Mental rotational ability is correlated with spatial but not verbal working memory performance and P300 amplitude in males

Active inhibition of the retro-cue effect in visual working memory: Evidence from event-related potential

This study used the event-related potential (ERP) technique to investigate whether active inhibition exists in retro-cue Effect (RCE) in visual working memory using modified retro-cue tasks. In this modified task, the participants were first asked to memorize six color blocks and then presented with directed remembering or directed forgetting cues; finally, their working memory performance was tested. For behavioral results, due to the extension of the memory interval, this study did not find RCE in accuracy but reflected it in the total reaction time. For ERP results, the frontal late positive potential (LPP) followed by the directed forgetting condition was larger than that followed by directed remembering and baseline conditions, and there was no significant difference between directed remembering and baseline conditions. There was no significant difference in parietal P3 followed by both the directed remembering and directed forgetting conditions, which were significantly larger than the baseline condition. This result reveals that active inhibition plays an important role in directed forgetting RCE. There was a correlation between parietal P3 and frontal LPP with the same time window but different scalp regions in the directed forgetting condition, indicating a potential relationship between active inhibition and retelling in directed forgetting RCE.

The Impacts of Anxiety and Motivation on Spatial Performance: Implications for Gender Differences in Mental Rotation and Navigation

Despite extensive research on gender differences in spatial cognition, the potential roles of affective and situational factors in accounting for these differences remain relatively understudied. Here, we discuss the impacts of spatial anxiety and motivation in mental rotation and navigation tasks, particularly their roles in explaining the gender performance gaps. We highlight the distinction between approach and avoidance motivation, as well as interactions between anxiety and motivation. Attention, working memory, and response strategy are discussed as mechanisms by which anxiety and motivation may affect performance on spatial tasks. Implications for a broader approach that also considers other psychological variables, such as confidence, are discussed.

Enhancing Executive Control: Attention to Balance, Breath, and the Speed Versus Accuracy Tradeoff

Malleability of executive control and its enhancement through yoga training is unclear. In Study 1, participants (yoga group; n = 27, mean = 23.27 years) were tested on executive control tasks pre- and post-8 weeks of yoga training. The training focused on attention to postural control during yoga asanas and respiratory control during pranayama-breathing (30 min each of postural and breath control training, biweekly). Yoga training was assessed via performance ratings as to how well a posture was executed and by examining errors that reflected inattention/failures in postural and breath control. We also explored whether attentional demands on motor and respiratory control were associated with three components of executive control (working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibition) during nine executive control tasks. Partial correlation results revealed that the three components of executive control might be differentially impacted by postural and breath control and selectively associated with either speed or accuracy (except for cognitive flexibility). Attentional demands influenced the link between postural, breath, and cognitive control. In Study 2, comparisons between a yoga group and a gender-matched control group (control group; n = 27, mean = 23.33 years) pointed toward higher working memory accuracy and a better speed-accuracy tradeoff in inhibitory control in the yoga group. A ceiling-practice effect was addressed by examining yoga practice learning (i.e., practice-induced change in postural and breath control reflected in ratings and errors) on executive control performance across two sets of tasks: repeatedly tested (pre- and post-8 weeks) and non-repeatedly tested (post-8 weeks). Attention to motor and respiratory control during yoga might be considered as a potential mechanism through which specific components of executive control in young adults might be enhanced potentially via altering of speed-accuracy tradeoff.

Transcranial direct current stimulation on prefrontal and parietal areas enhances motor imagery

Considering the potential effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to improve motor imagery the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of tDCS on prefrontal and postparietal cortex in hand mental rotation (HMR). This investigation was a single-blind, randomized study which 60 healthy right-hand college students (30 males and 30 females, age 24.27±0.19 years) volunteered to attend. Using a simple random method, participants were divided into four groups: anodal: F4 (n=15) and P4 (n=15), sham: F4 (n=15) and P4 (n=15). Participants were asked to perform HMR task before and after five sessions of tDCS. Results showed that there is a significant difference between the pretest and post-test of reaction time (t=10.09, d.f.=29, P=0.005) and accuracy (t=-5.04, d.f.=29, P=0.005) in two sites (F4, P4) in anodal group, also two-way analysis of variance of HMR reaction time showed significant main effect of Group (F=52.458, P=0.000, ηP=0.488) indicating faster response in postanodal Group and Site (F=6.561, P=0.013, ηP=0.107) indicating better response in F4, and in HMR accuracy a significant main effect of Group (F=13.659, P=0.001, ηP=0.199) but not for the main effect of Site (F=0.499, P=0.483, ηP=0.009). According to the findings of the study, it is suggested that tDCS on both prefrontal and postparietal cortex could improve HMR with more effect on prefrontal area.

Visuospatial Working Memory Mediates the Relationship Between Executive Functioning and Spatial Ability

This study investigates the relationships among EF, VSWM, VWM, and spatial ability (mental rotation) at the construct level through testing a series of mediation models. A second objective of the study is to investigate whether the mediation relationship changes depending on the secondary demand of the tests used to measure EF. Covariates age and gender were controlled for in theses analyses. The results showed that when the Tower test, an EF test with a spatial secondary demand, was used to represent EF, VSWM significantly mediated the relationship between EF and mental rotation. However, when the composite inhibition and switching scores from the Color-Interference Test, an EF test with a verbal secondary demand, was used to represent EF, VSWM no longer significantly mediated the relationship between EF and mental rotation. This pattern of findings suggests that the test effect is real. Therefore, a grain of salt should be taken when interpreting prior findings concerning the relationship between EF and VSWM, when EF was measured using a variety of instruments, some of which have a spatial secondary demand, whereas others do not. Regarding VWM as a mediator, it was not found to be significantly mediating the relationship between EF and mental rotation, regardless of whether the Tower test or the Color-Interference Test was used to measure EF. A third objective of the study is to investigate the relative importance of EF, VSWM, and VWM in predicting mental rotation via dominance analysis. The results showed that VSWM is more important than VWM in explaining individual differences in mental rotation; the Tower test is more important than the Color-Interference Test in explaining individual differences in mental rotation. These findings again suggest that cautions need to be taken when interpreting prior findings that showed EF is highly involved in spatial ability, as test effect is real and may at least be partially be responsible for the linkage between the two constructs.

