From controllers to cognition: the importance of selection factors on video game and gameplay mechanic-derived cognitive differences.

Playing video games, especially games with action-based mechanics, is correlated with better cognitive performance, yet these performance advantages may originate from intrinsic factors such as earlier life cognitive differences. We investigated whether gaming-cognition associations in a sample past young adulthood remain robust after accounting for adolescent cognitive functioning. Using data from the Colorado Adoption/Twin Study of Lifespan behavioral development and cognitive aging (CATSLife; N = 1241, M = 33.

Executive Function and Impulsivity Predict Distinct Genetic Variance in Internalizing Problems, Externalizing Problems, Thought Disorders, and Compulsive Disorders: A Genomic Structural Equation Modeling Study.

Individual differences in self-control predict many health and life outcomes. Building on twin literature, we used genomic structural equation modeling to test the hypothesis that genetic influences on executive function and impulsivity predict independent variance in mental health and other outcomes. The impulsivity factor (comprising urgency, lack of premeditation, and other facets) was only modestly genetically correlated with low executive function ( =.

Neurodevelopmental subtypes of functional brain organization in the ABCD study using a rigorous analytic framework.

The current study demonstrates that an individual's resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) is a dependable biomarker for identifying differential patterns of cognitive and emotional functioning during late childhood. Using baseline RSFC data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, which includes children aged 9-11, we identified four distinct RSFC subtypes. We introduce an integrated methodological pipeline for testing the reliability and importance of these subtypes.

Chronic pain is specifically associated with updating working memory: a longitudinal twin study.

Worse executive function (EF) is associated with chronic pain and could mechanistically contribute to pain chronification. It is unclear whether there is overall impairment in EFs or whether there are impairments in specific cognitive domains. Furthermore, the possible genetic risk underlying these associations has not been tested.

The Association between Exposure to Fine Particulate Air Pollution and the Trajectory of Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors during Late Childhood and Early Adolescence: Evidence from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study.

Background: Exposure to high levels of fine particulate matter (PM) with aerodynamic diameter () via air pollution may be a risk factor for psychiatric disorders during adulthood. Yet few studies have examined associations between exposure and the trajectory of symptoms across late childhood and early adolescence.

Objective: The current study evaluated whether exposure at 9-11 y of age affects both concurrent symptoms as well as the longitudinal trajectory of internalizing and externalizing behaviors across the following 3 y.

Lifestyle and psychosocial associations with cognition at the cusp of midlife using twins and siblings.

Introduction: This study investigates the relationship between cognitive functioning and 59 modifiable and intrinsic factors at the cusp of midlife.

Methods: We analyzed data from 1221 participants in the Colorado Adoption/Twin Study of Lifespan behavioral development and cognitive aging (CATSLife; M= 33.20, %Female = 52.

Placebo treatment affects brain systems related to affective and cognitive processes, but not nociceptive pain.

Drug treatments for pain often do not outperform placebo, and a better understanding of placebo mechanisms is needed to improve treatment development and clinical practice. In a large-scale fMRI study (N = 392) with pre-registered analyses, we tested whether placebo analgesic treatment modulates nociceptive processes, and whether its effects generalize from conditioned to unconditioned pain modalities. Placebo treatment caused robust analgesia in conditioned thermal pain that generalized to unconditioned mechanical pain.

Executive Function as an Underlying Mechanism of Alcohol Use, Aggression, and ADHD.

Background: Executive functioning (EF) has been proposed as a transdiagnostic risk factor for externalizing disorders and behavior more broadly, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), aggression, and alcohol use. Previous research has demonstrated both phenotypic and genetic overlap among these behaviors, but has yet to examine EF as a common causal mechanism. The current study examined reciprocal causal associations between EF and several externalizing behaviors using a Mendelian randomization (MR) approach.

Evidence for strong genetic correlations among internalizing psychopathology and related self-reported measures using both genomic and twin/adoptive approaches.

The internalizing construct captures shared variance underlying risk for mood and anxiety disorders. Internalizing factors based on diagnoses (or symptoms) of major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) are well established. Studies have also integrated self-reported measures of associated traits (e.

Researching COVID to enhance recovery (RECOVER) pediatric study protocol: Rationale, objectives and design.

Importance: The prevalence, pathophysiology, and long-term outcomes of COVID-19 (post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 [PASC] or "Long COVID") in children and young adults remain unknown. Studies must address the urgent need to define PASC, its mechanisms, and potential treatment targets in children and young adults.

