scholarly journals Effect of non-instructed instrumental contingency of monetary reward and positive affect in a cognitive control task

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 202002
Author(s):  
Arthur Prével ◽  
Vincent Hoofs ◽  
Ruth M. Krebs
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Associative Learning ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Monetary Reward ◽  
Continuous Performance ◽  
Continuous Performance Task ◽  
Control Task ◽  
Affective Outcomes ◽  
Affective Stimuli ◽  
Significant Performance

In recent years, we observed a strong interest in the influence of motivation and emotion on cognitive control. Prior studies suggest that the instrumental contingency between a response and a rewarding or affective stimulus is particularly important in that context—which is resonating with observations in the associative learning literature. However, despite this overlap, and the relevance of non-instructed learning in real life, the vast majority of studies investigating motivation–cognition interactions use direct instructions to inform participants about the contingencies between responses and stimuli. Thus, there is little experimental insight regarding how humans detect non-instructed contingencies between their actions and motivational or affective outcomes, and how these learned contingencies come to influence cognitive control processes. In an attempt to close this gap, the goal of the present study was to test the effect of non-instructed contingent and non-contingent outcomes (i.e. monetary reward and positive affective stimuli) on cognitive control using the AX-continuous performance task (AX-CPT) paradigm. We found that entirely non-instructed contingencies between responses and positive outcomes (both monetary and affective ones) led to significant performance improvement. The present results open new perspectives for studying the influence of motivation and emotion on cognitive control at the insertion with associative learning.

Genetic Variation of Serotonin Function and Cognitive Control

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 1923-1931 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Strobel ◽  
Gesine Dreisbach ◽  
Johannes Müller ◽  
Thomas Goschke ◽  
Burkhard Brocke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Continuous Performance ◽  
Continuous Performance Task ◽  
Performance Task ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Related Personality

Although it is widely accepted that serotonin plays a pivotal role in the modulation of anxiety- and depression-related personality traits as well as in the pathogenesis of anxiety disorders and depression, the role of serotonin in cognition is less clear. In the present study, we investigated the involvement of serotonin in cognitive behaviors by examining the impact of genetic variation in key regulators of serotonergic neurotransmission on behavioral measures in a cognitive control task. Eighty-five healthy participants performed a cued continuous performance task (the AX Continuous Performance Task [AXCPT]) and were genotyped for polymorphisms in the transcriptional control regions of the tryptophan hydroxylase 2 gene (TPH2 G-703T; rs4570625) and the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR). The core result was that individuals lacking the rare TPH2 T allele were not faster than T allele carriers, but committed fewer errors and were less variable in responding. These findings parallel those of a recent study where an enhancement of executive control in individuals without the rare TPH2 T/T genotype was observed. Together with recent evidence that individuals without the T allele exhibit higher scores in anxiety- and depression-related personality traits, our results underscore the role of the TPH2 G-703T polymorphism in the modulation of behavior and raise the intriguing possibility that genetic variants associated with higher negative emotionality may have beneficial effects on some cognitive functions.

scholarly journals Monkey Prefrontal Neurons Reflect Logical Operations for Cognitive Control in a Variant of the AX Continuous Performance Task (AX-CPT)

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (14) ◽  
pp. 4067-4079 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachael K. Blackman ◽  
David A. Crowe ◽  
Adele L. DeNicola ◽  
Sofia Sakellaridi ◽  
Angus W. MacDonald ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Continuous Performance ◽  
Continuous Performance Task ◽  
Performance Task ◽  
Logical Operations

Behavioural and EEG atypicalities during rest, visual perception, and cognitive control in autistic adults

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amandine Lassalle ◽  
Michael X Cohen ◽  
Laura Dekkers ◽  
Elizabeth Milne ◽  
Rasa Gulbinaite ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Perception ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Neural Dynamics ◽  
Simple Explanation ◽  
Control Task ◽  
Neural Structure ◽  
Eeg Power ◽  
Autistic Adults

