Skin and Macular Carotenoids and Their Implications for Cognitive Control and Achievement in Children (OR05-08-19)

Abstract Objectives Carotenoids are plant pigments that accumulate across several tissues including the macula and skin. However, the relationship between carotenoid deposition in retina and skin is unknown in children. Understanding these interrelationships is important, given that evidence indicates that carotenoid status is a marker of cognitive health in childhood. Importantly, the selectivity of cognitive function to carotenoids in different tissues remains understudied. The present work investigated associations between retinal and skin carotenoids and their implications for children's cognitive function and achievement. Methods Children 7–12 years old (N = 50) participated in the study. Retinal carotenoid status, i.e., macular pigment optical density (MPOD), was assessed using heterochromatic flicker photometry. Skin carotenoids were assessed using reflection spectroscopy at the fingertip using the Veggiemeter. Academic achievement was assessed using the Woodcock Johnson IV test and a modified Eriksen flanker task to assess children's ability for selective attention or interference control. Results There was a significant positive correlation between skin and retinal carotenoid levels (rs = 0.29, P = 0.02). Skin carotenoids were positively related to reading (rs = 0.42, P = 0.001) and math scores (rs = 0.34, P = 0.009). However, skin carotenoids were not significantly related to flanker interference scores (p's > 0.05). On the other hand, MPOD was positively related to reading (rs = 0.25, P = 0.04) but not math (rs = 0.12, P = 0.20). Further, MPOD was inversely related to flanker interference scores for reaction time (rs = −0.29, P = 0.02) and accuracy (rs = −0.28, P = 0.03), indicating that children with higher retinal carotenoids exhibited superior ability to maintain cognitive control performance when faced with greater task demands. Conclusions These findings demonstrate that carotenoid levels in skin and retina are correlated in children. These findings further suggest that carotenoid status in children is associated with cognition, perhaps selectively across site of accumulation and cognitive domains. Funding Sources This work was supported by funds provided by the Egg Nutrition Center.

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Temporal Dynamics of Varying Physical Loads on Speed and Accuracy of Cognitive Control

Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology ◽

10.1123/jsep.2018-0239 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 41 (4) ◽

pp. 206-214 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Thomas Finkenzeller ◽

Sabine Würth ◽

Michael Doppelmayr ◽

Günter Amesberger

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Flanker Task ◽

Load Condition ◽

Incongruent Condition ◽

Physical Load ◽

Interference Control ◽

Information Processing Speed ◽

Task Effect ◽

Load Conditions

The present study examined the effect of 4 physical-load conditions on interference control throughout a period of 45 min. A sample of 52 sport students was assigned to either a no, a low, an alternating low to moderate, or a moderate physical-load condition. A modified Eriksen-flanker task was administered in the preexercise period, 7 times during the exercise, and twice after completing the exercise. Significant interaction effects of time and condition, and significant time effects within condition on the reaction time of congruent stimuli and errors on incongruent stimuli, suggest a specific in-task effect of the alternating low to moderate and moderate physical-load conditions. Thus, it was concluded that moderate physiological arousal influences interference control by an increase of information-processing speed in tasks that require less cognitive control (congruent condition), which is at the expense of accuracy in cognitively more demanding tasks (incongruent condition).

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Dynamic Adjustments of Midfrontal Control Signals in Adults and Adolescents

Cerebral Cortex ◽

10.1093/cercor/bhaa258 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Mate Gyurkovics ◽

Liat Levita

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Flanker Task ◽

Early Adolescents ◽

Strong Support ◽

Task Demands ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Theta Oscillations ◽

Temporal Consistency ◽

Reactive Control ◽

Age Related

Abstract During task performance, our level of cognitive control is dynamically adjusted to task demands as reflected, for example, by the congruency sequence effect (CSE) in conflict tasks. Although brain areas related to cognitive control show protracted maturation across adolescence, previous studies found that adolescents show similar behavioral CSEs to adults. In the present study, we investigated whether there are age-related changes in the neural underpinnings of dynamic control adjustments using electroencephalography. Early adolescents (ages 12–14, N = 30) and young adults (ages 25–27, N = 29) completed a confound-minimized flanker task optimized for the detection of sequential control adjustments. The CSE was observed in midfrontal theta power thought to capture anterior cingulate cortex-mediated monitoring processes but was not modulated significantly by age. Adolescents, however, showed a smaller congruency effect in the power and cross-trial temporal consistency of midfrontal theta oscillations than adults. No age differences were observed in phase-based connectivity between midfrontal and lateral frontal regions in the theta band. These findings provide strong support for the role of midfrontal theta oscillations in conflict monitoring and reactive control and suggest that the cognitive system of early adolescents initially responds less reliably to the occurrence of conflict than that of adults.

