Working memory span training improves working memory capacity / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective:To explore whether working memory span training can expand working memory capacity.Methods:A randomized controlled trial design was adopted and a total of 60 healthy college students were recruited and randomly divided into training group ( n=30, receiving adaptive training of spatial breadth task) and control group ( n=30, receiving non-adaptive training of low difficulty spatial breadth task). The cognitive behavior and event-related potential (ERP) data of all subjects when completing the change awareness task were collected before and after training.The SPSS 22.0 statistical software was used for data analysis. The differences between the training group and the control group before and after training were compared by repeated measurement analysis of variance. Results:Repeated measurement ANOVA showed that there were significant time and group interactions at the levels of cognitive behavior(K score, F=5.352, P=0.025) and ERP (CDA, F=4.644, P=0.037) levels. Further post test found that compared with pre-training (pre-test), the K-score ((0.51±0.93), (1.61±1.07), F=26.81, P<0.001) and CDA ((-1.49±1.07)μV, (-2.03±0.94)μV, F=4.731, P=0.041) of the training group increased significantly after training (post-test), and there was no significant difference in K-score and CDA of the control group before and after training (boh P>0.05). Conclusion:Working memory span task can be used as an effective training paradigm to improve working memory capacity.

Avaliação da ansiedade e do viés de atenção no canal visual para estímulos emocionais em uma amostra não clínica / Assessment of anxiety and attentional bias in the visual channel toward emotional stimuli in a non-clinical sample

A ansiedade vem sendo estudada como fator capaz de influenciar a atenção visual seletiva em experimentos como a Visual Probe Detection Task (VPDT). Este estudo objetivou comparar o viés de atenção para imagens emocionais em pessoas com diferentes níveis de ansiedade de traço e estado usando a VPDT. Oitenta e dois estudantes universitários responderam ao IDATE. Na VPDT, utilizaram-se 12 pares de imagens com alto nível de ativação e valência negativa, pareadas com imagens controles neutras, do International Affective Picture System (IAPS). Os estímulos eram apresentados durante 200 m. O viés de atenção não foi diferente entre os participantes com baixos e altos níveis de ansiedade de traço e estado. Tais resultados indicaram que elas não são importantes para o viés de atenção para estímulos negativos com altos níveis de ativação. Além disso, é possível que o viés de atenção para estímulos ansiogênicos seja observado apenas em populações clínicas.

Anxiety has been observed as a factor capable to influence the visual selective attention in experiments such as the Visual Probe Detection Task (VPDT). This study aimed to compare the attentional bias to emotional images in people with different levels of trait and state anxiety using a VPDT. Eighty-two undergraduate students performed VPDT and answered the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory. In VPDT, 12 pairs of images from International Affective Picture System (emotional image with high arousal level and negative valence/and one control, neutral) were presented during 200 m. There was no attentional bias difference between the participants neither with low nor high levels of trait or state of anxiety. These results indicated that trait or state anxiety might not be important to attentional bias to negative and arousing visual stimuli. It is possible that just clinical populations with anxiety disorders often show attentional bias to anxiogenic stimuli.

A neutral cue facilitates detection of a visual target by modulating attention

Twelve rats were trained to perform a two-choice visual detection task in which a right or left light was presented and the animals were required to press the lever located under the illuminated light for a food reward. In seventy percent of the trials the target light was preceded by presentation of a neutral cue (a central light). Relevance of the neutral cue for detection of the target was analyzed by comparing behavioral indices of attention in its presence and absence. Accuracy was significantly higher in presence than in absence of the neutral cue, while mean response latencies were lower in presence than in absence of the neutral cue. These results indicate that the animals allocated attentional resources on the target detection during a high expectancy period after the onset of the neutral cue. This could facilitate target detection and improve the performance in the presence of the neutral cue.