Near-infrared spectroscopy-based study of the effects of gaming addiction disorders on brain cognitive control functions / 国际生物医学工程杂志

Objective:To explore the effects of game addiction disorders on brain cognitive control functions based on near-infrared spectroscopy.Methods:Thirteen subjects were screened according to the Online Game Addiction (OGA) Scale. The experimental paradigm was the stop-signal task. The relative concentration levels of oxyhemoglobin (HbO 2) and deoxyhemoglobin (Hb) in the prefrontal region of the brain during cognitive activity were collected using near-infrared spectroscopy to assess the cognitive control function of the subjects. Results:The game-addicted patients had lower keystroke accuracy in the stop-signal task than healthy subjects, and the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.05). Compared to healthy subjects, game-addicted patients had less activation in prefrontal areas and showed uncontrolled behavior and brain activity. Conclusions:Game addiction disorders impair brain cognitive control, which in turn triggers a weakening of cognitive control. The results of this study provide a reference for the prevention and treatment of game addiction.

Modulation of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation on default mode network in patients with primary insomnia / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the modulation of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) on default mode network (DMN) in patients with primary insomnia (PI).@*METHODS@#A total of 22 PI patients (one patient dropped off and two patients were excluded) were included and treated with taVNS. The bilateral auricular points of Xin (CO15) and Shen (CO10) were selected and treated with disperse-dense wave at frequency of 4 Hz/20 Hz, the intensity was based on the patient's tolerance. taVNS was given once in the morning and once in the evening for 30 minutes each time. The treatment lasted for at least 5 days a week for 4 weeks. At the same time, 16 healthy subjects matched with gender and age were recruited. The Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) score was evaluated before and after treatment in PI patients. The resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data of PI patients before and after treatment and healthy subjects at baseline period were collected to observe the effect of taVNS on the functional connection (FC) between posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and whole brain.@*RESULTS@#After treatment, the total score of PSQI in PI patients was lower than that before treatment (P<0.01). Compared with healthy subjects, the FC of the left PCC was increased either with the left orbital superior frontal gyrus or with left middle frontal gyrus (P<0.001), and the FC between right PCC and left middle frontal gyrus was increased in PI patients before treatment (P<0.001). Compared before treatment, the FC between left PCC and left middle frontal gyrus was decreased (P<0.05), and the FC of the right PCC was decreased either with the right medial prefrontal cortex or with the left middle frontal gyrus in PI patients after treatment (P<0.001, P<0.01).@*CONCLUSION@#taVNS can modulate the FC between anterior and posterior DMN, and between DMN and cognitive control network of PI patients, which may be one of the brain effect mechanisms of taVNS in the treatment of PI patients.

The Role of Cognitive Control in Tinnitus and Its Relation to Speech-in-Noise Performance

Self-reported difficulties in speech-in-noise (SiN) recognition are common among tinnitus patients. Whereas hearing impairment that usually co-occurs with tinnitus can explain such difficulties, recent studies suggest that tinnitus patients with normal hearing sensitivity still show decreased SiN understanding, indicating that SiN difficulties cannot be solely attributed to changes in hearing sensitivity. In fact, cognitive control, which refers to a variety of top-down processes that human beings use to complete their daily tasks, has been shown to be critical for SiN recognition, as well as the key to understand cognitive inefficiencies caused by tinnitus. In this article, we review studies investigating the association between tinnitus and cognitive control using behavioral and brain imaging assessments, as well as those examining the effect of tinnitus on SiN recognition. In addition, three factors that can affect cognitive control in tinnitus patients, including hearing sensitivity, age, and severity of tinnitus, are discussed to elucidate the association among tinnitus, cognitive control, and SiN recognition. Although a possible central or cognitive involvement has always been postulated in the observed SiN impairments in tinnitus patients, there is as yet no direct evidence to underpin this assumption, as few studies have addressed both SiN performance and cognitive control in one tinnitus cohort. Future studies should aim at incorporating SiN tests with various subjective and objective methods that evaluate cognitive performance to better understand the relationship between SiN difficulties and cognitive control in tinnitus patients.

