The Effect of Electrical Stimulation–Induced Pain on Time Perception and Relationships to Pain-Related Emotional and Cognitive Factors: A Temporal Bisection Task and Questionnaire–Based Study

Pain has not only sensory, but also emotional and cognitive, components. Some studies have explored the effect of pain on time perception, but the results remain controversial. Whether individual pain-related emotional and cognitive factors play roles in this process should also be explored. In this study, we investigated the effect of electrical stimulation–induced pain on interval timing using a temporal bisection task. During each task session, subjects received one of five types of stimulation randomly: no stimulus and 100 and 300 ms of non-painful and painful stimulation. Pain-related emotional and cognitive factors were measured using a series of questionnaires. The proportion of “long” judgments of a 1,200-ms visual stimulus duration was significantly smaller with 300 ms painful stimulation than with no stimulus (P < 0.0001) and 100 ms (P < 0.0001) and 300 ms (P = 0.021) non-painful stimulation. The point of subjective equality (PSE) did not differ among sessions, but the average Weber fraction (WF) was higher for painful sessions than for no-stimulus session (P = 0.022). The pain fear score correlated positively with the PSE under 100 ms non-painful (P = 0.031) and painful (P = 0.002) and 300 ms painful (P = 0.006) stimulation. Pain catastrophizing and pain anxiety scores correlated significantly with the WF under no stimulus (P = 0.005) and 100 ms non-painful stimulation (P = 0.027), respectively. These results suggest that electrical stimulation–induced pain affects temporal sensitivity, and that pain-related emotional and cognitive factors are associated with the processing of time perception.

Urinary Incontinence and Its Association with Physical and Psycho-Cognitive Factors: A Cross-Sectional Study in Older People Living in Nursing Homes

Urinary incontinence (UI) is a common geriatric syndrome affecting bladder health and is especially prevalent in nursing homes (NHs). The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of UI and its associated factors in 5 Spanish NHs. UI (measured with Minimum Data Set 3.0.), sociodemographic and health-related variables were collected. Chi- square (or Fisher’s) or Student’s t-test (or Mann Whitney U) for bivariate analysis were used, with Prevalence Ratio (PR) as an association measure. The prevalence of UI was 66.1% (CI:95%, 53.6–77.2) and was significantly associated with frailty (PR 1.84; 95%CI 0.96–3.53), faecal incontinence (FI) (PR 1.65; 95%CI 1.02–2.65), anxiety (PR 1.64; 95%CI 1.01–2.66), physical performance (PR 1.77; 95%CI 1.00–3.11) and cognitive state (PR 1.95; 95%CI 1.05–3.60). Statistically significant differences between incontinent-continent groups were found for activities of daily living (ADL) limitations, mobility, quality of life, sedentary behaviour (SB) and handgrip strength. It can be concluded that 2/3 of the residents experienced UI, and its significant associated factors were mainly physical (SB, frailty, physical performance, ADL limitations, mobility, FI and handgrip strength) followed by psycho-cognitive factors (cognition, anxiety and quality of life).

Cognitive prediction of obstacle's movement for reinforcement learning pedestrian interacting model

Recent studies in pedestrian simulation have been able to construct a highly realistic navigation behaviour in many circumstances. However, when replicating the close interactions between pedestrians, the replicated behaviour is often unnatural and lacks human likeness. One of the possible reasons is that the current models often ignore the cognitive factors in the human thinking process. Another reason is that many models try to approach the problem by optimising certain objectives. On the other hand, in real life, humans do not always take the most optimised decisions, particularly when interacting with other people. To improve the navigation behaviour in this circumstance, we proposed a pedestrian interacting model using reinforcement learning. Additionally, a novel cognitive prediction model, inspired by the predictive system of human cognition, is also incorporated. This helps the pedestrian agent in our model to learn to interact and predict the movement in a similar practice as humans. In our experimental results, when compared to other models, the path taken by our model’s agent is not the most optimised in certain aspects like path lengths, time taken and collisions. However, our model is able to demonstrate a more natural and human-like navigation behaviour, particularly in complex interaction settings.

