Autonomic and central nervous system correlates of cognitive control training for attentional disorders

Deficits in cognitive control and attentional processing are commonly observed in people with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs) such as Dyslexia. Poorer performance in the pro/antisaccade task have been observed in these individuals, which suggests impaired visual attention and inhibitory control mechanisms. Atypical cognitive processing is also related to a state of autonomic hypoarousal in conditions such as ADHD. In this thesis, I examined whether the computer-based gaze-control RECOGNeyes training program using the pro/antisaccade task could improve cognitive control of visual attention by targeting the visual attention network and whether such improvements correlate with increased arousal. A group of 35 volunteers with SpLDs and/or ADHD completed the pro/antisaccade task before and after two weeks of training their visual attention using RECOGNeyes. Magnetoencephalography (MEG), pupillometry and electrocardiography were recorded, while they performed the pro/antisaccade task. Our task performance measures, reaction time (RT) and accuracy, and reading indices improved after RECOGNeyes training. Our findings demonstrate for the first time that autonomic measures of sympathetic pupil dilation and parasympathetic cardiac deceleration both correlate with faster saccadic RTs together (which was stronger for antisaccade trials than prosaccade trials) and account for separate variance in RT. Additionally, distinct MEG oscillatory profiles were uncovered in different frequency bands within regions of the visual attention network during the pro/antisaccade task. Slow-wave oscillations of delta and theta bands show anteriorising effects, suggested to mediate timing responses and bottom-up communication from the posterior to anterior network regions. Alpha-oscillations are proposed to have top-down preparatory inhibitory effects, particularly from the bilateral frontal eye field, and alpha-suppression in the right parietal eye field. Beta amplitude presents an additional “anticipatory” event-related desynchronisation (ERD) prior to target onset that is stronger on day 2 and antisaccade trials, which could relate to generalised inhibitory control mechanisms. This thesis supports the existence of complex central and autonomic processes underlying attention and arousal that are not yet fully understood and warrant further investigation. By increasing our understanding of the integrated attentional processes and inhibitory control, this could help the development of targeted treatment solutions, such as RECOGNeyes, for ADHD and SpLDs, to improve outcomes in these individuals

