Boosting arousal and cognitive performance through alternating posture: Insights from a multi-method laboratory study.

This study investigated the role of arousal and effort costs in the cognitive benefits of alternating between sitting and standing postures using a sit-stand desk, while measuring executive functions, self-reports, physiology, and neural activity in a 2-h laboratory session aimed to induce mental fatigue. Two sessions were conducted with a one-week gap, during which participants alternated between sitting and standing postures each 20-min block in one session and remained seated in the other. In each block, inhibition, switching, and updating were assessed.

Temporal clusters of age-related behavioral alterations captured in smartphone touchscreen interactions.

Smartphones touchscreen interactions may help resolve if and how real-world behavioral dynamics are shaped by aging. Here, in a sample spanning the adult life span (16 to 86 years, N = 598, accumulating 355 million interactions), we clustered the smartphone interactions according to their next inter-touch interval dynamics. There were age-related behavioral losses at the clusters occupying short intervals (∼100 ms, R ∼ 0.

No panacea? Tai Chi enhances motoric but not executive functioning in a normal aging population.

Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) is a promising intervention against age-related decline. Though previous studies have shown benefits in motoric and cognitive domains, it is unclear how these effects are functionally related. Therefore, a randomized controlled trial was conducted in an aging population (53-85).

EEG Theta/Beta Ratio Neurofeedback Training in Healthy Females.

A growing number of studies suggest that EEG theta/beta ratio (TBR) is inversely related to executive cognitive control. Neurofeedback training aimed at reducing TBR (TBR NFT) might provide a tool to study causality in this relation and might enhance human performance. To investigate whether TBR NFT reduces TBR in healthy participants.

A good beginning: study protocol for a group-randomized trial to investigate the effects of sit-to-stand desks on academic performance and sedentary time in primary education.

Background: Sedentary behavior is associated with health risks and academic under-achievement in children. Still, children spend a large part of their waking hours sitting at a desk at school. Recent short-term studies demonstrated the potential of sit-to-stand desks to reduce sitting time in primary education.

Breath of Life: The Respiratory Vagal Stimulation Model of Contemplative Activity.

Contemplative practices, such as meditation and yoga, are increasingly popular among the general public and as topics of research. Beneficial effects associated with these practices have been found on physical health, mental health and cognitive performance. However, studies and theories that clarify the underlying mechanisms are lacking or scarce.

Game-based training of flexibility and attention improves task-switch performance: near and far transfer of cognitive training in an EEG study.

There is a demand for ways to enhance cognitive flexibility, as it can be a limiting factor for performance in daily life. Video game training has been linked to advantages in cognitive functioning, raising the question if training with video games can promote cognitive flexibility. In the current study, we investigated if game-based computerized cognitive training (GCCT) could enhance cognitive flexibility in a healthy young adult sample (N = 72), as measured by task-switch performance.

Perceptual Sensitivity and Response to Strong Stimuli Are Related.

To shed new light on the long-standing debate about the (in)dependence of sensitivity to weak stimuli and overreactivity to strong stimuli, we examined the relation between these tendencies within the neurobehavioral framework of the Predictive and Reactive Control Systems (PARCS) theory (Tops et al., 2010, 2014). Whereas previous studies only considered overreactivity in terms of the individual tendency to experience unpleasant affect (punishment reactivity) resulting from strong sensory stimulation, we also took the individual tendency to experience pleasant affect (reward reactivity) resulting from strong sensory stimulation into account.

Inconsistent Effect of Arousal on Early Auditory Perception.

Mood has been shown to influence cognitive performance. However, little is known about the influence of mood on sensory processing, specifically in the auditory domain. With the current study, we sought to investigate how auditory processing of neutral sounds is affected by the mood state of the listener.

The Effects of Spacing, Naps, and Fatigue on the Acquisition and Retention of Laparoscopic Skills.

Background: Earlier research has shown that laparoscopic skills are trained more efficiently on a spaced schedule compared to a massed schedule. The aim of the study was to estimate to what extent the spacing interval, naps, and fatigue influenced the effectiveness of spacing laparoscopy training.

Methods: Overall 4 groups of trainees (aged 17-41y; 72% female; N = 40; N = 35; N = 37; N = 37) without prior experience were trained in 3 laparoscopic tasks using a physical box trainer with different scheduling interventions.

Varied Practice in Laparoscopy Training: Beneficial Learning Stimulation or Cognitive Overload?

Determining the optimal design for surgical skills training is an ongoing research endeavor. In education literature, varied practice is listed as a positive intervention to improve acquisition of knowledge and motor skills. In the current study we tested the effectiveness of a varied practice intervention during laparoscopy training.