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Cardiorespiratory Fitness and the Flexible Modulation of Cognitive Control in Preadolescent Children

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn.2010.21528 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 23 (6) ◽

pp. 1332-1345 ◽

Cited By ~ 177

Author(s):

Matthew B. Pontifex ◽

Lauren B. Raine ◽

Christopher R. Johnson ◽

Laura Chaddock ◽

Michelle W. Voss ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Cardiorespiratory Fitness ◽

Flanker Task ◽

Task Demands ◽

Response Accuracy ◽

Response Condition ◽

Stimulus Response ◽

Error Related Negativity ◽

Preadolescent Children ◽

P3 Amplitude

The influence of cardiorespiratory fitness on the modulation of cognitive control was assessed in preadolescent children separated into higher- and lower-fit groups. Participants completed compatible and incompatible stimulus–response conditions of a modified flanker task, consisting of congruent and incongruent arrays, while ERPs and task performance were concurrently measured. Findings revealed decreased response accuracy for lower- relative to higher-fit participants with a selectively larger deficit in response to the incompatible stimulus–response condition, requiring the greatest amount of cognitive control. In contrast, higher-fit participants maintained response accuracy across stimulus–response compatibility conditions. Neuroelectric measures indicated that higher-fit, relative to lower-fit, participants exhibited global increases in P3 amplitude and shorter P3 latency, as well as greater modulation of P3 amplitude between the compatible and incompatible stimulus–response conditions. Similarly, higher-fit participants exhibited smaller error-related negativity (ERN) amplitudes in the compatible condition, and greater modulation of the ERN between the compatible and incompatible conditions, relative to lower-fit participants who exhibited large ERN amplitudes across both conditions. These findings suggest that lower-fit children may have more difficulty than higher-fit children in the flexible modulation of cognitive control processes to meet task demands.

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Electrophysiological correlates of interference control in the modified emotional Stroop task with emotional stimuli differing in valence, arousal, and subjective significance

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0258177 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (10) ◽

pp. e0258177

Author(s):

Kamil K. Imbir ◽

Maciej Pastwa ◽

Joanna Duda-Goławska ◽

Adam Sobieszek ◽

Marta Jankowska ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Stroop Task ◽

Flanker Task ◽

Emotional Stroop ◽

Interference Control ◽

Emotional Stroop Task ◽

Emotional Factors ◽

Emotional Interference ◽

Subjective Significance

The role of emotional factors in maintaining cognitive control is one of the most intriguing issues in understanding emotion-cognition interactions. In the current experiment, we assessed the role of emotional factors (valence, arousal, and subjective significance) in perceptual and conceptual inhibition processes. We operationalised both processes with the classical cognitive paradigms, i.e., the flanker task and the emotional Stroop task merged into a single experimental procedure. The procedure was based on the presentation of emotional words displayed in four different font colours flanked by the same emotional word printed with the same or different font colour. We expected to find distinct effects of both types of interference: earlier for perceptual and later for emotional interference. We also predicted an increased arousal level to disturb inhibitory control effectiveness, while increasing the subjective significance level should improve this process. As we used orthogonal manipulations of emotional factors, our study allowed us for the first time to assess interactions within emotional factors and between types of interference. We found on the behavioural level the main effects of flanker congruency as well as effects of emotionality. On the electrophysiological level, we found effects for EPN, P2, and N450 components of ERPs. The exploratory analysis revealed that effects due to perceptual interference appeared earlier than the effects of emotional interference, but they lasted for an extended period of processing, causing perceptual and emotional interference to partially overlap. Finally, in terms of emotional interference, we showed the effect of subjective significance: the reduction of interference cost in N450 for highly subjective significant stimuli. This study is the first one allowing for the investigation of two different types of interference in a single experiment, and provides insight into the role of emotion in cognitive control.

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Exploring an Emotional Basis of Cognitive Control in the Flanker Task

10.31234/osf.io/nkjy6 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Motonori Yamaguchi ◽

