The flankers task and response competition: A useful tool for investigating a variety of cognitive problems

The mediating role of ICT learning confidence and technostress between executive functions and digital skills

Having good digital skills is essential today, yet little is known about the cognitive factors that influence the development of these skills. Given the importance of executive functions (EFs) in adapting to environmental changes and acquiring skills, EFs might contribute to acquiring digital skills too. EFs might also influence people's approach toward ICTs and affect digital skills through emotional variables. Therefore, here, we tested whether cognitive control and flexibility are connected to computer and smartphone skills through emotional factors (learning confidence, stress, and attitude). A total of 269 participants (56 males, M = 30 years) filled out our survey which included questionnaires on demographic variables (age, education, and socioeconomic status), ICT motivation, digital skills, EFs, and technology-related emotional factors. EFs were also investigated through two performance-based measures. We used generalized linear models and structural equation modeling to test the associations between these variables. The results showed that smartphone skills were positively associated with self-reported cognitive flexibility through ICT learning confidence and technology-induced stress. Self-reported cognitive control and age were connected to smartphone skills directly. Self-reported cognitive flexibility was also associated with computer skills through ICT learning confidence. In addition, performance-based cognitive control and the level of education were directly linked to computer skills. These results may provide guidance to support digital skills and create digital skill training.

Effect of spatial context on perceived walking direction

Contextual modulation occurs for many aspects of high-level vision but is relatively unexplored for the perception of walking direction. In a recent study, we observed an effect of the temporal context on perceived walking direction. Here, we examined the spatial contextual modulation by measuring the perceived direction of a target point-light walker in the presence of two flanker walkers, one on each side. Experiment 1 followed a within-subjects design. Participants (n = 30) completed a spatial context task by judging the walking direction of the target in 13 different conditions: a walker alone in the center or with two flanking walkers either intact or scrambled at a flanker deviation of ±15°, ±30°, or ±45°. For comparison, participants completed an adaptation task where they reported the walking direction of a target after adaptation to ±30° walking direction. We found the expected repulsive effects in the adaptation task but attractive effects in the spatial context task. In Experiment 2 (n = 40), we measured the tuning of spatial contextual modulation across a wide range of flanker deviation magnitudes ranging from 15° to 165° in 15° intervals. Our results showed significant attractive effects across a wide range of flanker walking directions with the peak effect at around 30°. The assimilative versus repulsive effects of spatial contextual modulation and temporal adaptation suggest dissociable neural mechanisms, but they may operate on the same population of sensory channels coding for walking direction, as evidenced by similarity in the peak tuning across the walking direction of the inducers.

Theta oscillatory dynamics serving cognitive control index psychosocial distress in youth

Background

Psychosocial distress among youth is a major public health issue characterized by disruptions in cognitive control processing. Using the National Institute of Mental Health's Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework, we quantified multidimensional neural oscillatory markers of psychosocial distress serving cognitive control in youth.

Methods

The sample consisted of 39 peri-adolescent participants who completed the NIH Toolbox Emotion Battery (NIHTB-EB) and the Eriksen flanker task during magnetoencephalography (MEG). A psychosocial distress index was computed with exploratory factor analysis using assessments from the NIHTB-EB. MEG data were analyzed in the time-frequency domain and peak voxels from oscillatory maps depicting the neural cognitive interference effect were extracted for voxel time series analyses to identify spontaneous and oscillatory aberrations in dynamics serving cognitive control as a function of psychosocial distress. Further, we quantified the relationship between psychosocial distress and dynamic functional connectivity between regions supporting cognitive control.

Results

The continuous psychosocial distress index was strongly associated with validated measures of pediatric psychopathology. Theta-band neural cognitive interference was identified in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and middle cingulate cortex (MCC). Time series analyses of these regions indicated that greater psychosocial distress was associated with elevated spontaneous activity in both the dlPFC and MCC and blunted theta oscillations in the MCC. Finally, we found that stronger phase coherence between the dlPFC and MCC was associated with greater psychosocial distress.

Conclusions

Greater psychosocial distress was marked by alterations in spontaneous and oscillatory theta activity serving cognitive control, along with hyperconnectivity between the dlPFC and MCC.

The genetic architecture of youth anxiety: a study protocol

BACKGROUND

Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric problems among Canadian youth and typically have an onset in childhood or adolescence. They are characterized by high rates of relapse and chronicity, often resulting in substantial impairment across the lifespan. Genetic factors play an important role in the vulnerability toward anxiety disorders. However, genetic contribution to anxiety in youth is not well understood and can change across developmental stages. Large-scale genetic studies of youth are needed with detailed assessments of symptoms of anxiety disorders and their major comorbidities to inform early intervention or preventative strategies and suggest novel targets for therapeutics and personalization of care.

METHODS

The Genetic Architecture of Youth Anxiety (GAYA) study is a Pan-Canadian effort of clinical and genetic experts with specific recruitment sites in Calgary, Halifax, Hamilton, Toronto, and Vancouver. Youth aged 10-19 (n = 13,000) will be recruited from both clinical and community settings and will provide saliva samples, complete online questionnaires on demographics, symptoms of mental health concerns, and behavioural inhibition, and complete neurocognitive tasks. A subset of youth will be offered access to a self-managed Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy resource. Analyses will focus on the identification of novel genetic risk loci for anxiety disorders in youth and assess how much of the genetic risk for anxiety disorders is unique or shared across the life span.

DISCUSSION

Results will substantially inform early intervention or preventative strategies and suggest novel targets for therapeutics and personalization of care. Given that the GAYA study will be the biggest genomic study of anxiety disorders in youth in Canada, this project will further foster collaborations nationally and across the world.

Joint Modelling of Latent Cognitive Mechanisms Shared Across Decision-Making Domains

Decision-making behavior is often understood using the framework of evidence accumulation models (EAMs). Nowadays, EAMs are applied to various domains of decision-making with the underlying assumption that the latent cognitive constructs proposed by EAMs are consistent across these domains. In this study, we investigate both the extent to which the parameters of EAMs are related between four different decision-making domains and across different time points. To that end, we make use of the novel joint modelling approach, that explicitly includes relationships between parameters, such as covariances or underlying factors, in one combined joint model. Consequently, this joint model also accounts for measurement error and uncertainty within the estimation of these relations. We found that EAM parameters were consistent between time points on three of the four decision-making tasks. For our between-task analysis, we constructed a joint model with a factor analysis on the parameters of the different tasks. Our two-factor joint model indicated that information processing ability was related between the different decision-making domains. However, other cognitive constructs such as the degree of response caution and urgency were only comparable on some domains.

