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Cognitive Processes (cognitive + process)
Selected AbstractsCognitive Processes in Eye GuidanceEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY, Issue 9 2006K. A. Jellinger No abstract is available for this article. [source] Conversation Orientation and Cognitive Processes: A Comparison of U.S. Students in Initial Interaction With Native- Versus Nonnative-Speaking PartnersHUMAN COMMUNICATION RESEARCH, Issue 2 2003Ling Chen The present study compares thought patterns, perceptions of interaction (perceived interaction smoothness and interaction involvement), and conversation orientation of U.S. students (N = 60) in dyadic interaction with a partner who is either another American or a non-American nonnative speaker of English. As hypothesized, U.S. participants with nonnative-speaking partners perceived interaction as more difficult, or less smooth, than did their counterparts with native-speaking partners. U.S. participants with nonnative-speaking partners also displayed different thought patterns, having more thoughts showing confusion, as well as more thoughts focused on the partner and less on the content of the ongoing conversation, than those with fellow native-speaking partners. U.S. participants with a nonnative-speaking partner also exhibited a different conversation orientation pattern, focusing more on understanding of the other's message, less on clarifying their own message, and less on displaying their own involvement. Specific thought categories and perceived interaction smoothness were correlated with conversation orientation indices for participants in interactions between native and nonnative speakers. Finally, interaction involvement was found to contribute most to variation in perceived interaction smoothness for both U.S. and non-U.S. participants in interactions between native and nonnative speakers. Implications of the findings are discussed. [source] Learning Disabilities in Guatemala and Spain: A Cross-National Study of the Prevalence and Cognitive Processes Associated with Reading and Spelling DisabilitiesLEARNING DISABILITIES RESEARCH & PRACTICE, Issue 3 2007Juan E. Jiménez The main purposes of this research were twofold. We examined the samenesses about learning disabilities (LD) in Guatemala and Spain, two countries with the same language but cultural, political, and educational differences, first analyzing data about the prevalence of reading and spelling disabilities in Guatemala City and the Spanish region of the Canary Islands. The focus of the second study was to determine whether there are cross-national patterns of significant differences in cognitive processes associated with reading and spelling disabilities from a developmental approach in these two cultural contexts. We found some differences in the prevalence of specific LD in reading between both countries but we did not find significant differences between Guatemalan and Spanish reading-disabled children in cognitive processes that are involved in reading and spelling acquisition in spite of the cultural and educational differences between the two countries. [source] Metacognition, Theory of Mind, and Self-Control: The Relevance of High-Level Cognitive Processes in Development, Neuroscience, and EducationMIND, BRAIN, AND EDUCATION, Issue 3 2008Beate Sodian ABSTRACT, The cognitive control of behavior is critical for success in school. The emergence of self-control in development has been linked to the ability to represent one's own and others' mental states (theory of mind and metacognition). Despite rapid progress in exploring the neural correlates of both mind reading and executive function in recent years, to date, the implications of these high-level cognitive processes for issues relevant to education have hardly been addressed. The present special issue brings together developmental perspectives on the relation of self-control, theory of mind, and metacognition; theoretical and empirical contributions on the implications of theory of mind and self-control for teaching and learning; and brief reviews of the state of the art in cognitive neuroscience on these high-level cognitive processes in adolescents and adults. [source] Cognitive Processes in Cognitive Therapy: Evaluation of the Mechanisms of Change in the Treatment of DepressionCLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY: SCIENCE AND PRACTICE, Issue 3 2007Genevieve Garratt A central theoretical principle guiding cognitive therapy is that mediation by cognitive processes is linked to the successful treatment of depression. The most recent review of the literature on this question is over a decade old and was suggestive of cognitive mediation for cognitive therapy, but was not conclusive. Since this review, a number of studies have been published that address cognitive mediation. The mediation hypothesis can be broadly defined as encompassing two related questions: cognitive mediation framed as "are cognitive changes associated with therapeutic improvement," and cognitive specificity from the perspective of "are changes in cognition specific to cognitive therapy?" This latter question is particularly important when cognitive therapy is compared to pharmacotherapy. This article reviews the current literature associated with these questions. Our review indicates that the current body of research generally supports cognitive mediation, but is considerably more mixed for cognitive specificity. However, some evidence suggests that cognitive changes associated with