Emotion-Attention Interactions in Infants Face Processing

Kasvonilmeiden avulla tapahtuva tunteiden viestittäminen on olennainen osa vauvan ja aikuisen välistä vuorovaikutusta. Kyky erotella kasvoilla ilmaistuja tunteita ja säädellä käyttäytymistä vuorovaikutuskumppanin tunneilmaisujen avulla kehittyy merkittävästi ensimmäisen elinvuoden aikana. Erityisesti itsenäisen liikkumisen aloittamisen myötä tulee tärkeäksi osata yhdistää tunneilmaisuja niiden esiintymiskontekstiin (esim. vanhemman pelästyminen lapsen joutuessa potentiaalisiin vaaratilanteisiin). Aikaisemmissa tutkimuksissa onkin havaittu, että yli puolen vuoden ikäisten vauvojen tarkkaavaisuus suuntautuu voimakkaammin pelkoa kuin iloa ilmaisevia kasvonilmeitä kohti. Ei kuitenkaan tiedetä, heijastaako huomion kiinnittyminen pelokkaisiin kasvoihin suoranaisesti niiden emotionaalisen sisällön käsittelyä vai sitä, että pelkoa ilmaistaan tyypillisessä pienten vauvojen kasvuympäristössä suhteellisen harvoin. On myös epäselvää, onko tarkkaavaisuuden suuntautuminen kasvonilmeisiin vauvaiässä tahdonalaisesti säädeltyä vai automaattista (tahatonta). Väitöskirjan neljässä osatutkimuksessa pyrittiin selvittämään, missä iässä vauvojen tarkkaavaisuus alkaa suuntautua korostuneesti pelon tunneilmaisuja kohtaan ja minkälaiset mekanismit tarkkaavaisuuden suuntautumista välittävät. Tarkkaavaisuutta tutkittiin silmänliikkeiden ja aivojen sähköisen toiminnan rekisteröinnin sekä sydämen syketaajuuden mittauksen avulla. Tutkimustulokset osoittivat, että pelon havaitseminen kasvonilmeistä muuttuu puolen vuoden iässä: 7 kuukauden ikäisten vauvojen tarkkaavaisuus suuntautui voimakkaammin kohti pelkoa kuin iloa ilmaisevia kasvoja, mutta 5 kuukauden ikäisillä vauvoilla vastaavaa tarkkaavaisuuseroa ei havaittu. Seitsemän kuukauden ikäisillä erot näkyivät pidempinä katseluaikoina sekä eroina tarkkaavaisuuden säätelyyn osallistuvan prefrontaalisen aivokuoren sähköisessä aktivaatiossa. Muissa tutkimuksissa havaittiin, että kun kasvonilmeet kilpailivat vauvan huomiosta muiden ärsykkeiden kanssa, tarkkaavaisuus siirtyi hitaammin ja pienemmällä todennäköisyydellä pois pelokkaista kuin iloisista ja neutraaleista kasvoista. Korostunutta tarkkaavaisuutta pelkoa ilmaisevia kasvoja kohtaan ei tutkimuksissa selittänyt niiden epätavallisuus tai suhteellisesti voimakkaampi huomion kohdistaminen pelkoa ilmaisevien silmien alueelle. Lisäksi sydämen syketaajuuden nopeana laskuna havaittava tarkkaavaisuuden automaattinen orientaatioreaktio oli 7 kuukauden ikäisillä vauvoilla suurempi pelokkaisiin kuin iloisiin kasvoihin. Tulosten perusteella tarkkaavaisuuden suuntautumiseen pelkoa ilmaiseviin kasvoihin osallistuu 7 kuukauden iässä tahdonalaiseen säätelyyn sekä automaattiseen orientaatioon liittyviä mekanismeja. Keskushermoston tasolla tämä voi heijastella ympäristöstä tulevan informaation emotionaalisen sisällön erotteluun osallistuvien aivoalueiden (esim. amygdala) aktivaation integroitumista prefrontaalisella aivokuorella sijaitsevien tarkkaavaisuuden säätelymekanismien toimintaan. Tulokset tukevat näkemystä, jonka mukaan puolen vuoden iässä tapahtuu merkittäviä kehityksellisiä muutoksia pelon havaitsemisessa, kokemisessa ja oppimisessa. Ikävaiheessa, jolloin lapsi alkaa tyypillisesti harjoitella itsenäistä liikkumista ja fyysinen etäisyys vanhemmasta kasvaa, kohonnut herkkyys emotionaalisesti merkitykselliselle informaatiolle sekä lisääntyvä kyky hyödyntää emotionaalista informaatiota tarkkaavaisuuden ja käyttäytymisen säätelyssä edistää vauvan sopeutumista muuttuvaan ympäristöön.The exchange of emotional information through facial expressions is essential to early infant-caregiver interaction. The ability to process and comprehend information from facially communicated emotional signals develops significantly throughout the first year of life. One manifestation of this development during the second half of the first year is infants? increased attention to fearful rather than happy and emotionally neutral facial expressions. The four studies reported in this dissertation were intended to characterize the emotional modulation of attention in further detail by investigating the developmental emergence of and the critical factors underlying the attentional prioritization of fearful expressions in infancy. Study I reported evidence of the emergence of enhanced attention to fearful faces between 5 and 7 months. While the data from 7-month-old infants replicated earlier findings of longer looking and larger attention-sensitive brain responses to fearful than happy faces, no differences were observed with either measure in 5-month-old infants. Studies II-IV utilized a novel paradigm to examine 7-month-old infants´ disengagement of attention from facial expression stimuli toward non-emotional distractor stimuli and the critical factors that may underlie infants´ attentional bias to fearful faces. These studies showed that fearful faces modulate infants´ attention disengagement by increasing the latency and decreasing the frequency of eye movements from the centrally presented face toward the peripheral distractor stimulus. This effect was absent for faces that had been rated as novel as a fearful expression but lacking equal emotional signal value (Study II) and for neutral faces that had fearful eyes (Study III), the most prominent visual feature of a fearful expression. Finally, in Study IV, infants showed a larger deceleration of heart rate orienting response to fearful faces, resembling the autonomic response to threat-related stimuli typically observed in adults. In light of these data, it is suggested that the turn of the second half of the first year is a period during which critical developmental changes take place in the way infants perceive, experience, and learn fear. At a developmental phase during which infants typically begin to move independently, emotional significance of sensory stimuli becomes integrated with the functioning of attentional control mechanisms. The persistent bias to prefer fearful expressions over other stimuli presumably enables relatively efficient associative learning about the contexts in which fearful emotions are expressed by the caregivers (e.g., situations involving impending danger). In terms of brain function, the development of emotion-attention interactions may reflect the emergence of functional connections between structures sensitive to the emotional significance of sensory stimuli (amygdala) and cortical areas implicated in attentional control and emotion regulation (prefrontal, orbitofrotal, and anterior cingulate cortices)

Why teens take risks ... : a neurocognitive analysis of developmental changes and individual differences in decision-making under risk

The research described in this thesis aimed to gain insight in risky behavior in adolescence, by examining the development of decision-making in relation to brain development. Chapter 1 describes two existing possible explanations for adolescent risky behavior, the first explanation focuses on the development of cognitive control, and states that adolescents’ immature ability to control their impulses may bias them to act risky. The second explanation focuses on emotional/motivational processes, and suggests that adolescents engage in risky behavior because they respond stronger to the possible rewards associated with risks than children and adults do. Chapters 2, 3, and 7 describe studies on developmental changes in the processes that form the building blocks of more complex decision-making under risk; probability estimation, reward processing and working memory. Chapters 4, 5, and 6 explore the relative contributions of reward sensitivity and cognitive control to decision-making across development. This thesis shows knowledge about brain maturation can inform models of adolescent risky behavior. And that adolescent risk-taking can be explained as the consequence of the earlier maturation of reward related relative to cognitive control related brain circuitry.LEI Universiteit LeidenDevelopmental pathways of social-emotional and cognitive functioning - ou

