The effects of aerobic exercise and transcranial direct current stimulation on cognitive function in older adults with and without cognitive impairment: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Aerobic exercise (AE) may slow age-related cognitive decline. However, such cognition-sparing effects are not uniform across cognitive domains and studies. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a form of non-invasive brain stimulation and is also emerging as a potential alternative to pharmaceutical therapies. Like AE, the effectiveness of tDCS is also inconsistent for reducing cognitive impairment in ageing. The unexplored possibility exists that pairing AE and tDCS could produce synergistic effects and reciprocally augment cognition-improving effects in older individuals with and without cognitive impairments. Previous research found such synergistic effects on cognition when cognitive training is paired with tDCS in older individuals with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia. Aim: The purpose of this systematic review with meta-analysis was to explore if pairing AE with tDCS could augment singular effects of AE and tDCS on global cognition (GC), working memory (WM) and executive function (EF) in older individuals with or without MCI and dementia. Methods: Using a PRISMA-based systematic review, we compiled studies that examined the effects of AE alone, tDCS alone, and AE and tDCS combined on cognitive function in older individuals with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia. Using a PICOS approach, we systematically searched PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science searches up to December 2021, we focused on ‘MoCA’, ‘MMSE’, ‘Mini-Cog’ (measures) and ‘cognition’, ‘cognitive function’, ‘cognitive’, ‘cognitive performance’, ‘executive function’, ‘executive process’, ‘attention’, ‘memory’, ‘memory performance’ (outcome terms). We included only randomized controlled trials (RTC) in humans if available in English full text over the past 20 years, with participants’ age over 60. We assessed the methodological quality of the included studies (RTC) by the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale. Results: Overall, 68 studies were included in the meta-analyses. AE (ES = 0.56 [95% CI: 0.28–0.83], p = 0.01) and tDCS (ES = 0.69 [95% CI: 0.12–1.26], p = 0.02) improved GC in all three groups of older adults combined (healthy, MCI, demented). In healthy population, AE improved GC (ES = 0.46 [95% CI: 0.22–0.69], p = 0.01) and EF (ES = 0.27 [95% CI: 0.05–0.49], p = 0.02). AE improved GC in older adults with MCI (ES = 0.76 [95% CI: 0.21–1.32], p = 0.01). tDCS improved GC (ES = 0.69 [90% CI: 0.12–1.26], p = 0.02), all three cognitive function (GC, WM and EF) combined in older adults with dementia (ES = 1.12 [95% CI: 0.04–2.19], p = 0.04) and improved cognitive function in older adults overall (ES = 0.69 [95% CI: 0.20–1,18], p = 0.01). Conclusion: Our systematic review with meta-analysis provided evidence that beyond the cardiovascular and fitness benefits of AE, pairing AE with tDCS may have the potential to slow symptom progression of cognitive decline in MCI and dementia. Future studies will examine the hypothesis of this present review that a potentiating effect would incrementally improve cognition with increasing severity of cognitive impairment.Charles University Q4

Event-related potentials associated with attentional networks evidence changes in executive and arousal vigilance

