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1.
Adiposity is related to neuroelectric indices of motor response preparation in preadolescent children.
Walk, AM, Raine, LB, Kramer, AF, Cohen, NJ, Hillman, CH, Khan, NA
International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology. 2020;:176-183
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) have been utilized to study the cognitive implications of health-related behaviors, although many questions remain regarding the neural correlates underlying the cognition and adiposity relationship in childhood. Specifically, it is unknown whether excess fat mass is associated with the neural correlates of motor preparation and activation. The present work examined interrelationships between adiposity and ERPs that index inhibition, stimulus evaluation, and motor planning. METHOD To further elucidate the neural components of inhibitory control that are sensitive to adiposity, N2, P3, and response- and stimulus-locked Lateralized Readiness Potential (LRPs) were measured while preadolescent children completed an attentional inhibition task. Whole body percent adiposity was measured via dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). RESULTS Adiposity was related to the response-locked LRP amplitudes and marginally to P3 amplitude during the incongruent trials, such that participants with less adiposity elicited larger LRP and P3 components. Furthermore, P3 was strongly related to participant reaction times, suggesting that while LRP is strongly associated with adiposity, P3 has a more direct relationship to behavioral task performance. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that while different cognitive functions may be affected by health-related characteristics, stimulus evaluation and motor activation may be particularly sensitive to excess adiposity in children. These findings extend previous work implicating adiposity in cognitive health in the pediatric population. STUDY IMPORTANCE Clinical Registry Number: NCT02630667 at https://clinicaltrials.gov.
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2.
The effects of breakfast on short-term cognitive function among Chinese white-collar workers: protocol for a three-phase crossover study.
Tang, Z, Zhang, N, Liu, A, Luan, D, Zhao, Y, Song, C, Ma, G
BMC public health. 2017;(1):92
Abstract
BACKGROUND As the first meal of the day, breakfast plays an important role in supplying energy and nutrients, which are critical to working and learning activities. A three-phase crossover study was designed to investigate the effects of breakfast on cognitive function among Chinese white-collar workers. The planned study protocol is presented. METHODS A total of 264 participants aged 25-45 years will be recruited from Shenyang and Chongqing. Self-administered questionnaires will be used to collect information on age, gender, marital status, education level, occupation, smoking habits, drinking habits, and breakfast behaviours. The participants will be randomly assigned to 3 equal-sized groups (Groups A, B, and C) and will be provided with a nutrition-adequate breakfast, a nutrition-inadequate breakfast, or no breakfast, respectively. Each participant will receive the breakfast treatment on the basis of assignment to one of three sequences (ABC/BCA/CAB). Each participant will complete a battery of cognitive tests assessing short-term memory, attention, and working memory 120 minutes after breakfast. Mood will be measured through a self-administered questionnaire assessing the dimensions of positive and negative frames of mind. Additionally, fasting blood glucose and postprandial 2-hour blood glucose levels will be tested with a blood-glucose meter (Roche ACCU-CHEK®-Performa). All the participants will take all the tests in three successive weeks, and the order of presentation will be counter-balanced across groups. DISCUSSION The present study will be the first investigation of the effect of breakfast food type and quality on cognitive function amongst white-collar workers in China. We predict that a nutrition-adequate breakfast, compared with a nutrition-inadequate breakfast and no breakfast, will significantly improve short-term cognitive function. The results of this study should provide scientific evidence of the effect of breakfast quality on cognitive function and provide scientific data to inform nutrition education strategies and promote a healthy lifestyle. TRIAL REGISTRATION Chinese clinical trial registry (Primary registry in the WHO registry network) Registration number: ChiCTR-IPR-15007114 . Date of registration: August 25, 2015.
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3.
Attention induced neural response trade-off in retinotopic cortex under load.
