scholarly journals Distinct and convergent beneficial effects of estrogen and insulin on cognitive function in healthy young men

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosemarie Krug ◽  
Laura Beier ◽  
Michael Lämmerhofer ◽  
Manfred Hallschmid
Keyword(s):  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Young Men ◽  
Young Male ◽  
Serum Testosterone ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Placebo Treatment ◽  
Acute Effect ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Combined Administration

Abstract Background Systematic investigations into the cognitive impact of estradiol and insulin in male individuals are sparse, and it is unclear whether the two hormones interact to benefit specific cognitive functions in humans. We investigated the acute effect of estradiol and insulin and of their combined administration on divergent (creative) and convergent (arithmetical) thinking as well as short-term and working verbal memory in healthy young men. Methods According to a 2×2 design, two groups of men (each n=16) received a 3-day transdermal estradiol (100 µg/24 h) or placebo pre-treatment and on two separate mornings were intranasally administered 160 IU regular human insulin and, respectively, placebo before completing a battery of cognitive tests; we also determined relevant blood parameters. Results Estrogen compared to placebo treatment induced a 3.5-fold increase in serum estradiol and suppressed serum testosterone concentrations by 70%. Estrogen in comparison to placebo improved creative performance, i.e., verbal fluency and flexibility, but not arithmetical thinking, as well as verbal short-term memory, but not visuospatial memory. The combination of estrogen and insulin enhanced recognition discriminability at delayed verbal memory recall; insulin alone remained without effect. Conclusions Estrogen specifically enhances core aspects of creativity and verbal memory in young male individuals; delayed recognition memory benefits from the combined administration of estradiol and insulin. Our results indicate that insulin’s acute cognitive impact in young men is limited and not robustly potentiated by estradiol. Estradiol per se exerts a beneficial acute effect on creative and verbal performance in healthy young men.

scholarly journals A-65 Verbal Abilities May Influence Performance in Assessment of Verbal Short-Term Memory Tasks

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 925-925
Author(s):  
A Guerra ◽  
J Moses ◽  
J Rivera ◽  
M Davis ◽  
K Hakinson
Keyword(s):  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Factor Solution ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Verbal Abilities ◽  
Three Factor

Abstract Objective Examine whether verbal abilities may help explain the learning strategies people employ when completing a short-term verbal memory task. Methods The assessment records of 296 American Veterans with diverse neuropsychiatric conditions were analyzed using Exploratory Factor Analyses. There were no exclusion criteria. All participants completed the Benton Serial Digit Learning Test – 9 Digits (SDL-9) and Visual Naming (VisNam), Sentence Repetition (SenRep), Controlled Word Association (COWA), and Token Tests of the Multilingual Aphasia Examination (MAE). Individual assessment instruments were factored using Principal Component Analyses (PCA). A three-factor solution of the SDL-9 was co-factored with the verbal components of the MAE to identify common sources of variance. Results A three-factor solution of the SDL-9 separated trials into three overlapping factors consisting of early (SDL-9_Early), middle (SDL-9_Middle), and late (SDL-9_Late) trials. Co-factoring the three new scales with the verbal components of the MAE produced a four-factor model explaining 67.85% of the shared variance: 1) SenRep loaded with SDL-9_Early, 2) COWAT loaded with SDL-9_Middle and SDL-9_Late, 3) Token loaded with SDL-9_Late, and 4) Vis Nam loaded with SDL-9_Late. Conclusions The results suggest that individuals may engage verbal abilities differently as they progress from simpler to more difficult verbal short-term memory tasks. It appears performance in early trials is mostly associated with rote repetition and performance on middle trials is mostly associated with verbal fluency, while performance on the late trials is associated with a combination of verbal fluency, auditory comprehension, and conceptual organization/naming. This may therefore indicate a shift in learning strategy to meet increased cognitive demands.

Impaired generation and use of strategy in schizophrenia: evidence from visuospatial and verbal tasks

1998 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 1049-1062 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. IDDON ◽  
P. J. McKENNA ◽  
B. J. SAHAKIAN ◽  
T. W. ROBBINS
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Lobe ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Visuospatial Task ◽  
Effective Strategies ◽  
Verbal Tasks ◽  
Perseverative Errors ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
Normal Controls