Combined effects of transcranial direct current stimulation and aerobic exercise on inhibitory control function in healthy young adults: An event-related potential study

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and aerobic exercise (AE) have been demonstrated to enhance inhibitory control function in healthy individuals separately. However, the potential benefits of combining these two interventions have yet to be fully explored. In this study, we aimed to use multiple event-related potential (ERP) components (P200, N200, and N450) to investigate the combined effects of tDCS and AE on the improvement of inhibitory control ability in healthy young adults. We evaluated the influence of this combined intervention on cognitive tasks involving inhibitory control function and basic information processing by performing the Stroop Word Color task. Our results showed that compared to the application of tDCS or AE alone, the combined intervention of tDCS and AE had a greater effect on improving inhibitory control function in healthy young adults. The amplitude of P200, N200, and N450 ERP components also changed more significantly during the Stroop Word Color task. We concluded that the mechanism of tDCS combined with AE in improving inhibitory control ability may involve synergistic effects on brain structures at different levels, such as regulating interactions at the reticular activating system level and activating corresponding brain regions at the medial frontal lobe and frontal lobe levels.

The advantage of being a synesthete: The behavioral benefits of ticker-tape synesthesia

As first described by Francis Galton, some persons perceive vividly and automatically in their mind's eye the written form of words that they are hearing. This phenomenon, labeled ticker-tape synesthesia (TTS), is thought to reflect an abnormally strong influence of speech processing in language areas on to orthographic representations in the visual cortex. Considering the relevance of TTS for the study of reading acquisition, we looked for objective behavioral advantages or impairments in 22 synesthetes, as compared to 22 matched control participants. In three auditory tasks relying on orthographic working memory (letters counting, backward spelling, and letter shape decision), we predicted and observed better performance in synesthetes than in controls. In two visual tasks (lexical decision and letter decision) with a concurrent auditory stimulation, we predicted that synesthetes should suffer from a larger interference by irrelevant speech than controls, but eventually found no difference between the groups. Those results, which we discuss in relation to orthographic processing, mental imagery, and working memory, promote TTS from pure subjectivity to an experimentally measurable phenomenon.

Visual reflexive attention as a useful measure of development

Cognitive psychology began over three-quarters of a century ago and we have learned a great deal in that time, including concerning the development of cognitive abilities such as perception, attention, and memory, all of which develop across infancy and childhood. Attention is one aspect of cognition that is vital to success in a variety of life activities and, arguably, the foundation of memory, learning, problem solving, decision making, and other cognitive activities. The cognitive abilities of later childhood and adulthood generally appear to depend on the reflexes, abilities, and skills of infancy. Research in developmental cognitive science can help us understand adult cognition and know when to intervene when cognitive function is at risk. This area of research can be challenging because, even in typical development, the course of cognitive development for a particular child does not always improve monotonically. In addition, the typical trajectory of this development has been understood differently from different historical perspectives. Neither the history of thought that has led to our current understanding of attention (including its various types) nor the importance of developmental aspects of attention are frequently covered in training early career researchers, especially those whose primary area of research in not attention. My goal is to provide a review that will be useful especially to those new to research in the subfield of attention. Sustained attention in adults and children has been well-studied, but a review of the history of thought on the development of reflexive attention with a focus on infancy is overdue. Therefore, I draw primarily on historical and modern literature and clarify confusing terminology as it has been used over time. I conclude with examples of how cognitive development research can contribute to scientific and applied progress.

The Impact of Speed-Accuracy Instructions on Spatial Congruency Effects

In many tasks humans can trade speed against accuracy. This variation of strategy has different consequences for congruency effects in different conflict tasks. Recently, Mittelstädt et al. (2022) suggested that these differences are related to the dynamics of congruency effects as assessed by delta plots. With increasing delta plots in the Eriksen flanker task congruency effects were larger under accuracy set, and with decreasing delta plots in the Simon task they were smaller. Here we tested the hypothesis for a single task, making use of the observation that for the Simon task delta plots decline when the irrelevant feature is presented first, but increase when the relevant feature leads. The differences between congruency effects under speed and accuracy instructions confirmed the hypothesized relation to the slope of delta plots. In fact, for similar delta plots in the compared speed-accuracy conditions, the relation should be a straightforward consequence of the shorter and longer reaction times with speed and accuracy set, respectively. However, when relevant and irrelevant features were presented simultaneously, congruency effects were stronger under speed set at all reaction times. For this condition, a supplementary model-based analysis with an extended leaky, competing accumulator model suggested a stronger and longer-lasting influence of the irrelevant stimulus feature. The congruency effects for reaction times were accompanied by congruency effects for error rates when delta plots were decreasing, but not when they were increasing.

Constraints on integration of orthographic information across multiple stimuli: effects of contiguity, eccentricity, and attentional span

Five flanked lexical decision experiments investigated the integration of information across spatially distinct letter strings. Experiment 1 found no significant difference between quadrigram flankers (e.g., CKRO ROCK CKRO) and double bigram flankers (e.g., CK RO ROCK CK RO). Experiment 2 varied the eccentricity of single bigram flankers and found that closer flankers generated greater effects. A combined analysis of these experiments revealed that the double bigram condition (Experiment 1) was less effective than the close single bigram condition (Experiment 2). Experiment 3 tested one explanation for this pattern - that the outer bigrams in the double bigram condition interfered with processing the inner bigrams, and that spatial integration only operates across adjacent stimuli. In Experiment 3, outer bigrams were now a repeat of the inner bigram (e.g., RO RO ROCK CK CK), and this repeated bigram condition was still found to be significantly less effective than single bigrams. Experiments 4 and 5 tested an alternative explanation whereby the addition of spatially distinct flanking stimuli increases the spread of spatial attention, hence reducing the impact of proximal flankers. In line with this explanation, we found no significant difference between repeated bigram flankers and a condition where only the inner bigram was related to the target (e.g., CA RO ROCK CK SH). We conclude that spatial integration processes only operate across the central target and proximal flankers, and that these effects are diluted by the increased spread of spatial attention caused by additional spatially distinct flankers.

