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Objective To explore the practical value of Stroop task of symptomatic words and identity-related words for screening executive dysfunction in schizophrenia.Methods Sixty-five patients with schizophrenia in clinical remission and sixty-two healthy controls were recruited in this trial.Patients and controls completed the Stroop task of symptomatic words and identity-related words.Analyze and compare the difference of reaction time between the two groups on the two stroop paradigms and further analyze the degree of discrimination of the two stroop paradigme.Results The reaction time of schizophrenic patients was longer than that of healthy controls in both symptom-word Stroop task ((1 206.65 ± 476.39)ms vs (916.01 ± 395.85) ms,t =6.46,P＜ 0.001),and identity-word Stroop task ((1 256.22 ± 630.18) ms vs (927.85 ± 419.98) ms,t=6.01,P＜0.01).The sensitivity and specificity were obtained by Receiver Operating Characteristic curves in symptom-word Stroop task (89％ and 57％,respectively) and identity-word Stroop task (81％ and 66％,respectively).Conclusion Symptom-word Stroop task and identity-word Stroop task showed moderate diagnostic value for the identification executive dysfunction in patients with schizophrenia.
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Objective To study the difference of attentional bias towards general negative words between non-mediated obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients and healthy controls.Methods Event-related potentials (ERPs) were collected from 26 non-mediated OCD patients and 24 normal controls while they performed an emotional Stroop task.Results Compared to healthy controls,OCD patients showed significantly longer reaction time (OCD:(467 ± 14.88) ms,Controls:(409.65 ± 15.49) ms,P＜ 0.01),and had significantly larger P2 and P3 amplitude to all three types of words (P2 amplitude:OCD:(10.41±0.49) μV,Controls:(8.89±0.48) μV,P＜0.05;P3 amplitude:(10.04±0.68) μV,Controls:(7.68±0.67) μV,P＜0.05).In addition,the P2 peak latency of the frontal area in OCD patients was significantly longer than that in healthy controls(OCD:(190.09±4.71) ms,Controls:(179.60±4.72) ms,P＜0.05).Conclusion Current findings suggest that OCD patients are characterized by a general attentional inhibition deficit but not an attentional bias to the negative words.
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Objective To explore the attentional bias in first-episode depressive patients and the correlations between the attentional bias.Methods In the beginning of the treatment,a total of 34 first-episode depressive patients in treatment-naive and demography matched 40 healthy controls completed the Chinese Emotional Stroop Task that assessed the attentional bias.Results The comparison between depressive patients and healthy controls on the reaction time of negative,neutral and positive-related words were significant ((1185.71±410.60)ms/(754.68±215.36) ms,t=5.775,P＜0.01 ; (1127.92±344.89) ms/(755.37±213.49) ms,t=5.675,P＜0.01 ;(1166.17±395.72) ms/(761.70± 194.66) ms,t=5.708,P＜0.01 respectively).Through analysis of variance,the difference of error numbers among the neutral,negative and positive-related words ((3.41 ± 2.11) times,(2.24±1.65) times,(2.97± 1.17) times) in the depressive patients were significant (F=4.197,P=0.018).The difference of error numbers between negative-related words and neutral-related words were significant through analysis of least significant difference(P＜0.01).Conclusion The results suggest that depressive patients before treatment have attentional bias in negative-related word.Attentional bias in negative-related stimuli may be one of the characteristics of cognitive function in first-episode depressive patients.
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O Stroop Emocional vem sendo utilizado com notável frequência nos últimos anos, sendo a tarefa de avaliação do viés de atenção mais usada em experimentos para este fim. O objetivo deste estudo foi comparar o viés de atenção para palavras emocionais em pessoas com diferentes níveis de ansiedade de traço e de estado usando o Stroop Emocional. Os participantes foram estudantes universitários (n=111, M=21,6 anos de idade) que responderam ao IDATE. No Stroop Emocional, foram utilizados 20 pares de palavras com alto nível de ativação e valência negativa, pareadas com imagens controle neutras, advindas do Affective Norms for English Words (ANEW). Apesar de ter sido observado parcialmente o efeito Stroop nesta amostra, tais resultados indicaram que a ansiedade de traço ou estado não são importantes para o viés de atenção para estímulos negativos com altos níveis de ativação.
