Executive function predictors of delayed memory deficits after mild traumatic brain injury.

Delayed memory deficits are common for patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), according to a recent systematic review of meta-analyses (Karr et al., 2014). However, there has been little work to identify different cognitive processes that may be underpinning these delayed memory deficits for mTBI.

ERPs predict symptomatic distress and recovery in sub-acute mild traumatic brain injury.

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) can affect high-level executive functioning long after somatic symptoms resolve. We tested if simple EEG responses within an oddball paradigm could capture variance relevant to this clinical problem. The P3a and P3b components reflect bottom-up and top-down processes driving engagement with exogenous stimuli.

Dopamine D2 agonist affects visuospatial working memory distractor interference depending on individual differences in baseline working memory span.

The interplay of dopaminergic striatal D1-D2 circuits is thought to support working memory (WM) by selectively filtering information that is to be remembered versus information to be ignored. To test this theory, we conducted an experiment in which healthy participants performed a visuospatial working memory (VSWM) task after ingesting the D2-receptor agonist cabergoline (or placebo), in a randomized, double-blinded, crossover design. Results showed greater interference from distractors under cabergoline, particularly for individuals with higher baseline dopamine (indicated by WM span).

Unaware yet reliant on attention: Experience sampling reveals that mind-wandering impedes implicit learning.

Although implicit learning has been widely studied, controversy remains regarding its reliance on attentional resources. A central issue in this controversy is the question of how best to manipulate attention. The usual approach of comparing implicit learning in a serial reaction time (SRT) task under single- versus dual-task conditions is known to be problematic, because the secondary task may not only divert attention away from the primary task, but also interfere with the implicit-learning process itself.

Motivating meta-awareness of mind wandering: A way to catch the mind in flight?

Given the negative effects of mind wandering on performance, it may be profitable to be aware of task-unrelated thoughts (TUTs) as they occur. The present study investigated whether motivating people to catch TUTs increases meta-awareness. We offered incentives for increased self-catching during reading.

Early event-related brain potentials and hemispheric asymmetries reveal mind-wandering while reading and predict comprehension.

The electroencephalogram (EEG) of mind-wandering (MW) was examined in event-related potentials (ERPs) and pre-stimulus alpha (8-12 Hz), over lateral-posterior sites of left and right brain hemispheres, while individuals read text passages. After controlling for individual differences in general intelligence (g), P1-asymmetry was greater (right-minus- left) and N1 amplitudes were more negative, when individuals were not MW (i.e.

Effects of subcallosal cingulate deep brain stimulation on negative self-bias in patients with treatment-resistant depression.

Background: The cognitive neuropsychological model states that antidepressant treatment alters emotional biases early in treatment, and after this initial change in emotional processing, environmental and social interactions allow for long-term/sustained changes in mood and behavior.

Objective: Changes in negative self-bias after chronic subcallosal cingulate (SCC) deep brain stimulation (DBS) were investigated with the hypothesis that treatment would lead to changes in emotional biases followed by changes in symptom severity.

Methods: Patients (N = 7) with treatment-resistant depression were assessed at three time points: pre-treatment; after one month stimulation; and after six months stimulation.

Window to the wandering mind: pupillometry of spontaneous thought while reading.

Mind-wandering is both pervasive and detrimental to task performance. As such, identifying covert physiological measures that are associated with this off-task state could inform theories of mind-wandering and lead to interventions that improve task focus. Although previous work suggests that pupil dilation (PD) may vary between on- and off-task states, no studies have examined whether PD systematically varies within a subject as they report becoming disengaged from a task-a key step in developing useful mind-wandering prediction algorithms.

Young and restless: validation of the Mind-Wandering Questionnaire (MWQ) reveals disruptive impact of mind-wandering for youth.

Mind-wandering is the focus of extensive investigation, yet until recently there has been no validated scale to directly measure trait levels of task-unrelated thought. Scales commonly used to assess mind-wandering lack face validity, measuring related constructs such as daydreaming or behavioral errors. Here we report four studies validating a Mind-Wandering Questionnaire (MWQ) across college, high school, and middle school samples.

Disentangling decoupling: comment on Smallwood (2013).

Smallwood (2013) made important contributions to the science of mind wandering by distinguishing between 2 aspects of the mind-wandering experience: (a) how the mind wanders, which entails the process of maintaining the continuity of a mind-wandering episode, and (b) why the mind wanders, which refers to those mechanisms that lead to the occurrence of a mind-wandering episode. This new process-occurrence framework offers a way to compare and contrast existing theories of mind wandering and highlights key questions to be addressed in future work; however, we suggest that in characterizing one of the core mechanisms of mind wandering, Smallwood conflated the occurrence of a phenomenon with its explanation. Specifically, the occurrence of perceptual decoupling (i.

Frontal theta cordance predicts 6-month antidepressant response to subcallosal cingulate deep brain stimulation for treatment-resistant depression: a pilot study.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of subcallosal cingulate white matter (SCC) may be an effective approach for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) that otherwise fails to respond to more conventional therapies, but DBS is invasive, costly, and has potential for adverse effects. Therefore, it is important to identify potential biomarkers for predicting antidepressant response before intervention. Resting-state EEG was recorded from 12 TRD patients at pre-treatment baseline, after 4 weeks SCC DBS, and after 24 weeks SCC DBS.

Orienting to external versus internal regions of space: consequences of attending in advance versus after the fact.

We examined effects of knowing where to attend to-be-remembered information in advance versus after the fact. Participants performed a visuospatial short-term memory task with orienting cues that appeared before or after a memory display and reported whether a probe item had appeared on the cued side. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded for cues, memory displays, and probes.

Individual differences in working memory capacity and temporal discrimination.

Temporal judgment in the milliseconds-to-seconds range depends on consistent attention to time and robust working memory representation. Individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) predict a wide range of higher-order and lower-order cognitive abilities. In the present work we examined whether WMC would predict temporal discrimination.

Lapsed attention to elapsed time? Individual differences in working memory capacity and temporal reproduction.

Working memory capacity (WMC) predicts individual differences in a wide range of mental abilities. In three experiments we examined whether WMC would predict temporal judgment. Low-WMC temporal reproductions were consistently too long for the shortest duration and too short for the longest, but were accurate (unbiased) for the intermediate.

Validating running memory span: measurement of working memory capacity and links with fluid intelligence.

We manipulated running memory span tasks to examine effects on recall and relations with criterion measures of working memory capacity and general fluid intelligence. The goal of the manipulations was to limit or enhance opportunities for active input processing and response preparation in advance of test. We manipulated presentation rate in Experiment 1.

Complex working memory span tasks and higher-order cognition: a latent-variable analysis of the relationship between processing and storage.

Complex span tasks, assumed by many to measure an individual's working memory capacity, are predictive of several aspects of higher-order cognition. However, the underlying cause of the relationships between "processing-and-storage" tasks and cognitive abilities is still hotly debated nearly 30 years after the tasks were first introduced. The current study utilised latent constructs across verbal, numerical, and spatial content domains to examine a number of questions regarding the predictive power of complex span tasks.