Response time variability and response inhibition predict affective problems in adolescent girls, not in boys: the TRAILS study

The present study examines the relationship between neurocognitive functioning and affective problems through adolescence, in a cross-sectional and longitudinal perspective. Baseline response speed, response speed variability, response inhibition, attentional flexibility and working memory were assessed in a cohort of 2,179 adolescents (age 10–12 years) from the TRacking Adolescents’ Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS). Affective problems were measured with the DSM-oriented Affective Problems scale of the Youth Self Report at wave 1 (baseline assessment), wave 2 (after 2.5 years) and wave 3 (after 5 years). Cross-sectionally, baseline response speed, response time variability, response inhibition and working memory were associated with baseline affective problems in girls, but not in boys. Longitudinally, enhanced response time variability predicted affective problems after 2.5 and 5 years in girls, but not in boys. Decreased response inhibition predicted affective problems after 5 years follow-up in girls, and again not in boys. The results are discussed in light of recent insights in gender differences in adolescence and state–trait issues in depression

Exercise and Creativity: Can One Bout of Yoga Improve Convergent and Divergent Thinking?

While creativity is a vastly debated topic, little research has been dedicated to determining whether exercise can boost cognitive factors associated with creativity, such as divergent thinking. Yoga, as a form of exercise, comprises physical activity and open-monitoring meditation, which may increase divergent thinking. We compared performance on a test of divergent thinking in healthy adults, the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults (ATTA), and one test of convergent thinking and field independence, the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT), before and after one session of ashtanga yoga, and one session of aerobic exercise. Divergent thinking was not affected by either intervention overall; however, fluency of novel ideas generated was reduced post-intervention in both groups. Practice effects were registered for the convergent thinking task, and those in the yoga group performed better at this task both at baseline and following yoga, although yoga did not lead to a greater change from baseline performance. The current findings do not suggest that one bout of yoga is associated with an immediate cognitive benefit. However, further research is required onto whether long-term yoga practice may enhance divergent thinking