The Emotional Stroop task has been used with remarkable frequency in recent years and is the most often used task of assessing the attentional bias in experiments for this purpose. This study aimed to compare the attentional bias toward emotional words in individuals with different levels of state and trait anxiety using the Emotional Stroop task. Participants were undergraduate students (n=111, M=21.6 years) who responded to the STAI. In the Emotional Stroop task, were used 20 pairs of words with high activation and negative valence, and matched controls with neutral images, coming from the Affective Norms for English Words (ANEW). Although the Stroop effect in this sample was partly observed, these results indicated that trait and state anxiety are not important to the attentional bias toward negative stimuli with high levels of activation.
Subject(s)
Stroop Test , Anxiety Disorders/diagnosis , Anxiety Disorders/psychologyABSTRACT
ObjectiveTo explore the attentional biases in male alcohol dependent (AD) patients and the correlations between the attentional bias and alcohol-related factors.MethodsA total of 30 recently detoxified male individuals with alcoholism were compared with 37 healthy controls ( HC ) on the Chinese Emotional Stroop Task using negative,neutral,and alcohol-related words.ResultsThe comparison between AD group( ( 1382.13 ±323.38) ms,( 1365.76 ±313.03)ms,( 1433.20 ±342.23) ms,respectively) and HC group( (797.27 ±216.97)ms,( 794.11 ± 209.41 ) ms,(799.40 ± 215.82 ) ms respectively) on the reaction time of neutral,negative and alcohol-related words were significant ( t =8.822,P ＜ 0.001 ; t =8.922,P ＜ 0.001 ; t =9.234,P ＜ 0.001 ).The error number of of the neutral and negative- related words of the patients ( ( 3.70 ± 2.56) time,( 4.23 ± 2.53 ) time)was worse than that of HC group( ( 2.11 ± 1.87 ) time,( 1.92 ± 1.82 ) time) ( t =2.939,P =0.005 ; t =4.355,P ＜0.01 ).Error number of the alcohol- related words between two groups were not significant;Its alcohol-related words attentional bias negative correlation to the age of initial alcohol use(P＜ 0.05 ),and positive correlation to continue drinking and score of self-rating depression scale (P＜0.05).Age of addiction and the score of self-rating anxiety scale enter the regression equation of alcohol-related words.ConclusionThese results demonstrate that alcoholics have attentional bias in alcohol-related words and reward-related brain regions may be associated with craving among male patients with attentional bias.
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Objective To investigate the neural mechanism of the reduction of switch cost induced by short presentation of the task cue.Methods The event-related potentials (ERP) was recorded from 19 subjects while they performed a Chinese Stroop switching task.The factorial design of repeated-measures was adopted with the cue presentation time (100/1000 ms) and the type of succeeding task (repeat/switch).Results For the switch cost of reaction time (the switch subtracts the repeat),the difference between the long cue group (15.0 ± 33.3 ms) and the short group (0.80 -±40.7 ms) had the significantly tendency( t (18) =- 1.77,P=0.09).During the stage of cue processing,the ERP effects of cue reveal in the frontal-occipital areas ( 100 ～ 200 ms),frontoparietal and tempo-occipital regions (200 ～500 ms),frontoparietal network and centro-occipital regions (500 ～900ms).During the stage of task execution,the ERP effects of the cue were observed from the left fronto-occipital areas ( 300 ～ 400 ms) to parieto-occipital areas (400 ～ 900 ms).The ERP effects of the task started from the right hemisphere (500 ～600 ms ) and extended to bilateral prefrontal and centro-parietal area (600 ～900 ms ).Conclusion The short cue presentation can not only start up the preparation of frontoparietal network earlier during cue processing stage but also enhance its retrieval in the left dorsal lateral frontal cortex during task executive stage.