Agencia Nacional de Promocion Cientifica y Tecnologica, Grant/Award Number: #2018- 3614 and Cat1#83; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion, Grant/Award Number: PID2020- 114790GB- I00; Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Secretaria de Ciencia y Tecnologia; ANID/FONDECYT Regular, Grant/Award Number: 1210195, 1210176 and 1220995; ANID/FONDAP, Grant/Award Number: 15150012; ANID/PIA/ANILLOS, Grant/Award Number: ACT210096; ANID/FONDEF, Grant/Award Number: ID20I10152 and ID22I10029; Takeda, Grant/Award Number: CW2680521; National Institutes of Health, National Institutes of Aging, Grant/Award Number: R01 AG057234; Alzheimer's Association, Grant/Award Number: SG-20-725707; Rainwater Charitable foundation - Tau Consortium, and Global Brain Health Institute, Grant/Award Number: R01 AG057234Attention is regulated by three independent but interacting networks, that is, alerting, comprising phasic alertness and vigilance, orienting, and executive control. Previous studies analyzing event-related potentials (ERPs) associated with attentional networks have focused on phasic alertness, orienting, and executive control, without an independent measure of vigilance. ERPs associated with vigilance have been instead measured in separate studies and via different tasks. The present study aimed to differentiate ERPs associated with attentional networks by simultaneously measuring vigilance along with phasic alertness, orienting, and executive control. Forty participants (34 women, age: M = 25.96; SD = 4.96) completed two sessions wherein the electroencephalogram was recorded while they completed the Attentional Networks Test for Interactions and Vigilance-executive and arousal components, a task that measures phasic alertness, orienting, and executive control along with executive (i.e., detection of infrequent critical signals) and arousal (i.e., sustaining a fast reaction to environmental stimuli) vigilance. ERPs previously associated with attentional networks were replicated here: (a) N1, P2, and contingent negative variation for phasic alertness; (b) P1, N1, and P3 for orienting; and (c) N2 and slow positivity for executive control. Importantly, different ERPs were associated with vigilance: while the executive vigilance decrement was associated with an increase in P3 and slow positivity across time-on-task, arousal vigilance loss was associated with reduced N1 and P2 amplitude. The present study shows that attentional networks can be described by different ERPs simultaneously observed in a single session, including independent measures of executive and arousal vigilance on its assessment.ANPCyT Spanish Government 2018- 3614, 83Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CONICET)Instituto de Salud Carlos III Spanish Government PID2020- 114790GB- I00Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Secretaría de Ciencia y TecnologíaANID/FONDECYT Regular 1210195, 1210176, 1220995ANID/FONDAP 15150012ANID/PIA/ANILLOS ACT210096ANID/FONDEF ID20I10152, ID22I10029Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd CW2680521United States Department of Health & Human Services National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USAUnited States Department of Health & Human Services National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA) R01 AG057234Alzheimer's Association SG-20-725707Rainwater Charitable foundation - Tau ConsortiumGlobal Brain Health Institute R01 AG05723

Cognitive load mitigates the executive but not the arousal vigilance decrement

This study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness, through research projects to JL [grants number PSI2017-84926-P and PID2020-114790GB-I00] and the Secretaría de Ciencia y Tecnología from the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina (Proyecto Estimular to FGL). In addition, FGL received PhD scholarship support from the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina and a scholarship mobility by the Asociación Universitaria Iberoamericana de Posgrado (AUIP) in cooperation with the Consejería de Economía y Conocimiento de la Junta de Andalucía, España. Funding sources had no involvement in the study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. Preliminary results of this work has been presented in the Spanish XI Scientific Meeting of Attention (RECA), developed from 28th to 30th of September 2017 in Baeza, Spain. This study is part of the doctoral thesis by FGL, conducted under the supervision of JL and EMA.Previous research has shown opposite effects of dual tasking on the vigilance decrement phenomenon. We examined the executive (i.e., detecting infrequent critical signals) and arousal (i.e., sustaining a fast reaction to stimuli without much control on responses) vigilance decrements as a function of task load. Ninety-six participants performed either a single signal-detection (i.e., executive vigilance) task, a single reaction time (i.e., arousal vigilance) task, or a dual vigilance task with the same stimuli and procedure. All participants self-reported their fatigue’ state along the session. Exploratory analyses included data from a previous study with a triple task condition. Task load significantly modulated the executive but not the arousal vigilance decrement. Interestingly, the largest increase in mental fatigue was observed in the single executive vigilance task condition. We discuss limitations of classic vigilance theories to account for the vigilance decrement and changes in mental fatigue as a function of task load.Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness, grants number PSI2017-84926-P and PID2020-114790GB-I00Secretaría de Ciencia y Tecnología from the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, ArgentinaConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)Asociación Universitaria Iberoamericana de Posgrado (AUIP) in cooperation with the Consejería de Economía y Conocimiento de la Junta de Andalucía, Españ

The ANTI-Vea task: analyzing the executive and arousal vigilance decrements while measuring the three attentional networks