Comparison of Cognitive Controls in Patients with Bipolar I Disorder and Their Unaffected First-Degree Relatives

OBJECTIVES: This study intended to identify the deficits of cognitive control among patients with bipolar I disorder and their first-degree relatives, and identify the possibility of cognitive control as an endophenotype of bipolar disorder. METHODS: The study included three groups: euthymic states patients with bipolar I disorder (n = 55), unaffected first-degree relatives of probands with bipolar I disorder (n = 30), and a healthy control group (n = 51), that was matched on age, sex, and years of education. The AX version of the continuous performance test (CPT) was used to examine cognitive control. Error rate, correct response times of each subsets (AX, BX, AY, BY), and d' as an indication of accuracy sensitivity index were calculated. Psychopathology, intelligence, and psychomotor speed were also assessed. RESULTS: Patients with bipolar I disorder showed significantly worse error rates in the AX (p = 0.01) and BX (p = 0.02) subsets and d' (p = 0.05) than the others. They also showed more delayed correct response times than the healthy control group and first-degree relatives in all subsets (p < 0.01). But first-degree relatives showed neither high error rates nor delayed correct response times than healthy control group. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that cognitive control is impaired in bipolar I disorder but less likely to be an endophynotype of bipolar I disorder.

Disrupted Control Network Connectivity in Abstinent Patients with Alcohol Dependence

OBJECTIVE: Alcohol causes damage to the brain and is associated with various functional impairments. However, much of the brain damage can be reversed by abstaining for enough time. This study aims to investigate the patterns and degrees of brain function in abstinent patients with alcohol dependence by using resting-state functional connectivity. METHODS: 26 male patients with alcohol dependence (alcohol group) and 28 age-matched male healthy volunteers (control group) were recruited from a mental hospital and the community, respectively. Using 3T MRI scan data, the resting-state functional connectivity of the task-negative and task-positive networks was determined and compared between the groups. RESULTS: There were no significant group differences in the resting-state functional connectivity in the default mode or in the salience and sensorimotor networks. Compared with the control group, the alcohol group showed significantly lower functional connectivity in the executive control network, especially in the cingulo-opercular network and, in some regions of interest, the dorsal attention network. CONCLUSION: This finding suggests that some brain networks do not normalize their functions after abstinence from drinking, and these results may be helpful in future research to investigate the mechanisms for craving alcohol and alcohol relapse prevention.

Comparison of Cognitive Control Deficits in Patients with Schizophrenia and Their Unaffected First-Degree Relatives / 신경정신의학

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to identify the differences in the profiles of cognitive control deficits among schizophrenic patients and endophenotypes. METHODS: The study examined three groups: remitted patients with schizophrenia (n=54), unaffected first-degree relatives of the probands with schizophrenia (n=36), and a healthy control group (n=51), which were all matched for age, sex, and years of education. The AX version of the continuous performance test was used to examine cognitive control. The error rate, correct response times of each subset (AX, BX, AY, BY), and d′ as an indication of the accuracy sensitivity index were calculated. The psychopathology, intelligence, and psychomotor speed were also assessed. RESULTS: Patients with schizophrenia showed significantly poorer error rates and d′ in the AX and BX subsets than the others. They showed more delayed correct response times than the healthy control group in all subsets. The first-degree relatives also showed more delayed correct response times in the BX and AY subsets than the healthy control group, but were similar to the patients. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that cognitive control is impaired in schizophrenia and endophynotypes possibly share this delayed information processing from the higher loading states of cognitive control.

Effects of stress intensity and expected duration of stress on the inhibition ability of individual re-sponses to stress / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective To investigate the effects of stress intensity and the expected duration of stress on the inhibition ability of individual responses to stress. Methods A total of 60 cases of hospitalized patients in respiratory department were selected in the study,including 31 male cases and 29 female cases. Incorporated patients were divided into the high-stress group and the low-stress group ( 30 cases in each group) according to whether the patient accepted a invasive examination or not. Then,within each group,pa-tients were further randomly sub-divided into the acute expectation group and the chronic expectation group ( 15 cases in each group) in the form of a lottery. Detection risk disclosure was conducted at 2 hours and at 24 hours before the examination. Visual analogue scale ( VAS) and stop-signal task were used to detect the level of psychological fear and the inhibition ability of individual responses to stress of each group following informing of the detection risk,and the comparative analysis was conducted afterwards. Results ( 1) The score of psychological fear in the high-stress group was significantly increased when compared to the low-stress group ((3.90±2.71) vs (0.80±1.24)),showing statistical difference (F(1,58)=30.16, P0.05);meanwhile,no statisti-cal difference of the interaction between stress intensity and the expected duration of stress on the level of psychological fear (F(1,58)=0.031, P>0.05). (2) As for stop-signal task,the signal execution error rate of the high-stress group was significantly increased than that in the low-stress group ((9.40±5.80)%vs (8.30± 12.60)%),and the statistical difference was significant (P0.05) . Conclusion There is no interaction be-tween the effect of the stress intensity and the expected duration of stress on the inhibition ability of individu-al responses to stress. The stress intensity is more important than the expected duration of stress to exert more important influence in the inhibition ability of individual responses to stress.