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Attention deficit disorder (ADD) refers to a neurobehavioral condition commonly initiated in childhood. Its clinical diagnosis involves poor attention, distractibility, difficulties to inhibit motor behaviors and cognitive impulsivity. It is suggested that ADD is classified in two general types correlated with different neurocognitive qualities. One is manifested in executive frontal dysfunctions (ADD). In the other type dominates hyperactivity/ impulsivity (ADHD) and it is associated with deficiencies in working memory and alterations in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Results obtained by using electroencephalography, event-related potential paradigms and voxel brain morphometry suggest anomalies in the brain structure and function correlated with ADD, particularly in the frontal, parietal and temporal cortices, in addition to regions involved in the fronto-estriatal connections. On the other hand, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) constitutes a technique to obtain brain images which can be interpreted as regions and networks of neural activity elicited during the performance of a cognitive process. Based on the information that the ADD patients are susceptible to cognitive interferences, some researches have applied the classical and the counting versions of the Stroop task paradigms in fMRI. In comparison with control subjects, adult patients show alack of neural activation in the anterior cingulated cortex. Nevertheless, results in children are more controversial and attribute neurobiological and social factors in the ADD etiology. The anterior cingulated cortex and prefrontal region of the human brain conform the execution system of attention and their function is essential for emotional processes. The neurocognitive relation between attention and emotion involves the influence of the affective system in the alert and execution systems of attention through reciprocal connections between limbic and frontal regions, which permit a mnemonic and affective valuation of the attended environment. Understanding the relations between attention and emotion is essential in basic and clinical approaches, due to the co-morbidity of ADD with some emotional disorders, such as the oppositional defiant disorder, anxiety and impulsive aggression, the last one elicited by uncontrolled experiences of anger. In this sense, some studies describe that the metabolic brain activity correlated with the experience of anger is manifested in the frontal, anterior cingulated and insular cortices and the temporal pole. Clinical situations require individualized decisions on the immediate and emergent treatment of one case. Furthermore, when the clinical case refers to a behavioral disorder probably related with neurobiological dysfunctions, a comparison of test with control subjects is necessary. In this sense, the present work constitutes an fMRI study designed to evaluate neurological functional alterations in a child patient diagnosed with ADHD, with persistent severe impulsive aggression behaviors that required a swift evaluation to enhance the diagnosis and treatment proposed by other clinical techniques. Besides the patient, three infant participants were evaluated. One of them was diagnosed with ADD but did not manifest aggressive or impulsive behaviors and was not under any pharmacological treatment. The other two healthy children had no neurological and psychiatric disorders history. All the participants presented similar intellectual coefficient and performed the same cognitive and emotional tests. In the case of the patient, test were applied in two conditions: under the proposed pharmacological treatment and without medication. The attention test consisted in a version of the counting Stroop task in Spanish language, presented in a block design through the E-Prime software. Subjects practiced the task in a personal computer before the functional image acquisition and were trained to answer by using a bottom response system that will be used in the scanner. For the emotional-anger paradigm, children were interviewed about scenes and situations of their personal experience which elicited anger and calm. Situations were ordered and planned in a block design to be executed in the magnetic resonance instrument. During the functional images acquisition children listened to the situations conducted by imaginery techniques. Functional images were acquired in a 1.5 T G.E. instrument in the Magnetic Resonance Unit of the Hospital Ángeles Metropolitano in Mexico City. Data were analyzed by using the SPM 5 software applying a contrast using FWE with p < 0.05. Brain coordinates obtained in SPM 5 were converted to the Talairach Deamond system in order to obtain the Brodmann areas related to those coordinates. During the performance of the counting Stroop task, the patient with ADHD under medication manifested activation in frontal areas, but not during the medication suspension trial. Frontal activity identified in this patient in the treatment trial was similar to that identified in the unaggressive ADD patient. In both cases, ADHD without medication and ADD, a lack of activity was identified in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Nevertheless, activation in ACC, in parietal and temporal regions was present in the aggressive patient under treatment but not in the suspension condition. These results may suggest that an inadequate attention process distort the environment stimuli, which is necessary for the subject's correct affective evaluation of the situation. During the experience of anger, the patient under treatment manifested activity in the parahippocampal region, as well as in the anterior and posterior cingulate cortices. Results discussed in this work agree with those previously reported and offer cues to complement the diagnosis and treatment of ADD/ADHD and their relations with emotional disorders. Particularly, the design used here could be used for the analysis and evaluation of some pharmacological and behavioral treatments clinically applied in ADD. In addition, it helps to understand the participation of multipotential brain regions and neural networks involved in several cognitive processes, such as attention, working memory and emotion. Finally, we proposed some ideas to interpret these results using fMRI and ADD: 1. It is necessary a consensual and standard integration of neuropsychological tests which identify different cognitive qualities of ADD. 2. The selection of children samples to study the neurobiology of ADD must include several variables associated with its etiology, such as parental relations, social and scholar environments. 3. Experimental paradigms could be designed to be performed using different neuroimaging techniques, such as fMRI or event-related potential. Thus, the results of the same test can be used to complement different approaches. 4. Results obtained by fMRI must not be understood in a phrenologycal and deterministic approach, but as brain region activations indicating dynamic neural networks.
