Combined physical and cognitive exercises impact on the power of slow brainwaves of elderly with mild cognitive commitment (MCC)

Population aging is a global phenomenon, the passage from an aging state that is healthy to a process of loss of cognitive functions is mediated by the installation of a state of Mild Cognitive Commitment (MCC), which may or may not evolve into dementia. . In the early stages of dementia there is an increase in Theta activity and the more advanced stages there is an increase in Delta activity. The study verified the effect of the association of physical and cognitive stimuli on the power of Theta and Delta brain waves of elderly people with MCC. 18 elderly of both genders,aged over 60 years, diagnosed with CCL were divided into Control Group (CG, n=8); Experimental Group (GE, n=10). Brainwave power was determined via EEG with electrodes positioned according to the international 10/20 system. Asepsis of the checkpoints was performed with cotton and a 70º alcohol solution. For data collection, it was verified if the electrode impedance rate was below 20 (KΩ). Brain activity was monitored for 3 minutes to determine a baseline. The points of interest were points F7 which is related to visual and auditory working memory, selective and divided attention, F8 related to visual and spatial working memory, emotional processing and attention maintenance, and finally points P3 and P4 related to problem-solving, attention, and association, visual processing and non-verbal association. In addition to these, points A1 and A2 were used as a reference and another point as ground. The CG continued to attend memory training meetings. The GE went through training sessions that combined physical and cognitive exercises. Weekly 40-minute sessions were held for 7 weeks. Test T was used in all comparisons. It was found that the GC registered Theta increase in the parietal areas and Delta in both the parietal and frontal areas. The GE had a decrease in theta wave power in the parietal and frontal areas. None of the comparisons between groups proved to be statistically significant. It is concluded that the association of physical and cognitive stimuli applied in weekly sessions of 40 minutes for 7 weekswas not sufficient to produce statistically significant results. However, the observed results are qualitatively similar to those of other studies that indicate the efficiency of this type of training when used during longer intervention periods.

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The Effects of Working Memory Training on Brain Activity

Brain Sciences ◽

10.3390/brainsci11020155 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 155

Author(s):

Edward Nęcka ◽

Aleksandra Gruszka ◽

Adam Hampshire ◽

Justyna Sarzyńska-Wawer ◽

Andreea-Elena Anicai ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Neural Network ◽

Working Memory ◽

Brain Activity ◽

High Accuracy ◽

Stop Signal Task ◽

Memory Training ◽

Control Group ◽

Parietal Lobes ◽

Improved Performance ◽

Back Task

This study aimed to investigate if two weeks of working memory (WM) training on a progressive N-back task can generate changes in the activity of the underlying WM neural network. Forty-six healthy volunteers (23 training and 23 controls) were asked to perform the N-back task during three fMRI scanning sessions: (1) before training, (2) after the half of training sessions, and (3) at the end. Between the scanning sessions, the experimental group underwent a 10-session training of working memory with the use of an adaptive version of the N-back task, while the control group did not train anything. The N-back task in the scanning sessions was relatively easy (n = 2) in order to ensure high accuracy and a lack of between-group differences at the behavioral level. Such training-induced differences in neural efficiency were expected. Behavioral analyses revealed improved performance of both groups on the N-back task. However, these improvements resulted from the test-retest effect, not the training outside scanner. Performance on the non-trained stop-signal task did not demonstrate any transfer effect. Imaging analysis showed changes in activation in several significant clusters, with overlapping regions of interest in the frontal and parietal lobes. However, patterns of between-session changes of activation did not show any effect of training. The only finding that can be linked with training consists in strengthening the correlation between task performance accuracy and activation of the parietal regions of the neural network subserving working memory (left superior parietal lobule and right supramarginal gyrus posterior). These results suggest that the effects of WM training consist in learning that, in order to ensure high accuracy in the criterion task, activation of the parietal regions implicated in working memory updating must rise.