Análisis de las diferentes dimensiones en el grupo etario de 80 a 90 años / Analysis of different dimensions in the age group 80 to 90 years

El presente artículo busca reflejar el trabajo de investigación y los resultados obtenidos a partir del análisis de entrevistas sobre emociones percibidas realizadas a mujeres y varones cuyas edades oscilan entre los 80 y 90 años, residentes de las ciudades de Mar del Plata y Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires. Para ello analizamos el material obtenido de un grupo etario a través de cuatro dimensiones integradas: selección, control cognitivo, simulación y búsqueda de sensaciones. Esto permitió analizar el discurso de las personas entrevistadas con mayor profundidad y obtener un conocimiento más amplio de su realidad emocional.Palabras clave: Emociones percibidas; Adultos mayores; Selección; Control cognitivo;Simulación; Búsqueda de sensaciones.

This paper seeks to reflect the research and the results obtained from the analysis of perceived emotions interviews conducted with women and men aged between 80 and 90 years, residents of the cities of Mar del Plata and Buenos Aires. We analyzed the material obtained from an age group through four integrated dimensions: selection, cognitive control, simulation and sensation seeking. This allowed analyzing the speech of the people interviewed in more depth and get a broader understanding of their emotional reality.

Control Cognitivo / Cognitive Control

Las respuestas obtenidas permitieron dilucidar tanto las diversas situaciones en que las personas intentan controlar cognitivamente sus emociones, así como las estrategias que utilizan para lograr dicho fin. A partir de un análisis de contenido centrado en las respuestas, surgieron dos sistemas clasificatorios: el primero hace referencia a los motivos que hacen que una persona controle cognitivamente sus emociones y contiene las siguientes dimensiones: según valencia de emoción, intensidad de la emoción, según tipo de relación, según situación o contexto y según grado de simetría. El segundo sistema clasificatorio mencionado, refiere a los mecanismos de control que las personas entrevistadas utilizan. Esta clasificación consta de 4 dimensiones: distracción, evitación reflexión y supresión emocional. Los resultados indican tanto similitudes como diferencias entre los grupos. Respecto a estas últimas, las más relevantes se encontraron entre el grupo de personas de 20 a 30 años y las de 80 a 90. Se ha encontrado que con el correr de los años, las personas empiezan a poner énfasis en el valor de la experiencia para afrontar y controlar las diferentes situaciones.

The responses allowed elucidate the various situations in which people try to control their emotions as well as the strategies used to achieve this end. From a content analysis of the responses, emerged two classification systems: The first one refers to the reasons that cause a person to control cognitively their emotions and contains the following dimensions: valence of emotion, intensity of emotion, type of relationship, situation or context and degree of symmetry. The second classification system mentioned refers to the control mechanisms that respondents used. This classification consists on four dimensions: distraction, avoidance, reflection and emotional suppression. The results indicate similarities and differences between groups. The most important differences were found among the group of people of 20-30 years and those aged 80-90. It has been found that over the years, people begin to emphasize the value of the experience to address and control different situations.

Control ejecutivo y fluidez verbal en población infantil: Medidas cuantitativas, cualitativas y temporales / Executive control and verbal fluency in child population: Quantitative, qualitative and temporal measures

