Ana Hernández-Sauret, Ona Martin de la Torre, Diego Redolar-Ripoll
{"title":"Use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) for studying cognitive control in depressed patients: A systematic review.","authors":"Ana Hernández-Sauret, Ona Martin de la Torre, Diego Redolar-Ripoll","doi":"10.3758/s13415-024-01193-w","DOIUrl":"10.3758/s13415-024-01193-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a debilitating mental disorder and the leading cause of disease burden. Major depressive disorder is associated with emotional impairment and cognitive deficit. Cognitive control, which is the ability to use perceptions, knowledge, and information about goals and motivations to shape the selection of goal-directed actions or thoughts, is a primary function of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Psychotropic medications are one of the main treatments for MDD, but they are not effective for all patients. An alternative treatment is transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Previous studies have provided mixed results on the cognitive-enhancing effects of TMS treatment in patients with MDD. Some studies have found significant improvement, while others have not. There is a lack of understanding of the specific effects of different TMS protocols and stimulation parameters on cognitive control in MDD. Thus, this review aims to synthesize the effectiveness of the TMS methods and a qualitative assessment of their potential benefits in improving cognitive functioning in patients with MDD. We reviewed 21 studies in which participants underwent a treatment of any transcranial magnetic stimulation protocol, such as repetitive TMS or theta-burst stimulation. One of the primary outcome measures was any change in the cognitive control process. Overall, the findings indicate that transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) may enhance cognitive function in patients with MDD. Most of the reviewed studies supported the notion of cognitive improvement following TMS treatment. Notably, improvements were predominantly observed in inhibition, attention, set shifting/flexibility, and memory domains. However, fewer significant improvements were detected in evaluations of visuospatial function and recognition, executive function, phonemic fluency, and speed of information processing. This review found evidence supporting the use of TMS as a treatment for cognitive deficits in patients with MDD. The results are promising, but further research is needed to clarify the specific TMS protocol and stimulation locations that are most effective.</p>","PeriodicalId":50672,"journal":{"name":"Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11525394/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141077246","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Individual differences in baseline eye movement indices: Examining the relationships between baseline pupil size, inhibitory control, and fixation stability.","authors":"Junyi Zhou, Min Lin, Wenxin Xu","doi":"10.3758/s13415-024-01213-9","DOIUrl":"10.3758/s13415-024-01213-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The relationship among baseline pupil size, fixation stability, and inhibitory control were examined in this study. Participants performed a baseline eye measure in which they were instructed to stare at a fixation dot on screen for 2 min. Following the baseline eye measure, participants completed an antisaccade task to measure inhibitory control ability. We found a correlation between baseline pupil size variability and inhibitory control, as well as between fixation stability and inhibitory control. We showed that participants with better inhibitory control exhibited larger variability in pupil size, and those with better fixation stability showed superior inhibitory control ability. Overall, our results indicate that there are significant correlations between inhibitory control and baseline pupil size, as well as between inhibitory control and fixation stability.</p>","PeriodicalId":50672,"journal":{"name":"Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142094131","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anahita Talwar, Francesca Cormack, Quentin J M Huys, Jonathan P Roiser
{"title":"A hierarchical reinforcement learning model explains individual differences in attentional set shifting.","authors":"Anahita Talwar, Francesca Cormack, Quentin J M Huys, Jonathan P Roiser","doi":"10.3758/s13415-024-01223-7","DOIUrl":"10.3758/s13415-024-01223-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Attentional set shifting refers to the ease with which the focus of attention is directed and switched. Cognitive tasks, such as the widely used CANTAB IED, reveal great variation in set shifting ability in the general population, with notable impairments in those with psychiatric diagnoses. The attentional and learning processes underlying this cognitive ability and how they lead to the observed variation remain unknown. To directly test this, we used a modelling approach on two independent large-scale online general-population samples performing CANTAB IED, with one including additional psychiatric symptom assessment. We found a hierarchical model that learnt both feature values and dimension attention best explained the data and that compulsive symptoms were associated with slower learning and higher attentional bias to the first relevant stimulus dimension. These data showcase a new methodology to analyse data from the CANTAB IED task, as well as suggest a possible mechanistic explanation for the variation in set shifting performance, and its relationship to compulsive symptoms.</p>","PeriodicalId":50672,"journal":{"name":"Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11525250/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142309023","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jeanne Racicot, Salima Smine, Kamran Afzali, Pierre Orban
