Forming intentions successfully: Differential compensational mechanisms of adolescents and old adults

ZORA robot to assist a caregiver in prospective memory tasks: A preliminary study

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the interest of an assistance robot to help caregivers manage the activities of daily living of institutionalized elderly people with Alzheimer's disease. Twenty-three institutionalized persons (60% women; average age 89; average MMSE score of 20.8) with Alzheimer Disease (AD) were recruited and invited to participate in prospective memory exercise sessions, conducted either by a caregiver or by a robot (assisted by a caregiver). They were divided into two groups equivalent in age, level of education and MMSE score. In addition, the sessions were recorded in order to compare the interaction behaviors of the 2 groups, using a validated observation grid. The results showed that: 1) prospective memory tasks are better performed when offered by the caregiver; 2) when strong help linked to the recovery index is provided to perform the tasks, the robot or caregiver no longer show significant differences; 3) participants interact more with the caregiver than with the robot. Our results confirm that the use of companion robots is a promising way to help caregivers manage the daily activities of people with Alzheimer's. However, to optimize this assistance, further investigations should be conducted to improve the fluidity of interactions between the patient and the robot.

Aging and time-based prospective memory in the laboratory: a meta-analysis on age-related differences and possible explanatory factors

In older adults' everyday life, time-based prospective memory (TBPM) is relevant as health-related intentions are often part of daily activities. Nonetheless, it is still unclear which task-related factors can potentially moderate the magnitude of age-related differences, such as duration of the PM target time (the time-window within which an individual must complete a given TBPM task), the frequency of the TBPM tasks, and the criterion chosen to compute PM accuracy. The present meta-analysis aimed to quantify age-related differences in laboratory TBPM tasks, and to investigate how specific task-related factors potentially moderate the magnitude of age effects. The results showed that age effects consistently emerged among the studies, with older adults showing lower TBPM performance and checking the clock less often than younger adults, especially for shorter intervals (e.g., ≤ 4 min). Furthermore, the results indicated that the duration of the PM target time interacted with the frequency of the PM task, suggesting that learning effects may attenuate the magnitude of age differences in TBPM performance. The results are discussed in terms of potential implications about the possible cognitive processes involved in TBPM and aging, as well as in terms of robustness of the TBPM laboratory paradigm in aging research.

Alcohol Binge Drinking and Executive Functioning during Adolescent Brain Development

Alcohol consumption in adolescents causes negative effects on familiar, social, academic life, as well as neurocognitive alterations. The binge drinking (BD) pattern of alcohol is characterized by the alternation of episodes of heavy drinking in a short interval of time, and periods of abstinence, a practice that can result in important brain alterations; even more than regular alcohol consumption. The prefrontal cortex, which acts as neural support for the executive processes, is particularly affected by alcohol; however, not all studies are in agreement about how BD alcohol consumption affects executive functioning. Some research has found that alcohol consumption in adolescence does not significantly affect executive functioning while others found it does. It is possible that these discrepancies could be due to the history of alcohol consumption, that is, at what age the subjects started drinking. The aim of our study is to assess the performance on executive functioning tasks of 13–19-year-old adolescents according to their pattern of alcohol consumption. We hypothesize that BD adolescents will perform worse than non-BD subjects in tasks that evaluate executive functions, and these differences will increase depending on how long they have been consuming alcohol. Three hundred and twenty-two students (48.14% females; age range 13–22 years; mean aged 16.7 ± 2.59) participated in the study; all of them had begun drinking at the age of 13 years. Participant were divided into three groups, according to their age range (13–15, 16–18, and 19–22 years) and divided according to their pattern of alcohol consumption (BD and control groups). Then, the subjects were evaluated with neuropsychological tasks that assess executive functions like working memory, inhibition, cognitive flexibility, or self-control among others. The entire sample showed a normal improvement in their executive performance, but this improvement was more stable and robust in the control group. Regarding the executive performance among age groups, control subjects only obtained better results than BDs in the 19–22-year-old range, whereas the performance was quite similar at younger ages. Considering that all the BD subjects started drinking at the same age (13 years old), it is possible that a kind of compensation mechanism exists in the adolescent brain which allows them to reach a normal performance in executive tasks. This theoretical mechanism would depend upon neuronal labor, which could lose efficacy over time with further alcohol ingestion. This process would account for the differences in neuropsychological performance, which were only observed in older students with a longer history of alcohol consumption.

Prospective Memory in Older Adults: Where We Are Now and What Is Next

The interplay of cognitive abilities that constitute the process of ‘remembering to remember' is referred to as prospective memory. Prospective memory is an essential ability to meet everyday life challenges across the life span, constitutes a key element of autonomy and independence and is especially important in old age with increasing social and health-related prospective memory demands. The present paper first presents major findings from the current state of the art in research on age effects in prospective memory. In a second part, it presents four focus areas for future research outlining possible conceptual, methodological, and neuroscientific advancements.

Executive performance and dysexecutive symptoms in binge drinking adolescents

Alcohol is probably the most common legal drug of abuse in Western countries. The prevalence of binge drinking (BD) pattern of alcohol consumption among adolescents is a worrisome phenomenon. Adolescents and university students who practice a BD pattern have difficulty performing tasks involving prefrontal cortex functions, such as working memory, planning, attention, and decision making. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between BD and executive functioning in adolescents. Two hundred twenty-three high-school students between 12 and 18 years old (15.19 ± 2.13) participated in our study. They were assigned to one of three groups according to their pattern of alcohol consumption: BD (subjects who consumed alcohol intensively, n = 48), MAC (subjects who consumed alcohol moderately, n = 53), and CTR (non-drinking subjects, n = 122). The students were evaluated with two groups of testing tools: a set of performance neuropsychological tests and two questionnaires of executive functioning. The results showed that the students who drank alcohol exhibited a more pronounced dysexecutive symptomatology (disinhibition, executive dysfunction, intentionality, executive memory), but they obtained better results than controls on some of the neuropsychological tests such as Spatial Location, Five Digit Tests, or Stroop Test. According to the results, we can deduce that heavy alcohol drinking in adolescents brings a certain dysfunction of prefrontal circuits. This prefrontal dysfunction is not so clearly demonstrated in the neuropsychological tests used, but it was observed in the performance of daily activities. In the Discussion section we raise issues about sociodemographic features of the sample and ecological validity of the traditional neuropsychological tests. The neurotoxic effects of BD on prefrontal cortex can be less evident throughout adolescence, but if alcohol consumption persists, the executive dysfunction would be exacerbated.

Prospective Memory, Executive Functions, and Metacognition Are Already Differentiated in Young Elementary School Children

Abstract. This study investigated the empirical differentiation of prospective memory, executive functions, and metacognition and their structural relationships in 119 elementary school children (M = 95 months, SD = 4.8 months). These cognitive abilities share many characteristics on the theoretical level and are all highly relevant in many everyday contexts when intentions must be executed. Nevertheless, their empirical relationships have not been examined on the latent level, although an empirical approach would contribute to our knowledge concerning the differentiation of cognitive abilities during childhood. We administered a computerized event-based prospective memory task, three executive function tasks (updating, inhibition, shifting), and a metacognitive control task in the context of spelling. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the three cognitive abilities are already empirically differentiable in young elementary school children. At the same time, prospective memory and executive functions were found to be strongly related, and there was also a close link between prospective memory and metacognitive control. Furthermore, executive functions and metacognitive control were marginally significantly related. The findings are discussed within a framework of developmental differentiation and conceptual similarities and differences.