffness Index ◽

Precentral Gyrus ◽

Hypertension Status ◽

Early Marker

Objective: Arterial stiffness is associated with cognitive decline and may serve as an early marker of brain vulnerability. In search of potential early intervention targets, the present study examined the neural correlates of working memory in relation to arterial stiffness in middle-aged, cognitively healthy adults. Methods: Twenty-eight adults, ages 40- 60 years, completed a 2-Back verbal working memory task during fMRI. Arterial stiffness was measured using the 􀀁- stiffness index via simultaneous ultrasound and applanation tonometry on the carotid artery. Mean task-related activation intensity was determined for 12 a priori regions of interest (ROI). Statistical analyses included partial correlations, controlling for hypertension status and antihypertensive medication. Results: Arterial stiffness was correlated negatively with task-related activation in 3 ROIs: left precentral gyrus/BA 6 (r=-0.64, p<0.001), left precentral/middle frontal gyrus (r=-0.62, p=0.001) and left superior parietal lobule/BA 7 (r=-0.48, p=0.013). There was also a negative association between arterial stiffness and task-related activation in the right superior frontal gyrus/BA 6 (r=-0.45, p=0.023). Conclusions: Greater arterial stiffness was significantly associated with decreased task-related brain activation during a verbal working memory task, possibly reflecting increased vulnerability for cognitive impairment. Arterial stiffness should be investigated further as an early marker of cognitive risk and a potential target for early intervention.

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Working Memory Performance under a Negative Affect Is More Susceptible to Higher Cognitive Workloads with Different Neural Haemodynamic Correlates

Brain Sciences ◽

10.3390/brainsci11070935 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 935

Author(s):

Ying Xing Feng ◽

Masashi Kiguchi ◽

Wei Chun Ung ◽

Sarat Chandra Dass ◽

Ahmad Fadzil Mohd Hani ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Task Performance ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Affective State ◽

Memory Task ◽

Interactive Effects ◽

Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽

Affective Factors ◽

Related Stress ◽

Haemodynamic Activity

The effect of stress on task performance is complex, too much or too little stress negatively affects performance and there exists an optimal level of stress to drive optimal performance. Task difficulty and external affective factors are distinct stressors that impact cognitive performance. Neuroimaging studies showed that mood affects working memory performance and the correlates are changes in haemodynamic activity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). We investigate the interactive effects of affective states and working memory load (WML) on working memory task performance and haemodynamic activity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) neuroimaging on the PFC of healthy participants. We seek to understand if haemodynamic responses could tell apart workload-related stress from situational stress arising from external affective distraction. We found that the haemodynamic changes towards affective stressor- and workload-related stress were more dominant in the medial and lateral PFC, respectively. Our study reveals distinct affective state-dependent modulations of haemodynamic activity with increasing WML in n-back tasks, which correlate with decreasing performance. The influence of a negative effect on performance is greater at higher WML, and haemodynamic activity showed evident changes in temporal, and both spatial and strength of activation differently with WML.

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Brain Activity Elicited by Emotional Stimuli During a Verbal Working Memory Task: A Comparison of Healthy Adults and Patients with Chronic Schizophrenia

NeuroImage ◽

10.1016/s1053-8119(09)71772-0 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 47 ◽

pp. S166

Author(s):

MT Diaz ◽

G He ◽

S Gadde ◽

C Bellion ◽

A Belger ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Memory Task ◽

Verbal Working Memory ◽

Chronic Schizophrenia ◽

Healthy Adults ◽

Emotional Stimuli

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Frontal Midline Theta Reflects Individual Task Performance in a Working Memory Task

Brain Topography ◽

10.1007/s10548-014-0361-y ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 28 (1) ◽

pp. 127-134 ◽

Cited By ~ 54

Author(s):

Urs Maurer ◽

Silvia Brem ◽

Martina Liechti ◽

Stefano Maurizio ◽

Lars Michels ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Task Performance ◽

Memory Task ◽

Frontal Midline Theta ◽

Individual Task

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Phenomenology of Visuo-spatial Working Memory Task Performance

10.31231/osf.io/5843r ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Aleš Oblak ◽

Anka Slana Ozimič ◽

Grega Repovš ◽

Urban Kordeš

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Cognitive Psychology ◽

Task Performance ◽

Present Article ◽

Spatial Working Memory ◽

Memory Task ◽

Bodily Feelings ◽

Psychological Tasks

In experimental cognitive psychology, objects of inquiry have typically been operationalized with psychological tasks. If we are interested in measuring the target phenomena, we must inquire into the validity of the task; that is, to what extent does the task elicit the phenomenon in question. If we subscribe to the second view, evaluating the validity and the interpretation of the gathered data can be supplemented by understanding the experience of solving psychological tasks. The aim of the present article is to investigate how individuals experience performing a psychological task, specifically, a visuo-spatial working memory task. We present ethnographic descriptions of different ways individuals can experience the same task. We focus on aspects of experience that comprise the overall sense of experience (e.g., bodily feelings, emotional atmosphere, mood). We discuss the methodological implications of our findings and the possibility of conducting a neurophenomenology of visuo-spatial working memory.

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Spontaneous Eye Blink Rate during the Working Memory Delay Period Predicts Task Performance

10.1101/2021.03.15.435433 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jefferson Ortega ◽

Chelsea Reichert Plaska ◽

Bernard A Gomes ◽

Timothy M Ellmore

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Task Performance ◽

Memory Task ◽

Delay Period ◽

Blink Rate ◽

Indirect Measure ◽

Eye Blink ◽

Non Invasive ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship

Spontaneous eye blink rate (sEBR) has been found to be a non-invasive indirect measure of striatal dopamine activity. Dopamine (DA) neurons project to the prefrontal cortex (PFC) through the mesocortical dopamine pathway and their activity is implicated in a range of cognitive functions, including attention and working memory (WM). The goal of the present study was to understand how fluctuations in sEBR during different phases of a working memory task relate to task performance. Across two experiments, with recordings of sEBR inside and outside of a magnetic resonance imaging bore, we observed sEBR to be positively correlated with WM performance during the WM delay period. Additionally we investigated the non-linear relationship between sEBR and WM performance, and modeled a proposed Inverted-U-shape relationship between DA and WM performance. We also investigated blink duration, which is proposed to be related to sustained attention, and found blink duration to be significantly shorter during the encoding and probe periods of the task. Taken together, these results provide support towards sEBR as an important correlate of working memory task performance. The relationship of sEBR to DA activity and the influence of DA on the PFC during WM maintenance is discussed.

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