The Effects of Nicotine on Attention, Information Processing, and Short-Term Memory in Patients with Dementia of the Alzheimer Type

1989 ◽  
Vol 154 (6) ◽  
pp. 797-800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Sahakian ◽  
Gemma Jones ◽  
Raymond Levy ◽  
Jeffrey Gray ◽  
David Warburton
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Marked Improvement ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Critical Flicker Fusion ◽  
Alzheimer Type ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Flickering Light ◽  
Flicker Fusion

Nicotine in patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) producted a significant and marked improvement in discriminative sensitivity and reaction times on a computerised test of attention and information processing. Nicotine also improved the ability of DAT patients to detect a flickering light in a critical flicker fusion test. These results suggest that nicotine may be acting on cortical mechanisms involved in visual perception and attention, and support the hypothesis that acetylcholine transmission modulates vigilance and discrimination. Nicotine may therefore be of some value in treating deficits in attention and information processing in DAT patients.

Cognitive Information Processing Measures as Predictors of Monitoring Performance

1982 ◽  
Vol 54 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1299-1302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Cellar ◽  
Gerald V. Barrett ◽  
Ralph Alexander ◽  
Dennis Doverspike ◽  
Jay C. Thomas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Female College Students ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Cognitive Information Processing ◽  
Precise Understanding ◽  
Cognitive Information ◽  
Complex Monitoring

To obtain a more precise understanding of the constructs underlying complex monitoring, measures of short-term memory and visual search were administered to 7 male and 13 female college students. The hypothesis was that more rapid short-term memory and visual search would be related to successful monitoring. A correlational analysis indicated that choice reaction time was related to performance ( r = –.38 and –.43) while rate of serial comparisons was not ( r = –.08 and –.28). It was concluded that information-processing measures enhanced the understanding of the underlying processes in monitoring beyond that provided by traditional cognitive tests.

scholarly journals The diffusion model of reaction time for recent negative probes

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-50
Author(s):  
B.B. Velichkovsky ◽  
F.R. Sultanova ◽  
D.V. Tatarinov ◽  
A.A. Kachina
Keyword(s):  
Diffusion Model ◽  
Drift Rate ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Memory Scanning ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Cognitive Representations ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Scanning Task

The study investigates the problem of information displacement from short-term memory. In two experiments, reaction times for recent negative probes were analyzed in the Sternberg’s memory scanning task. The diffusion model of reaction times was used with parameters estimated with the fast-dm software. It was found (experiment 1) that recent negative probes are characterized by a reduction in the speed of information accumulation (drift rate). This suggests residual activation of irrelevant cognitive representation in memory after they have been displaced from short-term memory. It was also found (experiment 2) that negative probes semantically related to items in a preceding target set (semantic recent negative probes) are characterized by a similar decrease in the drift rate. This suggests activation spreading from irrelevant cognitive representations displaced from short-term memory along semantic connections and identifies activated long-term memory as the target of information displacement from short-term memory. Additional mechanisms of short-term memory scanning (negative priming and dynamic decision thresholds) are discussed.

Effects of bilingualism on statistical learning in preschoolers

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josje Verhagen ◽  
Elise de Bree
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Learning ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Reaction Time Task ◽  
Nonword Repetition ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Memory Skill ◽  
Post Hoc

Abstract Earlier work indicates that bilingualism may positively affect statistical learning, but leaves open whether a bilingual benefit is (1) found during learning rather than in a post-hoc test following a learning phase and (2) explained by enhanced verbal short-term memory skill in the bilinguals. Forty-one bilingual and 56 monolingual preschoolers completed a serial reaction time task and a nonword repetition task (NWR). Linear mixed-effect regressions indicated that the bilinguals showed a stronger decrease in reaction times over the regular blocks of the task than the monolinguals. No group differences in accuracy-based measures were found. NWR performance, which did not differ between the groups, did not account for the attested effect of bilingualism. These results provide partial support for effects of bilingualism on statistical learning, which appear during learning and are not due to enhanced verbal short-term memory. Taken together, these findings add to a growing body of research on effects of bilingualism on statistical learning, and constitute a first step towards investigating the factors which may underlie such effects.

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