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness, research project to JL [grant number PSI2017-84926-P]; and by the Secretaría de Ciencia y Tecnología from the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina (Proyecto Estimular to FGL); FGL received PhD scholarship support from the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina; FGL received a scholarship mobility by the Asociación Universitaria Iberoamericana de Posgrado (AUIP) in cooperation with the Consejería de Economía y Conocimiento de la Junta de Andalucía, España; EMA was supported by a Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness [IJCI-2015-23204]. Preliminary results of this work has been presented in the Spanish XI Scientific Meeting of Attention (RECA), developed from 28th to 30th of September 2017 in Baeza, Spain. This paper is part of the doctoral thesis by the first author, under the supervision of the last two authors.The vigilance decrement phenomenon has been traditionally studied by simple and monotonous behavioral tasks. Nowadays, however, there is considerable interest in measuring vigilance with more complex tasks, including independent measures of other attentional functions. In the present study, we provide evidence supporting the suitability of the Attentional Networks Test for Interactions and Vigilance – executive and arousal components (ANTI-Vea) as an appropriate method to simultaneously assess multiple attentional and vigilance components. Vigilance was examined as two dissociated components: executive vigilance –as the detection of infrequent signals– and arousal vigilance –as the sustenance of a fast reaction to stimuli without response selection–. Importantly, the executive vigilance decrement was analyzed with a novel methodological approach to particularly determine whether the sensitivity loss effect is influenced by a floor level on the false alarms. As expected, the ANTI-Vea proved to be a task suitable to assess: (a) the main effects and interactions of phasic alertness, orienting, and executive control; (b) the executive vigilance decrement as a progressive change in the response bias; and (c) the arousal vigilance decrement as a progressive slowness and variability in reaction time. We discuss some critical theoretical and empirical implications of measuring vigilance components with the ANTI-Vea task. We expect the present study to provide a suitable method to analyze the vigilance decrement phenomenon when measuring multiple attentional and vigilance functions.Tradicionalmente, el decremento de la vigilancia se ha estudiado con tareas comportamentales simples y repetitivas. Sin embargo, actualmente existe un considerable interés en evaluar la vigilancia con tareas más complejas que incluyan medidas independientes de otros procesos atencionales. En el presente estudio, nuestro objetivo fue proporcionar nueva evidencia empírica sobre la adecuación del Test de Redes Atencionales para Interacciones y Vigilancia – componentes ejecutivo y de activación (ANTI-Vea) para medir simultáneamente múltiples componentes atencionales y de vigilancia. Examinamos la vigilancia como dos componentes disociados: vigilancia ejecutiva –como la detección de señales infrecuentes– y vigilancia de activación –como el mantenimiento de una reacción rápida a los estímulos sin control sobre la respuesta–. Es importante destacar que la vigilancia ejecutiva se analizó con un novedoso método para determinar si un efecto suelo en las falsas alarmas podría influenciar una disminución en la sensibilidad. Como se esperaba, se observó que la tarea ANTI-Vea es adecuada para medir: (a) los efectos principales e interacciones de las funciones de alerta fásica, orientación, y control ejecutivo; (b) el decremento en la vigilancia ejecutiva como un cambio en la tendencia de la respuesta; y (c) el decremento en la vigilancia de activación como un enlentecimiento y variabilidad de la respuesta. Discutimos algunas implicaciones teóricas y empíricas sobre la medición de los componentes de la vigilancia con la tarea ANTI-Vea. Esperamos que el presente estudio provea un método adecuado para analizar el decremento de la vigilancia cuando se evalúan múltiples funciones atencionales y de vigilancia.Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness PSI2017-84926-PSecretaria de Ciencia y Tecnologia from the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, ArgentinaConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CONICET)Asociacion Universitaria Iberoamericana de Posgrado (AUIP)Junta de AndaluciaJuan de la Cierva postdoctoral fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness IJCI-2015-2320

Estimulación eléctrica transcraneal: funcionamiento y usos en investigación

Existe evidencia de que en tiempos tan remotos como la antigüedad greco-romana se colocaban peces con propiedades eléctricas sobre la cabeza de personas con el fin de aliviar ciertas dolencias, como la migraña o alteraciones del estado anímico. Desde entonces el empleo de la corriente eléctrica para tratar estados patológicos o deficiencias se ha refinado progresivamente hasta el desarrollo de una técnica protocolizada, segura y eficaz, para modular el funcionamiento cerebral. Aquí abordamos los principios básicos de la estimulación eléctrica transcraneal y su uso en la modulación de procesos cognitivos tan relevantes como la atención.Fil: Hemmerich, Klara. Universidad de Granada. Centro de Investigación Mente, Cerebro y Comportamiento.; EspañaFil: Luna, Fernando Gabriel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas; ArgentinaFil: Lupiáñez Castillo, Juan. Universidad de Granada. Centro de Investigación Mente, Cerebro y Comportamiento.; EspañaFil: Martín Arévalo, Elisa. Universidad de Granada. Centro de Investigación Mente, Cerebro y Comportamiento.; Españ