Free won't : neurobiological bases of the development of intentional inhibition

Self-control abilities are crucial for successful functioning in daily life. At the core of self-control lies the ability to intentionally inhibit one__s actions. Intentional inhibition differs from externally driven inhibition in that it is driven by an internal thought process rather than an external stimulus that tells one to stop. The goal of this thesis was to examine the development of intentional inhibition and compare this with externally driven inhibition. In order to investigate the covert process of intentional inhibition, the research described in this thesis made use of neurobiological measures such as phasic heart rate changes and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In addition, to learn more about self-control in context, the final empirical chapter examined intentional and externally driven inhibition in the context of relevant and irrelevant emotions.Pathways through Adolescenc

Patterns of Cardiac Arousal in the Classroom Determined by Telemetry During Response to Speech Messages

The purposes of this study were (1) to determine the relationship between recitation in the classroom and changes in the cardiac rate, (2) to determine the effects on cardiac rate of anticipation of recitation and tests, (3) to determine the effects on cardiac rate of compliments and assurance directed toward students by the teacher, and (4) to determine the effects on the cardiac rate of verbal threats and ridicule

Sensory Processing and Movement Control in Children

Movement control and motor learning depend largely on sensory processing (SP) of different sensory inputs in order to make a relevant perceptual decision that can be expressed as a coordinated and goal-directed movement. The aim of this thesis is to explore the role of SP on perceptual decision-making, movement control and participation among children. The first study aimed to identify and summarise the role of SP on movement abilities among children with movement difficulties, particularly developmental coordination disorder (DCD), through a systematic review. This is due to the literature being replete with studies investigating the role of SP on movement among children with DCD, however, no updated systematic review to synthesise the findings has been published. Furthermore, because there is a paucity of empirical studies considering SP abilities in the context of the relationship between movement control, levels of and preferences for physical activity (PA) among children, the second study aimed to explore the relationship between them using four valid questionnaires. Finally, as limited research was found in the empirical literature that had investigated the effect of multisensory inputs on perceptual decision-making among children, the third study aimed to investigate the effect of multisensory versus unisensory stimuli on two elements contributing to perceptual decision-making (reaction time (RT) and accuracy). The first study showed that the various dimensions of SP significantly contribute to movement abilities in DCD. Moreover, the second study showed that movement abilities, levels of and preferences for PA may be influenced by SP abilities among children. Lastly, the third study showed that multisensory stimuli may enhance the process of decision-making, however, this was found to be more pronounced in older children. These results show clear evidence of the role of SP on movement and emphasise the importance of addressing SP abilities in assessments and intervention programmes

EEG coherence between the verbal-analytical region (T3) and the motor-planning region (Fz) increases under stress in explicit motor learners but not implicit motor learners

This journal supplement contains abstracts of NASPSPA 2010Free Communications - Verbal and Poster: Motor Learning and Controlpublished_or_final_versionThe Annual Conference of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA 2010), Tucson, AZ., 10-12 June 2010. In Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 2010, v. 32 suppl., p. S13

Attention and time constraints in performing and learning a table tennis forehand shot

This is a section on p. S95 of article 'Verbal and Poster: Motor Development, Motor Learning and Control, and Sport and Exercise Psychology' in Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 2010, v.32, p.S36-S237published_or_final_versio

The role of interoception in cognition, and its application to autism spectrum disorders

Traditionally a distinction was drawn between cognitive and sensorimotor processes, with little consideration of communication between the two. However, many findings are incompatible with this separation (e.g. Lebedev & Wise, 2002; Patel, Fleming & Kilner, 2012). One particular domain where this is evidenced is interoception. Interoception has been defined as the sensing of the physiological condition of the body (Craig, 2002). While it has long been clear that interoception is of fundamental importance for homeostasis, it is increasingly being recognised as integral for multiple domains of cognition, including emotion. For example, those with greater access to their interoceptive states experience emotions more intensely (e.g. Wiens, Mezzacappa, & Katkin, 2000). These findings bare on our understanding of autism. For some time, exteroceptive sensory abnormalities has been recognised in autism, with such symptoms now included in the diagnostic criteria. Far less research has considered how interoception is implicated in autism. The reports of autistic people and their caregivers, in addition to a few empirical investigations, suggest that interoceptive processing is altered in autism. It is therefore possible that these interoceptive alterations are implicated in the cognitive symptoms of autism. In this PhD I conducted a series of experiments to test the hypothesis that afferent signals from the body, including interoceptive sensations, are involved in cognition, and that the processing of these signals is altered in autism. More specifically, I tested the role of bodily afferents in metacognition, movement, anxiety, and emotion. I also sought to determine if there are interoceptive differences in the three domains of interoception delineated by Garfinkel and colleagues (Garfinkel & Critchley, 2013; Garfinkel, Seth, Barrett, Suzuki, & Critchley, 2015) in autistic children and adolescents, having previously only been evaluated previously in autistic adults. Finally, I investigated whether differences in emotion processing in autism were related to interoception