El trastorno por déficit de atención (TDA) es un padecimiento neuroconductual iniciado en la infancia, cuyos criterios diagnósticos incluyen dificultades en la inhibición motora e impulsividad conductual. Tomando en cuenta la evidencia de que los pacientes con TDA son susceptibles a la interferencia cognitiva, la técnica de resonancia magnética funcional ha permitido la obtención de imágenes cerebrales que pueden interpretarse como redes de actividad neuronal, las cuales fueron desencadenadas durante la realización de la tarea Stroop o de interferencia. Algunos hallazgos en individuos sanos sugieren actividad predominante en la corteza anterior del cíngulo durante el proceso de atención selectiva requerido en la ejecución de esta tarea, en tanto que pacientes diagnosticados con TDA muestran ausencia de tal actividad. Diversos autores han señalado la relación neurocognitiva entre la atención y la emoción, a partir de la interacción entre estructuras límbicas y regiones frontales del cerebro. En el caso del TDA, esta relación es relevante debido a su comorbilidad con trastornos de tipo emocional, en particular en el caso de la agresión impulsiva. Ésta es desencadenada por estados incontrolables de ira, cuya experiencia inducida se ha correlacionado con la actividad cerebral de la región frontal, del polo temporal, de la corteza anterior del cíngulo y de la ínsula. Ahora bien, en el ámbito clínico es recurrente la necesidad de una evaluación individualizada y la decisión del tratamiento inmediato y urgente de un caso. El presente trabajo muestra un diseño utilizado en la valoración de alteraciones neurológicas funcionales en un paciente infantil diagnosticado con TDA, cuyos repetidos episodios de comportamientos agresivos requerían una evaluación pronta que complementara el diagnóstico y tratamiento provenientes de otras herramientas clínicas. Con un equipo de resonancia magnética de 1.5 T se registró la actividad cerebral del paciente durante la ejecución de una versión en español de la tarea Stroop por conteo y de un paradigma emocional que consistió en la evocación dirigida de escenas que desencadenaran ira en el sujeto. La obtención de imágenes funcionales se real izó tanto bajo el efecto del tratamiento farmacológico que seguía el paciente, como bajo la suspensión del mismo. Después, se comparó la actividad cerebral del paciente con otro caso infantil diagnosticado con TDA, pero sin presencia de comportamientos agresivos. La actividad cerebral de ambos casos de TDA se comparó con la registrada en dos niños con edad y coeficiente intelectual homogéneos, carentes de historial neurológico y psiquiátrico. Ninguno de los participantes manifestó alteraciones estructurales cerebrales. Los resultados funcionales durante la ejecución Stroop identificaron menor actividad en la corteza anterior del cíngulo en los dos casos diagnosticados con TDA. Durante la experiencia del estado de ira y en comparación con los otros participantes, el paciente bajo efecto del tratamiento manifestó actividad en la región parahipocampal, así como en las cortezas anterior y posterior del cíngulo. Los resultados coinciden con hallazgos reportados sobre la neurobiología del TDA y de la experiencia de ira. Además, otorgan herramientas para el diagnóstico y tratamiento de trastornos de la atención y su relación con trastornos emocionales. Este tipo de diseños contribuye al análisis y observación del efecto de algunos tratamientos, tanto farmacológicos como conductuales, aplicados en la clínica del TDA. En este caso, el tratamiento aplicado al paciente parece actuar a nivel del proceso de atención, pero no en el ámbito del control de la ira. También, proporciona pautas para comprender la participación de regiones cerebrales multipotenciales y las redes neuronales que involucran diferentes procesos cognitivos, como la emoción y la atención.