How Attention Changes in Response to Carbohydrate Mouth Rinsing

Research investigating the effects of carbohydrate (CHO) mouth rinsing on neurocognitive functions is currently limited and has yielded inconsistent results. In this study, we employed the event-related potential (ERP) electroencephalography technique to investigate the effect of CHO mouth rinsing on electrophysiological correlates of visuospatial attention. Using a double-blind, non-nutritive sweetener (NNS)-controlled, within-subjects design, 53 young adults performed a standard cognitive task (modified Simon task) on two separate days in a fasted state (16 h). Intermittently, mouth rinsing was performed either with a CHO (glucose, 18%, 30 mL) or an NNS solution (aspartame, 0.05%, 30 mL). Results revealed that relative to NNS, electrophysiological correlates of both more bottom-up controlled visuospatial attention (N1_pc-ERP component) were decreased in response to CHO rinsing. In contrast, compared to NNS, more top-down controlled visuospatial attention (N2_pc-ERP component) was increased after CHO rinsing. Behavioral performance, however, was not affected by mouth rinsing. Our findings suggest that orosensory signals can impact neurocognitive processes of visuospatial attention in a fasted state. This may suggest a central mechanism underlying the ergogenic effects of carbohydrate mouth rinsing on endurance performance could involve modulations of attentional factors. Methodologically, our study underlines that understanding the effects of carbohydrate mouth rinsing at the central level may require combining neuroscientific methods and manipulations of nutritional states.

Complex cognition and individual variability: a mixed methods study of the relationship between creativity and executive control

One of the methodological challenges of educational neuroscience is understanding real world cognition in the multifaceted environment of the classroom. Complex cognition does not simplify to processes (which might be satisfactorily measured in the lab) but to sets of activities, likely to vary between individuals, which involve the iterative use of multiple processes, as well as the environment, over an extended period of time. As such, studying complex cognition requires methodological flexibility; any single method is unlikely to provide complete answers. We illustrate this idea with our research exploring the relationship between executive control (EC) and creativity in primary school age children; in it, we used both qualitative and quantitative tools and a novel approach to bringing both sets of findings together. Quantitative findings helped inform 'how much' a participant could deploy EC or creative thinking, while qualitative findings told us more about 'how' they deployed EC in their creativity. Through triangulating findings, we gained insights which would have remained obscure using either approach alone; namely, first, that wide variation in how children deploy EC in creativity means that the same creative results can be achieved with very different levels of EC involvement, and second, that high levels of EC can limit creativity. We argue that, beyond the specific findings of this study, there might be useful broader methodological lessons for educational neuroscience. We also attempt to demystify mixed methods by showing that a multi-pronged approach is more feasible than many assume; for example, by using existing, familiar tools in novel ways. In our work, we redeployed well-established quantitative tests used in creativity research as stimuli for qualitative investigation. For educational neuroscience to evolve its understanding of complex cognition, we suggest it might benefit from being innovative, open-minded and ambitious in how it exploits the diversity of methodological tools available.

Effects of a Summer Physical Activity Program on Fitness and Cognitive Function among Children from Low Socioeconomic Households

During the summer months, school aged children experience a loss in academic gains made over the course of the school year, as well as engage in poorer health behaviors such as decreased physical activity and poor diet that can lead to excess weight gain. This study aimed to assess changes in body composition, fitness, and cognitive abilities in children from low-income households after a summer physical activity program and explored whether time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was related to these changes. Participant's (N = 77) body composition, aerobic fitness (i.e., PACER), and cognitive function (i.e., modified flanker task) were measured during week 1 and week 3. MVPA was collected via hip accelerometer worn during program hours. Paired t-tests and regression analyses were conducted to determine changes between week 1 and 3, whether participation was related to changes in fitness, adiposity, and cognitive function. T-tests revealed significant changes in PACER score (10.71 ± 7.72 to 13.301 ± 10.68; p < 0.001) and incongruent accuracy on the flanker task (65.94% ± 23.83 to 69.00% ± 21.89; p < 0.006), however no significant change in BMI-for-age percentile or body fat percentage was detected. Additionally, regression analyses revealed no significant relationship between change in MVPA or attendance, and changes in PACER, flanker task performance, BMI, or body fat percentage. Children that participated in a summer physical activity program targeted toward children affected by poverty exhibited significant improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness and cognitive abilities, and no changes in body composition.

Calibration of cognitive tests to address the reliability paradox for decision-conflict tasks

Standard, well-established cognitive tasks that produce reliable effects in group comparisons also lead to unreliable measurement when assessing individual differences. This reliability paradox has been demonstrated in decision-conflict tasks such as the Simon, Flanker, and Stroop tasks, which measure various aspects of cognitive control. We aim to address this paradox by implementing carefully calibrated versions of the standard tests with an additional manipulation to encourage processing of conflicting information, as well as combinations of standard tasks. Over five experiments, we show that a Flanker task and a combined Simon and Stroop task with the additional manipulation produced reliable estimates of individual differences in under 100 trials per task, which improves on the reliability seen in benchmark Flanker, Simon, and Stroop data. We make these tasks freely available and discuss both theoretical and applied implications regarding how the cognitive testing of individual differences is carried out.

Attentional adjustment in priming tasks: control strategies depend on context

Goal-directed behavior is assumed to require processes of attentional biasing to counter unwanted action tendencies elicited by distracting stimulus information. This is particularly so if stimulus categories that define the target and the distractor frequently reverse, requiring participants to respond to previously ignored stimulus categories and vice versa. In the current study, we investigated control strategies under such conditions. Specifically, we assessed trial-to-trial modulation of distractor-interference (i.e., congruency sequence effect, CSE) in a temporal flanker task associated with repetition versus alternation of the assignment of stimulus category (i.e., digits, letters) to targets and distractors (i.e., the character presented second or first, respectively) under conditions of a long SOA of 1000 ms (Experiment 1A) and 1200 ms (Experiment 1B). Whereas previous research, using a shorter SOA, suggested temporal-order control (i.e., the occurrence of a CSE in both repetition and-albeit less pronounced-alternation trials), lengthening the distractor-target SOA resulted in a CSE confined to repetition trials, suggesting strong or exclusive reliance on stimulus categories for attentional control (Experiment 1A and B). Adding a redundant stimulus feature (i.e., color), discriminating targets and distractors, eliminated the difference of CSE patterns in repetition and alternation trials (Experiment 2). Together, our results suggest that the strength of concurrently applied control strategies or the choice of a particular control strategy depend on contextual factors.

Dissociating selectivity adjustments from temporal learning-introducing the context-dependent proportion congruency effect

The list-level proportion congruency effect (PCE) and the context-specific PC (CSPC) effect are typical findings in experimental conflict protocols, which competing explanations attribute to different mechanisms. Of these mechanisms, stimulus-unspecific conflict-induced selectivity adjustments have attracted the most interest, from various disciplines. Recent methodological advances have yielded an experimental procedure for entirely ruling out all stimulus-specific alternatives. However, there is a stimulus-unspecific alternative-temporal learning-which cannot even be ruled out as the sole cause of either effect with any established experimental procedure. That is because it is very difficult to create a scenario in which selectivity adjustments and temporal learning make different predictions-with traditional approaches, it is arguably impossible. Here, we take a step towards solving this problem, and experimentally dissociating the two mechanisms. First, we present our novel approach which is a combination of abstract experimental conditions and theoretical assumptions. As we illustrate with two computational models, given this particular combination, the two mechanisms predict opposite modulations of an as yet unexplored hybrid form of the list-level PCE and the CSPC effect, which we term context-dependent PCE (CDPCE). With experimental designs that implement the abstract conditions properly, it is therefore possible to rule out temporal learning as the sole cause of stimulus-unspecific adaptations to PC, and to unequivocally attribute the latter, at least partially, to selectivity adjustments. Secondly, we evaluate methodological and theoretical aspects of the presented approach. Finally, we report two experiments, that illustrate both the promise of and a potential challenge to this approach.

