scholarly journals Methylphenidate modulates interactions of anxiety with cognition

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Gaillard ◽  
T. R. Lago ◽  
A. X. Gorka ◽  
N. L. Balderston ◽  
B. A. Fuchs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Anxiolytic Effect ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Attentional Processes ◽  
Regulatory Processes ◽  
The Neural Networks ◽  
Back Task

AbstractWhile a large body of literature documents the impairing effect of anxiety on cognition, performing a demanding task was shown to be effective in reducing anxiety. Here we explored the mechanisms of this anxiolytic effect by examining how a pharmacological challenge designed to improve attentional processes influences the interplay between the neural networks engaged during anxiety and cognition. Using a double-blind between-subject design, we pharmacologically manipulated working memory (WM) using a single oral dose of 20 mg methylphenidate (MPH, cognitive enhancer) or placebo. Fifty healthy adults (25/drug group) performed two runs of a WM N-back task in a 3 T magnetic resonance imaging scanner. This task comprised a low (1-Back) and high (3-Back) WM load, which were performed in two contexts, safety or threat of shocks (induced-anxiety). Analyses revealed that (1) WM accuracy was overall improved by MPH and (2) MPH (vs. placebo) strengthened the engagement of regions within the fronto-parietal control network (FPCN) and reduced the default mode network (DMN) deactivation. These MPH effects predominated in the most difficult context, i.e., threat condition, first run (novelty of the task), and 3-Back task. The facilitation of neural activation can be interpreted as an expansion of cognitive resources, which could foster both the representation and integration of anxiety-provoking stimuli as well as the top–down regulatory processes to protect against the detrimental effect of anxiety. This mechanism might establish an optimal balance between FPCN (cognitive processing) and DMN (emotion regulation) recruitment.

scholarly journals The PICO Study: Impact of Phenylalanine on Cognitive, Cerebral and Neurometabolic Parameters in Adult Patients with Phenylketonuria: a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover, Non-inferiority Trial

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roman Trepp ◽  
Raphaela Muri ◽  
Stephanie Abgottspon ◽  
Lenka Bosanska ◽  
Michel Hochuli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Newborn Screening ◽  
Adult Patients ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Target Range ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
The University ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Back Task

Abstract Background The population of adult patients with early-treated phenylketonuria (PKU) following newborn screening is growing substantially. The ideal target range of blood Phenylalanine (Phe) levels in adults outside pregnancy is a matter of debate. Therefore, prospective intervention studies are needed to evaluate the effects of an elevated Phe concentration on cognition and structural, functional and neurometabolic parameters of the brain. Methods The PICO (Phenylalanine and Its Impact on Cognition) Study evaluates the effect of a 4-week Phe load on cognition and cerebral parameters in adults with early-treated PKU in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover, non-inferiority trial. Participants: 30 adult patients with early-treated PKU and 30 healthy controls comparable to patients with regard to age, sex and educational level will be recruited from the University Hospitals Bern and Zurich, Switzerland. Patients are eligible for the study if they are age ≥18 years and have PKU diagnosed after a positive newborn screening and treated with a Phe-restricted diet starting within the first 30 days of life. Intervention: The cross-over intervention consists of a 4-week oral Phe or placebo administration in patients with PKU. The study design mimics a Phe-restricted and a Phe-unrestricted diet using a double-blinded, placebo-controlled approach. Objectives: The primary objective of the PICO Study is to prospectively assess whether a temporarily elevated Phe-level influences cognitive performance (working memory assessed with a n-back task) in adults with early-treated PKU. As secondary objective, the PICO Study will elucidate cerebral (fMRI: neural activation during a n-back task; rsfMRI: functional connectivity at rest; DTI: white matter integrity; ASL: cerebral blood flow) and neurometabolic mechanisms (cerebral Phe-level), which accompany changes in Phe concentration. Cognition, structural and functional parameters of the brain of adult patients with early-treated PKU will be cross-sectionally compared to healthy controls. All assessments will take place at the University Hospital Bern, Switzerland. Randomization: Central randomization will be used to assign participants to the different treatment arms with age, sex and center serving as stratification factors. Randomization lists will be generated by an independent statistician. Blinding: All trial personnel but the statistician generating the randomization list and the personnel at the facility preparing the interventional product are blinded to the assigned treatment.