Observations: We describe the protocol for the Pediatric Observational Cohort Study of the NIH's REsearching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative.

Disentangling differing relationships between internalizing disorders and alcohol use.

Both internalizing disorders and alcohol use have dramatic, wide-spread implications for global health. Previous work has established common phenotypic comorbidity among these disorders, as well as shared genetic variation underlying them both. We used genomic structural equation modeling to investigate the shared genetics of internalizing, externalizing, and alcohol use traits, as well as to explore whether specific domains of internalizing symptoms mediate the contrasting relationships with problematic alcohol use compared to alcohol consumption.

Multivariate genome-wide association study of sleep health demonstrates unity and diversity.

There has been a recent push to focus sleep research less on disordered sleep and more on the dimensional sleep health. Sleep health incorporates several dimensions of sleep: chronotype, efficiency, daytime alertness, duration, regularity, and satisfaction with sleep. A previous study demonstrated sleep health domains correlate only moderately with each other at the genomic level (|rGs| = 0.

Placebo treatment affects brain systems related to affective and cognitive processes, but not nociceptive pain.

Placebo analgesia is a replicable and well-studied phenomenon, yet it remains unclear to what degree it includes modulation of nociceptive processes. Some studies find effects consistent with nociceptive effects, but meta-analyses show that these effects are often small. We analyzed placebo analgesia in a large fMRI study (N = 392), including placebo effects on brain responses to noxious stimuli.

Associations between executive functions assessed in different contexts in a genetically informative sample.

Executive functions (EFs) are cognitive functions that help direct goal-related behavior. EFs are usually measured via behavioral tasks assessed in highly controlled laboratory settings under the supervision of a research assistant. Online versions of EF tasks are an increasingly popular alternative to in-lab testing.

Sleep Health at the Genomic Level: Six Distinct Factors and Their Relationships With Psychopathology.

Background: Poor sleep is associated with many negative health outcomes, including multiple dimensions of psychopathology. In the past decade, sleep researchers have advocated for focusing on the concept of sleep health as a modifiable health behavior to mitigate or prevent these outcomes. Sleep health dimensions often include sleep efficiency, duration, satisfaction, regularity, timing, and daytime alertness.

Trans-ancestry meta-analysis of genome wide association studies of inhibitory control.

Deficits in effective executive function, including inhibitory control are associated with risk for a number of psychiatric disorders and significantly impact everyday functioning. These complex traits have been proposed to serve as endophenotypes, however, their genetic architecture is not yet well understood. To identify the common genetic variation associated with inhibitory control in the general population we performed the first trans-ancestry genome wide association study (GWAS) combining data across 8 sites and four ancestries (N = 14,877) using cognitive traits derived from the stop-signal task, namely - go reaction time (GoRT), go reaction time variability (GoRT SD) and stop signal reaction time (SSRT).

Combining dimensional models of internalizing symptoms and repetitive negative thought: Systematic replication, model comparison, and external validation.

Despite the promise of transdiagnostic dimensional models of psychopathology, there have been few efforts to understand how distinct models can be combined to better capture the full range of psychopathology. The current report combines two prominent models of aspects of internalizing psychopathology, including a four-factor model of internalizing symptoms and a three-factor model of repetitive negative thought, to determine the degree to which these models are capturing distinct or isomorphic constructs. Employing model comparison techniques, we found that these models integrate into a single model which includes a general factor capturing covariance across internalizing dimensions (i.

Evaluating longitudinal relationships between parental monitoring and substance use in a multi-year, intensive longitudinal study of 670 adolescent twins.

Introduction: Parental monitoring is a key intervention target for adolescent substance use, however this practice is largely supported by causally uninformative cross-sectional or sparse-longitudinal observational research designs.

Methods: We therefore evaluated relationships between adolescent substance use (assessed weekly) and parental monitoring (assessed every two months) in 670 adolescent twins for two years. This allowed us to assess how individual-level parental monitoring and substance use trajectories were related and, via the twin design, to quantify genetic and environmental contributions to these relationships.

Associations Between Adolescent Pain and Psychopathology in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study.

Pain and psychopathology co-occur in adolescence, but the directionality and etiology of these associations are unclear. Using the pain questionnaire and the Child Behavior Checklist from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study (n = 10,414 children [770 twin pairs] aged 12-13), we estimated longitudinal, co-twin control, and twin models to evaluate the nature of these associations. In two-wave cross-lag panel models, there were small cross-lag effects that suggested bidirectional associations.