Exploration of baseline and early changes in neurocognitive characteristics as predictors of treatment response to bupropion, sertraline, and placebo in the EMBARC clinical trial

BACKGROUND

Treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD) is imprecise and often involves trial-and-error to determine the most effective approach. To facilitate optimal treatment selection and inform timely adjustment, the current study investigated whether neurocognitive variables could predict an antidepressant response in a treatment-specific manner.

METHODS

In the two-stage Establishing Moderators and Biosignatures of Antidepressant Response for Clinical Care (EMBARC) trial, outpatients with non-psychotic recurrent MDD were first randomized to an 8-week course of sertraline selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor or placebo. Behavioral measures of reward responsiveness, cognitive control, verbal fluency, psychomotor, and cognitive processing speeds were collected at baseline and week 1. Treatment responders then continued on another 8-week course of the same medication, whereas non-responders to sertraline or placebo were crossed-over under double-blinded conditions to bupropion noradrenaline/dopamine reuptake inhibitor or sertraline, respectively. Hamilton Rating for Depression scores were also assessed at baseline, weeks 8, and 16.

RESULTS

Greater improvements in psychomotor and cognitive processing speeds within the first week, as well as better pretreatment performance in these domains, were specifically associated with higher likelihood of response to placebo. Moreover, better reward responsiveness, poorer cognitive control and greater verbal fluency were associated with greater likelihood of response to bupropion in patients who previously failed to respond to sertraline.

CONCLUSION

These exploratory results warrant further scrutiny, but demonstrate that quick and non-invasive behavioral tests may have substantial clinical value in predicting antidepressant treatment response.

Deja Vu: semantics-aware recording and replay of high-speed eye tracking and interaction data to support cognitive studies of software engineering tasks-methodology and analyses

The paper introduces a fundamental technological problem with collecting high-speed eye tracking data while studying software engineering tasks in an integrated development environment. The use of eye trackers is quickly becoming an important means to study software developers and how they comprehend source code and locate bugs. High quality eye trackers can record upwards of 120 to 300 gaze points per second. However, it is not always possible to map each of these points to a line and column position in a source code file (in the presence of scrolling and file switching) in real time at data rates over 60 gaze points per second without data loss. Unfortunately, higher data rates are more desirable as they allow for finer granularity and more accurate study analyses. To alleviate this technological problem, a novel method for eye tracking data collection is presented. Instead of performing gaze analysis in real time, all telemetry (keystrokes, mouse movements, and eye tracker output) data during a study is recorded as it happens. Sessions are then replayed at a much slower speed allowing for ample time to map gaze point positions to the appropriate file, line, and column to perform additional analysis. A description of the method and corresponding tool, Deja Vu, is presented. An evaluation of the method and tool is conducted using three different eye trackers running at four different speeds (60 Hz, 120 Hz, 150 Hz, and 300 Hz). This timing evaluation is performed in Visual Studio, Eclipse, and Atom IDEs. Results show that Deja Vu can playback 100% of the data recordings, correctly mapping the gaze to corresponding elements, making it a well-founded and suitable post processing step for future eye tracking studies in software engineering. Finally, a proof of concept replication analysis of four tasks from two previous studies is performed. Due to using the Deja Vu approach, this replication resulted in richer collected data and improved on the number of distinct syntactic categories that gaze was mapped on in the code.

An app-enhanced cognitive fitness training program for athletes: The rationale and validation protocol

The core dimensions of cognitive fitness, such as attention and cognitive control, are emerging through a transdisciplinary expert consensus on what has been termed the Cognitive Fitness Framework (CF2). These dimensions represent key drivers of cognitive performance under pressure across many occupations, from first responders to sport, performing arts and the military. The constructs forming the building blocks of CF2 come from the RDoC framework, an initiative of the US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) aimed at identifying the cognitive processes underlying normal and abnormal behavior. Similar to physical conditioning, cognitive fitness can be improved with deliberate practice. This paper reports the development of a prototype cognitive fitness training program for competitive athletes and the protocol for its evaluation. The program is focused on primary cognitive capacities and subtending skills for adjusting training rhythms and enhancing readiness for competition. The project is driven by the Australian Psychological Society's College of Sport & Exercise Psychology and includes the development of a Cognitive Gym program for a smartphone app-enhanced implementation. Its key building blocks are training protocols (drills) connected by a periodized training plan. A website with background supporting resources has also been developed as part of the project. National-level training squads will participate in a three-week pilot evaluation protocol, assessing the program's efficacy and usability through gamified cognitive assessment of participants' training gains and coaching staff evaluations, respectively. Both near and far transfer of training effects will be examined.

The role of cognitive control in the SNARC effect: A review

The spatial-numerical association of response codes (SNARC) effect, in which people respond to small numbers faster with the left hand and to large numbers faster with the right hand, is a popular topic in cognitive psychology. Some well-known theoretical accounts explaining this effect include the mental number line model, polarity correspondence principle, dual-route model, and working memory account. However, these fail to explain the finding that the size of the SNARC effect is modulated by cognitive control. Here, we propose a new account-a cognitive control-based view of the SNARC effect. This view argues that the SNARC effect is fundamentally determined by cognitive control in resolving conflicts during stimulus-response mapping. Several subcomponents of cognitive control, such as working memory, mental or task set shifting, inhibition control, and conflict adaptation, can easily modulate the SNARC effect. The cognitive control-based view can account for the flexible SNARC effect observed in diverse task situations while providing new insight into its mechanism.

“The Wandering Nerve Linking Heart and Mind” – The Complementary Role of Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Modulating Neuro-Cardiovascular and Cognitive Performance

The vagus nerve is the longest nerve in the human body, providing afferent information about visceral sensation, integrity and somatic sensations to the CNS via brainstem nuclei to subcortical and cortical structures. Its efferent arm influences GI motility and secretion, cardiac ionotropy, chonotropy and heart rate variability, blood pressure responses, bronchoconstriction and modulates gag and cough responses via palatine and pharyngeal innervation. Vagus nerve stimulation has been utilized as a successful treatment for intractable epilepsy and treatment-resistant depression, and new non-invasive transcutaneous (t-VNS) devices offer equivalent therapeutic potential as invasive devices without the surgical risks. t-VNS offers exciting potential as a therapeutic intervention in cognitive decline and aging populations, classically affected by reduced cerebral perfusion by modulating both limbic and frontal cortical structures, regulating cerebral perfusion and improving parasympathetic modulation of the cardiovascular system. In this narrative review we summarize the research to date investigating the cognitive effects of VNS therapy, and its effects on neurocardiovascular stability.

