Training working memory to improve attentional control in anxiety: a proof-of-principle study using behavioral and electrophysiological measures

Trait anxiety is associated with impairments in attentional control and processing efficiency (see Berggren & Derakshan, 2013for a review). Working memory training using the adaptive dual n-back task has shown to improve attentional control in subclinical depression with transfer effects at the behavioral and neural level on a working memory task (Owens, Koster, & Derakshan, 2013). Here, we examined the beneficial effects of working memory training on attentional control in pre-selected high trait anxious individuals who underwent a three week daily training intervention using the adaptive dual n-back task. Pre and post outcome measures of attentional control were assessed using a Flanker task that included a stress induction and an emotional Antisaccade task (with angry and neutral faces as target). Resting state EEG (Theta/Beta ratio) was recorded to as a neural marker of trait attentional control. Our results showed that adaptive working memory training improved attentional control with transfer effects on the Flanker task and resting state EEG, but effects of training on the Antisaccade task were less conclusive. Finally, training related gains were associated with lower levels of trait anxiety at post (vs pre) intervention. Our results demonstrate that adaptive working memory training in anxiety can have beneficial effects on attentional control and cognitive performance that may protect against emotional vulnerability in individuals at risk of developing clinical anxiety

Attentional control in dysphoria: an investigation using the antisaccade task

We examined inhibitory mechanisms in dysphoria using direct measures of attentional control. Dysphoric and non-dysphoric participants performed standard and delayed versions of the antisaccade and prosaccade tasks with facial expressions as stimuli. Results showed higher error rates in the standard antisaccade task than in the delayed tasks, with the dysphoric group having higher error rates in response to emotional facial expressions, in particular happy expressions. Our findings indicate impaired attentional processing in response to emotional facial expressions, in particular happy expressions, in dysphoria. Implications for understanding the mechanisms underlying attentional control in dysphoria are discussed

Biased interpretation of ambiguity in depression and anxiety:Interactions with attention, memory, and cognitive control processes

Research on interpretation biases has made important progress in elucidating its nature and role as a potential vulnerability factor for depression and anxiety. To date, the specific mechanisms that are potentially underlying this higher-level cognitive operation of interpreting ambiguity remain understudied and poorly understood. Indeed, mood-congruent biases in attention allocation and memory retrieval as well as cognitive control operations when processing emotional information may contribute to the skewed generation and selection of interpretations in the face of ambiguity. This chapter reviews theoretical models and current empirical research on potential interactions between interpretation bias and emotional biases in attention, memory, and cognitive control. The chapter concludes by outlining directions for future research to advance research in this emerging area of interest

Attentional bias temporal dynamics in remitted depression

Theory implicates attentional bias (AB) or dysregulated attentional processing of emotional information in the recurrence of major depressive episodes. However, empirical study of AB among remitted depressed patients is limited in scope and has yielded mixed findings. Mixed findings may be accounted for by how the field has conceptualized and thereby studied AB. We propose that a novel temporal dynamic process perspective on AB may help disambiguate extant findings and elucidate the nature of AB in remitted depression. Thus, we reexamined Dot Probe data among remitted depressed patients (RMD; n = 328) and nondepressed controls (NDC; n = 82) that previously yielded null effects when AB was quantified by means of the traditional aggregated mean bias score (Vrijsen et al., 2014). We reanalyzed data using a novel computational approach that extracts a series of bias estimations from trial to trial (Zvielli, Bernstein, & Koster, 2015). Key features of these dynamic process signals revealed moderate to excellent reliability relative to the traditional aggregated mean bias scores. These features of AB dynamics-specifically temporal variability in AB including AB toward and away from emotional stimuli-were significantly elevated among RMDs relative to NDCs. Moreover, among RMDs, a greater number of past depressive episodes were associated with elevation in these features of AB dynamics. Effects were not accounted for by residual depressive symptoms or social anxiety symptoms. Findings indicate that dysregulation in attentional processing of emotional information reflected in AB dynamics may be key to depression vulnerability. (PsycINFO Database Recor

Understanding depressive rumination from a cognitive science perspective: the impaired disengagement hypothesis

Persisting negative thoughts are considered a hallmark of depression. Recent information-processing approaches have begun to uncover underlying mechanisms of depressive rumination. Despite marked advances in this area, there is a lack of integration between psychopathology and cognitive (neuro) science research. We propose the ‘impaired disengagement’ hypothesis as a unifying framework between both approaches. The core tenet of our model is that prolonged processing of self-referent material is due to impaired attentional disengagement from negative self-referent information. We discuss empirical evidence for this framework and outline future ways in which the causal predictions of this model can be tested. The proposed framework can account for effectiveness of various treatments for depression and may aid in devising new interventions to target depressive cognition

Mitochondria : biogenesis, structure, and fuction : symposium introduction

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