A cognitive model for understanding fraudulent behavior in construction industry

PurposePrevious fraud studies focused on the influence of external environmental factors rather than the actor's own cognition or psychological factors. This paper aims to explore the influence of cognitive factors on people's intention to commit fraud in the construction industry.Design/methodology/approachA scenario-based questionnaire survey was conducted with 248 Chinese construction practitioners. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the data.FindingsThe findings showed that perceived threat possibility and perceived threat severity positively affected people's attitudes towards fraud. The reward for compliance and response cost had adverse effects on people's attitudes. Attitude towards fraud and response efficacy directly influenced people's intentions to commit fraud.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations of this study are that only behavioral intention data were collected, and a single scenario was designed. Despite these limitations, this study proposed a cognitive model to understand fraud in the construction industry and provided an empirical analysis using data from Chinese construction practitioners.Originality/valueThis study reveals the impact of cognitive factors on fraud in the construction industry. The results expand the understanding of fraud and propose a cognitive intervention framework to reduce fraud.

The Effect of Psychological Factors on Cognitive Functions in Stroke Patients With Chronic Fatigue

Background and Objectives: Cognitive and psychological impairments are among the disabling consequences of chronic stroke. Despite the high prevalence of these impairments in patients with chronic stroke and the significant impact of psychological factors on cognitive factors in other neurological diseases, no study was found to investigate the relationship between psychological factors and cognitive factors in chronic stroke patients with chronic fatigue. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between psychological factors and cognitive functions in chronic stroke patients with chronic fatigue Methods: A total of 85 chronic stroke patients with chronic fatigue visited the Rehabilitation Centers of Tehran, Iran, were selected through the simple non-probability sampling method and enrolled in this correlational study. The Fatigue Severity Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, and Beck Anxiety Inventory were used to measure the levels of the fatigue, depression, and anxiety of patients with strokes, respectively. Besides, the cognitive functions of the participants were assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, and the Pain Visual Analog Scale. Results: Based on the regression models, the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment explained up to 24.2% and 39.6% of the variance of cognitive functions, respectively. In all step-by-step models, the variables of anxiety, education level, and depression were the strongest predictors of cognitive functions. Conclusion: According to the clinical findings, psychological impairments, such as anxiety can adversely affect cognitive factors in chronic stroke patients with chronic fatigue. Therefore, therapeutic interventions focused on psychological factors may considerably improve the cognitive skills of these patients.

Do risk attitude and trust moderate bank managers' risk perceptions in lending to micro, small, medium enterprises?

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to study the antecedents of risk perceptions of bank managers towards micro, small, medium enterprise (MSME) lending, in the situation of information asymmetry, where cognitive factors assume significance over organisational norms of lending.Design/methodology/approachThis study proposed and tested a conceptual model based on the factors identified from literature review and exploratory and quantitative study. Multinomial logistic regression technique is used for quantitative analysis.FindingsThe research postulates that information asymmetry, risk attitude, perceived trust and organizational norms have a significant relationship with branch managers' perceived risk in lending to MSMEs. The research emphasized that the risk attitude of managers and perceived trust moderate the relationship between information asymmetry and perceived risk. The findings and discussions enrich the knowledge about the alleviators of constraints to MSME funding in developing nations despite information asymmetry.Originality/valueAuthors have given holistic view on the risk perception in the financial decision-making process of bank lending. The research highlights the importance of cognitive factors in decreasing the negative impact of information asymmetry on risk perception.