pharmacotherapy are more superficial than those associated with cognitive therapy. [source] Influence of Alcohol Use Experience and Motivational Drive on College Students' Alcohol-Related CognitionALCOHOLISM, Issue 8 2009Roisin M. O'Connor Background:, Cognitive processes are thought to be pivotal to risk for heavy drinking. However, few studies have examined the alcohol cue-activated positive and negative semantic memory networks that may be pivotal to drinking behavior. Moreover, much is to be understood about the influences of cognitive processes, particularly in high-risk drinking samples such as college students. The current study examines the sequential process of alcohol cues activating valenced semantic memory networks, and the influences of prior drinking experience and individual differences in motivational drive on this automatic (implicit) cognitive process. Methods:, Participants (N = 138, 52% women) were college freshmen prescreened to represent the full range of drinking experience (i.e., current abstainers, light and heavy drinkers). Participants completed self-reports of past month alcohol use, and individual differences in behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and behavioral approach/activation system (BAS). Alcohol cue-elicited positive and negative semantic memory networks were assessed using a priming task. Results:, Results from the priming task revealed that for light drinkers alcohol cues were equally as likely to activate positive and negative semantic memory networks, suggesting relatively neutral cue-elicited alcohol attitudes. Conversely, for heavy drinkers, alcohol cues more readily activated positive relative to negative semantic memory networks, suggesting relatively positive cue-elicited alcohol attitudes. Furthermore, positive alcohol cue-elicited semantic memory networks (positive attitudes) were evident for individuals characterized by a strong BAS and weak BIS (as hypothesized) and those characterized by a weak BAS and weak BIS. Conclusions:, The findings suggest that alcohol-cue elicited positive semantic memory networks may be pivotal to risk for heavy drinking. Specifically, it is via the influence on this cognitive process that prior drinking experience and individual differences in motivational drive, respectively, may maintain and predispose individuals to risk for heavy alcohol use. [source] The Development of the Negative Pain Thoughts QuestionnairePAIN PRACTICE, Issue 5 2008Ana-Maria Vranceanu PhD ,,Abstract Background: Cognitive processes play a pivotal role in the perception of pain intensity, pain-related disability, and response to medical treatments including surgeries. While various measures of dysfunctional pain coping exist in the literature, there is no instrument available to examine such negative cognitions in relation to perceptions of medical treatment in pain patients presenting to a surgical orthopedics practice. Aims: The purpose of this article is to report on the development and preliminary testing of the Negative Pain Thoughts Questionnaire (NPTQ). Methods: The NPTQ is an 11-item questionnaire assessing cognitions about pain and its treatment in patients presenting to orthopedics surgical practices. It was administered to 2 samples of patients with hand and arm pain seeking medical treatment in a hospital surgical practice. Patients in the second sample also completed a measure of depression and one of disability of hand, arm, and shoulder. Results: The NPTQ was found to be internally consistent, and unidimensional. The NPTQ total score was found to have a moderate to high positive correlation with perceived hand, arm, and shoulder disability, and a moderate positive correlation with depression. In multivariate analyses, high scores on the NPTQ significantly predicted high perceived hand, arm, and shoulder disability, even after controlling for depression. Conclusion: This short and easily administered measure of negative pain thoughts could potentially help surgeons identify at risk patients, and facilitate referrals to cognitive behavioral therapy. This, in turn, may prevent unnecessary surgeries, may decrease healthcare costs, and prevent transition toward costly chronic pain syndrome.,, [source] Cognitive processes facilitated by contextual cueing: Evidence from event-related brain potentialsPSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, Issue 3 2009Andrea Schankin Abstract Finding a target in repeated search displays is faster than finding the same target in novel ones (contextual cueing). It is assumed that the visual context (the arrangement of the distracting objects) is used to guide attention efficiently to the target location. Alternatively, other factors, e.g., facilitation in early visual processing or in response selection, may play a role as well. In a contextual cueing experiment, participant's electrophysiological brain activity was recorded. Participants identified the target faster and more accurately in repeatedly presented displays. In this condition, the N2pc, a component reflecting the allocation of visual-spatial attention, was enhanced, indicating that attention was allocated more efficiently to those targets. However, also response-related processes, reflected by the LRP, were facilitated, indicating that guidance of attention cannot account for the entire contextual cueing benefit. [source] Cognitive processes in evaluating reference lettersAPPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2010Kin Fai Ellick Wong This study simultaneously evaluates confirmatory information search theory and dual-process theory in a selection process that uses reference letters as the evaluation tool. Confirmatory information search suggests that evaluators give attention to information that is congruent with first impressions. Dual-processes theory suggests that evaluators give attention to information that is incongruent with first impressions. Using a sample of undergraduate students, in two separate experiments, we found that a poor impression from the résumé led to more positive information and less negative information searching in reference letters than did a good impression. These results of both experiments suggest that reference letter evaluators are likely to use cognitive processes associated with dual-process theory. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Avoiding Accounting Fixation: Determinants of Cognitive Adaptation to Differences in Accounting Method,CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTING RESEARCH, Issue 2 2005DAVID T. DEARMAN Abstract Much research over the last 30 years has provided evidence that individuals display accounting fixation; that is, their cognitive process does not appropriately adapt to cross-sectional or temporal differences in an accounting method. This paper presents the results of a quasi-experimental test of the hypothesis that cognitive adaptation to a change in accounting method is an ordinal interactive function of three person characteristics: relevant accounting knowledge, general problem-solving ability, and intrinsic motivation to appropriately engage in the decision task. Based on a product-pricing decision task in which participants are provided with product costs reported by two generally employed product-costing methods (activity-based costing [ABC] and volume-based costing), the results show that the majority of participants did not change their cognitive behavior when there was a change in the costing method. Further, those participants who did adapt to the change in accounting method, and thus avoided accounting fixation, did so by debiasing costs reported by volume-based costing but not by ABC. Finally, these adapters generally exhibited high values for all three of the person characteristics compared with those who did not adapt. [source] Adoption of voluntary environmental tools for sustainable tourism: analysing the experience of Spanish hotelsCORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2006Silvia Ayuso Abstract Since the early 1990s, tourism companies, mostly hotel facilities, have undertaken different voluntary initiatives to show their commitment to sustainable tourism. Among the voluntary tools applied by the hotel industry, the most common are codes of conduct, best environmental practices, eco-labels, environmental management systems (EMSs) and environmental performance indicators. This article presents the findings of empirical research conducted with Spanish hotels that have adopted one or more of the existing environmental tools. Based on a qualitative exploration of perceptions and experiences of hotel managers applying these instruments, the general understanding of the concept of sustainable tourism is examined, and the practical application of different voluntary environmental instruments is analysed. In an attempt to interpret the facilitators and barriers reported by hotel companies, three interpretative approaches are combined to explain the selective adoption of environmental tools: the perspective of competitive advantages, the perspective of stakeholders' influence and the perspective of the human cognitive process. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Children use categories to maximize accuracy in estimationDEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, Issue 6 2006Sean Duffy The present study tests a model of category effects upon stimulus estimation in children. Prior work with adults suggests that people inductively generalize distributional information about a category of stimuli and use this information to adjust their estimates of individual stimuli in a way that maximizes average accuracy in estimation (see Huttenlocher, Hedges & Vevea, 2000). However, little is known about the developmental origin of this cognitive process. In the present study, 5- and 7-year-old children viewed stimuli that varied in size and reproduced each from memory. Consistent with the predictions of a Bayesian model of category effects on estimation, responses were adjusted toward the central value of the stimulus distribution. Additionally, the dispersion of the stimulus distribution affected the pattern of bias and variability of responses in a way that is predicted by the model. The results suggest that, like adults, children use categories for increasing average accuracy in estimating inexact stimuli. [source] Functional specificity of human premotor,motor cortical interactions during action selectionEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 7 2007Jacinta O'Shea Abstract Functional connections between dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) and primary motor cortex (M1) have been revealed by paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). We tested if such connections would be modulated during a cognitive process (response selection) known to rely on those circuits. PMd,M1 TMS applied 75 ms after a cue to select a manual response facilitated motor-evoked potentials (MEPs). MEPs were facilitated at 50 ms in a control task of response execution, suggesting that PMd,M1 interactions at 75 