Does conflict help or hurt cognitive control? Initial evidence for an inverted U-shape relationship between perceived task difficulty and conflict adaptation.

Sequential modulation of congruency effects in conflict tasks indicates that cognitive control quickly adapts to changing task demands. We investigated in four experiments how this behavioral congruency-sequence effect relates to different levels of perceived task difficulty in a flanker and a Stroop task. In addition, online measures of pupil diameter were used as a physiological index of effort mobilization.

Increasing efficiency of surgical training: effects of spacing practice on skill acquisition and retention in laparoscopy training.

Objectives: The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of spaced versus massed practice on skill acquisition and retention in the context of laparoscopic motor skill training.

Background: Reaching proficiency in performing laparoscopic surgery involves extensive training to acquire the required motor skills. Conventionally, training of such skills occurs during a full day training event utilizing surgical simulators that train specific motor skills pertinent to laparoscopic surgery.

Hedonic Hotspots Regulate Cingulate-driven Adaptation to Cognitive Demands.

Positive hedonic states are known to attenuate the impact of demanding events on our body and brain, supporting adaptive behavior in response to changes in the environment. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the neural mechanism of this hedonic regulation. The effect of hedonic state (as induced by funny vs.

Optimal training design for procedural motor skills: a review and application to laparoscopic surgery.

This literature review covers the choices to consider in training complex procedural, perceptual and motor skills. In particular, we focus on laparoscopic surgery. An overview is provided of important training factors modulating the acquisition, durability, transfer, and efficiency of trained skills.

Pupil dilation in the Simon task as a marker of conflict processing.

Cognitive demands in response conflict paradigms trigger negative affect and avoidance behavior. However, not all response conflict studies show increases in physiological indices of emotional arousal, such as pupil diameter. In contrast to earlier null-results, this study shows for the first time that small (about 0.

[Feedback during laparoscopic training].

A recent Danish study showed that instructor feedback significantly reduced the duration of training time needed for acquiring laparoscopic skills. While there is a clear advantage to trainees reaching a predetermined expert level of performance more rapidly, this does not necessarily imply that the skills were also acquired more efficiently. Experiencing continual feedback while undergoing a training task could reduce the level of difficulty in performing it; the presence of an instructor can also heighten emotional tension.

Online games training aging brains: limited transfer to cognitive control functions.

The prevalence of age-related cognitive decline will increase due to graying of the global population. The goal of the present study was to test whether playing online cognitive training games can improve cognitive control (CC) in healthy older adults. Fifty-four older adults (age 60-77) played five different cognitive training games online for 30 min a day over a period of seven weeks (game group).

A tribute to charlie chaplin: induced positive affect improves reward-based decision-learning in Parkinson's disease.

Reward-based decision-learning refers to the process of learning to select those actions that lead to rewards while avoiding actions that lead to punishments. This process, known to rely on dopaminergic activity in striatal brain regions, is compromised in Parkinson's disease (PD). We hypothesized that such decision-learning deficits are alleviated by induced positive affect, which is thought to incur transient boosts in midbrain and striatal dopaminergic activity.

Evaluative conditioning induces changes in sound valence.

Through evaluative conditioning (EC) a stimulus can acquire an affective value by pairing it with another affective stimulus. While many sounds we encounter daily have acquired an affective value over life, EC has hardly been tested in the auditory domain. To get a more complete understanding of affective processing in auditory domain we examined EC of sound.

Reward valence modulates conflict-driven attentional adaptation: electrophysiological evidence.

Recent findings suggest that, relative to negative feedback, positive feedback counteracts conflict processing and subsequent attentional adaptation. Here we hypothesize that this interaction may direct adjustments in perception and action via the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). We recorded EEG while participants performed an arrow flanker task with monetary gain or loss as arbitrary reward feedback between trials.

Happy but still focused: failures to find evidence for a mood-induced widening of visual attention.

In models of affect and cognition, it is held that positive affect broadens the scope of attention. Consistent with this claim, previous research has indeed suggested that positive affect is associated with impaired selective attention as evidenced by increased interference of spatially distant distractors. However, several recent findings cast doubt on the reliability of this observation.

Functional significance of the emotion-related late positive potential.

The late positive potential (LPP) is an event-related potential (ERP) component over visual cortical areas that is modulated by the emotional intensity of a stimulus. However, the functional significance of this neural modulation remains elusive. We conducted two experiments in which we studied the relation between LPP amplitude, subsequent perceptual sensitivity to a non-emotional stimulus (Experiment 1) and visual cortical excitability, as reflected by P1/N1 components evoked by this stimulus (Experiment 2).