Torralbo, A, Kelley, TA, Rees, G, Lavie, N
Scientific reports. 2016;:33041
Abstract
The effects of perceptual load on visual cortex response to distractors are well established and various phenomena of 'inattentional blindness' associated with elimination of visual cortex response to unattended distractors, have been documented in tasks of high load. Here we tested an account for these effects in terms of a load-induced trade-off between target and distractor processing in retinotopic visual cortex. Participants were scanned using fMRI while performing a visual-search task and ignoring distractor checkerboards in the periphery. Retinotopic responses to target and distractors were assessed as a function of search load (comparing search set-sizes two, three and five). We found that increased load not only increased activity in frontoparietal network, but also had opposite effects on retinotopic responses to target and distractors. Target-related signals in areas V2-V3 linearly increased, while distractor response linearly decreased, with increased load. Critically, the slopes were equivalent for both load functions, thus demonstrating resource trade-off. Load effects were also found in displays with the same item number in the distractor hemisphere across different set sizes, thus ruling out local intrahemispheric interactions as the cause. Our findings provide new evidence for load theory proposals of attention resource sharing between target and distractor leading to inattentional blindness.
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The COFU3 Study. Improvement in cognitive function, attention, mental performance with Pycnogenol® in healthy subjects (55-70) with high oxidative stress.
Belcaro, G, Dugall, M, Ippolito, E, Hu, S, Saggino, A, Feragalli, B
Journal of neurosurgical sciences. 2015;(4):437-46
Abstract
AIM: This 12-month product registry study evaluated the effects of supplementation with French pine bark extract (Pycnogenol(®)) on cognitive function, attention, and mental performance in healthy subjects with high oxidative stress. METHODS Healthy subjects (age range 55-70) were screened - within a cardiovascular screening program - for oxidative stress. Out of 150 subjects, high oxidative stress was present in 44; the use of the supplement Pycnogenol(®) was suggested (100 mg/day). These subjects decided to use Pycnogenol(®) and accepted to be evaluated by assessing cognitive functions. A group of subjects with comparable oxidative stress was followed as a reference. IQ Code (Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly), daily tasks, cognitive function, oxidative stress and the short Blessed tests (SBT) were used (in defined scales) to evaluate cognitive functions (COFU). RESULTS As for the IQ Code, at 12 months there was a significantlty total lower score in Pycnogenol(®) patients and also a lower value (P<0.05) for 14 out of 16 items in the questionnaire. Daily tasks: all items were improved (P<0.05) with supplementation in comparison with controls. The improvement was seen for all 12 items (P<0.05) with the supplement. Cognitive function values (visual scale line) indicated a significant improvement (P<0.05) in all elements present in the questionnaire with the 12-month supplementation (no significant variations in controls). Oxidative stress was comparable in both groups at inclusion. It was significantly decreased with Pycnogenol(®) (-28.07%; P<0.05) at 12 months; there was no decrease in controls. The short blessed test (SBT) value was significantly increased in controls (P<0.05); but significantly decreased in the Pycnogenol(®) group (P<0.05). Values for supplemented patients at 12 months were almost within the normal range (21 out or 38 were below the normal value of 4). Tolerability and compliance for Pycnogenol(®) were optimal with >97% of the doses of the supplement correctly used. No side effects were observed, recorded or described. CONCLUSION Pycnogenol(®) supplementation for 12 months appears to improve cognitive function and oxidative stress in normal subjects between 55 and 70 years of age.
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5.
Pycnogenol® improves cognitive function, attention, mental performance and specific professional skills in healthy professionals aged 35-55.
Belcaro, G, Luzzi, R, Dugall, M, Ippolito, E, Saggino, A
Journal of neurosurgical sciences. 2014;(4):239-48
Abstract
AIM: This 12-week, product-evaluation registry study aimed to compare the effects of supplementation with French Pine Bark Extract (Pycnogenol®) on cognitive function, attention, and mental performance in healthy professionals with increased oxidative stress in a professional context. METHODS Professionals were screened for increased oxidative stress: 60 subjects (range 35-55 years, no risk conditions, no addictions) voluntarily decided to be followed-up. Diet, alcohol and lifestyle patterns, including exercise, were controlled. Pycnogenol® (150 mg/day) was used in combination with a health plan to enhance mental performance and control oxidative stress. RESULTS A group of 30 professionals used Pycnogenol®, and 29 acted as comparable controls for a period of 12 weeks. The two registry groups were comparable. Cognitive function, attention, mental performance, sustained attention, memory, executive functions, mood and oxidative stress values were comparable at inclusion. At 12 weeks the improvement in Pycnogenol® subjects was more significant than in controls. Plasma-free radicals (oxidative stress) were significantly decreased (median -30.4%) at 12 weeks in Pycnogenol® subjects in comparison with a non-significant variation observed in controls (+0.9%; difference between groups). Considering the cognitive test battery (PASAT, pattern recognition memory, spatial recognition memory, spatial working memory), Pycnogenol® subjects showed a small but significant improvement with spatial recognition memory unchanged. Mood parameters (alertness, anxiety, contentedness) also improved in professionals using the supplement. In the evaluation of 12 professional daily tasks all items were improved with Pycnogenol® supplementation. The score relative to semi-professional minitasks was improved more in Pycnogenol® subjects. Tolerability and compliance were optimal with >94% of the doses of supplement correctly used. CONCLUSION Pycnogenol® supplementation for 12 weeks appears to improve cognitive function and oxidative stress in healthy professionals.