A developmental perspective on morphological processing in the flankers task

Recent research with adult participants using the flankers task has shown that the recognition of central target words is facilitated by the presence of morphologically related flanker words. Here we explored the development of such morphological flanker effects in two groups of primary school children (average ages = 8 years 6 months and 10 years 3 months) and a group of adult participants. We examined effects of a transparent morphological relation in two conditions: one where the target was the stem and flankers were derivations (e.g., farmer farm farmer) and the other where the flankers were stems and the target was the derived form (e.g., farm farmer farm). Morphological flanker effects were compared with repetition flanker effects with the same set of stimuli (e.g., farm farm farm; farmer farmer farmer), and effects of related flankers were contrasted with the appropriate unrelated flankers. Results revealed no significant effect of morphological relatedness in the two groups of children and a significant effect in the adult group, but only for suffixed targets and stem flankers. Repetition effects for stem targets were found across all groups, whereas repetition effects for suffixed targets were found only in the older children and adults. These results show that morphological processing, in a context involving multiple words presented simultaneously, takes several years to develop and that morphological complexity (stem vs. derived) is a limiting factor for repetition effects in the flankers task with young children.

Objective Measures of Cognitive Performance in Sleep Disorder Research

Neurocognitive tests offer objective and reliable assessment of patients' status and progress. However, there is no consensus on how to use neurocognitive assessment in sleep disorder research. An effective use of neurocognitive assessment must be based on standardized practices and have a firm theoretic basis. The aim of this review is to offer an overview of how different tests have been used in the field, mapping each test onto a corresponding cognitive domain and propose how to move forward with a suggested cognitive battery of tests covering all major cognitive domains.

Unsupportive romantic partner behaviors increase neural reactivity to mistakes

Romantic relationships involve a range of positive and negative experiences, from supportive and security-enhancing behaviors to unsupportive interactions involving criticism and dismissiveness. The present study aimed to examine the functional impact of these experiences on reactivity to mistakes, as error salience has key implications for adaptive functioning in areas such as goal-striving and appropriate risk-taking. To this end, a study was conducted in which participants completed the Eriksen Flanker Task (EFT) alone and under romantic partner observation while electrophysiological brain activity related to error salience (the error-related negativity (ERN)) was recorded. Findings indicated that unsupportive, but not supportive, partner behaviors were associated with changes in error salience, furthering the notion that negative relationship experiences have a stronger effect on functioning than do positive ones and highlighting the impact of relationship context on reactivity to mistakes.

Parallel semantic processing in the flankers task: Evidence from the N400

The extent to which higher-order representations can be extracted from more than one word in parallel remains an unresolved issue with theoretical import. Here, we used ERPs to investigate the timing with which semantic information is extracted from parafoveal words. Participants saw animal and non-animal targets paired with response congruent or incongruent flankers in a semantic categorization task. Animal targets elicited smaller amplitude negativities when they were paired with semantically related and response congruent animal flankers (e.g., wolf coyote wolf) compared to unrelated and response incongruent flankers (e.g., sock coyote sock) in the N400 window and a post-N400 window. We interpret the N400 effect in terms of facilitated processing from the joint activation of shared semantic features (e.g., animal, furry) across target and flanker words and the later effect in terms of post-lexical decision-making. Thus, semantic information can be extracted from flankers in parallel and impacts various stages of processing.

Does Language Make a Difference? A Study of Language Dominance and Inhibitory Control

Although extensive research has been done to compare monolingual and bilingual children’s executive function, there are fewer studies that look at the relation between bilingual children’s languages and executive function. The purpose of this study was two-fold; first, to compare inhibitory control (executive function) in monolingual and bilingual children and second, to determine what vocabulary measure (dominant vs. non-dominant language) was related to inhibitory control in bilingual children. Twenty monolingual (English) and 20 bilingual (English-Spanish) children between the ages of 8 and 12 completed a vocabulary test (in English and Spanish) and an inhibitory control task (the flanker task). Analysis of Covariances (ANCOVAs) revealed no significant differences between monolingual and bilingual children in reaction time (RT) or accuracy in the flanker task after controlling for maternal education. Partial correlations controlling for age showed that English expressive vocabulary (dominant language), but not Spanish, was positively correlated with inhibitory control (larger vocabulary and better inhibitory control), suggesting that bilingual children may use their dominant language to self-regulate over their non-dominant language, increasing the inhibitory control associated to the dominant language.

Vocabulary Size Is a Key Factor in Predicting Second Language Lexical Encoding Accuracy

This study investigates the relationship between the accuracy of second language lexical representations and perception, phonological short-term memory, inhibitory control, attention control, and second language vocabulary size. English-speaking learners of Spanish were tested on their lexical encoding of the Spanish /ɾ-r/, /ɾ-d/, /r-d/, and /f-p/ contrasts through a lexical decision task. Perception ability was measured with an oddity task, phonological short-term memory with a serial non-word recognition task, attention control with a flanker task, inhibitory control with a retrieval-induced inhibition task, and vocabulary size with the X_Lex vocabulary test. Results revealed that differences in perception performance, inhibitory control, and attention control were not related to differences in lexical encoding accuracy. Phonological short-term memory was a significant factor, but only for the /r-ɾ/ contrast. This suggests that when representations contain sounds that are differentiated along a dimension not used in the native language, learners with higher phonological short-term memory have an advantage because they are better able to hold the relevant phonetic details in memory long enough to be transferred to long-term representations. Second language vocabulary size predicted lexical encoding across three of the four contrasts, such that a larger vocabulary predicted greater accuracy. This is likely because the acquisition of more phonologically similar words forces learners’ phonological systems to create more detailed representations in order for such words to be differentiated. Overall, this study suggests that vocabulary size in the second language is the most important factor in the accuracy of lexical representations.