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Resting‐State EEG Microstates Parallel Age‐Related Differences in Allocentric Spatial Working Memory Performance

Brain Topography ◽

10.1007/s10548-021-00835-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Adeline Jabès ◽

Giuliana Klencklen ◽

Paolo Ruggeri ◽

Christoph M. Michel ◽

Pamela Banta Lavenex ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Working Memory ◽

Resting State ◽

Cognitive Aging ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Spatial Working Memory ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Age Related

AbstractAlterations of resting-state EEG microstates have been associated with various neurological disorders and behavioral states. Interestingly, age-related differences in EEG microstate organization have also been reported, and it has been suggested that resting-state EEG activity may predict cognitive capacities in healthy individuals across the lifespan. In this exploratory study, we performed a microstate analysis of resting-state brain activity and tested allocentric spatial working memory performance in healthy adult individuals: twenty 25–30-year-olds and twenty-five 64–75-year-olds. We found a lower spatial working memory performance in older adults, as well as age-related differences in the five EEG microstate maps A, B, C, C′ and D, but especially in microstate maps C and C′. These two maps have been linked to neuronal activity in the frontal and parietal brain regions which are associated with working memory and attention, cognitive functions that have been shown to be sensitive to aging. Older adults exhibited lower global explained variance and occurrence of maps C and C′. Moreover, although there was a higher probability to transition from any map towards maps C, C′ and D in young and older adults, this probability was lower in older adults. Finally, although age-related differences in resting-state EEG microstates paralleled differences in allocentric spatial working memory performance, we found no evidence that any individual or combination of resting-state EEG microstate parameter(s) could reliably predict individual spatial working memory performance. Whether the temporal dynamics of EEG microstates may be used to assess healthy cognitive aging from resting-state brain activity requires further investigation.

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Brain hemodynamic response in Examiner–Examinee dyads during spatial short-term memory task: an fNIRS study

Experimental Brain Research ◽

10.1007/s00221-021-06073-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Francesco Panico ◽

Stefania De Marco ◽

Laura Sagliano ◽

Francesca D’Olimpio ◽

Dario Grossi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Cognitive Processes ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Spatial Working Memory ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Memory Task ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Short Term ◽

Term Memory ◽

The Real

AbstractThe Corsi Block-Tapping test (CBT) is a measure of spatial working memory (WM) in clinical practice, requiring an examinee to reproduce sequences of cubes tapped by an examiner. CBT implies complementary behaviors in the examiners and the examinees, as they have to attend a precise turn taking. Previous studies demonstrated that the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) is activated during CBT, but scarce evidence is available on the neural correlates of CBT in the real setting. We assessed PFC activity in dyads of examiner–examinee participants while completing the real version of CBT, during conditions of increasing and exceeding workload. This procedure allowed to investigate whether brain activity in the dyads is coordinated. Results in the examinees showed that PFC activity was higher when the workload approached or reached participants’ spatial WM span, and lower during workload conditions that were largely below or above their span. Interestingly, findings in the examiners paralleled the ones in the examinees, as examiners’ brain activity increased and decreased in a similar way as the examinees’ one. In the examiners, higher left-hemisphere activity was observed suggesting the likely activation of non-spatial WM processes. Data support a bell-shaped relationship between cognitive load and brain activity, and provide original insights on the cognitive processes activated in the examiner during CBT.

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The role of prefrontal cortex in working memory: examining the contents of consciousness

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.1998.0334 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 353 (1377) ◽

pp. 1819-1828 ◽

Cited By ~ 159

Author(s):

◽

S. M. Courtney ◽

L. Petit ◽

J. V. Haxby ◽

L. G. Ungerleider

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Visual Processing ◽

Right Hemisphere ◽

Functional Organization ◽

Spatial Working Memory ◽

Domain Specificity ◽

Long Term Memory ◽

Present Evidence ◽

The Right

Working memory enables us to hold in our ‘mind's eye’ the contents of our conscious awareness, even in the absence of sensory input, by maintaining an active representation of information for a brief period of time. In this review we consider the functional organization of the prefrontal cortex and its role in this cognitive process. First, we present evidence from brain–imaging studies that prefrontal cortex shows sustained activity during the delay period of visual working memory tasks, indicating that this cortex maintains on–line representations of stimuli after they are removed from view. We then present evidence for domain specificity within frontal cortex based on the type of information, with object working memory mediated by more ventral frontal regions and spatial working memory mediated by more dorsal frontal regions. We also propose that a second dimension for domain specificity within prefrontal cortex might exist for object working memory on the basis of the type of representation, with analytic representations maintained preferentially in the left hemisphere and image–based representations maintained preferentially in the right hemisphere. Furthermore, we discuss the possibility that there are prefrontal areas brought into play during the monitoring and manipulation of information in working memory in addition to those engaged during the maintenance of this information. Finally, we consider the relationship of prefrontal areas important for working memory, both to posterior visual processing areas and to prefrontal areas associated with long–term memory.