Sex differences in visual-spatial working memory: A meta-analysis

Visual-spatial working memory measures are widely used in clinical and experimental settings. Furthermore, it has been argued that the male advantage in spatial abilities can be explained by a sex difference in visual-spatial working memory. Therefore, sex differences in visual-spatial working memory have important implication for research, theory, and practice, but they have yet to be quantified. The present meta-analysis quantified the magnitude of sex differences in visual-spatial working memory and examined variables that might moderate them. The analysis used a set of 180 effect sizes from healthy males and females drawn from 98 samples ranging in mean age from 3 to 86 years. Multilevel meta-analysis was used on the overall data set to account for non-independent effect sizes. The data also were analyzed in separate task subgroups by means of multilevel and mixed-effects models. Results showed a small but significant male advantage (mean d = 0.155, 95 % confidence interval = 0.087-0.223). All the tasks produced a male advantage, except for memory for location, where a female advantage emerged. Age of the participants was a significant moderator, indicating that sex differences in visual-spatial working memory appeared first in the 13-17 years age group. Removing memory for location tasks from the sample affected the pattern of significant moderators. The present results indicate a male advantage in visual-spatial working memory, although age and specific task modulate the magnitude and direction of the effects. Implications for clinical applications, cognitive model building, and experimental research are discussed.

Mental rotation and working memory in musicians' dystonia

BACKGROUND

Mental rotation of body parts engages cortical-subcortical areas that are actually involved in the execution of a movement. Musicians' dystonia is a type of focal hand dystonia that is grouped together with writer's cramp under the rubric of "occupational dystonia", but it is unclear to which extent these two disorders share common pathophysiological mechanisms. Previous research has demonstrated patients with writer's cramp to have deficits in mental rotation of body parts. It is unknown whether patients with musicians' dystonia would display similar deficits, reinforcing the concept of shared pathophysiology.

METHODS

Eight patients with musicians' dystonia and eight healthy musicians matched for age, gender and musical education, performed a number of tasks assessing mental rotation of body parts and objects as well as verbal and spatial working memories abilities.

RESULTS

There were no differences between patients and healthy musicians as to accuracy and reaction times in any of the tasks.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with musicians' dystonia have intact abilities in mentally rotating body parts, suggesting that this disorder relies on a highly selective disruption of movement planning and execution that manifests only upon playing a specific instrument. We further demonstrated that mental rotation of body parts and objects engages, at least partially, different cognitive networks.

The Relationship between Expertise in Sports, Visuospatial, and Basic Cognitive Skills

Team sports place high demands on visuospatial and other cognitive skills. However, there is a lack of research on visuospatial skills of elite athletes and there are heterogeneous results on basic cognitive skills of this population. Therefore, this series of studies tested different cognitive skills in elite team sports athletes. In Experiment 1, elite athletes were compared to recreational athletes, but no differences were observed between the groups in choice response time (CRT) and mental rotation (MR). To see if differences could be observed when the tested groups had a greater difference in expertise and more representative stimuli, in Experiment 2, we tested CRT and MR of elite athletes who had higher level of expertise, and we also used three-dimensional human stimuli. Overall, we still found no differences in MR; however, elite athletes did have shorter CRTs. In Experiment 3, instead of testing MR, we compared elite athletes' and recreational athletes' basic cognitive skills, such as processing speed, letter readout speed, memory span, and sustained attention. We found that elite athletes only performed better in sustained attention. Building on this data, in a supplementary analysis (Experiment 4) we tested whether MR and CRTs are correlated with basic cognitive skills. Results show that processing speed is the best predictor for MR, whereas letter readout speed explains most of the variance in CRTs. Finally, we discuss these findings against the backdrop of expertise and offer implications for future studies on mental rotation.

Why women see differently from the way men see? A review of sex differences in cognition and sports

The differences of learning and memory between males and females have been well documented and confirmed by both human and animal studies. The sex differences in cognition started from early stage of neuronal development and last through entire life span. The major biological basis of the gender-dependent cognitive activity includes two major components: sex hormone and sex-related characteristics, such as sex-determining region of the Y chromosome (SRY) protein. However, the knowledge of how much biology of sex contributes to normal cognitive function and elite athletes in various sports are still pretty limited. In this review, we will be focusing on sex differences in spatial learning and memory - especially the role of male- and female-type cognitive behaviors in sports.

Sex differences in cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease

Studies have shown differences in specific cognitive ability domains and risk of Alzheimer's disease between the men and women at later age. However it is important to know that sex differences in cognitive function during adulthood may have their basis in both organizational effects, i.e., occurring as early as during the neuronal development period, as well as in activational effects, where the influence of the sex steroids influence brain function in adulthood. Further, the rate of cognitive decline with aging is also different between the sexes. Understanding the biology of sex differences in cognitive function will not only provide insight into Alzheimer's disease prevention, but also is integral to the development of personalized, gender-specific medicine. This review draws on epidemiological, translational, clinical, and basic science studies to assess the impact of sex differences in cognitive function from young to old, and examines the effects of sex hormone treatments on Alzheimer's disease in men and women.