Rationale and validation of a novel mobile application probing motor inhibition: Proof of concept of CALM-IT

Identification of behavioral mechanisms underlying psychopathology is essential for the development of novel targeted therapeutics. However, this work relies on rigorous, time-intensive, clinic-based laboratory research, making it difficult to translate research paradigms into tools that can be used by clinicians in the community. The broad adoption of smartphone technology provides a promising opportunity to bridge the gap between the mechanisms identified in the laboratory and the clinical interventions targeting them in the community. The goal of the current study is to develop a developmentally appropriate, engaging, novel mobile application called CALM-IT that probes a narrow biologically informed process, inhibitory control. We aim to leverage the rigorous and robust methods traditionally used in laboratory settings to validate this novel mechanism-driven but easily disseminatable tool that can be used by clinicians to probe inhibitory control in the community. The development of CALM-IT has significant implications for the ability to screen for inhibitory control deficits in the community by both clinicians and researchers. By facilitating assessment of inhibitory control outside of the laboratory setting, researchers could have access to larger and more diverse samples. Additionally, in the clinical setting, CALM-IT represents a novel clinical screening measure that could be used to determine personalized courses of treatment based on the presence of inhibitory control deficits.

Adjustments of selective attention to response conflict - controlling for perceptual conflict, target-distractor identity, and congruency level sequence pertaining to the congruency sequence effect

The congruency sequence effect (CSE) describes the performance difference of congruent trials (in which target and distractor stimuli are associated with the same response) compared to incongruent trials (in which target and distractor stimuli are associated with different responses) as a function of the preceding congruency level (congruent trials relative to incongruent trials). The CSE is commonly interpreted as a measure of conflict-induced attentional adjustment. Although previous research has made substantial progress aiming at controlling for alternative explanations of the CSE, both task-specific and fundamental confounds have remained. In the current study, we used a temporal flanker task, in which two stimuli (i.e., distractor and target) are presented in rapid succession, and extended previous demonstrations of a CSE in flanker tasks by deconfounding target-distractor congruency from perceptual similarity. Using a four-choice task, we could also control for the reversal of distractor-response priming after incongruent trials (which is only feasible in two-choice tasks). Furthermore, we controlled for all confounds based on the sequence (i.e., repetition versus alternation) of the congruency level – such as feature sequence effects, distractor-response contingency switch costs, or temporal learning – by probing the allocation of attention to the points in time of presentation of the first and the second stimulus of a trial. This was achieved by intermixing trials of a temporal search task. The performance accuracy results in this task were consistent with a stronger attentional bias in favor of the target stimulus’ temporal position after incongruent than after congruent trials.

Prefrontal high definition cathodal tDCS modulates executive functions only when coupled with moderate aerobic exercise in healthy persons

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a promising tool to enhance cognitive performance. However, its effectiveness has not yet been unequivocally shown. Thus, here we tested whether coupling tDCS with a bout of aerobic exercise (AE) is more effective in modulating cognitive functions than tDCS or AE alone. One hundred twenty-two healthy participants were assigned to five randomized controlled crossover experiments. Two multimodal target experiments (EXP-4: anodal vs. sham tDCS during AE; EXP-5: cathodal vs. sham tDCS during AE) investigated whether anodal (a-tDCS) or cathodal tDCS (c-tDCS) applied during AE over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (left DLPFC) affects executive functioning (inhibition ability). In three unimodal control experiments, the participants were either stimulated (EXP-1: anodal vs. sham tDCS, EXP-2: cathodal vs. sham tDCS) or did AE (EXP-3: AE vs. active control). Participants performed an Eriksen flanker task during ergometer cycling at moderate intensity (in EXP. 3-5). Only c-tDCS during AE had a significant adverse effect on the inhibition task, with decreased accuracy. This outcome provides preliminary evidence that c-tDCS during AE over the left DLPFC might effectively modulate inhibition performance compared to c-tDCS alone. However, more systematic research is needed in the future.

The ANT Executive Control Index: No Evidence for Temporal Decrement

OBJECTIVE

This study tested whether indices of executive control, alertness, and orienting measured with Attention Network Test (ANT) are vulnerable to temporal decrement in performance.

BACKGROUND

Developing the resource theory of sustained attention requires identifying neurocognitive processes vulnerable to decrement. Executive control processes may be prone to impairment in fatigue states. Such processes are also highlighted in alternative theories. Determining the role of executive control in vigilance can both advance theory and contribute to practical countermeasures for decrement in human factors contexts.

METHOD

In Study 1, 80 participants performed the standard ANT for an extended duration of about 55 to 60 min. Study 2 (160 participants) introduced manipulations of trial blocking and stimulus degradation intended to increase resource depletion. Reaction time and accuracy measures were analyzed. Subjective stress and workload were assessed in both studies.

RESULTS

In both studies, the ANT induced levels of subjective workload and task disengagement consistent with previous sustained attention studies. No systematic decrement in any performance measure was observed.

CONCLUSION

Executive control assessed by the ANT is not highly vulnerable to temporal decrement, even when task demands are elevated. Future work should differentiate executive control processes; proactive control may be more implicated in sustained attention decrement than in reactive control.

APPLICATION

Designing systems and interfaces to reduce executive control demands may be generally beneficial but will not directly mitigate temporal performance decrement. Enhancing design guidelines and neuroergonomic methods for monitoring operator attention requires further work to identify key neurocognitive processes for decrement.

When irrelevant information helps: Extending the Eriksen-flanker task into a multisensory world

Charles W. Eriksen dedicated much of his research career to the field of cognitive psychology, investigating human information processing in those situations that required selection between competing stimuli. Together with his wife Barbara, he introduced the flanker task, which became one of the standard experimental tasks used by researchers to investigate the mechanisms underpinning selection. Although Eriksen himself was primarily interested in investigating visual selection, the flanker task was eventually adapted by other researchers to investigate human information processing and selection in a variety of nonvisual and multisensory situations. Here, we discuss the core aspects of the flanker task and interpret the evidence of the flanker task when used in crossmodal and multisensory settings. "Selection" has been a core topic of psychology for nearly 120 years. Nowadays, though, it is clear that we need to look at selection from a multisensory perspective-the flanker task, at least in its crossmodal and multisensory variants, is an important tool with which to investigate selection, attention, and multisensory information processing.

Individual differences in visual attention: A short, reliable, open-source, and multilingual test of multiple object tracking in PsychoPy

Individual differences in attentional abilities provide an interesting approach in studying visual attention as well as the relation of attention to other psychometric measures. However, recent research has demonstrated that many tasks from experimental research are not suitable for individual differences research, as they fail to capture these differences reliably. Here, we provide a test for individual differences in visual attention which relies on the multiple object tracking task (MOT). This test captures individual differences reliably in 6 to 15 min. Within the task, the participants have to maintain a set of targets (among identical distractors) across an interval of object motion. It captures the efficiency of attentional deployment. Importantly, this test was explicitly designed and tested for reliability under conditions that match those of most laboratory research (restricted sample of students, approximately n = 50). The test is free to use and runs fully under open-source software. In order to facilitate the application of the test, we have translated it into 16 common languages (Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish). The test can be downloaded at https://osf.io/qy6nb/ . We hope that this MOT test supports researchers whose field of study requires capturing individual differences in visual attention reliably.