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Brain activity pattern changes after adaptive working memory training in multiple sclerosis

Brain Imaging and Behavior ◽

10.1007/s11682-018-9984-z ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 142-154 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Laura Bonzano ◽

Ludovico Pedullà ◽

Matteo Pardini ◽

Andrea Tacchino ◽

Paola Zaratin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Multiple Sclerosis ◽

Working Memory ◽

Activity Pattern ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Working Memory Training ◽

Memory Training ◽

Brain Activity Pattern

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Abnormal brain activity patterns during spatial working memory task in patients with end-stage renal disease on maintenance hemodialysis: a fMRI study

Brain Imaging and Behavior ◽

10.1007/s11682-020-00383-7 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Jinzhuang Huang ◽

Lei Xie ◽

Ruiwei Guo ◽

Jinhong Wang ◽

Jinquan Lin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Frontal Cortex ◽

Spatial Working Memory ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Activity Patterns ◽

Parietal Lobule ◽

Stage Renal Disease ◽

End Stage ◽

Esrd Patients ◽

Back Task

Abstract Hemodialysis (HD) is associated with cognitive impairment in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). However, the neural mechanism of spatial working memory (SWM) impairment in HD-ESRD patients remains unclear. We investigated the abnormal alterations in SWM-associated brain activity patterns in HD-ESRD patients using blood oxygen level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD-fMRI) technique during n-back tasks. Twenty-two HD-ESRD patients and 22 well-matched controls underwent an fMRI scan while undergoing a three-load n-back tasks with different difficulty levels. Cognitive and mental states were assessed using a battery of neuropsychologic tests. The HD-ESRD patients exhibited worse memory abilities than controls. Compared with the control group, the HD-ESRD patient group showed lower accuracy and longer response time under the n-back tasks, especially in the 2-back task. The patterns of brain activation changed under different working memory loads in the HD-ESRD patients, showing decreased activity in the right medial frontal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus under 0-back and 1-back task, while more decreased activation in the bilateral frontal cortex, parietal lobule, anterior/posterior cingulate cortex and insula cortex under 2-back task. With the increase of task difficulty, the activation degree of the frontal and parietal cortex decreased. More importantly, we found that lower activation in frontal cortex and parietal lobule was associated with worse cognitive function in the HD-ESRD patients. These results demonstrate that the abnormal brain activity patterns of frontal cortex and parietal lobule may reflect the neural mediation of SWM impairment.

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Age-Related Differences in Resting-State EEG and Allocentric Spatial Working Memory Performance

Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnagi.2021.704362 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 ◽

Author(s):

Adeline Jabès ◽

Giuliana Klencklen ◽

Paolo Ruggeri ◽

Jean-Philippe Antonietti ◽

Pamela Banta Lavenex ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Working Memory ◽

Resting State ◽

Spatial Working Memory ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Group Differences ◽

Age Group ◽

Eeg Activity ◽

Recording Conditions

During normal aging resting-state brain activity changes and working memory performance declines as compared to young adulthood. Interestingly, previous studies reported that different electroencephalographic (EEG) measures of resting-state brain activity may correlate with working memory performance at different ages. Here, we recorded resting-state EEG activity and tested allocentric spatial working memory in healthy young (20–30 years) and older (65–75 years) adults. We adapted standard EEG methods to record brain activity in mobile participants in a non-shielded environment, in both eyes closed and eyes open conditions. Our study revealed some age-group differences in resting-state brain activity that were consistent with previous results obtained in different recording conditions. We confirmed that age-group differences in resting-state EEG activity depend on the recording conditions and the specific parameters considered. Nevertheless, lower theta-band and alpha-band frequencies and absolute powers, and higher beta-band and gamma-band relative powers were overall observed in healthy older adults, as compared to healthy young adults. In addition, using principal component and regression analyses, we found that the first extracted EEG component, which represented mainly theta, alpha and beta powers, correlated with spatial working memory performance in older adults, but not in young adults. These findings are consistent with the theory that the neurobiological bases of working memory performance may differ between young and older adults. However, individual measures of resting-state EEG activity could not be used as reliable biomarkers to predict individual allocentric spatial working memory performance in young or older adults.

