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Maaß S, Wolbers T, van Rijn H, Riemer M. Temporal context effects are associated with cognitive status in advanced age. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2021; 86:512-521. [PMID: 33754182 PMCID: PMC8885470 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-021-01502-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2020] [Accepted: 03/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
The perception of temporal intervals changes during the life-span, and especially older adults demonstrate specific impairments of timing abilities. Recently, we demonstrated that timing performance and cognitive status are correlated in older adults, suggesting that timing tasks can serve as a behavioral marker for the development of dementia. Easy-to-administer and retest-capable timing tasks therefore have potential as diagnostic tools for tracking cognitive decline. However, before being tested in a clinical cohort study, a further validation and specification of the original findings is warranted. Here we introduce several modifications of the original task and investigated the effects of temporal context on time perception in older adults (> 65 years) with low versus high scores in the Montreal Cognitive Assessment survey (MoCA) and a test of memory functioning. In line with our previous work, we found that temporal context effects were more pronounced with increasing memory deficits, but also that these effects are stronger for realistic compared to abstract visual stimuli. Furthermore, we show that two distinct temporal contexts influence timing behavior in separate experimental blocks, as well as in a mixed block in which both contexts are presented together. These results replicate and extend our previous findings. They demonstrate the stability of the effect for different stimulus material and show that timing tasks can reveal valuable information about the cognitive status of older adults. In the future, these findings could serve as a basis for the development of a diagnostic tool for pathological cognitive decline at an early, pre-clinical stage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Maaß
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712-TS, Groningen, The Netherlands.,Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.,Aging and Cognition Research Group, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Thomas Wolbers
- Aging and Cognition Research Group, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Magdeburg, Germany.,Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences (CBBS), Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Hedderik van Rijn
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712-TS, Groningen, The Netherlands.,Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Martin Riemer
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712-TS, Groningen, The Netherlands. .,Aging and Cognition Research Group, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Magdeburg, Germany. .,Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences (CBBS), Magdeburg, Germany.
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Herszage J, Censor N. Modulation of Learning and Memory: A Shared Framework for Interference and Generalization. Neuroscience 2018; 392:270-280. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2018.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2018] [Revised: 07/18/2018] [Accepted: 08/06/2018] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
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Feurra M, Galli G, Pavone EF, Rossi A, Rossi S. Frequency-specific insight into short-term memory capacity. J Neurophysiol 2016; 116:153-8. [PMID: 27121583 DOI: 10.1152/jn.01080.2015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2015] [Accepted: 04/17/2016] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The digit span is one of the most widely used memory tests in clinical and experimental neuropsychology for reliably measuring short-term memory capacity. In the forward version, sequences of digits of increasing length have to be reproduced in the order in which they are presented, whereas in the backward version items must be reproduced in the reversed order. Here, we assessed whether transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) increases the memory span for digits of young and midlife adults. Imperceptibly weak electrical currents in the alpha (10 Hz), beta (20 Hz), theta (5 Hz), and gamma (40 Hz) range, as well as a sham stimulation, were delivered over the left posterior parietal cortex, a cortical region thought to sustain maintenance processes in short-term memory through oscillatory brain activity in the beta range. We showed a frequency-specific effect of beta-tACS that robustly increased the forward memory span of young, but not middle-aged, healthy individuals. The effect correlated with age: the younger the subjects, the greater the benefit arising from parietal beta stimulation. Our results provide evidence of a short-term memory capacity improvement in young adults by online frequency-specific tACS application.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matteo Feurra
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience, Unit of Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology, Brain Investigation and Neuromodulation Laboratory (Si-BIN Lab), Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria of Siena, Policlinico Le Scotte, Siena, Italy; School of Psychology, Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia;
| | - Giulia Galli
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience, Unit of Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology, Brain Investigation and Neuromodulation Laboratory (Si-BIN Lab), Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria of Siena, Policlinico Le Scotte, Siena, Italy; Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Kingston University, Kingston Upon Thames, United Kingdom; and
| | - Enea Francesco Pavone
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience, Unit of Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology, Brain Investigation and Neuromodulation Laboratory (Si-BIN Lab), Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria of Siena, Policlinico Le Scotte, Siena, Italy; Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Alessandro Rossi
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience, Unit of Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology, Brain Investigation and Neuromodulation Laboratory (Si-BIN Lab), Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria of Siena, Policlinico Le Scotte, Siena, Italy
| | - Simone Rossi
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience, Unit of Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology, Brain Investigation and Neuromodulation Laboratory (Si-BIN Lab), Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria of Siena, Policlinico Le Scotte, Siena, Italy
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