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Using a Stroop matching task, we evaluated how alcohol affects the time needed to overcome Stroop conflict and whether practice might reverse the effect of alcohol. Participants (n = 16) performed two sessions in which they had to compare the color of a color-word with the meaning of a color-word in neutral color. The two task stimuli were presented simultaneously or with a Stimulus Onset Asynchrony (SOA) of 200, 500, or 800 ms. For half of the subjects, alcohol was administered in the first session, and for the other half, alcohol was administered in the second session. The results showed that the Stroop effect was significant at the 0 and 200 ms intervals in the sober subjects. Moreover, in untrained intoxicated individuals, interference endured until the 500 ms interval, a result that was abolished in trained intoxicated subjects. In conclusion, alcohol increased the time needed for Stroop matching task conflict resolution. However, this deleterious effect was minimized by a previous practice session.
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Humans , Male , Female , Young Adult , Alcohol-Related Disorders , Attention , Practice, Psychological , Stroop Test , Reaction TimeABSTRACT
We studied the influence of attention on the timecourse of Stroop-like conflict. Thirty-two volunteers performed a Stroop matching task in which they had to compare either the color (n = 16) or meaning (n = 16) of two stimuli. The first stimulus was always a color-name printed in yellow, red, or blue (i.e., Stroop stimulus), and the second stimulus was either a color-bar (Experiment 1) or color-word in white ink (Experiment 2). Stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) was varied parametrically. Interference by incongruent Stroop stimuli was clearly modulated by SOA manipulation in both cases. The results are discussed in terms of interactions between translational and attentional models in which the degree of Stroop-like interference is attributed to time implementation of attentional mechanisms during color-to-color and color-to-word matching contexts
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Young Adult , Reaction Time , Attention , Stroop Test , CognitionABSTRACT
Objective To explore the attentional biases in individuals with different types of obsessivecompulsive symptom and the correlations between the attentional bias of high obsessive compulsive symptom (HOC) and symptoms. Methods 22 individuals with HOC and 38 individuals with low obsessive compulsive (LOC) symptom completed the Chinese Emotional Stroop task that assessed the attentional bias. Comparisons were made between HOC and LOC and in different types of HOC, and the correlations between the attentional bias of HOC and symptom severity scores were searched for. Results The comparison between HOC and LOC on the reaction time of neutral, negative and disgust-related words were not significant. The contamination/washing subtype in HOC showed faster reaction time on negative and disgust-related words compared to that of neutral words,and its attentional bias exhibited significant correlation with symptom severity scores( r= -0. 648, P=0. 031 ). Conclusion Such information point out the contamination/washing subtype may have a different neural mechanism compared to the other subtypes of OCD.
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O viés atencional pode eliciar fissura, diminuir a concentração em tarefas não relacionadas à droga e aumentar a vulnerabilidade à recaída em dependentes de drogas. O objetivo deste estudo é discutir visões teóricas recentes e principais métodos de investigação do papel do viés atencional nos comportamentos aditivos. Realizou-se busca nas bases de dados Medline, Pubmed e Lilacs. Essa busca revelou que a dot-probe task e o teste emocional de Stroop estão entre os principais métodos de investigação do viés atencional. Também foram apontadas limitações metodológicas nas investigações sobre viés atencional, sugerindo que esse fenômeno deve ser estudado sob condições melhor controladas, que considerem níveis de dependência, privação e fissura. Estudar o viés atencional pode contribuir para identificar mecanismos cognitivos subjacentes aos comportamentos aditivos.
Attentional bias to drug-related cues can induce craving, decrease concentration on non-related drug tasks and increase vulnerability to relapse in drug addicts. The aim of this study is to discuss current theories and research methods about the attentional bias role on addictive behaviors. The literature review of Medline, Pubmed and Lilacs databases showed that the dot-probe task and the emotional Stroop test are among the main methods of attentional bias investigation. This review also pointed out the methodological limitations in attentional bias research, suggesting that this phenomenon should be studied under better controlled conditions, which should consider levels of dependence, withdrawal and craving. Further studies on attentional bias can help to understand cognitive processes that underlie addictive behaviors.