ms are functionally specific to the process of response selection. At 100 ms, PMd,M1 TMS delayed choice reaction time (RT). Importantly, the MEP (at 75 ms) and the RT (at 100 ms) effects were correlated in a way that was hand-specific. When the response was made with the M1-contralateral hand, MEPs correlated with slower RTs. When the response was made with the M1-ipsilateral hand, MEPs correlated with faster RTs. Paired-pulse TMS confined to M1 did not produce these effects, confirming the causal influence of PMd inputs. This study shows that a response selection signal evolves in PMd early during the reaction period (75,100 ms), impacts on M1 and affects behaviour. Such interactions are temporally, anatomically and functionally specific, and have a causal role in choosing which movement to make. [source] The Anatomy of Anger: An Integrative Cognitive Model of Trait Anger and Reactive AggressionJOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 1 2010Benjamin M. Wilkowski ABSTRACT This paper presents an integrative cognitive model, according to which individual differences in 3 cognitive processes jointly contribute to a person's level of trait anger and reactive aggression. An automatic tendency to attribute hostile traits to others is the first of these cognitive processes, and this process is proposed to be responsible for the more frequent elicitation of anger, particularly when hostile intent is ambiguous. Rumination on hostile thoughts is the second cognitive process proposed, which is likely to be responsible for prolonging and intensifying angry emotional states. The authors finally propose that low trait anger individuals use effortful control resources to self-regulate the influence of their hostile thoughts, whereas those high in trait anger do not. A particular emphasis of this review is implicit cognitive sources of evidence for the proposed mechanisms. The authors conclude with a discussion of important future directions, including how the proposed model can be further verified, broadened to take into account motivational factors, and applied to help understand anger-related social problems. [source] Influence of Alcohol Use Experience and Motivational Drive on College Students' Alcohol-Related CognitionALCOHOLISM, Issue 8 2009Roisin M. O'Connor Background:, Cognitive processes are thought to be pivotal to risk for heavy drinking. However, few studies have examined the alcohol cue-activated positive and negative semantic memory networks that may be pivotal to drinking behavior. Moreover, much is to be understood about the influences of cognitive processes, particularly in high-risk drinking samples such as college students. The current study examines the sequential process of alcohol cues activating valenced semantic memory networks, and the influences of prior drinking experience and individual differences in motivational drive on this automatic (implicit) cognitive process. Methods:, Participants (N = 138, 52% women) were college freshmen prescreened to represent the full range of drinking experience (i.e., current abstainers, light and heavy drinkers). Participants completed self-reports of past month alcohol use, and individual differences in behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and behavioral approach/activation system (BAS). Alcohol cue-elicited positive and negative semantic memory networks were assessed using a priming task. Results:, Results from the priming task revealed that for light drinkers alcohol cues were equally as likely to activate positive and negative semantic memory networks, suggesting relatively neutral cue-elicited alcohol attitudes. Conversely, for heavy drinkers, alcohol cues more readily activated positive relative to negative semantic memory networks, suggesting relatively positive cue-elicited alcohol attitudes. Furthermore, positive alcohol cue-elicited semantic memory networks (positive attitudes) were evident for individuals characterized by a strong BAS and weak BIS (as hypothesized) and those characterized by a weak BAS and weak BIS. Conclusions:, The findings suggest that alcohol-cue elicited positive semantic memory networks may be pivotal to risk for heavy drinking. Specifically, it is via the influence on this cognitive process that prior drinking experience and individual differences in motivational drive, respectively, may maintain and predispose individuals to risk for heavy alcohol use. [source] Toward a chronopsychophysiology of mental rotationPSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, Issue 4 2002Martin Heil In a parity judgment task, the ERPs at parietal electrode sites become the more negative the more mental rotation has to be executed. In two experiments, it was investigated whether a temporal relationship exists between the onset of this amplitude modulation and the moment when mental rotation is executed. Therefore, the duration of processing stages located before mental rotation was manipulated. The amplitude modulation was delayed when either the perceptual quality of the stimulus was reduced (Experiment 1) or when character discrimination was more difficult (Experiment 2). The results suggest that the onset of the rotation-related negativity might be used as a chronopsychophysiological marker for the onset of the cognitive process of mental rotation. [source] Perceptual Diversity: Is Polyphasic Consciousness Necessary for Global Survival?ANTHROPOLOGY OF CONSCIOUSNESS, Issue 1 2001Tara W. Lumpkin Perceptual diversity allows human beings to access knowledge through a variety