Fractionating the Neural Mechanisms of Cognitive Control

2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 949-965 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Kopp ◽  
Sandra Tabeling ◽  
Carsten Moschner ◽  
Karl Wessel
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Set Shifting ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Sensory Stimuli ◽  
Frontal Negativity ◽  
Shift Effect ◽  
Attentional Tasks

Modifications of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test were established. In these new task variants, participants were asked to exert sequential control over attentional sets or over intentional sets (task domain factor). Attentional set shifting requires changing the priorities by which sensory stimuli are selected, whereas intentional set shifting requires changing the priorities by which motor responses are selected. Auditory stimuli that signaled to maintain or shift set were presented immediately before (precuing) or after (postcuing) the selection of cards (cue timing factor). Twenty-four healthy young individuals participated. Performance data (response times, error percentages) indicated that intentional tasks were easier to perform than attentional tasks. The electroencephalogram was recorded during task performance, and the N1, medial frontal negativity (MFN), P3a, and sustained potential (SP) components of the cue event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were analyzed. Irrespective of the task domain, shift precues led to increased N1 amplitudes compared to shift postcues. When intentional sets had to be shifted, the MFNs in the postcuing condition were more pronounced than in the precuing condition. On the other hand, shifts of attentional sets resulted in a more prominent P3a in response to postcues compared to precues. Irrespective of the task domain, the shift effect that was evident in SPs was more pronounced in precue ERPs compared to postcue ERPs. We conclude that ERPs provide valid measures to empirically constrain theories about the neural mechanisms of cognitive control. The domain hypothesis of the fractionation of the neural mechanisms of cognitive control is introduced.

Influence of the study abroad bilingual experience on cognitive control among young adults

2021 ◽  
pp. 136700692110231
Author(s):  
Zhilong Xie ◽  
Yanping Dong
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
International Education ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ◽  
Set Shifting ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Mental Set ◽  
Studying Abroad ◽  
The Usa

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: This study investigated whether the studying abroad bilingual experience among unevenly balanced Chinese–English bilinguals exerted influence on cognitive control. Design/methodology/approach: We compared cognitive control differences between a group of Chinese–English bilinguals (n = 30) studying abroad in the USA and a control bilingual group (n = 30) studying at home in mainland China by administering the Flanker task and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). The two groups were matched on demographic variables including age, socioeconomic status (SES), intelligence, etc. Data and analysis: A mixed ANOVA was applied to the Flanker task data, with the task condition as the within-subject variable and the participant group as the between-subject variable. Independent t-test analyses were used to compare performance differences between groups on the WCST. Findings/conclusions: The two groups performed similarly on the Flanker task, whereas the group studying abroad fared better on the WCST, indicating better mental set shifting. Originality: This is the first study to show that the experience of studying abroad brings about cognitive control advantage in mental set shifting. Significance/implications: The current research provides the first evidence that the experience of studying abroad is related to the enhancement of cognitive control, which has implications for both cognitive development and international education.

Fast Neural Dynamics of Proactive Cognitive Control in a Task-Switching Analogue of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 407-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gema Díaz-Blancat ◽  
Juan García-Prieto ◽  
Fernando Maestú ◽  
Francisco Barceló
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Task Switching ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ◽  
Neural Dynamics ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting ◽  
Sorting Test

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

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (04) ◽  
pp. 866-882 ◽  
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.

scholarly journals Automatic Intra-/Extra-Dimensional Attentional Set-Shifting Task in Adolescent Mice

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariasole Ciampoli ◽  
Diego Scheggia ◽  
Francesco Papaleo
Keyword(s):  
Executive Functions ◽  
Neuropsychological Test ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ◽  
Set Shifting ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Attentional Set ◽  
Attentional Set Shifting ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting ◽  
Sorting Test ◽  
Set Shifting Task

Adolescence is a developmental period crucial for the maturation of higher-order cognitive functions. Indeed, adolescence deficits in executive functions are strong predictors of increased vulnerability to several mental disabilities later in life. Here, we tested adolescent mice in a fully-automated attentional set-shifting task equivalent to the humans’ Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery Intra-/Extra-Dimensional set-shift task (ID/ED). Compared to an adult, adolescent mice required more time to complete the task (≈16 days), and a higher percentage failed to finish the entire task. Nevertheless, adolescent mice completing this demanding task showed an increased effort in solving the extradimensional shift stage (EDS) compared to previous stages. Moreover, we found that this paradigm can be used to detect early cognitive dysfunctions in adolescent genetically modified mice. Thus, this automatic paradigm provides a further tool to assess attentional control in adolescent mice, and the development of dysfunctional executive functions from adolescence to adulthood.