{"title":"Functional brain connectivity changes associated with day-to-day fluctuations in affective states.","authors":"Jeanne Racicot, Salima Smine, Kamran Afzali, Pierre Orban","doi":"10.3758/s13415-024-01216-6","DOIUrl":"10.3758/s13415-024-01216-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Affective neuroscience has traditionally relied on cross-sectional studies to uncover the brain correlates of affects, emotions, and moods. Such findings obfuscate intraindividual variability that may reveal meaningful changing affect states. The few functional magnetic resonance imaging longitudinal studies that have linked changes in brain function to the ebbs and flows of affective states over time have mostly investigated a single individual. In this study, we explored how the functional connectivity of brain areas associated with affective processes can explain within-person fluctuations in self-reported positive and negative affects across several subjects. To do so, we leveraged the Day2day dataset that includes 40 to 50 resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans along self-reported positive and negative affectivity from a sample of six healthy participants. Sparse multivariate mixed-effect linear models could explain 15% and 11% of the within-person variation in positive and negative affective states, respectively. Evaluation of these models' generalizability to new data demonstrated the ability to predict approximately 5% and 2% of positive and negative affect variation. The functional connectivity of limbic areas, such as the amygdala, hippocampus, and insula, appeared most important to explain the temporal dynamics of affects over days, weeks, and months.</p>","PeriodicalId":50672,"journal":{"name":"Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11525411/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142331743","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Teresa Civera, Manuel Perea, Barbara Leone-Fernandez, Marta Vergara-Martínez
{"title":"The effect of inter-letter spacing on the N170 during visual word recognition: An event-related potentials experiment.","authors":"Teresa Civera, Manuel Perea, Barbara Leone-Fernandez, Marta Vergara-Martínez","doi":"10.3758/s13415-024-01221-9","DOIUrl":"10.3758/s13415-024-01221-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Previous behavioral studies have shown that inter-letter spacing affects visual word recognition and reading. While condensed spacing may hinder the early stages of letter encoding because of increased crowding effects, the impact of expanded inter-letter spacing is still unclear. To examine the electrophysiological signature of inter-letter spacing on visual word recognition, we presented words in three different inter-letter spacing conditions (default, condensed [-1.5 points] or expanded [+1.5 points]) in an event-related potentials go/no-go semantic categorization task. Our focus was on the N170, an event-related potentials component associated with the early encoding of orthographic information, which also is sensitive to crowding effects. Results revealed that the N170 amplitude reached the largest values for the condensed condition than for the default and expanded spacing conditions, which did not differ. While increased crowding impacted the early encoding of orthographic information, extra letter spacing (compared with default spacing) did not. This outcome is consistent with the Modified Receptive Field hypothesis, in which letter receptors adapt their size to cope with letter crowding. These findings reveal that reducing the space between letters more than the default spacing impairs the ability to process written words, whereas slightly expanding the space between letters does not provide any additional benefit.</p>","PeriodicalId":50672,"journal":{"name":"Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11525266/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142309024","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Samy Chikhi, Nadine Matton, Marie Sanna, Sophie Blanchet