of perceptual processes, rather than merely through everyday waking reality. Many of these perceptual processes are transrational altered states of consciousness (meditation, trance, dreams, imagination) and are not considered valid processes for accessing knowledge by science (which is based primarily upon quantification, reductionism, and the experimental method). According to Erika Bourguignon's (1973) research in the 1970s, approximately 90 percent of cultures have institutionalized forms of altered states of consciousness, meaning that such types of consciousness are to be found in most human societies and are "normal." Now, however, transrational consciousness is being devalued in many societies as it is simultaneously being replaced by the monophasic consciousness of "developed" nations. Not only are we are losing (1) biodiversity (biocomplexity) in environments and (2) cultural diversity in societies, we also are losing (3) perceptual diversity in human cognitive processes. All three losses of diversity (bio, cultural, and cognitive) are interrelated. Cultures that value perceptual diversity are more adaptable than cultures that do not. Perceptually diverse cultures are better able to understand whole systems (because they use a variety of perceptual processes to understand systems) than are cultures that rely only on the scientific method, which dissects systems. They also are better stewards of their environments, because they grasp the value of the whole of biodiversity (biocomplexity) through transrational as well as scientific processes. Understanding through perceptual diversity leads to a higher degree of adaptability and evolutionary competence. From the perspective of an anthropologist who has worked with development organizations, development will continue to destroy perceptual diversity because it exports the dominant cognitive process of "developed" nations, i.e., monophasic consciousness. Destroying perceptual diversity, in turn, leads to the destruction of cultural diversity and biocomplexity. Drawing from research I conducted among traditional healers in Namibia, I conclude that development organizations need to listen to those who use transrational perceptual processes and also need to find a way to incorporate and validate perceptual diversity in their theoretical and applied frameworks. [source] Configuration-Based Processing of Phosphene Pattern Recognition for Simulated Prosthetic VisionARTIFICIAL ORGANS, Issue 4 2010Hong Guo Abstract Visual prosthesis can elicit phosphenes by stimulating the retina, optic nerve, or visual cortex along the visual pathway. Psychophysical studies have demonstrated that visual function can be partly recovered with phosphene-based prosthetic vision. This study investigated the cognitive process of prosthetic vision through a face recognition task. Both behavioral response and the face-specific N170 component of event-related potential were analyzed in the presence of face and non-face stimuli with natural and simulated prosthetic vision. Our results showed that: (i) the accuracy of phosphene face recognition was comparable with that of the normal one when phosphene grid increased to 25 × 21 or more; (ii) shorter response time was needed for phosphene face recognition; and (iii) the N170 component was delayed and enhanced under phosphene stimuli. It was suggested that recognition of phosphene patterns employ a configuration-based holistic processing mechanism with a distinct substage unspecific to faces. [source] Social Identity, Organizational Identity and Corporate Identity: Towards an Integrated Understanding of Processes, Patternings and ProductsBRITISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, Issue 2007Joep P. Cornelissen This paper provides an overview of previous work that has explored issues of social, organizational and corporate identity. Differences in the form and focus of research into these three topics are noted. Social identity work generally examines issues of cognitive process and structure; organizational identity research tends to address the patterning of shared meanings; studies of corporate identity tend to focus on products that communicate a specific image. Nonetheless, across these areas there is general consensus that collective identities are (a) made viable by their positivity and distinctiveness, (b) fluid, (c) a basis for shared perceptions and action, (d) strategically created and managed, (e) qualitatively different from individual identities and (f) the basis for material outcomes and products. This paper calls for greater cross-fertilization of the three identity literatures and discusses requirements for the integration of micro- and macro-level analyses. [source] Linking stigma to psychological distress: testing a social,cognitive model of the experience of people with intellectual disabilitiesCLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY (AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THEORY & PRACTICE), Issue 4 2004Dave Dagnan In this study we explore the link between the social experience of people with intellectual disabilities and core cognitive process that have previously been shown to be related to a range of psychological disorders. Thirty-nine people with intellectual disabilities completed self-report scales measuring the perception of stigma, core negative evaluations and social comparison. Correlation analysis suggests that core negative evaluative beliefs about the self are positively associated with the experience of feeling different: a process