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Cognitive Effects of Perioperative Pregabalin

Anesthesiology ◽

10.1097/aln.0000000000002473 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 130 (1) ◽

pp. 63-71 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Marianne Myhre ◽

Henrik Børsting Jacobsen ◽

Stein Andersson ◽

Audun Stubhaug

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Visual Processing ◽

Rate Ratio ◽

Spatial Working Memory ◽

Donor Nephrectomy ◽

Stop Signal Task ◽

Controlled Study ◽

Psychomotor Speed ◽

Opioid Sparing ◽

Increased Risk

Abstract EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE What We Already Know about This Topic Perioperative administration of pregabalin has been associated with decreased postoperative pain and opioid requirements What This Article Tells Us That Is New This secondary analysis of data demonstrating that perioperative administration of pregabalin was associated with a reduction in opioid requirements and incisional hyperalgesia suggests that these benefits may be compromised by an increased risk of developing impaired postoperative cognitive performance Background Pregabalin has shown opioid sparing and analgesic effects in the early postoperative period; however, perioperative effects on cognition have not been studied. A randomized, parallel group, placebo-controlled investigation in 80 donor nephrectomy patients was previously performed that evaluated the analgesic, opioid-sparing, and antihyperalgesic effects of pregabalin. This article describes a secondary exploratory analysis that tested the hypothesis that pregabalin would impair cognitive function compared to placebo. Methods Eighty patients scheduled for donor nephrectomy participated in this randomized, placebo-controlled study. Pregabalin (150 mg twice daily, n = 40) or placebo (n = 40) was administered on the day of surgery and the first postoperative day, in addition to a pain regimen consisting of opioids, steroids, local anesthetics, and acetaminophen. Specific cognitive tests measuring inhibition, sustained attention, psychomotor speed, visual memory, and strategy were performed at baseline, 24 h, and 3 to 5 days after surgery, using tests from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. Results In the spatial working memory within errors test, the number of errors increased with pregabalin compared to placebo 24 h after surgery; median (25th, 75th percentile) values were 1 (0, 6) versus 0 (0, 1; rate ratio [95% CI], 3.20 [1.55 to 6.62]; P = 0.002). Furthermore, pregabalin significantly increased the number of errors in the stop-signal task stop-go test compared with placebo; median (25th, 75th percentile) values were 3 (1, 6) versus 1 (0, 2; rate ratio, 2.14 [1.13 to 4.07]; P = 0.020). There were no significant differences between groups in the paired associated learning, reaction time, rapid visual processing, or spatial working memory strategy tests. Conclusions Perioperative pregabalin significantly negatively affected subdomains of executive functioning, including inhibition, and working memory compared to placebo, whereas psychomotor speed was not changed.

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Working Memory Training in Children: A Review of Basic Methodological Criteria

Psychological Reports ◽

10.1177/0033294119832978 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 123 (3) ◽

pp. 605-632

Author(s):

Santiago Vernucci ◽

Lorena Canet Juric ◽

Isabel Introzzi ◽

María M. Richard’s

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Internal Validity ◽

Working Memory Training ◽

Memory Training ◽

Control Group ◽

Targeted Interventions ◽

Highly Sensitive ◽

Complex Skills ◽

Great Relevance

Working memory is a process of great relevance during childhood due to its role in diverse complex skills. Like the rest of executive functions, it is highly sensitive to environmental influences, so it is assumed that it could be modified through targeted interventions. A large number of working memory training studies in children aim to achieve transfer effects both on this process and on those with which it is related. Although some promising results have been found, the efficacy of working memory training cannot be affirmed; methodological quality of studies is one of the main reasons for this. Compliance with basic methodological criteria (inclusion of a control group that must preferably be active, random assignment of participants to groups) has a great impact on the internal validity of the studies. Furthermore, the need to control for the effects of motivational factors associated with the intervention is added and emphasized. This study reviews the fulfillment of these criteria in process-based working memory training literature in children, analyzing its impact on internal validity. Limitations of the field in relation to the lack of compliance with the proposed criteria are discussed and alternatives are suggested in order to improve the quality of future studies.

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