Working memory load elicits attentional bias to threat

Anxious individuals tend to show attentional bias to threats and dangers; this is usually in-terpreted as a specific bias in threat-processing. However, they also tend to show general working memory and cognitive control impairments. We hypothesised that the lack of work-ing memory resources might contribute to attentional bias, by limiting anxious individuals’ ability to regulate their responses to emotional stimuli. If this is true, then loading working memory should elicit attentional bias to threat, even in non-anxious participants. We tested this hypothesis in two experiments, with participants unselected for anxiety. In Experiment 1, a phonological working memory load (remembering a string of digits) elicited an attentional bias to fear-conditioned Japanese words. In Experiment 2, a visuo-spatial working memory load (remembering a series of locations in a matrix of squares) elicited an attentional bias to emotional schematic faces. Results suggest that working memory and cognitive control may moderate the attentional bias to threat commonly observed in anxiety

Priming can affect naming colours using the study-test procedure. Revealing the role of task conflict

The Stroop paradigm has been widely used to study attention whilst its use to explore implicit memory have been mixed. Using the non-colour word Stroop task we tested contrasting predictions from the Proactive-Control/Task-Conflict model (Kalanthroff, Avnit, Henik, Davelaar & Usher, 2015) that implicate response conflict and task conflict for the priming effects. Using the study-test procedure 60 native English speakers were tested to determine whether priming effects from words that had previously been studied would cause interference when presented in a colour naming task. The results replicate a finding by MacLeod (1996) who showed no differences between the response latencies to studied and unstudied words. However, this pattern was predominately in the first half of the study where it was also found that both studied and unstudied words in a mixed block were slower to respond to than a block of pure unstudied words. The second half of the study showed stronger priming interference effects as well as a sequential modulation effect in which studied words slowed down the responses of studied words on the next trial. We discuss the role of proactive and reactive control processes and conclude that task conflict best explains the pattern of priming effects reported

Working memory regulates anxiety-related threat processing biases

Anxious individuals tend to show biased processing of threat (e.g. Mathews & MacLeod, 2005). Executive control could be used to regulate such threat-processing (Schmeichel, Volokhov, & Demaree, 2008), and theorists have suggested that impaired executive control may be a risk factor for anxiety (Mathews & MacLeod, 2005; Ouimet, Gawronski, & Dozois, 2009). On these bases, we hypothesised that anxiety-related cognitive biases regarding threat should be more apparent when executive control is experimentally impaired by loading working memory. In Study 1, 68 undergraduates read ambiguous vignettes under high and low working memory load; later, their interpretations of these vignettes were assessed via a recognition test. Trait anxiety predicted biased interpretation of social threat vignettes under high working memory load, but not under low working memory load. In Study 2, 53 undergraduates completed a dot probe task with fear-conditioned Japanese characters serving as threat stimuli. Trait anxiety predicted attentional bias to the threat stimuli but, again, this only occurred under high working memory load. Interestingly however, actual eye movements toward the threat stimuli were associated with state rather than trait anxiety and this relationship was not moderated by working memory load, suggesting that executive control regulates biased threat-processing downstream of initial input processes such as orienting. These results suggest that cognitive loads might be a useful tool for assessing cognitive biases in future research. More importantly, since biased threat-pro cessing has been implicated in the aetiology and maintenance of anxiety, poor executive control may indeed be a risk factor for anxiety disorders

The Effect of Longitudinal Short-Meditation Interventions on the Cognitive Alerting Network

Introduction Research shows that an improved ability to maintain an alert state, that is a readiness to engage in attentional processing, arises in long-term meditators. This paper extends this finding, demonstrating improved vigilance in novices using short meditation interventions. Method We used a longitudinal design (1 pre-test session, 8 sessions x 8 minutes over 4 weeks) which was completed by 57 undergraduate novices. Each session, other than the pre-test session, contained an intervention (body scan meditation vs. mindful colouring vs. video watching) followed by an Attention Network Test (ANT), as well as mood and mindfulness state questionnaires. Results A significant interaction was found between groups in their ANT Alerting scores from pre-test to post 8th intervention (F (2, 54) = 3.17, p = .050). The meditative groups’ alerting scores remained fairly stable but both the control groups’ scores increased on the final test meaning that they took longer to respond. There was also a significant interaction between Mindful Attention Awareness Scale scores pre- and post- individual interventions (F (2, 52) = 3.21, p = .049) with the meditation and colouring groups increasing their mindfulness scores compared to a reduction in the video group score. Discussion Results suggest that even short mindfulness interventions can positively impact individuals’ abilities to maintain higher levels of attentional alertness and vigilance in certain tasks. However, the duration of these effects remains unclear

Working Memory Regulates Trait Anxiety-Related Threat Processing Biases

High trait anxious individuals tend to show biased processing of threat. Correlational evidence suggests that executive control could be used to regulate such threat-processing. On this basis, we hypothesised that trait anxiety-related cognitive biases regarding threat should be exaggerated when executive control is experimentally impaired by loading working memory. In Study 1, 68 undergraduates read ambiguous vignettes under high and low working memory load; later, their interpretations of these vignettes were assessed via a recognition test. Trait anxiety predicted biased interpretation of social threat vignettes under high working memory load, but not under low working memory load. In Study 2, 53 undergraduates completed a dot probe task with fear-conditioned Japanese characters serving as threat stimuli. Trait anxiety predicted attentional bias to the threat stimuli but, again, this only occurred under high working memory load. Interestingly however, actual eye movements toward the threat stimuli were only associated with state anxiety and this was not moderated by working memory load, suggesting that executive control regulates biased threat-processing downstream of initial input processes such as orienting. These results suggest that cognitive loads can exacerbate trait anxiety-related cognitive biases, and therefore represent a useful tool for assessing cognitive biases in future research. More importantly, since biased threat-processing has been implicated in the aetiology and maintenance of anxiety, poor executive control may be a risk factor for anxiety disorders