that could be described as internalizing the experienced stigma. Relationships were also found between negative self-evaluations and the social attractiveness dimension of the social comparison scale. Using regression techniques stigma was found to have an impact on social comparison processes that was mediated by evaluative beliefs. These findings support a social,cognitive view of the importance of the social world to people with an intellectual disability, and the psychological damage that stigmatization can cause. We discuss interventions that integrate both social and cognitive domains.,Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The Physical Context of CreativityCREATIVITY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2004Tore Kristensen Creative processes are complex and consist of sub-processes, e.g. value creation, scaffolding, imagination and materialization. Creativity takes place in a physical context, i.e. in a confined space. Such space restricts and enables the free flow of sensory experiences and proximity of other people. The confinements may make certain sensory experiences available, e.g. vision of source material, sight and sound (including noise). This framing allows certain cognitive processes and restricts others. This may induce emotions that, in turn, facilitate or reduce the enhancement of creativity. Physical space affects the well-being of people, the channels of information, the availability of knowledge tools and sets the stage for coherence and continuity, which may contribute to competitive advantages. [source] Longitudinal assessment of symptom and subtype categories in obsessive,compulsive disorderDEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, Issue 7 2007Lutfullah Besiroglu M.D. Abstract Although it has been postulated that symptom subtypes are potential predictors of treatment response, few data exist on the longitudinal course of symptom and subtype categories in obsessive,compulsive disorder (OCD). Putative subtypes of OCD have gradually gained more recognition, but as yet there is no generally accepted subtype discrimination. Subtypes, it has been suggested, could perhaps be discriminated based on autogenous versus reactive obsessions stemming from different cognitive processes. In this study, our aim was to assess whether symptom and subtype categories change over time. Using the Yale,Brown Obsessive Compulsive Symptom Checklist (Y-BOCS-SC), we assessed 109 patients who met DSM-IV criteria for OCD to establish baseline values, then reassessed 91 (83%) of the initial group after 36±8.2 months. Upon reassessment, we found significant changes from baseline within aggressive, contamination, religious, symmetry and miscellaneous obsessions and within checking, washing, repeating, counting and ordering compulsion categories. Sexual, hoarding, and somatic obsessions, and hoarding and miscellaneous compulsions, did not change significantly. In accordance with the relevant literature, we also assigned patients to one of three subtypes,autogenous, reactive, or mixed groups. Though some changes in subtype categories were found, no subtype shifts (e.g., autogenous to reactive or reactive to autogenous) were observed during the course of the study. Significantly more patients in the autogenous group did not meet OCD criteria at follow-up than did patients in the other groups. Our results suggest that the discrimination between these two types of obsession might be highly valid, because autogenous and reactive obsessions are quite different, both in the development and maintenance of their cognitive mechanisms, and in their outcome. Depression and Anxiety 24:461,466, 2007. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Cognitive specificity of anxiety disorders: a review of selected key constructsDEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, Issue 2 2006F.R.A.N.Z.C.P., Ph.D., Vladan Starcevic M.D. Abstract Cognitive models of anxiety disorders propose that certain cognitive constructs, that is, underlying beliefs and cognitive processes, may be specific for particular disorders. In this article, we review the specificity of four representative cognitive constructs,anxiety sensitivity, pathological worry, intolerance of uncertainty, and thought,action fusion,for particular disorders. Conceptual overlap, inconsistent definitions, and insufficient consideration of the components of these constructs are limitations of the existing literature. We suggest that the constructs are unlikely to be pathognomonic for any given disorder or to occur in isolation. Rather, the association of each cognitive construct is evident, to varying degrees, with different disorders. Relative to other disorders, anxiety sensitivity is to a certain extent specific for panic disorder, as are pathological worry for generalized anxiety disorder, intolerance of uncertainty for generalized anxiety disorder and obsessive,compulsive disorder, and thought,action fusion for obsessive,compulsive disorder. We discuss the implications of these findings for diagnostic systems and treatment, and suggest areas for further research. Depression and Anxiety 23:51,61, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] A cognitive and affective pattern in posterior fossa strokes in children: a case seriesDEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 7 2010MANOELLE KOSSOROTOFF Aim, Posterior fossa strokes account for about 10% of ischaemic strokes in children. Although motor and dysautonomic symptoms are common, to our knowledge cognitive and