Different effects of spatial separation in action and perception

Spatial distance of response keys has been shown to have an effect on nonspatial tasks in that performance improved if the spatial distance increased. Comparably, spatial distance of stimulus features has been shown to have a performance-improving effect in a (partly) spatial task. Here, we combined these two findings in the same task to test for the commonality of the effect of stimulus distance and the effect of response distance. Thus, we varied spatial distance in exactly the same fashion either between stimuli or between responses in a standard Eriksen flanker task. The results show that spatial distance only affected the processing of stimulus features, while it had no effect on the processing of response features. Regarding the idea of common coding of action and perception (Prinz, 1990), stimulus and response processing should be influenced by spatial distance in the same way so that our data might suggest a boundary for the idea of common coding.

A bimodal extension of the Eriksen flanker task

The Eriksen flanker task is a traditional conflict paradigm for studying the influence of task-irrelevant information on the processing of task-relevant information. In this task, participants are asked to respond to a visual target item (e.g., a letter) that is flanked by task-irrelevant items (e.g., also letters). Responses are typically faster and more accurate when the task-irrelevant information is response-congruent with the visual target than when it is incongruent. Several researchers have attributed the starting point of this flanker effect to poor selective filtering at a perceptual level (e.g., spotlight models), which subsequently produces response competition at post-perceptual stages. The present study examined whether a flanker-like effect could also be established within a bimodal analog of the flanker task with auditory irrelevant letters and visual target letters, which must be processed along different processing routes. The results of two experiments revealed that a flanker-like effect is also present with bimodal stimuli. In contrast to the unimodal flanker task, however, the effect only emerged when flankers and targets shared the same letter name, but not when they were different letters mapped onto the same response. We conclude that the auditory flankers can influence the time needed to recognize visual targets but do not directly activate their associated responses.

Modulation of compatibility effects in response to experience: Two tests of initial and sequential learning

Attentional control is a key component of goal-directed behavior. Modulation of this control in response to the statistics of the environment allows for flexible processing or suppression of relevant and irrelevant items in the environment. Modulation occurs robustly in compatibility-based attentional tasks, where incompatibility-related slowing is reduced when incompatible events are likely (i.e., the proportion compatibility effect; PCE). The PCE implicates dynamic changes in the measured compatibility effects that are central to fields of study such as attention, executive functions, and cognitive control. In these fields, stability in compatibility effects are generally assumed, which may be problematic if individual or group differences in measured compatibility effects may arise from differences in statistical learning speed or magnitude. Further, the sequential nature of many studies may lead the learning of certain statistics to be inadvertently applied to future behaviors. Here, we report tests of learning the PCE across conditions of task statistics and sequential blocks. We then test for the influence of feedback on the development of the PCE. We find clear evidence for the PCE, but no conclusive evidence for its slow development through experience. Initial experience with more incompatible trials selectively mitigated performance decreases in a subsequent block. Despite the lack of behavioral changes associated with patterns of learning, systematic within-task changes in compatibility effects remain an important possible source of variation in a wide range of attention research.

Eriksen flanker delta plot shapes depend on the stimulus

Several experimental paradigms are purported to measure response conflict, including the Stroop, Simon, and Eriksen flanker tasks. Although these tasks are often treated as being similar, delta plot analyses of response time distributions have revealed marked differences across them. Several theories have been proposed to explain these differences, however, assessing their veracity is difficult given the numerous differences across tasks. To explore what might cause delta plots to differ in a more controlled manner, here stimulus materials were manipulated across four Eriksen flanker tasks. The results reveal substantially different delta plot shapes for different stimuli: positive-going functions when color or motion served as the target and flankers, and delta plots with negative-going components when stimuli were arrows or orientated gratings. These results cast doubt on the proposal that negative-going delta plots occur only when spatial location serves as the interfering stimulus dimension. Moreover, because targets and flankers were always of the same stimulus type, the results also suggest that differences in materials across the relevant and irrelevant dimensions do not determine delta plot shapes. Instead, we propose that the delta plot shape is determined by several factors, including how early the interfering information is processed in the visual cortex.

Distractor probabilities modulate flanker task performance

Expectations about upcoming events help humans to effectively filter out potential distractors and respond more efficiently to task-relevant inputs. While previous work has emphasized the role of expectations about task-relevant inputs, less is known about the role that expectations play in suppressing specific distractors. To address this question, we manipulated the probabilities of different flanker configurations in the Eriksen flanker task. Across four studies, we found robust evidence for sensitivity to the probability of flankers, with an approximately logarithmic relationship between the likelihood of a particular flanker configuration and the accuracy of subjects' responses. Subjects were also sensitive to length of runs of repeated targets, but minimally sensitive to length of runs of repeated flankers. Two studies used chevron stimuli, and two used letters (confirming that results generalize with greater dissimilarity between stimuli). Expanding the set of stimuli (thus reducing the dominance of any one exemplar) eliminated the effect. Our findings suggest that expectations about distractors form in response to statistical regularities at multiple timescales, and that their effects are strongest when stimuli are geometrically similar and subjects are able to respond to trials quickly. Unexpected distractors could disrupt performance, most likely via a form of attentional capture. This work demonstrates how expectations can influence attention in complex cognitive settings, and illuminates the multiple, nested factors that contribute.

The role of the vestibular system in value attribution to positive and negative reinforcers

Somatic inputs originating from bioregulatory processes can guide cognition and behavior. One such bodily signal, mostly overlooked so far, is represented by visuo-vestibular coupling and its alteration, which in extreme cases may result in motion sickness. We argued that the inherently perturbed interoceptive state that follows can be a powerful determinant of human motivated behavior, resulting in a blunted response to appetitive stimuli and an exaggerated response to noxious ones. We sought to assess such differential impact of visuo-vestibular mismatches on value through a task involving conflict monitoring. We therefore administered to 42 healthy participants a modified version of the Flankers task, in which distractors (arrows, pointing in either a congruent or incongruent direction) signaled the availability of monetary incentives (gains, losses, or neutral trials). While performing the task, participants received either galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS), or sham stimulation. We have found impaired behavioral performances when value, which was attached to task-irrelevant information, was at stake. Gains and losses, interestingly, dissociated, and only the latter caused enhanced interference costs in the task, suggesting that negative incentives may be more effective in capturing human attention than positive ones. Finally, we have found some weak evidence for GVS to further increase the processing of losses, as suggested by even larger interference costs in this condition. Results were, however, overall ambiguous, and suggest that much more research is needed to better understand the link between the vestibular system and motivation.