Skipping Breakfast Affects the Early Steps of Cognitive Processing

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-118
Author(s):  
Andrés Antonio González-Garrido ◽  
Jacobo José Brofman-Epelbaum ◽  
Fabiola Reveca Gómez-Velázquez ◽  
Sebastián Agustín Balart-Sánchez ◽  
Julieta Ramos-Loyo
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Brain Functioning ◽  
Attentional Processes ◽  
Electrical Brain Activity ◽  
Skipping Breakfast

Abstract. It has been generally accepted that skipping breakfast adversely affects cognition, mainly disturbing the attentional processes. However, the effects of short-term fasting upon brain functioning are still unclear. We aimed to evaluate the effect of skipping breakfast on cognitive processing by studying the electrical brain activity of young healthy individuals while performing several working memory tasks. Accordingly, the behavioral results and event-related brain potentials (ERPs) of 20 healthy university students (10 males) were obtained and compared through analysis of variances (ANOVAs), during the performance of three n-back working memory (WM) tasks in two morning sessions on both normal (after breakfast) and 12-hour fasting conditions. Significantly fewer correct responses were achieved during fasting, mainly affecting the higher WM load task. In addition, there were prolonged reaction times with increased task difficulty, regardless of breakfast intake. ERP showed a significant voltage decrement for N200 and P300 during fasting, while the amplitude of P200 notably increased. The results suggest skipping breakfast disturbs earlier cognitive processing steps, particularly attention allocation, early decoding in working memory, and stimulus evaluation, and this effect increases with task difficulty.

Once-Daily Treatment for Mixed Anxiety/Depressive States: A Comparison of Slow Release Amitriptyline and Fluphenazine with Nortriptyline

1977 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
R V Magnus ◽  
A A Schiff
Keyword(s):  
Side Effects ◽  
Sustained Release ◽  
Slow Release ◽  
Anxiolytic Effect ◽  
Daily Treatment ◽  
Dry Mouth ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Once Daily ◽  
Therapeutic Advantage ◽  
Depressive States

Patients suffering from mixed anxiety/depressive states referred to a psychiatric out-patient clinic completed a four week course of either a once-daily tablet of 30 mg nortriptyline with 1· 5 mg fluphenazine, or a sustained release capsule of 50 mg amitriptyline once daily, on a double-blind basis. Depression improved satisfactorily on either treatment, but there was a greater reduction of anxiety on fluphenazine/nortriptyline. Drowsiness, however, occurred more frequently among the patients on amitriptyline, suggesting the sedative properties of this drug did not substitute adequately for a specific anxiolytic effect. Dry mouth was also noticeably more frequent with amitriptyline. As might be expected on pharmacokinetic and physiological grounds, the results suggest that the sustained release characteristics of the amitriptyline preparation lead to a maximization of side-effects during the day without conferring any therapeutic advantage.

Distinct Effects of D9-tetrahydrocannabinol and Cannabidiol on Neural Activation During Emotional Processing

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (S1) ◽  
pp. 1-1 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Fusar-Poli
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Electrodermal Activity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Posterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Psychotic Symptoms ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Posterior Cingulate ◽  
Fearful Faces ◽  
Scanning Session

Aims:Cannabis use can both increase and reduce anxiety in humans. The neurophysiological substrates of these effects are unknown.Method:Fifteen healthy English-native right-handed men were studied on three separate occasions using an event-related fMRI paradigm while viewing faces that implicitly elicited different levels of anxiety. Each scanning session was preceded by the ingestion of either 10mg of D-9-THC, 600mg of CBD, or a placebo, in a double-blind, randomised, placebo controlled design. Electrodermal activity (Skin Conductance Response, SCR) and objective and subjective ratings of anxiety were recorded durign the scanning.Results:D-9THC increased anxiety, as well as levels of intoxication, sedation and psychotic symptoms, whereas there was a trend for a reduction in anxiety following administration of CBD. The number of SCR fluctuations during the processing of intensely fearful faces increased following administration of D-9THC but decreased following administration of CBD. CBD attenuated the BOLD signal in the amygdala and the anterior and posterior cingulate cortex while subjects were processing intensely fearful faces, and its suppression of the amygdalar and posterior cingulate responses was correlated with the concurrent reduction in SCR fluctuations. D-9-THC mainly modulated activation in frontal and parietal areas.Conclusions:D-9-THC and CBD had clearly distinct effects on the neural, eclectrodermal and symptomatic response to fearful faces. The effects of CBD on activation in limbic and paralimbic regions may contribute to its ability to reduce autonomic arousal and subjective anxiety, whereas the anxiogenic effects of D-9-THC may be related to effects in other brain regions.