affective deficits have not been described in the paediatric literature. Our aim, therefore, was to describe these symptoms and deficits. Method, In a retrospective study, we included all cases of posterior fossa strokes in children occurring at a single centre between 2005 and 2007, and investigated cognitive and affective deficits. Results, Five males aged 3 to 14 years met the inclusion criteria. They all presented very early with mood disturbances: outbursts of laughter and/or crying and alternating agitation or prostration that disappeared spontaneously within a few days. Persistent cognitive deficits were also diagnosed in all five: initial mutism, then anomia, followed by comprehension deficiency and deficiencies of planning ability, visual,spatial organization, and attention. Despite early and intensive rehabilitation, recovery from these cognitive deficits was slow and sometimes incomplete, and on follow-up they proved to be more disabling than the motor symptoms. Interpretation, These findings are similar to the cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome described in adults, and quite similar to the language and affective deficits observed in children after surgery for posterior fossa tumour. This is consistent with the role of the cerebellum and brainstem in affective and cognitive processes from early development. [source] Something old, something new: a developmental transition from familiarity to novelty preferences with hidden objectsDEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, Issue 2 2010Jeanne L. Shinskey Novelty seeking is viewed as adaptive, and novelty preferences in infancy predict cognitive performance into adulthood. Yet 7-month-olds prefer familiar stimuli to novel ones when searching for hidden objects, in contrast to their strong novelty preferences with visible objects (Shinskey & Munakata, 2005). According to a graded representations perspective on object knowledge, infants gradually develop stronger object representations through experience, such that representations of familiar objects can be better maintained, supporting greater search than with novel objects. Object representations should strengthen with further development to allow older infants to shift from familiarity to novelty preferences with hidden objects. The current study tested this prediction by presenting 24 11-month-olds with novel and familiar objects that were sometimes visible and sometimes hidden. Unlike 7-month-olds, 11-month-olds showed novelty preferences with both visible and hidden objects. This developmental shift from familiarity to novelty preference with hidden objects parallels one that infants show months earlier with perceptible stimuli, but the two transitions may reflect different underlying mechanisms. The current findings suggest both change and continuity in the adaptive development of object representations and associated cognitive processes. [source] The eyes have it: visual pop-out in infants and adultsDEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, Issue 2 2006Scott A. Adler Visual search studies with adults have shown that stimuli that contain a unique perceptual feature pop out from dissimilar distractors and are unaffected by the number of distractors. Studies with very young infants have suggested that they too might exhibit pop-out. However, infant studies have used paradigms in which pop-out is measured in seconds or minutes, whereas in adults pop-out occurs in milliseconds. In addition, with the previous infant paradigms the effects from higher cognitive processes such as memory cannot be separated from pop-out and selective attention. Consequently, whether infants exhibit the phenomenon of pop-out and have selective attention mechanisms as found in adults is not clear. This study was an initial attempt to design a paradigm that would provide a comparable measure between infants and adults, thereby allowing a more accurate determination of the developmental course of pop-out and selective attention mechanisms. To this end, we measured 3-month-olds' and adults' saccade latencies to visual arrays that contained either a + among Ls (target-present) or all Ls (target-absent) with set sizes of 1, 3, 5 or 8 items. In Experiment 1, infants' saccade latencies remained unchanged in the target-present conditions as set size increased, whereas their saccade latencies increased linearly in the target-absent conditions as set size increased. In Experiment 2, adults' saccade latencies in the target-present and target-absent conditions showed the same pattern as the infants. The only difference between the infants and adults was that the infants' saccade latencies were slower in every condition. These results indicate that infants do exhibit pop-out on a millisecond scale, that it is unaffected by the number of distractors, and likely have similar functioning selective attention mechanisms. Moreover, the results indicate that eye movement latencies are a more comparable and accurate measure for assessing the phenomenon of pop-out and underlying attentional mechanisms in infants. [source] Neuroanatomical basis for therapeutic applications of cannabinoid receptor 1 antagonistsDRUG DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH, Issue 8 2009Brian F. Thomas Abstract The CB1 receptor is a Class A G-protein coupled receptor that has a high density and widespread distribution within the central nervous system. Because of its neuroanatomical distribution, the endocannabinoid system can modulate a wide variety of psychological and