A Method for Assessing Working Memory in Rats Using Controlled Virtual Environment.

Unlabelled: is to develop an experimental method to effectively assess the working memory in rats. The method uses a state-of-the-art controlled virtual environment with a virtual maze. The setup includes a treadmill for rodents, a fixation system, a dome for displaying virtual environment, and a control unit.

Event-related potentials and presaccadic activity in response to affective stimuli in participants with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have difficulty with regulating their emotions and show reduced functioning of inhibitory control. It was reported previously that OCD patients had delayed antisaccade response and increased error rate only when affective pictures with negative valence served as fixation stimuli in "the antisaccade emotional fixation task". Complementary to the previous research, eye movements and late positive potential (LPP) for fixation stimuli and the presaccadic positivity (PSP) and spike potential (SP) before saccade onset, were compared in two groups of OCD and healthy volunteers.

Pupillometry and autonomic nervous system responses to cognitive load and false feedback: an unsupervised machine learning approach.

Objectives: Pupil dilation is controlled both by sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system branches. We hypothesized that the dynamic of pupil size changes under cognitive load with additional false feedback can predict individual behavior along with heart rate variability (HRV) patterns and eye movements reflecting specific adaptability to cognitive stress. To test this, we employed an unsupervised machine learning approach to recognize groups of individuals distinguished by pupil dilation dynamics and then compared their autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses along with time, performance, and self-esteem indicators in cognitive tasks.

Heart rate response to cognitive load as a marker of depression and increased anxiety.

Introduction: Understanding the interplay between cardiovascular parameters, cognitive stress induced by increasing load, and mental well-being is vital for the development of integrated health strategies today. By monitoring physiological signals like electrocardiogram (ECG) and photoplethysmogram (PPG) in real time, researchers can discover how cognitive tasks influence both cardiovascular and mental health. Cardiac biomarkers resulting from cognitive strain act as indicators of autonomic nervous system function, potentially reflecting conditions related to heart and mental health, including depression and anxiety.