Does Gender Difference Play a Significant Role in Verbal and Visuospatial Working Memory Performance?

The present study investigates gender differences in working memory performance, both verbal and visuospatial working memory performance. Quasi-experimental research was conducted individually on 32 undergraduates at a public university in Malaysia, using a reading span task and rotation span task. The performance was based on the total number of correct recalled and the total time taken. Results showed a significant gender difference in the verbal and visuospatial working memory performance. The observation was based on the total time taken, in which males performed more rapidly than females in both tasks. In terms of accuracy, female participants recalled better than their male counterparts in the verbal task, which is consistent with numerous past studies. However, no gender difference was identified in the visuospatial task performance, based on the total number of correct recalled. The study also found that male participants did not show an advantage in visuospatial abilities, contradicting findings by past studies.

Improving Visual Working Memory With Training on a Tactile Orientation Sequence Task in Humans

Working memory refers to the cognitive capacity to temporarily store and manipulate information from multiple sensory domains. Recent studies have shown that cognitive training can improve performance in both visual working memory and tactile working memory tasks. However, it is still unclear whether the effects of training can be transferred from one sensory modality to another. The current study assessed whether the training effect of the tactile orientation sequence task could transfer to visual orientation sequence and visuospatial working memory tasks. The results showed that participants’ accuracy in the tactile orientation sequence task was significantly increased after 9 days of training compared with that before training. Remarkably, participants’ accuracy in both the visual orientation sequence task and the visuospatial task was significantly improved after 9 days of training. These results suggest that it is possible to improve visual working memory through a transfer effect from tactile task training without practice in the visual domain, which opens a wide range of applications for tactile orientation sequence tasks.

Evidence of Educational Bias in Cognitive Screening of Adults with Sickle Cell Disease: Comparison of Available Tools and Possible Strategies for Mitigation

Background: Cognitive impairment is a dreaded complication of sickle cell disease (SCD) that impacts quality of life, school performance and employment. In 2020, the American Society of Hematology issued a strong recommendation that clinicians supervising the care of adults with SCD conduct surveillance for cognitive impairment using simplified signaling questions (DeBaun, 2020). However, guidance on the optimal screening strategy is lacking and several available tools are biased by language and education. The Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) was specifically designed for cognitive screening in multicultural populations (Storey, 2004). In the general elderly population, RUDAS is less biased by education than the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) (Naqvi, 2015). Hypothesis: In adults with SCD, performance on the RUDAS is less influenced by educational attainment when compared to the MoCA. Our primary aim was to estimate the prevalence of suspected cognitive impairment using RUDAS and MoCA in adult SCD patients. The secondary aims were to examine for the presence of educational bias and to develop mitigation strategies in case of such a bias. Methods: Study design: cross-sectional study at UMGRR clinic at Henri Mondor Hospital, Créteil (France). Inclusion criteria: out-patients ≥18 years-old; all SCD phenotypes. Exclusion criteria: inability to obtain informed consent and/or follow study instructions. Intervention: Cognitive screening was performed using the RUDAS (translated to French by Philippe Desmarais), MoCA (third alternative version) and an additional visuospatial task of copying overlapping triangles (from the French BEC96 assessment). RUDAS and MoCA scores <28 and <26, respectively, were considered suggestive of cognitive impairment per previous studies (Basic, 2009 and Nasredinne, 2005) and patients were referred for definite neuropsychological evaluation. Survey on demographics and screening for depression and anxiety using Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS) were completed by the participants. Educational attainment was scored based on the number of years of schooling for the highest completed diploma. Statistical plan: linear regression was performed to identify possible associations between RUDAS, MoCA and social determinants of health. Results: Among the first 45 consecutive adult SCD patients undergoing routine cognitive screening, the median age was 39 (range 19-67). RUDAS and MoCA scores suggestive of mild cognitive impairment were found in 33/45 (73.3%) and 29/45 (64.4%) participants, respectively. There was a strong correlation between both tests (r=0.48, p=0.001). Both RUDAS and MoCA scores increased significantly with increasing level of education (r=0.36, p=0.015 and r=0.39, p=0.007, respectively), but were not significantly influenced by the HADS score. RUDAS and MoCA test items most biased by education were visuoconstructional tasks. Tasks assessing executive functioning and language were also biased in MoCA. Substituting the 3D visuospatial task of the RUDAS by a 2D task reduced the educational bias (r=0.20, p=0.045). Adding 1 point for highest level of education £ 12 years after kindergarten did significantly mitigate the effect of education on the RUDAS but only partially for the MoCA (r=0.23, p=0.131 and r=0.30, p=0.047). Conclusions: Overall, these results suggest there is an educational bias in the neurocognitive screening of adult SCD patients using available tools such as the RUDAS and MoCA. Although RUDAS was less biased overall, visuospatial assessment remained biased. The task often considered more "culture-fair" is still subject to the impact of educational potential (Statucka, 2019). We provide different strategies to mitigate education bias when assessing with RUDAS. Thus, the RUDAS adjusted by the educational level allows to systematically identify SCD patients in need of comprehensive neurocognitive testing. Prospective validation is ongoing. Disclosures Forté: Canadian Hematology Society: Research Funding; Pfizer - Global Medical Grants: Research Funding. Soulieres:Novartis: Research Funding; BMS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Kuo:Pfizer: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy; Alexion: Consultancy, Honoraria; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria; Bioverativ: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Agios: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy; Apellis: Consultancy. Bartolucci:Roche: Consultancy; Innovhem: Other; AGIOS: Consultancy; Bluebird: Consultancy; Emmaus: Consultancy; Addmedica: Research Funding; Fabre Foundation: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Bluebird: Research Funding; GBT: Consultancy; ADDMEDICA: Consultancy; HEMANEXT: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy.