{"title":"Effects of one session of theta or high alpha neurofeedback on EEG activity and working memory.","authors":"Samy Chikhi, Nadine Matton, Marie Sanna, Sophie Blanchet","doi":"10.3758/s13415-024-01218-4","DOIUrl":"10.3758/s13415-024-01218-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Neurofeedback techniques provide participants immediate feedback on neuronal signals, enabling them to modulate their brain activity. This technique holds promise to unveil brain-behavior relationship and offers opportunities for neuroenhancement. Establishing causal relationships between modulated brain activity and behavioral improvements requires rigorous experimental designs, including appropriate control groups and large samples. Our primary objective was to examine whether a single neurofeedback session, designed to enhance working memory through the modulation of theta or high-alpha frequencies, elicits specific changes in electrophysiological and cognitive outcomes. Additionally, we explored predictors of successful neuromodulation. A total of 101 healthy adults were assigned to groups trained to increase frontal theta, parietal high alpha, or random frequencies (active control group). We measured resting-state EEG, working memory performance, and self-reported psychological states before and after one neurofeedback session. Although our analyses revealed improvements in electrophysiological and behavioral outcomes, these gains were not specific to the experimental groups. An increase in the frequency targeted by the training has been observed for the theta and high alpha groups, but training designed to increase randomly selected frequencies appears to induce more generalized neuromodulation compared with targeting a specific frequency. Among all the predictors of neuromodulation examined, resting theta and high alpha amplitudes predicted specifically the increase of those frequencies during the training. These results highlight the challenge of integrating a control group based on enhancing randomly selected frequency bands and suggest potential avenues for optimizing interventions (e.g., by including a control group trained in both up- and down-regulation).</p>","PeriodicalId":50672,"journal":{"name":"Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142331742","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Electrodermal lability and sensorimotor preparation: effects on reaction time, contingent negative variation, and heart rate.","authors":"Heinz Zimmer, Fabian Richter","doi":"10.3758/s13415-024-01206-8","DOIUrl":"10.3758/s13415-024-01206-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Electrodermal lability is a trait-like measure of spontaneous sympathetic resting activity. In the present study, we addressed whether interindividual differences in this lability have an impact on the reaction time (RT) and on two physiological indicators of a goal-oriented sensorimotor preparation in a long-running, forewarned RT task (S1-S2 paradigm). The two indicators were the brain's contingent negative variation (CNV) and a heart rate deceleration (HRD). The interindividual differences were determined by counting spontaneous skin conductance fluctuations during a 5-min resting phase and dividing the subjects into two groups: individuals below (stable) and above (labile) the median of these fluctuations. In the task, labile individuals had a shorter RT compared with stable individuals and showed in the final phase of preparation in both physiological indicators the stronger response. Thus, lability-dependent effects in forewarned RT tasks cannot be explained by differences in stimulus-driven or passively controlled processes alone. Rather, goal-oriented, deliberately controlled processes that serve to adequately prepare for an imperative stimulus-the S2 in our paradigm-also must be considered to explain them. Labile individuals not only react faster than stable ones but also intentionally prepare themselves more appropriately for the imperative stimulus. A norepinephrine hypothesis focusing on the tonic activity of the locus coeruleus (LC) is proposed as an explanation for these and other lability-dependent effects. The frequency of spontaneous electrodermal fluctuations at rest may represent a peripheral, noninvasive, and easily measurable indicator of the baseline LC activity during wakefulness.</p>","PeriodicalId":50672,"journal":{"name":"Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11525398/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141983811","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The virtual disengagement hypothesis: A neurophysiological framework for reduced empathy on social media.","authors":"Maria Tavares, Ben Rein","doi":"10.3758/s13415-024-01212-w","DOIUrl":"10.3758/s13415-024-01212-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Social media is a hotbed of interpersonal conflict and aggression. Platforms such as Twitter and Instagram are used by more than 62% of the global population, facilitating billions of user interactions every day. However, many of these exchanges involve hostile, insensitive, and antisocial behaviors. This raises the question: is empathy blunted on social media? Substantial evidence demonstrates that humans tend to behave more rudely in virtual settings, but considering the scarcity of physiological data collected under these circumstances, it remains unclear how the neural systems guiding social cognition and empathy may function differently in online interactions. We propose the \"Virtual Disengagement