Jack Dylan Moore ◽

Sarah Hendry ◽

Felicity Wolohan

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Facial Expressions ◽

Mood Induction ◽

Flanker Task ◽

Emotional Stimuli ◽

Emotional Facial Expressions ◽

Flanker Effect ◽

Sequential Modulation ◽

Emotional Basis ◽

Negative Stimuli

The emotional basis of cognitive control has been investigated in the flanker task with various procedures and materials across different studies. The present study examined the issue with the same flanker task but with different types of emotional stimuli and design. In seven experiments, the flanker effect and its sequential modulation according to the preceding trial type were assessed. Experiments 1 and 2 used affective pictures and emotional facial expressions as emotional stimuli, and positive and negative stimuli were intermixed. There was little evidence that emotional stimuli influenced cognitive control. Experiments 3 and 4 used the same affective pictures and facial expressions, but positive and negative stimuli were separated between different participant groups. Emotional stimuli reduced the flanker effect as well as its sequential modulation regardless of valence. Experiments 5 and 6 used affective pictures but manipulated arousal and valence of stimuli orthogonally The results did not replicate the reduced flanker effect or sequential modulation by valence, nor did they show consistent effects of arousal. Experiment 7 used a mood induction technique and showed that sequential modulation was positively correlated with valence rating (the higher the more positive) but was negatively correlated with arousal rating. These results are inconsistent with several previous findings and are difficult to reconcile within a single theoretical framework, confirming an elusive nature of the emotional basis of cognitive control in the flanker task.

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An Evaluation of DNA Methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms and Chemotherapy-Associated Cognitive Impairment: A Prospective, Longitudinal Study

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-019-51203-y ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Alexandre Chan ◽

Angie Yeo ◽

Maung Shwe ◽

Chia Jie Tan ◽

Koon Mian Foo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Dna Methyltransferase ◽

Dna Methyltransferases ◽

Breast Cancer Patients ◽

Prospective Longitudinal Study ◽

Cognitive Domains ◽

Prospective Longitudinal

Abstract Strong evidence suggests that genetic variations in DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) may alter the downstream expression and DNA methylation patterns of neuronal genes and influence cognition. This study investigates the association between a DNMT1 polymorphism, rs2162560, and chemotherapy-associated cognitive impairment (CACI) in a cohort of breast cancer patients. This is a prospective, longitudinal cohort study. From 2011 to 2017, 351 early-stage breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy were assessed at baseline, the midpoint, and the end of chemotherapy. DNA was extracted from whole blood, and genotyping was performed using Sanger sequencing. Patients’ self-perceived cognitive function and cognitive performance were assessed at three different time points using FACT-Cog (v.3) and a neuropsychological battery, respectively. The association between DNMT1 rs2162560 and cognitive function was evaluated using logistic regression analyses. Overall, 33.3% of the patients reported impairment relative to baseline in one or more cognitive domains. Cognitive impairment was observed in various objective cognitive domains, with incidences ranging from 7.2% to 36.9%. The DNMT1 rs2162560 A allele was observed in 21.8% of patients and this was associated with lower odds of self-reported cognitive decline in the concentration (OR = 0.45, 95% CI: 0.25–0.82, P = 0.01) and functional interference (OR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.24–0.95, P = 0.03) domains. No significant association was observed between DNMT1 rs2162560 and objective cognitive impairment. This is the first study to show a significant association between the DNMT1 rs2162560 polymorphism and CACI. Our data suggest that epigenetic processes could contribute to CACI, and further studies are needed to validate these findings.

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Adjunctive cognitive remediation for schizophrenia using yoga: an open, non-randomised trial

Acta Neuropsychiatrica ◽

10.1111/j.1601-5215.2011.00587.x ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 24 (2) ◽

pp. 91-100 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Triptish Bhatia ◽

Akhilesh Agarwal ◽

Gyandeepak Shah ◽

Joel Wood ◽

Jan Richard ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Function ◽

Randomised Trial ◽

Cognitive Remediation ◽

Cognitive Domain ◽

Medium Effect ◽

Major Depressive ◽

Treatment As Usual ◽

Cognitive Domains ◽

Yoga Therapy ◽

Persons With Schizophrenia

Background:Yoga therapy (YT) improves cognitive function in healthy individuals, but its impact on cognitive function among persons with schizophrenia (SZ) has not been investigated.Objective:To evaluate the adjunctive YT for cognitive domains impaired in SZ.Methods:Patients with SZ received YT or treatment as usual (TAU;n= 65,n= 23, respectively). Accuracy and speed for seven cognitive domains were assessed using a computerised neurocognitive battery (CNB), thus minimising observer bias. Separately, YT was evaluated among patients with bipolar I disorder (n= 40), major depressive disorder (n= 37) and cardiology outpatients (n= 68). All patients also received routine pharmacotherapy. Patients were not randomised to YT or TAU.Results:In comparison with the SZ/TAU group, the SZ/YT group showed significantly greater improvement with regard to measures of attention following corrections for multiple comparisons; the changes were more prominent among the men. In the other diagnostic groups, differing patterns of improvements were noted with small-to-medium effect sizes.Conclusions:Our initial analyses suggest nominally significant improvement in cognitive function in SZ with adjunctive therapies such as YT. The magnitude of the change varies by cognitive domain and may also vary by diagnostic group.