The Relationship between Gut Microbiome and Cognition in Older Australians

Ageing is associated with changes in biological processes, including reductions in cognitive functions and gut microbiome diversity. However, not much is known about the relationship between cognition and the microbiome with increasing age. Therefore, we examined the relationship between the gut microbiome and cognition in 69 healthy participants aged 60–75 years. The gut microbiome was analysed with the 16S rRNA sequencing method. The cognitive assessment included the Cognitive Drug Research computerised assessment battery, which produced five cognitive factors corresponding to ‘Quality of Episodic Secondary Memory’, ‘Quality of Working Memory’, ‘Continuity of Attention, ‘Speed of Memory’ and ‘Power of Concentration’. Multiple linear regression showed that the bacterial family Carnobacteriaceae explained 9% of the variance in predicting Quality of Episodic Secondary Memory. Alcaligenaceae and Clostridiaceae explained 15% of the variance in predicting Quality of Working Memory; Bacteroidaceae, Barnesiellaceae, Rikenellaceae and Gemellaceae explained 11% of the variance in Power of Concentration. The present study provides specific evidence of a relationship between specific families of bacteria and different domains of cognition.

Determinants of adherence to public health and social measures (PHSM) against COVID-19 among the general population in South Korea: A national survey (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Public health efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19 are the priority of national policy to respond to it globally. The public health and social measures (PHSM) are shown to be effective when used alone or in combination with other measures, reducing the risk of spreading COVID-19. However, there is insufficient evidence on the status of compliance of PHSM in the general population for the prevention of COVID-19 in public areas, including Korea. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to assess the level of compliance with the recommended PHSM against COVID-19 infection and its predictors among the general population using national data. METHODS This study is a secondary data analysis using an Infectious Disease Prevention Behaviors in Community Survey conducted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) between October 12 and October 30, 2020. The primary study was cross-sectional, using stratified sampling with an adjusted proportional allocation method to select representative samples and secure the stability of samples. The data were collected through a phone interview conducted by trained enumerators using a structured questionnaire. The PHSM was measured using a 10-item Comprehensive Infectious Disease Preventive Behavior(CIDPB) scale and each of the socio-cognitive factors, such as perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 infection, perceived severity of COVID-19 infection, perceived confidence in performing preventive behaviors related to COVID-19, information comprehensive ability, and trust in information from the KDCA, were measured by a single question. A total of 4,003 cases were included in the final analysis. A Tobit regression and decision tree were performed to identify the predictors of preventive measures and the targeted group for intervention. RESULTS We discovered that females had a 1.34 point higher CIDPB score than males (P<.001). The participants who were aged between 50 and 59 years performed 1.89 points higher on the CIDPB (P<.001) and the participants who were older than 60 years performed 2.48 points higher on the CIDPB (P<.001) than those who were aged between 19 and 29 years. The perceived severity of infection, confidence in preventive behaviors, information comprehensive ability, and trust in information from the KDCA were statistically significant and positive (P<.001). The perceived susceptibility to infection was statistically significant and negative (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS Being female, older in age, having a lower income, and socio-cognitive factors were significant predictors for performing PHSM. These findings suggest a need for targeted intervention for these specific groups. Adequate government action and policy development are needed to increase the level of health literacy and trust in the healthcare system.

The confounding effects of eye blinking on pupillometry, and their remedy

Pupillometry, thanks to its strong relationship with cognitive factors and recent advancements in measuring techniques, has become popular among cognitive or neural scientists as a tool for studying the physiological processes involved in mental or neural processes. Despite this growing popularity of pupillometry, the methodological understanding of pupillometry is limited, especially regarding potential factors that may threaten pupillary measurements’ validity. Eye blinking can be a factor because it frequently occurs in a manner dependent on many cognitive components and induces a pulse-like pupillary change consisting of constriction and dilation with substantive magnitude and length. We set out to characterize the basic properties of this “blink-locked pupillary response (BPR),” including the shape and magnitude of BPR and their variability across subjects and blinks, as the first step of studying the confounding nature of eye blinking. Then, we demonstrated how the dependency of eye blinking on cognitive factors could confound, via BPR, the pupillary responses that are supposed to reflect the cognitive states of interest. By building a statistical model of how the confounding effects of eye blinking occur, we proposed a probabilistic-inference algorithm of de-confounding raw pupillary measurements and showed that the proposed algorithm selectively removed BPR and enhanced the statistical power of pupillometry experiments. Our findings call for attention to the presence and confounding nature of BPR in pupillometry. The algorithm we developed here can be used as an effective remedy for the confounding effects of BPR on pupillometry.