Hypothesis,\" a conceptual framework to explain the prevalence of hostility online. It posits that interactions occurring on social media omit social cues that facilitate the assessment of a social partner's affective state, such as facial expressions and vocal tone, and thus fail to sufficiently recruit brain circuitry involved in empathy, such as the anterior cingulate cortex, insula, and prefrontal cortex. Additionally, interactions on social media occur asynchronously and in a \"replayed\" context, which may further limit recruitment of empathy systems. As a result of this diminished sensitivity to others' states, users may be predisposed to inconsiderate or outright antisocial behaviors. Given the massive and growing base of users on these platforms, we urge researchers to expand efforts that focus on neuroimaging in virtual settings with a particular emphasis on developing social media-relevant behavioral designs.</p>","PeriodicalId":50672,"journal":{"name":"Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142074481","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hannah Doyle, Christina L Boisseau, Sarah L Garnaat, Steven A Rasmussen, Theresa M Desrochers
{"title":"Abstract task sequence initiation deficit dissociates anxiety disorders from obsessive-compulsive disorder and healthy controls.","authors":"Hannah Doyle, Christina L Boisseau, Sarah L Garnaat, Steven A Rasmussen, Theresa M Desrochers","doi":"10.3758/s13415-024-01207-7","DOIUrl":"10.3758/s13415-024-01207-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In everyday life, humans perform sequences of tasks. These tasks may be disrupted in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Symptoms, such as compulsions, can be considered sequential and often cause repetitions of tasks that disrupt daily living (e.g., checking the stove while cooking). Motor sequences have been used to study behavioral deficits in OCD. However, not all sequences are motor sequences. Some are more \"abstract\" in that they are composed of a series of tasks (e.g., chopping and stirring) rather than being dependent on individual actions or stimuli. These abstract task sequences require cognitive control mechanisms for their execution. Although theory has proposed deficits in these sequences in OCD as well, they have not been directly investigated. We tested the hypotheses that OCD participants exhibit deficits in the control mechanisms specific to abstract task sequences and more general flexible behavior (measured with task switching within the sequences), relative to health controls (HCs) and clinical controls (participants with anxiety disorders [ANX]). A total of 112 participants completed abstract task sequences consisting of simple categorization tasks. Surprisingly, participants with OCD did not perform worse than HCs or ANX. However, ANX participants showed impairments specific to sequential control that did not extend to more general flexible control. Thus, we showed a novel behavioral dissociation between OCD and ANX specific to abstract task sequential control. These results also implicate deficits in specific frontal sequential control neural circuitry in ANX and not in OCD, where implicit sequential deficits may more closely align with striatal circuits.</p>","PeriodicalId":50672,"journal":{"name":"Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11527554/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141861458","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The subcortical role in executive functions: Neural mechanisms of executive inhibition in the flanker task.","authors":"Nofar Strommer, Hadas Okon-Singer, Shai Gabay","doi":"10.3758/s13415-024-01215-7","DOIUrl":"10.3758/s13415-024-01215-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>While executive functions (EFs) have traditionally been linked to the cerebral cortex, our understanding of EFs has evolved with increasing evidence pointing to the involvement of cortico-subcortical networks. Despite the importance of investigating EFs within this broader context, the functional contributions of subcortical regions to these processes remain largely unexplored. This study addresses this gap by specifically examining the involvement of subcortical regions in executive inhibition, as measured by the classic Eriksen flanker task. In this study, we used a stereoscope to differentiate between subcortical (monocular) and cortical (mostly binocular) visual pathways in EF processes. Our findings indicate that monocular visual pathways play a crucial role in representing executive conflict, which necessitates cortical involvement. The persistence of a monoptic advantage in conflict representation highlights the substantial contribution of subcortical regions to these executive processes. This exploration of subcortical involvement in executive inhibition provides valuable insights into the intricate relationships between cortical and subcortical regions in EFs.</p>","PeriodicalId":50672,"journal":{"name":"Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11525269/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142141611","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}