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Age Moderates the Association of Aerobic Exercise with Initial Learning of an Online Task Requiring Cognitive Control

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society ◽

10.1017/s1355617715000685 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 21 (10) ◽

pp. 802-815 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Patrick J. O’Connor ◽

Phillip D. Tomporowski ◽

Rodney K. Dishman

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Resistance Exercise ◽

Latent Class ◽

Flanker Task ◽

Linear Increase ◽

Free Play ◽

Exercise Frequency ◽

Aerobic Activity ◽

Initial Learning ◽

Increase In Accuracy

AbstractThe aim of this study was to examine whether people differed in change in performance across the first five blocks of an online flanker task and whether those trajectories of change were associated with self-reported aerobic or resistance exercise frequency according to age. A total of 8752 men and women aged 13–89 completed a lifestyle survey and five 45-s games (each game was a block of ~46 trials) of an online flanker task. Accuracy of the congruent and incongruent flanker stimuli was analyzed using latent class and growth curve modeling adjusting for time between blocks, whether the blocks occurred on the same or different days, education, smoking, sleep, caffeinated coffee and tea use, and Lumosity training status (“free play” or part of a “daily brain workout”). Aerobic and resistance exercise were unrelated to first block accuracies. For the more cognitively demanding incongruent flanker stimuli, aerobic activity was positively related to the linear increase in accuracy [B=0.577%, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.112 to 1.25 per day above the weekly mean of 2.8 days] and inversely related to the quadratic deceleration of accuracy gains (B=−0.619% CI, −1.117 to −0.121 per day). An interaction of aerobic activity with age indicated that active participants younger than age 45 had a larger linear increase and a smaller quadratic deceleration compared to other participants. Age moderates the association between self-reported aerobic, but not self-reported resistance, exercise and changes in cognitive control that occur with practice during incongruent presentations across five blocks of a 45-s online, flanker task. (JINS, 2015, 21, 802–815)

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Second language (L2) proficiency, socioeconomic status (SES), and intelligence (IQ) are significant predictors of cognitive control differences among young adult unbalanced Chinese–English bilinguals

Bilingualism Language and Cognition ◽

10.1017/s1366728918000822 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 22 (04) ◽

pp. 866-882 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

ZHILONG XIE ◽

TERESA SIGNORELLI PISANO

Keyword(s):

Socioeconomic Status ◽

Second Language ◽

Young Adult ◽

Cognitive Control ◽

Flanker Task ◽

Incongruent Condition ◽

Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ◽

Card Sorting ◽

Conflict Monitoring ◽

L2 Proficiency

The current study investigates how second-language (L2) proficiency contributes to cognitive control differences among three groups of unbalanced Chinese–English bilinguals matched for socioeconomic status (SES), intelligence (IQ), education, age, culture, and L1 background. A Flanker task and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) were administered to measure conflict monitoring, inhibition, and mental set shifting. ANOVA analyses revealed faster performance for the High-L2 Group compared to the Low-L2 Group in the congruent, neutral, and incongruent conditions of the Flanker task. However, there were no group differences on the WCST. Multiple step-wise regression analyses showed that L2 proficiency was a predictor for the Flanker task performance in all three conditions, SES in the neutral and the incongruent condition, and IQ in the congruent condition. These results suggest that L2 proficiency, along with SES and IQ, contribute significantly to cognitive control differences in conflict monitoring among young-adult bilinguals.

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Exercise and dietary program-induced weight reduction is associated with cognitive function among obese adolescents: a longitudinal study

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.3286 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

pp. e3286 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Chun Xie ◽

Xiaochun Wang ◽

Chenglin Zhou ◽

Chang Xu ◽

Yu-Kai Chang

Keyword(s):

Executive Function ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Weight Status ◽

Flanker Task ◽

Control Group ◽

Obese Adolescents ◽

School Activities ◽

Combined Exercise ◽

Quasi Experimental ◽

The Relationship

Objective The present study was to determine the effect of a combined exercise and dietary program on cognitive function as well as the relationship between the program-induced weight change and cognitive function alterations. Design The study applies a quasi-experimental design. Methods Fifty-eight adolescents with obese status (body mass index, BMI >28 kg/m2) were assigned to either an experiment (n = 30) or control group (n = 28). Participants in the experiment group received a scheduled program with a specific exercise protocol (two sessions per day, six days per week) and diet plan for four consecutive weeks; the control group was instructed to maintain their normal school activities. The primary outcome measures were anthropometric data and flanker task performance. Results The combined program led to reduced BMI with maintenance of the incongruent accuracy in the experiment group, but the incongruent accuracy decreased in the control group after the four-week period. Additionally, the change in weight status between post- and pre-test measurements was inversely correlated with the change in incongruent accuracy. Conclusion The combined exercise and dietary program resulted in decreased weight and enhanced executive function in the obese adolescents, and the weight alteration may be considered the mediator between the intervention and executive function.

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