A nonspatial sound modulates processing of visual distractors in a flanker task

Successful navigation of information-rich, multimodal environments involves processing of both auditory and visual information. The extent to which information within each modality is processed varies due to many factors, but the influence of auditory stimuli on the processing of visual stimuli in these multimodal environments is not well understood. Previous research has shown that a preceding sound leads to decreased reaction times in visual tasks (Bertelson, 1967). The current study examines if a non-spatial, task-irrelevant sound additionally alters processing of visual distractors that flank a central target. We utilized a version of a flanker task in which participants responded to a central letter surrounded by two irrelevant flanker letters. When these flankers are associated with a conflicting response, a congruency effect occurs such that reaction time to the target is slowed (Eriksen & Eriksen, 1974). In two experiments using this task, results showed that a preceding tone caused general speeding of reaction time across flanker types, consistent with alerting. The tone also caused decreased variation in response time. Critically, the tone modulated the congruency effect, with a greater speeding for congruent flankers than for incongruent flankers. This suggests that the influence of flanker identity was more intense after tone presentation, consistent with a nonspatial sound increasing perceptual and/or response-association processing of flanking stimuli.

Effect of Background Music on Attentional Control in Older and Young Adults

Healthy aging may be accompanied by cognitive decline that includes diminished attentional control, an executive function that allows us to focus our attention while inhibiting distractors. Previous studies have demonstrated that background music can enhance some executive functions in both young and older adults. According to the Arousal-Mood Theory, the beneficial influence of background music on cognitive performance would be related to its ability to increase the arousal level of the listeners and to improve their mood. Consequently, stimulating and pleasant music might enhance attentional control. Therefore, the aims of this study were (1) to determine if the influence of background music, and more specifically its arousal level, might improve attentional control in older adults and (2) whether this effect is similar across older and young adults. Older and young adults performed a visuo-spatial flanker task during three auditory conditions: stimulating music, relaxing music, and silence. Participants had to indicate as fast and as accurately as possible the direction of a central arrow, which was flanked by congruent or incongruent arrows. As expected, reaction times were slower for the incongruent compared to congruent trials. Interestingly, this difference was significantly greater under the relaxing music condition compared to other auditory conditions. This effect was the same across both age groups. In conclusion, relaxing music seems to interfere with visuo-spatial attentional control compared to stimulating music and silence, regardless of age.

Orthographic and phonological contributions to flanker effects

Does phonology contribute to effects of orthographically related flankers in the flankers task? In order to answer this question, we implemented the flanker equivalent of a pseudohomophone priming manipulation that has been widely used to demonstrate automatic phonological processing during visual word recognition. In Experiment 1, central target words were flanked on each side by either a pseudohomophone of the target (e.g., roze rose roze), an orthographic control pseudoword (rone rose rone), or an unrelated pseudoword (mirt rose mirt). Both the pseudohomophone and the orthographic control conditions produced faster and more accurate responses to central targets, but performance in these two conditions did not differ significantly. Experiment 2 tested the same stimuli in a masked priming paradigm and replicated the standard finding in French that pseudohomophone primes produce significantly faster responses to target words than orthographic control primes. Therefore, contrary to its impact on masked priming, phonology does not contribute to effects of flanker relatedness, which would appear to be driven primarily by orthographic overlap.

Distraction from pain: The role of selective attention and pain catastrophizing

Background

Previous research has demonstrated the efficacy of cognitive engagement in reducing concurrent pain. However, little is known about the role of individual differences in inhibitory control abilities and negative pain‐related cognitions in modulating the magnitude of this type of distraction from pain.

Methods

In a pain distraction paradigm, 41 participants completed a working memory task with both a demanding high load condition (2‐back) and an easy low load condition (0‐back), while receiving warm or painful thermal stimuli to their left forearm. To control for individual differences in sensitivity to pain and perceived task difficulty, nociceptive stimulus intensity and task speed were individually calibrated. Additionally, participants completed a set of cognitive inhibition tasks (flanker, go/nogo, Stroop) and questionnaires about negative pain‐related cognitions (fear of pain, pain catastrophizing) prior to the distraction paradigm.

Results

As expected, engaging in the high load condition significantly reduced perceived intensity and unpleasantness of nociceptive stimuli, compared to the low load condition. The size of the distraction effect correlated significantly with better cognitive inhibition and selective attention abilities, as measured by the flanker task. A moderation analysis revealed a significant interaction between pain catastrophizing and performance in the flanker task in predicting the distraction effect size: Participants who performed well on the flanker task showed more pain reduction, but only when they were average to high pain catastrophizers.

Conclusions

Selective attention abilities and pain catastrophizing seem to be important factors in explaining individual differences in the size of the analgesic response to a distractive task.

Significance

Understanding which factors influence the effectiveness of cognitive engagement in distracting from pain could help to optimize its therapeutic application in patient care. This study shows that a complex interplay of cognitive inhibition abilities, specifically selective attention, and negative pain‐related cognitions, such as pain catastrophizing, modulate the magnitude of the distraction effect.

Patterns of Focal- and Large-Scale Synchronization in Cognitive Control and Inhibition: A Review

Neural synchronization patterns are involved in several complex cognitive functions and constitute a growing trend in neuroscience research. While synchrony patterns in working memory have been extensively discussed, a complete understanding of their role in cognitive control and inhibition is still elusive. Here, we provide an up-to-date review on synchronization patterns underlying behavioral inhibition, extrapolating common grounds, and dissociating features with other inhibitory functions. Moreover, we suggest a schematic conceptual framework and highlight existing gaps in the literature, current methodological challenges, and compelling research questions for future studies.

Inhibitory control in trauma-exposed youth: A systematic review

The aim of this systematic review was to provide insight in inhibitory control (prepotent response inhibition and interference control) in trauma-exposed youth from a developmental perspective and exploring the effects of prolonged stress. A systematic search was conducted, resulting in 1722 abstracts. Of those, 33 studies met inclusion criteria. Twelve studies measured prepotent response inhibition (Go/no-go and Stop-signal task), 20 studies measured interference control (Flanker and Stroop task), and one measured both. Some studies indeed found evidence for prolonged trauma exposure impeding both subcomponents of inhibitory control, although others did not. At a later age, inhibitory control problems on task performance seem to disappear. However, distinct patterns of brain activity may suggest that those individuals employ compensation strategies. Together, the findings may suggest that non-specific inhibitory control problems occur after prolonged trauma exposure, with older youth possibly employing compensation strategies on the tasks. Future studies may provide a clearer picture of the compensation strategies and the circumstances in which they become visible.