Feigned ADHD Associated Cognitive Impairment: Utility of Integrating an Eye-trAcker and the MOXO-dCPT

Objective: The current study assessed the utility of eye-movements measures, gathered while participants performed a commercially available Continuous Performance Test (CPT), to detect feigned ADHD-associated cognitive impairment. Method: Healthy simulators ( n = 37), ADHD patients ( n = 33), and healthy controls ( n = 36) performed an eye-tracker integrated MOXO-dCPT and a stand-alone validity indicator. Results: Simulators gazed significantly longer at regions that were irrelevant for successful MOXO-dCPT performance compared to ADHD patients and healthy controls. This eye-movement measure, however, had lower sensitivity than traditional MOXO-dCPT indices. Discussion: Gaze direction measures, gathered while performing a CPT, show initial promise as validity indicators. Traditional CPT measures, however, are more sensitive and therefore offer a more promising path for the establishment of CPT-based validity indicators. The current study is an initial exploration of the issue and further evaluation of both theoretical and practical aspects is mandated.

The research of neuroplasticity by the Visual Continuous Performance Tasks in teaching by the method of complex music and vocal education

The Methodology of Comprehensive Music and Vocal Education (CMVE) is a powerful pedagogical instrument which helps a person's to improve its voice and musicality. Because several zones, such is auditory, somatosensory, motor (mainly due to the inclusion of hands and speech motor apparatus) and visual are actively involved, which is active contributes to a change in the picture of the dominant centers of the cortex, stimulates and develops such cognitive functions as attention, speech, memory, praxis. Neuroplasticity is closely related to music education, as indicated, for example, by such work as G. Schlaug, which explains some of the sensorimotor and cognitive improvements associated with music education. This allows us to assume and test the effects of neuroplasticity when working according to the CMVE method, which also uses different modalities. To investigate event-related potentials, the authors use a two-stimulus selective attention test (VCPT Go / NoGo test). Key words: EEG, ERP, VCPT-task, musical-vocal education by D.E. Ogorodnov.

Prior Prognostic Expectations as a Potential Predictor in Neurofeedback Training

The present study evaluated whether subjects’ expectations and neurofeedback training performance predict neurofeedback efficacy in cognitive training by controlling both factors as statistical variables. Twenty-two psychology students underwent neurofeedback training, employing beta/theta protocol to enhance beta1 power (13–21 Hz) and suppress theta (4–7 Hz) power. Neurofeedback efficacy was evaluated by behavioral components measured on pre-tests and post-tests employing a visual continuous performance task. The results revealed a significant interaction term between change in reaction time from pre-test to post-test and expectancy effect, indicating that participants with high prognostic expectations showed better improvement in reaction time scores. The data did not reveal that actual neurofeedback performance influenced the post-test measurements of the visual continuous performance task. No significant differences were found for reaction time variability, omission, or commission errors. Possible factors contributing to the results are discussed, and directions for future research are suggested.

Responsivity of the striatal dopamine system to methylphenidate – a within-subject I-123-β-CIT-SPECT study in children and adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Background: Methylphenidate (MPH) is the first-line pharmacological treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). MPH binds to the dopamine (DA) transporter (DAT), which has high density in the striatum. Assessments of the striatal dopamine transporter by single positron emission computed tomography (SPECT) in childhood and adolescent patients are rare but can provide insight in how effects of MPH affect DAT availability. The aim of our within-subject study was to investigate the effect of MPH on DAT availability and how responsivity to MPH in DAT availability is linked to clinical symptoms and cognitive functioning. Methods: Thirteen adolescent male patients (9-16 years) with diagnosis of ADHD according to DSM-IV and long-term stimulant medication (for at least 6 months) with MPH were assessed twice within 7 days using SPECT after application of I-123-beta-CIT to examine DAT binding potential (DAT BP). SPECT measures took place in on and off-MPH status balanced for order across participants. A virtual-reality continuous-performance test was performed at each time point. Further clinical symptoms were assessed for baseline off-MPH. Results: On-MPH status was associated with a highly significant decrease (-27,6%) of striatal DAT BP as compared to off-MPH (t=4.93, p<0.001). More pronounced decrease in striatal DAT BP was associated with higher off-MPH attentional and externalizing symptom ratings (Pearson r=0.68, p=0.01). Striatal DAT BP off-MPH, but not on- MPH, was associated with higher symptom ratings off-MPH (Pearson r=0.56, p=0.04). In further exploratory analysis in left vs. right striatal sub-regions, stronger decrease in DAT BP in the right caudate nucleus was weakly associated with improved performance in the continuous-performance test (Pearson r= - 0.54, p=0.07). Conclusion: Our findings corroborate previous reports from mainly adult samples that MPH reduces striatal DAT BP availability and suggest higher off-MPH DAT BP, likely reflecting low baseline DA levels, as a marker of symptom severity. More speculatively, regional specific responsivity of DAT BP to MPH may reflect treatment response with respect to cognitive functioning. However, implications from this small patient sample should be treated with caution and warrant replication.

An Investigation of Brain Signal Characteristics between Hafiz/Hafizah Subjects and Non-Hafiz/Hafizah Subjects

Tahfiz education has gain its popularity among Malaysians thus expand the circle of hafiz and hafizah all over the country. This study has been done to investigate effect of memorizing Al-Quran by determining the difference between hafiz/hafizah subjects and non-hafiz/hafizah subjects in terms of their focus using brain signal characteristics. 10 subjects (5 hafiz/hafizah and 5 non-hafiz/hafizah) have been participated in this study. Database of EEG was recorded by using EegoSport (ANT Neuro, ES-230, The Netherlands) while listening no music, rock music, instrumental music and Al-Quran audio simultaneously with Continuous Performance Task (CPT). The classification has been done by using machine learning method. Decision Tree method have obtained the highest accuracy (96.63%) for PSD Burg by using beta wave. The finding shows that hafiz/hafizah group were more focus in all given tasks compared to non-hafiz/hafizah group. Statistical analysis by using Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks Test found that the designed methodology was significant with 95% confidence interval.

Stimulus degradation impairs performance in a rodent continuous performance test

Sustained attention is a core cognitive domain that is often disrupted in neuropsychiatric disorders. Continuous performance tests (CPTs) are the most common clinical assay of sustained attention. In CPTs, participants produce a behavioral response to target stimuli and refrain from responding to non-target stimuli. Performance in CPTs is measured as the ability to discriminate between targets and non-targets. Rodent versions of CPTs (rCPT) have been developed and validated with both anatomical and pharmacological studies, providing a translational platform for understanding the neurobiology of sustained attention. In human studies, using degraded stimuli (decreased contrast) in CPTs impairs performance and patients with schizophrenia experience a larger decrease in performance compared to healthy controls. In this study, we tested multiple levels of stimulus degradation in a touchscreen version of the CPT in mice. We found that stimulus degradation significantly decreased performance in both males and females. The changes in performance consisted of a decrease in stimulus discrimination, measured as d’, and increases in hit reaction time and reaction time variability. These findings are in line with the effects of stimulus degradation in human studies. Overall, female mice demonstrated a more liberal response strategy than males, but response strategy was not affected by stimulus degradation. These data extend the utility of the mouse CPT by demonstrating that stimulus degradation produces equivalent behavioral responses in mice and humans. Therefore, the degraded stimuli rCPT has high translational value as a preclinical assay of sustained attention.