Background. The aim of this study was to investigate mnemonic strategic deficits in schizophrenic patients.Methods. Analogous tasks were used that required the self-generation of an efficient strategy and its implementation in two domains: visuospatial and verbal. The tasks were given to 20 IQ preserved schizophrenics and 20 matched normal controls. A number of different scores was derived from each task including strategy, short-term memory capacity and perseveration.Results. Overall, the schizophrenic patients were significantly impaired in their ability to generate effective mnemonic strategies on both tasks. In addition, on the visuospatial task there was no difference between the groups on the memory scores, but the schizophrenic patients made significantly more perseverative errors than controls. They were disproportionately worse on the verbal strategy task, showing impairment on memory as well as on strategy scores and were also impaired at semantically classifying the words. Performance was similar to the deficit seen in patients with frontal lobe excisions and Parkinson's disease, in terms of the inability to generate an effective strategy. The deficit on the verbal task was similar to patients with temporal lobe excisions who show impaired verbal memory. However, the pattern differed in the sense that the temporal lobe patients were able to generate effective strategies, unlike the patients with schizophrenia.Conclusions. High functioning schizophrenic patients are impaired in utilizing visuospatial and verbal mnemonic strategies. By comparing the results with those of neurosurgical excision patients, further evidence is provided for both frontal and temporal lobe involvement in schizophrenia.

Capacity limitations in short-term memory in schizophrenia: tests of competing hypotheses

1998 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 665-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. E. GOLDBERG ◽  
K. J. PATTERSON ◽  
Y. TAQQU ◽  
K. WILDER
Keyword(s):  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Interference Task ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Capacity Limitation ◽  
Set Size ◽  
Normal Controls

Background. Capacity limitation theories have proved to be surprisingly resilient in characterizing some of the cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. However, this perspective has not generally been applied to short-term verbal memory tasks. We explored this issue by first attempting to ascertain if gross misallocations of processing resources might explain impairments in short-term memory in schizophrenia on a classic digit span task and in a second study by attempting to determine what effects delay and memory set size had on a divided attention short-term verbal memory paradigm.Methods. In the first study 16 patients with schizophrenia and 21 normal controls received 40 trials of a three digit task and 20 trials of a six digit span task. As the absolute number of digits presented and duration of presentation in two conditions were identical, subjects thus had equivalent ‘opportunities’ to make errors if distraction, in the sense of misallocation of cognitive resources, were at the root of poor performance. In the second study 15 patients with schizophrenia and 15 normal controls were tested in conditions in which two, four or six words were presented and in which rehearsal was prevented by an interference task (colour naming) for delays of 5, 10 or 15 s.Results. Patients had disproportionate difficulty on the six digit rather than the three digit condition, suggesting that deficits in the verbal working memory short-term store may not be the result of attentional factors. In the second study, patients' performance was differentially worsened by the interference task, by memory set size (i.e. a capacity limitation) and by delay, a measure of decay rate.Conclusions. In concert, these studies demonstrate that schizophrenia patients have difficulties on verbal short-term memory span tasks not because of misallocation of resources, but rather because of limitations in ‘representational capacity’ and maintenance of information over delays.

Introduction to the special issue on syntax and verbal short term/working memory in developmental disorders

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 335-340
Author(s):  
Stavroula Stavrakaki
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Main Research ◽  
The Status

In the field of developmental disorders, two main research approaches, the linguistic approach and the cognitive psychology of memory approach, have been used to a great extent independently. Recently, researchers have investigated simultaneously the language and verbal memory abilities – especially verbal short term memory (VSTM) and verbal working memory (VWM) – of individuals with developmental disorders. The present Special Issue contributes to the discussion of the relation between VSTM/VWM and syntax in developmental disorders. It reports empirical data from six studies on the relation between verbal memory and syntax in different disorders and languages, and it raises theoretical issues concerning these cognitive mechanisms. It concludes with three commentary articles where the authors raise crucial theoretical and methodological issues: they pose questions concerning the status of VSTM/VWM and syntax, and spell out directions for future research in this field.

Searching Short-Term Memory for Linear-Positioning Movements

1983 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 267-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgann Lucariello ◽  
Tonya Toole ◽  
James Cauraugh
Keyword(s):  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Index Finger ◽  
Memory Search ◽  
Motor Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Search Processes ◽  
Within Subjects ◽  
Main Effects

To determine whether memory search for movements was serial or parallel, the search processes involved in a short-term motor-memory paradigm were investigated. A linear-positioning task was used to present a series of 1, 2, or 3 movements in a memory set. Upon completion of a memory set, subjects were presented with a search movement. The search movement was either the same length as one of the memory-set movements (“yes” response) or a different length (“no” response). Four subjects completed three consecutive days of testing. On Day 1 RT and movement length were practiced. On Day 2 the subjects were required to search a memory set of movements and respond in the yes condition by lifting the index finger of the left hand. This movement terminated a RT search clock. The same procedures were followed on Day 3, except that a no response was indicated by lifting the index finger. A 2 × 3 × 3 (response × memory set × RT trials) within-subjects analysis yielded nonsignificant main effects and interactions. The results were discussed in relation to verbal memory.