Humans share task load with a computer partner if (they believe that) it acts human-like

In the near future humans will increasingly be required to cooperate and share task load with artificial agents in joint tasks as they will be able to greatly assist humans in various types of tasks and contexts. In the present study, we investigated humans’ willingness to share task load with a computer partner in a joint visuospatial task. The partner was described as either behaving in a human-like or machine-like way and followed a pre-defined behaviour that was either human-like or non-human-like. We found that participants successfully shared task load when the partner behaved in a human-like way. Critically, the successful collaboration was sustained throughout the experiment only when the partner was also described as behaving in a human-like way beforehand. These findings suggest that not only the behaviour of a computer partner but also the prior description of the partner is a critical factor influencing humans’ willingness to share task load.

Do Cognitive Tasks Reduce Intrusive-Memory Frequency After Exposure to Analogue Trauma? An Experimental Replication

Cognitive task interventions that interfere with visuospatial working memory during the memory consolidation window hold promise for reducing intrusive memories in trauma-exposed people. Our study provides an independent replication study to test and verify findings that have primarily originated from a single research group. We hypothesized that participants engaging in a visuospatial task (cognitive task intervention including Tetris or D-Corsi) following a trauma-film paradigm (TFP) would report fewer intrusive memories over the course of a week compared with control participants. Participants ( N = 110) were randomly assigned to an experimental condition after viewing the TFP. Generalized linear mixed models indicated that the cognitive task including Tetris was associated with fewer intrusions for the TFP compared with both the D-Corsi-intervention and control conditions. Our findings are congruent with existing literature indicating that cognitive tasks, such as an intervention including Tetris, may promote effective memory consolidation after exposure to a potentially traumatic event.

The role of concern about falling on stepping performance during complex activities

Background There is limited understanding of the underlying mechanisms explaining the role of concern about falling on fall risk in older people. Anxiety is known to interact with cognitive resources and, as people get older, they require more cognitive resources to maintain balance. This might affect an individual’s ability to perform cognitive-motor tasks concurrently. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a visuospatial dual-task on stepping performance in older people with and without concern about falling and the impact of repeating this task in those with high concern about falling. Methods Three-hundred-eight community-dwelling older people, aged 70 to 90 years old, participated in the study. Participants were asked to perform a Choice Stepping Reaction Time (CSRT) task in two conditions; once without any other tasks (single task condition), and once while simultaneously performing a visuospatial task (dual-task condition). Participants were asked to rate their levels of concern and confidence specifically related to each of the 25 stepping trials (before/after). We also measured general concern about falling, affect, and sensorimotor and cognitive functioning. Results Total stepping reaction times increased when participants also performed the visuospatial task. The relation between general concern about falling and stepping reaction time, was affected by sensorimotor and executive functioning. Generalised linear mixed models showed that the group with moderate to high levels of general concern about falling had slower total stepping reaction times than those with lower levels of concern about falling, especially during the dual-task condition. Individuals with greater general concern about falling showed reduced confidence levels about whether they could do the stepping tasks under both conditions. Repeatedly performing the stepping task reduced the immediate task-specific concern about falling levels and increased confidence in all participants. Conclusions These findings reveal that people with higher general concern about falling experienced more difficulties during a dual-task condition than people with lower levels of concern. Of further interest, better sensorimotor and cognitive functioning reduced this effect. Graded exposure has potential to reduce concern about falling during fear-evoking activities, especially in conjunction with therapies that improve balance, mood and cognitive function.

Finding Hidden Treasures: A Child-Friendly Neural Test of Task-Following in Individuals Using Functional Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound

Despite growing interest in the mental life of individuals who cannot communicate verbally, objective and non-invasive tests of covert cognition are still sparse. In this study, we assessed the ability of neurotypical children to understand and follow task instructions by measuring neural responses through functional transcranial Doppler ultrasound (fTCD). We recorded blood flow velocity for the two brain hemispheres of twenty children (aged 9 to 12) while they performed either a language task or a visuospatial memory task, on identical visual stimuli. We extracted measures of neural lateralisation for the two tasks separately to investigate lateralisation, and we compared the left-minus-right pattern of activation across tasks to assess task-following. At the group level, we found that neural responses were left-lateralised when children performed the language task, and not when they performed the visuospatial task. However, with statistically robust analyses and controlled paradigms, significant lateralisation in individual children was less frequent than expected from the literature. Nonetheless, the pattern of hemispheric activation for the two tasks allowed us to confirm task-following in the group of participants, as well as in over half of the individuals. This provides a promising avenue for a covert and inexpensive test of children’s ability to covertly follow task instructions and perform different mental tasks on identical stimuli.