The Neurocognitive and Evolutionary Bases of Sex Differences in Website Design Preferences

2010 ◽  
pp. 725-733 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Stenstrom ◽  
Gad Saad
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Perceptual Information ◽  
Website Design ◽  
Business Managers ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Female Consumers ◽  
Design Preferences

Marketing managers habitually use sex as a form of segmentation since it satisfies several requirements for efficient implementation including profitability, identifiability, accessibility, and measurability (Darley & Smith, 1995). Nevertheless, sex differences in marketing remain under-researched and continue to be a source of confusion for managers (Hupfer, 2002). Sex differences in cognitive processing are particularly relevant to e-business managers given that online consumers must process various types of spatial and perceptual information while navigating online. Despite the large body of evidence documenting consistent sex differences in cognition (Kimura, 2004), there is a paucity of research exploring how male and female consumers respond differently to various website design aspects (Cyr & Bonanni, 2005; Moss, Gunn, & Heller, 2006; Simon, 2001). Moreover, the few studies that have examined sex differences in online preferences were not grounded in any consilient theoretical framework.

scholarly journals Headaches and Magnesium: Mechanisms, Bioavailability, Therapeutic Efficacy and Potential Advantage of Magnesium Pidolate

Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 2660
Author(s):  
Jeanette A. Maier ◽  
Gisele Pickering ◽  
Elena Giacomoni ◽  
Alessandra Cazzaniga ◽  
Paolo Pellegrino
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Evidence ◽  
Magnesium Deficiency ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Good Penetration ◽  
Magnesium Salts ◽  
Molecular Effects ◽  
Tension Type Headaches ◽  
The Brain ◽  
High Bioavailability

Magnesium deficiency may occur for several reasons, such as inadequate intake or increased gastrointestinal or renal loss. A large body of literature suggests a relationship between magnesium deficiency and mild and moderate tension-type headaches and migraines. A number of double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trials have shown that magnesium is efficacious in relieving headaches and have led to the recommendation of oral magnesium for headache relief in several national and international guidelines. Among several magnesium salts available to treat magnesium deficiency, magnesium pidolate may have high bioavailability and good penetration at the intracellular level. Here, we discuss the cellular and molecular effects of magnesium deficiency in the brain and the clinical evidence supporting the use of magnesium for the treatment of headaches and migraines.

Psychological Responses to Scarcity

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiaying Zhao ◽  
Brandon M. Tomm
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Attentional Focus ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Social Perceptions ◽  
Impulsive Behavior ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Mind

Scarcity is the condition of having insufficient resources to cope with demands. This condition presents significant challenges to the human cognitive system. For example, having limited financial resources requires the meticulous calculation of expenses with respect to a budget. Likewise, having limited time requires the stringent management of schedules with respect to a deadline. As such, scarcity consumes cognitive resources such as attention, working memory, and executive control and elicits a range of systematic and even counter-productive cognitive and behavioral responses as a result. Specifically, scarcity induces an attentional focus on the problem at hand, which facilitates performance by enhancing cognitive processing of information relevant to the problem, increasing the efficiency of resource use, and stabilizing the perception of value. Such prioritization of the problem at hand may seem advantageous, but it can produce undesirable consequences. For example, scarcity causes myopic and impulsive behavior, prioritizing short-term gains over long-term gains. Ironically, scarcity can also result in a failure to notice beneficial information in the environment that alleviates the condition of scarcity. More detrimentally, scarcity directly impairs cognitive function, which can lead to suboptimal decisions and choices that exacerbate the condition of scarcity. Thus, scarcity means not only a shortage of physical resources (e.g., money or time) but also a deficit of cognitive resources (e.g., attention, executive control). The cognitive deficits under scarcity are particularly problematic because they impair performance and lead to counter-productive behaviors that deepen the cycle of scarcity. In addition, people under financial scarcity suffer from stigmas and stereotypes associated with poverty. These social perceptions of poverty further burden the mind by consuming cognitive resources, weakening performance in the poor. Understanding the cognitive and behavioral responses to scarcity provides new insights into why the poor remain poor, identifying the psychological causes of scarcity, and illuminating potential interventions to stop the cycle of scarcity. These insights have important implications for the design and the implementation of policies and services targeting the populations under scarcity.