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6.
Attention bias for food is independent of restraint in healthy weight individuals-an eye tracking study.
Werthmann, J, Roefs, A, Nederkoorn, C, Mogg, K, Bradley, BP, Jansen, A
Eating behaviors. 2013;(3):397-400
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Restrained eating style and weight status are highly correlated. Though both have been associated with an attentional bias for food cues, in prior research restraint and BMI were often confounded. The aim of the present study was to determine the existence and nature of an attention bias for food cues in healthy-weight female restrained and unrestrained eaters, when matching the two groups on BMI. METHOD Attention biases for food cues were measured by recordings of eye movements during a visual probe task with pictorial food versus non-food stimuli. Healthy weight high restrained (n = 24) and low restrained eaters (n = 21) were matched on BMI in an attempt to unconfound the effects of restraint and weight on attention allocation patterns. RESULTS All participants showed elevated attention biases for food stimuli in comparison to neutral stimuli, independent of restraint status. DISCUSSION These findings suggest that attention biases for food-related cues are common for healthy weight women and show that restrained eating (per se) is not related to biased processing of food stimuli, at least not in healthy weight participants.
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Drug treatment and familiar music aids an attention shift from vision to somatosensation in Parkinson's disease on the reach-to-eat task.
Sacrey, LA, Travis, SG, Whishaw, IQ
Behavioural brain research. 2011;(2):391-8
Abstract
Sensory control of the natural skilled movement of reaching for a food target to eat (reach-to-eat) is closely coupled to the successive phases of the movement. Control subjects visually fixate the target from hand movement onset to the point that the digits contact the food, at which point they look away. This relationship between sensory attention and limb movement suggests that whereas limb advance is under visual control, grasping, limb withdrawal, and releasing the food to the mouth is guided by somatosensation. The pattern of sensory control is altered in Parkinson's disease (PD). PD subjects may visually fixate the target for longer durations prior to movement initiation, during the grasp, and during the initial portion of hand withdrawal suggesting that vision compensates for a somatosensory impairment. Because both medication and listening to favorite musical pieces have been reported to normalize some movements in subjects with PD, the present study compared the effect of medication and listening to preferred musical pieces on sensory attention shifts from vision to somatosensation during the reach-to-eat movement. Biometric measures of eye movement and the movement of the reaching limb were collected from PD subjects and aged-matched control subjects in four conditions in their own homes: off medication, off medication with music, on medication, and on medication with music. Unmedicated PD subjects were slower to visually disengage the target after grasping it. Their disengage latency was shortened by both music and medication. Medication and music did not improve other aspects of reaching, including reaching duration and the ratings of the movement elements of limb advance, grasping, and limb withdrawal. The results are discussed in relation to the idea that one way in which medication and music may aid movement in PD by normalizing somatosensory control of forelimb movement thus reducing compensatory visual monitoring.
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Catechol-O-methyltransferase val158met genotype modulates sustained attention in both the drug-free state and in response to amphetamine.
