Meditation-induced cognitive-control states regulate working memory task performance

2021 ◽  
pp. 174702182199782
Author(s):  
Ke Ma ◽  
Na Deng ◽  
Bernhard Hommel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Similar Pattern ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Single Bout ◽  
Open Monitoring ◽  
Demand Condition ◽  
Back Task

Single-bout focused-attention meditation (FAM) and open-monitoring meditation (OMM) are assumed to bias metacontrol states towards more persistent versus more flexible processing, respectively. In Experiment 1, we tested whether monitoring and updating of working memory (WM) representations in an N-back task with high (3-back), medium (2-back), and low (1-back) WM demands (varied within participants) is affected by preceding single-bout FAM or OMM meditation (varied between participants and compared with a control group). The results showed that FAM promotes WM performance in the medium (2-back), but not in the high (3-back) or low (1-back) demand condition, whereas OMM did not affect WM performance. A replication of the 2-back condition only (Experiment 2) showed no meditation effect, but a replication of the 3-back condition only (Experiment 3) produced a similar pattern as the 2-back condition in Experiment 1, with FAM promoting performance compared with OMM and the control condition. Taken together, these findings suggest that the single-bout FAM does promote WM performance but only if the capacity demands are neither too high nor too low.

scholarly journals The effects of experimental pain and induced optimism on working memory task performance

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jantine J.L.M. Boselie ◽  
Linda M.G. Vancleef ◽  
Madelon L. Peters
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Factorial Design ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Cold Pressor ◽  
Heat Stimulation ◽  
Mixed Factorial Design ◽  
Cold Pressor Pain ◽  
Back Task ◽  
Experimentally Induced

AbstractBackground/aimsPain can interrupt and deteriorate executive task performance. We have previously shown that experimentally induced optimism can diminish the deteriorating effect of cold pressor pain on a subsequent working memory task (i.e., operation span task). In two successive experiments we sought further evidence for the protective role of optimism on pain-induced working memory impairments. We used another working memory task (i.e., 2-back task) that was performed either after or during pain induction.MethodsStudy 1 employed a 2 (optimism vs. no-optimism) × 2 (pain vs. no-pain) × 2 (pre-score vs. postscore) mixed factorial design. In half of the participants optimism was induced by the Best Possible Self (BPS) manipulation, which required them to write and visualize about a life in the future where everything turned out for the best. In the control condition, participants wrote and visualized a typical day in their life (TD). Next, participants completed either the cold pressor task (CPT) or a warm water control task (WWCT). Before (baseline) and after the CPT or WWCT participants working memory performance was measured with the 2-back task. The 2-back task measures the ability to monitor and update working memory representation by asking participants to indicate whether the current stimulus corresponds to the stimulus that was presented 2 stimuli ago. Study 2 had a 2 (optimism vs. no-optimism) × 2 (pain vs. no-pain) mixed factorial design. After receiving the BPS or control manipulation, participants completed the 2-back task twice: once with painful heat stimulation, and once without any stimulation (counterbalanced order). Continuous heat stimulation was used with temperatures oscillating around 1 °C above and 1 °C below the individual pain threshold.ResultsIn study 1, the results did not show an effect of cold pressor pain on subsequent 2-back task performance. Results of study 2 indicated that heat pain impaired concurrent 2-back task performance. However, no evidence was found that optimism protected against this pain-induced performance deterioration.ConclusionsExperimentally induced pain impairs concurrent but not subsequent working memory task performance. Manipulated optimism did not counteract pain-induced deterioration of 2-back performance.ImplicationsIt is important to explore factors that may diminish the negative impact of pain on the ability to function in daily life, as pain itself often cannot be remediated. We are planning to conduct future studies that should shed further light on the conditions, contexts and executive operations for which optimism can act as a protective factor.

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

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.

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

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-134 ◽  
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

scholarly journals The Effect of Single Bout of Acute Exercise on Working Memory Performance

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 484-487
Author(s):  
Santosh Kumar Deo ◽  
Kopila Agrawal ◽  
Prem Bhattrai ◽  
Raju Kumar Chaudhary
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Acute Exercise ◽  
Test Procedure ◽  
Step Test ◽  
Moderate Intensity ◽  
Exercise Session ◽  
Moderate Intensity Exercise ◽  
Single Bout ◽  
Back Task