Aprendizajes y prácticas educativas en las actuales condiciones de época: COVID-19

“Esta obra colectiva es el resultado de una convocatoria a docentes, investigadores y profesionales del campo pedagógico a visibilizar procesos investigativos y prácticas educativas situadas en el marco de COVI-19. La misma se inscribe en el trabajo llevado a cabo por el equipo de Investigación responsable del Proyecto “Sentidos y significados acerca de aprender en las actuales condiciones de época: un estudio con docentes y estudiantes de la educación secundarias en la ciudad de Córdoba” de la Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. El momento excepcional que estamos atravesando, pero que también nos atraviesa, ha modificado la percepción temporal a punto tal que habitamos un tiempo acelerado y angustiante que nos exige la producción de conocimiento provisorio. La presente publicación surge como un espacio para detenernos a documentar lo que nos acontece y, a su vez, como oportunidad para atesorar y resguardar las experiencias educativas que hemos construido, inventado y reinventando en este contexto. En ella encontrarán pluralidad de voces acerca de enseñar y aprender durante la pandemia. Este texto es una pausa para reflexionar sobre el hacer y las prácticas educativas por venir”.Fil: Beltramino, Lucia (comp.). Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Escuela de Archivología; Argentina

Mecanismos y bases electrofisiológicas de la atención involuntaria

Tesis Univ. Granada. Programa Oficial de Doctorado en: Psicologí

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of the Right Superior Parietal Lobule Modulates the Retro-Cue Benefit in Visual Short-Term Memory

Several studies have shown enhanced performance in change detection tasks when spatial cues indicating the probe’s location are presented after the memory array has disappeared (i.e., retro-cues) compared with spatial cues that are presented simultaneously with the test array (i.e., post-cues). This retro-cue benefit led some authors to propose the existence of two different stores of visual short-term memory: a weak but high-capacity store (fragile memory (FM)) linked to the effect of retro-cues and a robust but low-capacity store (working memory (WM)) linked to the effect of post-cues. The former is thought to be an attention-free system, whereas the latter would strictly depend on selective attention. Nonetheless, this dissociation is under debate, and several authors do not consider retro-cues as a proxy to measure the existence of an independent memory system (e.g., FM).We approached this controversial issue by altering the attention-related functions in the right superior parietal lobule (SPL) by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), whose effects were mediated by the integrity of the right superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF). Specifically, we asked whether TMS on the SPL affected the performance of retro cues vs. post-cues to a similar extent. The results showed that TMS on the SPL, mediated by right SLF-III integrity, produced a modulation of the retro-cue benefit, namely a memory capacity decrease in the post-cues but not in the retro-cues. These findings have strong implications for the debate on the existence of independent stages of visual short-term memory and for the growing literature showing a key role of the SLF for explaining the variability of TMS effects across participants.Spanish Ministry of Economy and CompetitivenessEuropean Commission PSI2015-73503-JI

Are eyes special? Electrophysiological and behavioural evidence for dissociation between gaze and arrow attentional mechanisms

It has been proposed that attention to eye-gaze may represent a unique attentional process. As such, it is predicted that the neural architecture supporting attention is different for gaze than for non-social symbols such as arrows. To test this prediction, we investigated the electrophysiological activity during a task in which participants were required to identify the direction of laterally presented eye-gaze or arrow targets. Opposite behavioural effects were observed: while arrows produced the typical effect, with faster responses when they were congruent with their position, eye-gaze targets produced a reversed effect with faster responses when they were incongruent. Event-related potentials showed common and dissociable congruency modulation: whereas eye-gaze and arrows showed similar effects on earlier ERP components (P1 and N1), they led to opposite effects in later components such as N2 and P3. This represents the first electrophysiological demonstration of both early shared and later dissociable congruency effects for eye-gaze and arrow stimuli. Both material and data of the study are fully reported