Hamidovic, A, Dlugos, A, Palmer, AA, de Wit, H
Psychiatric genetics. 2010;(3):85-92
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE Variation in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) val(158)met polymorphism has been associated with executive cognition and working memory, presumably mediated by the prefrontal cortex. Here, we extend these observations by examining two measures of cognitive function, lapses in attention and visuo-spatial-motor speed of processing, in both the drug-free state and after administration of d-amphetamine. METHODS Healthy Caucasian male and female participants (n=161) participated in a double-blind, crossover design study where they received placebo or d-amphetamine (10 and 20 mg). The outcome measures included self-reported mood states, a simple reaction time task, and a task measuring visuo-spatial-motor speed of processing. We first evaluated whether the genotypic groups differed on any of the measures in the absence of drug administration, including a measure of personality. We then determined whether the genotypic groups differed in their responses to acute doses of d-amphetamine (10 or 20 mg). RESULTS We found that without drug, val/val and val/met carriers showed greater lapses in attention on the reaction time task than met/met carriers, but the genotypic groups did not differ on the visuo-spatial-motor speed of processing task. Val/val carriers scored higher on a personality measure of extraversion than val/met and met/met carriers. Compared with placebo, the lower dose of d-amphetamine (10 mg) improved lapses in attention and visuo-spatial-motor speed of processing in val/val carriers, and decreased lapses in attention in val/met carriers. The highest dose of d-amphetamine (20 mg) improved performance on lapses in attention and visuo-spatial-motor speed of processing tasks in both val/val and val/met carriers, but not in met/met carriers. None of the genotypic groups differed on mood states, either with or without drug administration. CONCLUSION The results of this study extend earlier findings with the COMT genotypes to additional measures of cognition, and suggest that the presence of the val allele is associated with poorer performance and greater improvement with a stimulant drug. The results further suggest that this polymorphism does not affect the mood-altering effects of d-amphetamine, consistent with the preferential influence of COMT in cortical regions.
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A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study of the standardised extract shr-5 of the roots of Rhodiola rosea in the treatment of subjects with stress-related fatigue.
Olsson, EM, von Schéele, B, Panossian, AG
Planta medica. 2009;(2):105-12
Abstract
The aim of the study was to assess the efficacy of the standardised extract SHR-5 of roots of Rhodiola Rosea L. in the treatment of individuals suffering from stress-related fatigue. The phase III clinical trial took the form of a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study with parallel groups. Participants, males and females aged between 20 and 55 years, were selected according to the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare diagnostic criteria for fatigue syndrome. A total of 60 individuals were randomised into two groups, one ( N = 30) of which received four tablets daily of SHR-5 extract (576 mg extract/day), while a second ( N = 30) received four placebo tablets daily. The effects of the extract with respect to quality of life (SF-36 questionnaire), symptoms of fatigue (Pines' burnout scale), depression (Montgomery -Asberg depression rating scale - MADRS), attention (Conners' computerised continuous performance test II - CCPT II), and saliva cortisol response to awakening were assessed on day 1 and after 28 days of medication. Data were analysed by between-within analyses of variance. No serious side effects that could be attributed to the extract were reported. Significant post-treatment improvements were observed for both groups (placebo effect) in Pines' burnout scale, mental health (SF-36), and MADRS and in several CCPT II indices of attention, namely, omissions, commissions, and Hit RT SE. When the two groups were compared, however, significant effects of the SHR-5 extract in comparison with the placebo were observed in Pines' burnout scale and the CCPT II indices omissions, Hit RT SE, and variability. Pre- VERSUS post-treatment cortisol responses to awakening stress were significantly different in the treatment group compared with the control group. It is concluded that repeated administration of R. ROSEA extract SHR-5 exerts an anti-fatigue effect that increases mental performance, particularly the ability to concentrate, and decreases cortisol response to awakening stress in burnout patients with fatigue syndrome.
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Arousal and continuous attention during Ramadan intermittent fasting.
Dolu, N, Yüksek, A, Sizer, A, Alay, M
Journal of basic and clinical physiology and pharmacology. 2007;(4):315-22
Abstract
During the month of Ramadan, practicing Muslims abstain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset. We aimed to investigate the effect of Ramadan fasting on arousal and continuous attention. The electrodermal activity and cancellation test of students were measured in fasting and non-fasting conditions after the conclusion of the Ramadan fast period. The skin conductance level of the fasting group was no different from the non-fasting group. In non-fasting group, the skin conductance response amplitude to an auditory stimulus was higher and the skin conductance response onset latency was lower than in the fasting group. Cancellation test results: the fasting group had a lower total number of marked targets (TNTM) but a higher total number of missed targets (TNMT) and length of time for the subject to complete the test (LTCT) than the non-fasting group. Ramadan fasting did not change arousal, but the reaction time to an auditory stimulus increased during the Ramadan intermittent fasting. Both reaction amplitude and continuous attention also decreased in the fasting condition.