Introduction: Working memory is a kind of short term memory important for reasoning and guiding decision-making and behavioral process.Objective: The goal of the present research was to study the outcome of single bout of acute moderate-intensity exercise on working memory.Methodology: Twenty two male subjects were asked to perform working memory task by 2n back task in baseline resting, immediately after exercise and after five minute of exercise session. 3 minute step test procedure was used as a moderate intensity exercise intervention.Results: The percentage correctness of 2n back task of working memory was found to be 64.36% for baseline resting condition, 78.01 % for immediately after 3-minute step test and 80.70% for 5 minute after the exercise. In both exercise session (i.e. immediately after exercise and after 5 minute of exercise), significant improvement (p value <0.05) in working memory was seen as compared to the baseline resting session while no such significant beneficial improvement was seen when compared between immediately after exercise and after 5 minute of exercise.Conclusion: Improvement in working memory after moderate exercise intervention was seen, which is important for learning and memory and decision-making.  BJHS 2018;3(2)6:484-487.

scholarly journals Phenomenology of Visuo-spatial Working Memory Task Performance

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.

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

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.

scholarly journals The influence of visual working memory representations on attention bias to threat in individuals with high trait anxiety

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 204380871987614
Author(s):  
Nisha Yao ◽  
Marcus A. Rodriguez ◽  
Mengyao He ◽  
Mingyi Qian
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Attention Bias ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Negative Valence ◽  
Memory Representations ◽  
High Trait Anxiety ◽  
The Relationship

Experimental studies have yielded discrepant results regarding the relationship between anxiety and attention bias to threat. Cognitive factors modulating the presence of threat-related attention bias in anxiety have drawn growing attention. Previous research demonstrated that visual working memory (WM) representations can guide attention allocation in a top-down manner. Whether threat-related WM representations affected the presence of attention bias in anxiety awaits examination. Combining a memory task and a dot-probe task, this study investigated how WM representations of faces with neutral or negative expressions modulated the attention bias to threat among highly anxious individuals versus controls. Results showed that highly anxious individuals developed more pronounced attention bias to threat when maintaining WM representations of negative faces as compared to the control group. There were no significant between-group effects when the WM representations were neutral. These results suggested that highly anxious individuals were more susceptible to the influence of mental representations with negative valence on attention deployment.

scholarly journals Working Memory and the Suppression of Reflexive Saccades

2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason P. Mitchell ◽  
C. Neil Macrae ◽  
Iain D. Gilchrist
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Antisaccade Task ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Reflexive Saccades ◽  
Back Task

Conscious behavioral intentions can frequently fail under conditions of attentional depletion. In attempting to trace the cognitive origin of this effect, we hypothesized that failures of action control—specifically, oculomotor movement—can result from the imposition of fronto-executive load. To evaluate this prediction, participants performed an antisaccade task while simultaneously completing a working-memory task that is known to make variable demands on prefrontal processes (n-back task, see Jonides et al., 1997). The results of two experiments are reported. As expected, antisaccade error rates were increased in accordance with the fronto-executive demands of the n-back task (Experiment 1). In addition, the debilitating effects of working-memory load were restricted to the inhibitory component of the antisaccade task (Experiment 2). These findings corroborate the view that working memory operations play a critical role in the suppression of prepotent behavioral responses.

scholarly journals Prospective memory mediated by interoceptive accuracy: a psychophysiological approach

2016 ◽  
Vol 371 (1708) ◽  
pp. 20160005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoshi Umeda ◽  
Saiko Tochizawa ◽  
Midori Shibata ◽  
Yuri Terasawa
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Prospective Memory ◽  
Nervous Activity ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Cardiac Reactivity ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Interoceptive Accuracy ◽  
Event Based ◽  
The Relationship

Previous studies on prospective memory (PM), defined as memory for future intentions, suggest that psychological stress enhances successful PM retrieval. However, the mechanisms underlying this notion remain poorly understood. We hypothesized that PM retrieval is achieved through interaction with autonomic nervous activity, which is mediated by the individual accuracy of interoceptive awareness, as measured by the heartbeat detection task. In this study, the relationship between cardiac reactivity and retrieval of delayed intentions was evaluated using the event-based PM task. Participants were required to detect PM target letters while engaged in an ongoing 2-back working memory task. The results demonstrated that individuals with higher PM task performance had a greater increase in heart rate on PM target presentation. Also, higher interoceptive perceivers showed better PM task performance. This pattern was not observed for working memory task performance. These findings suggest that cardiac afferent signals enhance PM retrieval, which is mediated by individual levels of interoceptive accuracy. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Interoception beyond homeostasis: affect, cognition and mental health’.

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