scholarly journals A Dynamic Framework for Modelling Set-Shifting Performances

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco D’Alessandro ◽  
Luigi Lombardi
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Modelling ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ◽  
Longitudinal Component ◽  
Set Shifting ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Dynamic Framework ◽  
Cognitive States ◽  
Performance Trends ◽  
Substance Dependent ◽  
Set Shifting Task

Higher-order cognitive functions can be seen as a class of cognitive processes which are crucial in situations requiring a flexible adjustment of behaviour in response to changing demands of the environment. The cognitive assessment of these functions often relies on tasks which admit a dynamic, or longitudinal, component requiring participants to flexibly adapt their behaviour during the unfolding of the task. An intriguing feature of such experimental protocols is that they allow the performance of an individual to change as the task unfolds. In this work, we propose a Latent Markov Model approach to capture some dynamic aspects of observed response patterns of both healthy and substance dependent individuals in a set-shifting task. In particular, data from a Wisconsin Card Sorting Test were analysed in order to represent performance trends in terms of latent cognitive states dynamics. The results highlighted how a dynamic modelling approach can considerably improve the amount of information a researcher, or a clinician, can obtain from the analysis of a set-shifting task.

Attentional set shifting modulates the target P3b Response in the Wisconsin card sorting test

2000 ◽  
Vol 38 (10) ◽  
pp. 1342-1355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Barceló ◽  
Juan M Muñoz-Céspedes ◽  
Miguel A Pozo ◽  
Francisco J Rubia
Keyword(s):  
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ◽  
Set Shifting ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Attentional Set ◽  
Attentional Set Shifting ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting ◽  
Sorting Test

A non-human primate test of abstraction and set shifting: An automated adaptation of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test

2005 ◽  
Vol 146 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tara L. Moore ◽  
Ronald J. Killiany ◽  
James G. Herndon ◽  
Douglas L. Rosene ◽  
Mark B. Moss
Keyword(s):  
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ◽  
Set Shifting ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting ◽  
Sorting Test ◽  
Human Primate

scholarly journals Perseverative responding in Nigerian chronic alcohol and marijuana users

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tochukwu Nweze ◽  
Cyprian C. Eze ◽  
Florian Lange
Keyword(s):  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Marijuana Use ◽  
Executive Dysfunction ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Chronic Alcohol ◽  
Set Shifting ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Rule Inference

Chronic consumption of alcohol and marijuana, especially when initiated at an early age, has been implicated in cognitive alterations in the domain of executive functioning. Despite the robustness of this finding in Western populations, its generalizability to other cultural contexts is largely unknown. In this study, we examined whether the regular use of alcohol or marijuana use relates to impaired executive functioning in male students of a Nigerian university. Chronic alcohol users (n = 39), chronic marijuana users (n = 35) and drug-abstinent control participants (n = 40) recruited through snow-ball sampling technique completed a computerized version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (cWCST). As an established measure of executive functioning, the cWCST allows for the simultaneous assessment of three distinct executive processes: set shifting, rule inference, and set maintenance. Results revealed a selective set-shifting deficit in both alcohol and marijuana users. Both groups committed significantly more perseverative errors than the control group, and group differences were significantly stronger on this indicator of set shifting than on indicators of rule inference or set maintenance. Our findings support the generalizability of drug-related deficits in executive functioning and contribute to the characterization of executive dysfunction in non-Western populations. Future longitudinal studies are required to clarify whether executive dysfunction is an antecedent or consequence of alcohol and marijuana use in young Nigerians

Do pathological gambling and obsessive-compulsive disorder overlap? a neurocognitive perspective

CNS Spectrums ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 207-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji-Won Hur ◽  
Na young Shin ◽  
Sung Nyun Kim ◽  
Joon Hwan Jang ◽  
Jung-Seok Choi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pathological Gambling ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Spatial Organization ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Verbal Learning ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Visual Spatial

ObjectivePathological gambling (PG) is a severe and persistent pattern of problem gambling that has been aligned with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, no study has compared the neurocognitive profiles of individuals with PG and OCD.MethodsWe compared neurocognitive functioning, including executive function, verbal learning and memory, and visual–spatial organization and memory among 16 pathological gamblers, 31 drug-naïve OCD subjects, and 52 healthy controls.ResultsThe only neurocognitive marker common to both groups was increased fragmentation errors on the Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (ROCF). The PG subjects showed increased nonperseverative error on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and organization difficulties in the ROCF, whereas the OCD subjects revealed longer response times on the Stroop test and retention difficulties on the immediate recall scale of the ROCF.ConclusionsA more careful approach is required in considering whether PG is a part of the OCD spectrum, as little evidence of neurocognitive overlap between PG and OCD has been reported.

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