Para evaluar la evocación de palabras asociadas bajo una consigna de prueba de fluidez verbal (PFV) se tienen en cuenta la cantidad de palabras producidas, las asociaciones categoriales y fonológicas entre ellas y el tiempo en que son evocadas. A continuación se presenta un estudio que se realizó aplicando PFV semánticas y fonológicas en una población infantil (8 - 12 años) de la ciudad de Granada (España), que tuvo por objetivos: (1) revisar las tradicionales medidas en PFV, (2) actualizar los índices temporales de medición y (3) presentar combinaciones de éstas con el fin de establecer con mayor precisión la participación del control ejecutivo en PFV. Se encontraron resultados significativos entre los que se destaca que la combinación entre la medida temporal de evocación de palabras conjuntas y la cualitativa de palabras en relación cluster podría aislar con mayor fiabilidad el compromiso de funciones ejecutivas como el control inhibitorio y la flexibilidad cognitiva. Esto se determinó empleando medidas de regresión, ingresando como variables independientes funciones ejecutivas y como variables dependientes cada una de las medidas de Fluidez Verbal. Para la mencionada combinación de palabras conjuntas - palabras en relación cluster (PFV fonológica letra P) se halló un R² de .41 (p = .000) ingresando como variables predictoras el Trail Making B y la parte Color - Palabra de la versión Trenerry del paradigma Stroop (Lezak, 1995). Se describen también otras posibilidades de medición temporales - cualitativas y su posible utilidad clínica y de investigación.

Verbal fluency tests (VFTs) are considered semantic cognitive tasks. They demand the retrieval of words under different semantic, phonologic, and grammatical conditions. The measures most commonly used to assess word recall in VFTs are: (1) the number of words produced, (2) categorical and phonological association between words, (3) switching between clusters, and (4) the time at which the words are evoked. These measures involve quantitative (1), qualitative (2 and 3), and temporal (4) analyses. In this study, semantic and phonological VFTs were administered to a child population (8-12 years) in Granada (Spain), in order to: (1) review traditional VFT measures, (2) update temporal indices, and (3) introduce combinations, in an effort to more precisely establish the role of executive control. Topics widely-discussed in the literature include two crucial cognitive processes that underlie VFT performance: semantic processing and executive control, which have been associated with activity in temporal and frontal brain regions, respectively. One of the major challenges in the study of these processes is to distinguish between their separate contributions to VFT execution using obtained data. Measures of switching and clustering have traditionally been used to this end, however they do not take into account the time at which the words are evoked. These measures have also been criticized because their final scores are interrelated and exposed to biases difficult to control. Considering temporal measures important, we evaluated the role of five executive control variables (attentional control, cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, switching, and sustained control) and their relationship with combined quantitative, qualitative and temporal measures. Time variables were included by placing each word evoked on a sixtysecond timeline of verbal production. This way we were able to simultaneously calculate the clustering and switching of words, and their temporal positions. All of these results were associated with executive measures using predictive association statistical techniques. Significant results were found among those measures that emphasized the combination of temporary and qualitative cluster measures. We were also able to reliably isolate the participation of executive functions such as inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility in the combination of spurts and clusters words. This was determined with Multiple Regression Analysis scores, entering the executive functions as independent variables and each of the verbal fluency measures as dependent variables. For example, an R² of .41 (.000) was obtained for the abovementioned combination of spurted -clustered words in the phonological VFT letter P, entering Trail Making B and Trenerry's Color-Word version of the Stroop task (Lezak, 1995) as predictor variables. When compared, these values clearly exceed those obtained with traditional quantitative and qualitative measures. We discussed these results in relation to the possibility of developing a more precise executive control index for VFTs, specifically for the rapid transition from one word to another related word. As far as we know, only switching (shifting between clusters of words) has been considered an executive control index in VFTs. Here we propose the combination measures described. Possible cognitive mechanisms related to these findings are discussed. Future research must contemplate: (1) a greater sample size, because only 61 participants were studied here, (2) using other technical measures to determine clustering and switching, (3) improving the executive function measures, (4) including other VFTs, such as letter exclusion or action fluency, and (5) extending the procedure to an adult population.

Cognitive Control Mechanisms based on Local Multiple Conflicts / 航天医学与医学工程

Objective To investigate the brain mechanism elicted by multiple conflict.Methods This study integrated different types of conflict,including Flanker,Stroop and Simon conflict,by using the event-related potential(ERP) technique.Results The behavioral data showed that there were the congruency effect and the conflict adaptation effect in all types of the conflict.ERP data showed that the congruency effects of P300,N450 and SP component were found in all types of conflict.Conclusion The conflict monitoring theory is still available for various types of conflict in multiple conflict conditions and the human brain uses local control mechanism to resolve the conflict.In addition,the human brain resolves the conflict based on the flexibility of cognitive control system driven by multiple conflict and the conflict-specific control mechanisms.These mechanisms are independent and free from any interference with each other.