Background: People with an Autism Spectrum Condition diagnosis (ASD) are hypothesized to show atypical neural dynamics, reflecting differences in neural structure and function. However, previous results regarding neural dynamics in autistic individuals have not converged on a single pattern of differences. It is possible that the differences are cognitive-set-specific, and we therefore measured EEG in autistic individuals and matched controls during three different cognitive states: resting, visual perception, and cognitive control.Methods: Young adults with and without an ASD (N=17 in each group) matched on age (range 20 to 30 years), sex, and estimated Intelligence Quotient (IQ) were recruited. We measured their behavior and their EEG during rest, a task requiring low-level visual perception of gratings of varying spatial frequency, and the “Simon task” to elicit activity in the executive control network. We computed EEG power and Inter-Site Phase Clustering (ISPC; a measure of connectivity) in various frequency bands.Results: During rest, there were no ASD vs. controls differences in EEG power, suggesting typical oscillation power at baseline. During visual processing, without pre-baseline normalization, we found decreased broadband EEG power in ASD vs. controls, but this was not the case during the cognitive control task. Furthermore, the behavioral results of the cognitive control task suggest that autistic adults were better able to ignore irrelevant stimuli.Conclusions: Together, our results defy a simple explanation of overall differences between ASD and controls, and instead suggest a more nuanced pattern of altered neural dynamics that depend on which neural networks are engaged.

Age-Related Differences in Motivational Integration and Cognitive Control

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Marianne Yee ◽  
Sarah L Adams ◽  
Asad Beck ◽  
Todd Samuel Braver
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Monetary Reward ◽  
Potential Candidate ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Cognitive Task Performance

Motivational incentives play an influential role in value-based decision-making and cognitive control. A compelling hypothesis in the literature suggests that the brain integrates the motivational value of diverse incentives (e.g., motivational integration) into a common currency value signal that influences decision-making and behavior. To investigate whether motivational integration processes change during healthy aging, we tested older (N=44) and younger (N=54) adults in an innovative incentive integration task paradigm that establishes dissociable and additive effects of liquid (e.g., juice, neutral, saltwater) and monetary incentives on cognitive task performance. The results reveal that motivational incentives improve cognitive task performance in both older and younger adults, providing novel evidence demonstrating that age-related cognitive control deficits can be ameliorated with sufficient incentive motivation. Additional analyses revealed clear age-related differences in motivational integration. Younger adult task performance was modulated by both monetary and liquid incentives, whereas monetary reward effects were more gradual in older adults and more strongly impacted by trial-by-trial performance feedback. A surprising discovery was that older adults shifted attention from liquid valence toward monetary reward throughout task performance, but younger adults shifted attention from monetary reward toward integrating both monetary reward and liquid valence by the end of the task, suggesting differential strategic utilization of incentives. Together these data suggest that older adults may have impairments in incentive integration, and employ different motivational strategies to improve cognitive task performance. The findings suggest potential candidate neural mechanisms that may serve as the locus of age-related change, providing targets for future cognitive neuroscience investigations.

The Relationship Between Vigilance Deficits and Traffic Injuries Involving Children

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 95 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. B. Pless ◽  
H. G. Taylor ◽  
L. Arsenault
Keyword(s):  
Traffic Accidents ◽  
Head Injuries ◽  
Delayed Response ◽  
Continuous Performance ◽  
Continuous Performance Task ◽  
Performance Task ◽  
Response Test ◽  
Objective Evidence ◽  
Scale Scores ◽  
Subjective Evidence

Objective. This study was designed to determine whether there is an increased frequency of deficits in impulse control, vigilance, or both, among child bicyclists or pedestrians who have been injured in traffic accidents, as assessed using objective measures and parent and teacher reports. Research design. This was a case-control study, in which cases were children injured as pedestrians or bicyclists (excluding those with severe head injuries) and controls were those injured as passengers or in some other manner in which the child's behavior was unlikely to be a factor. Setting. Children ages 5 to 15 years presenting to the emergency room of the Montreal Children's Hospital. Participants. For each of 286 cases, two controls were selected, making a total of 848 subjects Among the cases, 172 were injured as pedestrians and 114 as bicyclists. Measures. Children were assessed using the Continuous Performance Task and the Delayed Response Test, both parts of a computerized test battery. Parents and teachers completed the Conners Abbreviated Symptom Questionnaire to assess hyperactivity. Results. Cases and controls were similar on most sociodemographic and clinical measures but showed statistically significant differences in mean scores on the Continuous Performance Task measures of omissions and commissions, pointing to differences in vigilance, and on the Delayed Response Test measures of impulsivity. Mean Conners scale scores of both parent and teacher were significantly higher for cases than controls, and those of parents were higher than those of teachers. Conclusions. Among children whose behavior may have been a factor in the occurrence of an injury, there is subjective evidence of increased hyperactivity and objective evidence of deficits in vigilance and attention when compared with closely matched controls. These findings have important implications for prevention.

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