scholarly journals Emotional recognition training modifies neural response to emotional faces but does not improve mood in healthy volunteers with high levels of depressive symptoms

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Ian S. Penton-Voak ◽  
Sally Adams ◽  
Katherine S. Button ◽  
Meg Fluharty ◽  
Michael Dalili ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Emotion Recognition ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors ◽  
Recognition Task ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Emotion Recognition Training ◽  
Bias Modification

Abstract Background There is demand for new, effective and scalable treatments for depression, and development of new forms of cognitive bias modification (CBM) of negative emotional processing biases has been suggested as possible interventions to meet this need. Methods We report two double blind RCTs, in which volunteers with high levels of depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory ii (BDI-ii) > 14) completed a brief course of emotion recognition training (a novel form of CBM using faces) or sham training. In Study 1 (N = 36), participants completed a post-training emotion recognition task whilst undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate neural correlates of CBM. In Study 2 (N = 190), measures of mood were assessed post-training, and at 2-week and 6-week follow-up. Results In both studies, CBM resulted in an initial change in emotion recognition bias, which (in Study 2) persisted for 6 weeks after the end of training. In Study 1, CBM resulted in increases neural activation to happy faces, with this effect driven by an increase in neural activity in the medial prefrontal cortex and bilateral amygdala. In Study 2, CBM did not lead to a reduction in depressive symptoms on the BDI-ii, or on related measures of mood, motivation and persistence, or depressive interpretation bias at either 2 or 6-week follow-ups. Conclusions CBM of emotion recognition has effects on neural activity that are similar in some respects to those induced by Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) administration (Study 1), but we find no evidence that this had any later effect on self-reported mood in an analogue sample of non-clinical volunteers with low mood (Study 2).

scholarly journals Explanation Supports Hypothesis Generation in Learning

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Brockbank ◽  
Caren Walker
Keyword(s):  
Prior Knowledge ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Category Learning ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Good Explanation ◽  
Hypothesis Generation ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Correct Hypothesis ◽  
Hypothesis Evaluation

A large body of research has shown that engaging in explanation improves learning across a range of tasks. The act of explaining has been proposed to draw attention and cognitive resources toward evidence that will support a good explanation—information that is broad, abstract, and consistent with prior knowledge—which in turn aids discovery and generalization. However, it remains unclear whether explanation acts on the learning process via improved hypothesis generation, increasing the probability that the correct hypothesis is considered in the first place, or hypothesis evaluation, the appraisal of the correct hypothesis in light of evidence. In the present study, we address this question by separating the hypothesis generation and evaluation processes in a novel category learning task and quantifying the effect of explanation on each process independently. We find that explanation supports the generation of broad and abstract hypotheses but has less effect on the evaluation of hypotheses.

scholarly journals Euclidean distance as a measure to distinguish ventral and dorsal white matter connectivity in the human brain

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Kellmeyer ◽  
Magnus-Sebastian Vry
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Euclidean Distance ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Diffusion Tensor ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Coordinate Space ◽  
Fiber Tractography

AbstractFiber tractography based on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has become an important research tool for investigating the anatomical connectivity between brain regions in vivo. Combining DTI with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) allows for the mapping of structural and functional architecture of large-scale networks for cognitive processing. This line of research has shown that ventral and dorsal fiber pathways subserve different aspects of bottom-up- and top-down processing in the human brain.Here, we investigate the feasibility and applicability of Euclidean distance as a simple geometric measure to differentiate ventral and dorsal long-range white matter fiber pathways tween parietal and inferior frontal cortical regions, employing a body of studies that used probabilistic tractography.We show that ventral pathways between parietal and inferior frontal cortex have on average a significantly longer Euclidean distance in 3D-coordinate space than dorsal pathways. We argue that Euclidean distance could provide a simple measure and potentially a boundary value to assess patterns of connectivity in fMRI studies. This would allow for a much broader assessment of general patterns of ventral and dorsal large-scale fiber connectivity for different cognitive operations in the large body of existing fMRI studies lacking additional DTI data.

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