Effects of Anabolic Precursors on Serum Testosterone Concentrations and Adaptations to Resistance Training in Young Men

2000 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 340-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory A. Brown ◽  
Matthew D. Vukovich ◽  
Tracy A. Reifenrath ◽  
Nathaniel L. Uhl ◽  
Kerry A. Parsons ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Resistance Training ◽  
Young Men ◽  
Serum Testosterone ◽  
Acute Effect ◽  
Total Testosterone ◽  
Tribulus Terrestris ◽  
Serum Estradiol ◽  
Herbal Extracts ◽  
Treatment Groups ◽  
Daily Dose

The effects of androgen precursors, combined with herbal extracts designed to enhance testosterone formation and reduce conversion of androgens to estrogens was studied in young men. Subjects performed 3 days of resistance training per week for 8 weeks. Each day during Weeks 1,2,4,5,7, and 8, subjects consumed either placebo (PL; n = 10) or a supplement (ANDRO-6; n = 10), which contained daily doses of 300 mg androstenedione, 150 mg DHEA, 750 mg Tribulus terrestris, 625 mg Chrysin, 300 mg Indole-3-carbinol, and 540 mg Saw palmetto. Serum androstenedione concentrations were higher in ANDRO-6 after 2,5, and 8 weeks (p < .05), while serum concentrations of free and total testosterone were unchanged in both groups. Serum estradiol was elevated at Weeks 2, 5, and 8 in ANDRO-6 (p < .05), and serum estrone was elevated at Weeks 5 and 8 (p < .05). Muscle strength increased (p < .05) similarly from Weeks 0 to 4, and again from Weeks 4 to 8 in both treatment groups. The acute effect of one third of the daily dose, of ANDRO-6 and PL was studied in 10 men (23±4years). Serum androstenedione concentrations were elevated (p < .05) in ANDRO-6 from 150 to 360 min after ingestion, while serum free or total testosterone concentrations were unchanged. These data provide evidence that the addition of these herbal extracts to androstenedione does not result in increased serum testosterone concentrations, reduce the estrogenic effect of androstenedione, and does not augment the adaptations to resistance training.

Intensive video gaming improves encoding speed to visual short-term memory in young male adults

2013 ◽  
Vol 142 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inge L. Wilms ◽  
Anders Petersen ◽  
Signe Vangkilde
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Young Male ◽  
Video Gaming ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Visual Short Term Memory

scholarly journals Verbal Short-Term Memory Disturbance in the Primary Progressive Aphasias: Challenges and Distinctions in a Clinical Setting

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1060
Author(s):  
David Foxe ◽  
Sau Chi Cheung ◽  
Nicholas J. Cordato ◽  
James R. Burrell ◽  
Rebekah M. Ahmed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Primary Progressive Aphasia ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Primary Progressive ◽  
Case Vignettes

Impaired verbal ‘phonological’ short-term memory is considered a cardinal feature of the logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia (lv-PPA) and is assumed to underpin most of the language deficits in this syndrome. Clinically, examination of verbal short-term memory in individuals presenting with PPA is common practice and serves two objectives: (i) to help understand the possible mechanisms underlying the patient’s language profile and (ii) to help differentiate lv-PPA from other PPA variants or from other dementia syndromes. Distinction between lv-PPA and the non-fluent variant of PPA (nfv-PPA), however, can be especially challenging due to overlapping language profiles and comparable psychometric performances on verbal short-term memory tests. Here, we present case vignettes of the three PPA variants (lv-PPA, nfv-PPA, and the semantic variant (sv-PPA)) and typical Alzheimer’s disease (AD). These vignettes provide a detailed description of the short-term and working memory profiles typically found in these patients and highlight how speech output and language comprehension deficits across the PPA variants differentially interfere with verbal memory performance. We demonstrate that a combination of verbal short-term and working memory measures provides crucial information regarding the cognitive mechanisms underlying language disturbances in PPA. In addition, we propose that analogous visuospatial span tasks are essential for the assessment of PPA as they measure memory capacity without language contamination.

Visual Memory in Left Hemiplegia: A Clinical Evaluation of Verbally Mediated Theories of Visual Memory

1980 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-14
Author(s):  
J. Scott Richards
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Evaluation ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Post Onset

8 left hemiplegies with poor short-term memory showed poorer visual memory than 18 left hemiplegies with good short-term verbal memory, although they were matched for current ability on Bender-Gestalt designs. Intelligence, assessed by the WAIS post onset, was a complicating factor.

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