Neural correlates of intrusion of emotion words in a modified Stroop task

Behavioural studies have demonstrated that the emotional Stroop task is a valuable tool for investigating emotion-attention interactions in a variety of healthy and clinical populations, showing that participants are typically more distracted by negative stimuli as compared to neutral or positive stimuli. The main aim of this study was to find and examine the neural correlates of this greater intrusion from negative emotional stimuli. Reliable reaction time (RT) and event-related potential (ER-P) data were collected from 23 participants who performed a manual emotional Stroop, task with short (40 ins) and long (500 ms) inter-trial intervals. In the short interval condition, participants were found to produce longer RTs for negative than neutral words, suggesting that these stimuli were more difficult to ignore. This RT effect disappeared in the long interval condition, although larger PI amplitudes were found for the negative words. This suggests that differences in early attention allocation may be unrelated to the degree of intrusion at the behavioural level. In addition, a larger negative slow wave around 300-700 ms post-stimulus was observed in the long interval condition, but only for those negative words that produced prolonged RTs as compared to their matched controls. This late and broadly distributed effect is believed to reflect suppression of meaning representations

Examining fast and slow effects for alcohol and negative emotion in problem and social drinkers

Attentional bias (AB) for alcohol-related stimuli has been consistently demonstrated in social and problem drinkers. The aims of this study were to: investigate whether AB for alcohol-related stimuli could be described as a slow effect as well as a fast effect; how these effects relate to drinking behaviour; and the influence of the experimental procedure on priming effects. Two experiments were designed. In experiment 1, problem drinkers in treatment at a community alcohol service (N = 62) and a group of social drinking controls (N = 60) were assessed using the modified Stroop task with alcohol, negative emotion and neutral words. Drinking patterns were also recorded on the Khavari Alcohol Test. In experiment 2, social drinking controls (N = 40) completed the same procedure but were blinded to the study’s aims. In experiment 1, both groups demonstrated slower response times to alcohol-related than neutral stimuli in both fast and slow processes. Difference scores for alcohol compared to neutral words in the slow process were positively correlated with increases in drinking levels for both groups. In experiment 2, AB to alcohol-related stimuli disappeared when participants were unprimed. The findings highlight the importance of investigating the role of fast and slow processes in continued and problem drinking, alongside priming effects from the experimental procedure

Perceptions of Injured Athletes after Eight Weeks of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) has been extensively applied as a clinical intervention by researchers’ who have made on-the-spot decisions research as part of their practice. This research was provided via a knowledge transfer of 8 weeks of MBSR based on the original MBSR version. The main objective of this study was to offer a qualitative explorative insight into the perceived experience of participating in a MBSR program for injured athletes. A semi structured interview was conducted with each injured athlete who participated in this study. A thematic analysis was applied to explore the themes which emerged from injured athletes’ experience after 8 weeks of participation in a MBSR program. Five themes emerged from injured athletes’ attitudes towards MBSR: 1) Reconnecting with the body, 2) Reconnecting with the mind, 3) Passivity of MBSR as opposed to the athletic praxis, 4) Group versus self-guided MBSR, 5) Acceptance of pain. These different themes are presented and discussed below. This particular qualitative exploratory investigation was based on injured athletes’ experiences in this study; MBSR can benefit them during the sport rehabilitation process. As such, the findings will promote scientific understanding about the effectiveness of MBSR as a clinical intervention. It should also be noted that, more investigation is required to find out about the role of mindfulness meditation in terms of therapeutic aspects with injured athletes

Internet and Facebook related images affect the perception of time

Even though there is a wealth of research on addiction and implicit measures, the effects of addiction on time perception are still unclear. Internal clock models separate the effects of attention and arousal which could have important implications for addiction research. The present study investigated whether Internet related stimuli can lead to distorted time perception. We found evidence that Internet and Facebook related stimuli can distort time perception due to attention and arousal related mechanisms. This highlights that Facebook related stimuli lead to an underestimation of time compared to Internet related stimuli, and both Facebook and Internet related stimuli were associated with better discriminability of time compared to matched neutral stimuli. Implications of these findings on addiction are discussed

Unintentional and intentional recognition rely on dissociable neurocognitive mechanisms

Distractibility can lead to accidents and academic failures, as well as memory problems. Recent evidence suggests that intentional recognition memory can be biased by unintentional recognition of distracting stimuli in the same environment. It is unknown whether unintentional and intentional recognition depend on the same underlying neurocognitive mechanisms. We assessed whether human participants’ recognition of previously seen (old) or not seen (new) target stimuli was affected by whether a to-be-ignored distractor was old or new. ERPs were recorded to investigate the neural correlates of this bias. The results showed that the old/new status of salient distractors had a biasing effect on target recognition accuracy. Both intentional and unintentional recognition elicited early ERP effects that are thought to reflect relatively automatic memory processes. However, only intentional recognition elicited the later ERP marker of conscious recollection, consistent with previous suggestions that recollection is under voluntary control. In contrast, unintentional recognition was associated with an enhanced late posterior negativity, which may reflect monitoring or evaluation of memory signals. The findings suggest that unintentional and intentional recognition involve dissociable memory processes