physiological functions. For example, CB1 receptors are found in brain regions regulating motor activity, cognitive processes, pain, satiety, appetitive behaviors and reward. In correspondence with this distribution, modulation of the endocannabinoid system has been shown to produce changes in coordination, executive function, memory, mood, perception, wakefulness, nociception and appetite. Administration of cannabinoid agonists has also been therapeutically used to reduce nausea, and is also known to decrease body temperature and neuronal excitability, pointing to additional roles for endocannabinoids in these and other physiological/neurological processes. The ongoing elucidation and characterization of the neuroanatomical circuitry within which the CB1 cannabinoid receptor and endocannabinoids are localized to modulate these psychological and physiological processes continues to suggest therapeutic applications for cannabinoid antagonists and inverse agonists. Drug Dev Res 70:527,554, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] In vitro and in vivo characterization of TC-1827, a novel brain ,4,2 nicotinic receptor agonist with pro-cognitive activityDRUG DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH, Issue 1 2004Georg Andrees Bohme Abstract Nicotine activates specific receptors that are cation-permeable ionic channels located in the central and autonomous nervous systems, as well as at the neuromuscular junction. Administration of nicotine to animals and humans has been shown to enhance cognitive processes. However, side effects linked to the activation of peripheral nicotinic receptors limit the usefulness of nicotine for the treatment of cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) or mild cognitive impairments (MCI). The synthesis and properties of TC-1827, a novel metanicotine derivative that activates brain ,4,2 nicotinic receptors is described. TC-1827 has high affinity for nicotine-labeled receptors in the cortex (Ki=34 nM), full-agonist intrinsic activity in ,4,2 -mediated neurotransmitter release studies in synaptosomes, and has no functional activity at nicotinic receptors in ganglionic or muscular cell lines. The compound enhances long-term potentiation in hippocampal slices, a form of synaptic plasticity thought to be involved in information storage at the cellular level. In vivo studies demonstrate that TC-1827 dose-dependently occupies thalamic nicotinic receptors labeled with [3H]-cytisine, increases cortical extracellular acetylcholine levels following oral administration, and enhances cognitive performance in rat and mice behavioral procedures of learning and memory. Pharmacokinetic studies in mice, rats, and monkeys indicated that TC-1827 has good oral absorption with a first pass effect resulting in bioavailabilities of 13,65% across dose/species. Cardiovascular safety studies indicate good cardiovascular tolerability for this compound. The present data demonstrate that TC-1827 is a selective and potent activator of brain ,4,2 nicotinic receptors and is a prototypical member of a new class of compounds with potential utility in the symptomatic treatment of cognitive disorders including AD and MCI. Drug Dev. Res. 62:26,40, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] The Relative Influence of Epileptic EEG Discharges, Short Nonconvulsive Seizures, and Type of Epilepsy on Cognitive FunctionEPILEPSIA, Issue 1 2004Albert Aldenkamp Summary: Purpose: This study addressed whether cognitive impairment in children with epilepsy is caused by disease-related stable factors, such as the type of epilepsy, or by acute effects of paroxysmal epileptic activity such as epileptic EEG discharges. We studied a nonselected group with short nonconvulsive seizures, as these seizures may elude detection and may therefore persist over a longer period. In this group, the diagnostic issue is to differentiate between the combined effects of several epilepsy-related factors on cognition. Methods: All children were assessed with 32-channel EEG, synchronized with a computerized cognitive test system and a video-monitoring system. Recording time was 2 h. The primary inclusion criteria were unclear seizures and fluctuations in cognitive performance and/or frequent epileptic EEG discharges in a recent EEG. Results: One hundred fifty-two patients met the inclusion criteria; 31 patients appeared not to have a diagnosis of epilepsy and were used as a nonepilepsy control group. Our results show that type of epilepsy has an impact on stable cognitive functions, such as educational achievement. Paroxysmal epileptic activity (acute effects of seizures and epileptic EEG discharges) affects primarily transient mechanistic cognitive processes (alertness, mental speed). Conclusions: These results suggest that the effects of paroxysmal epileptic activity on transient cognitive mechanisms may accumulate over time and consequently affect the more stable aspects of cognitive function such as educational achievement. The clinical relevance is that early detection of the cognitive impact of seizure-related activity and subsequent treatment may prevent its detrimental impact on cognitive and educational development. [source] VIQ-PIQ Discrepancies in Partial Epilepsy: On the Relation to Lat- eralities of Focal MRI Lesions, P3 Peaks, and Focal Spikes.EPILEPSIA, Issue 2000Osamu Kanazawa Purpose: A number of previous ncurophysiological studies have indicated that the glutamatergic system is important in the induction of epileptiform activity and the dcvelopment of epileptogenesis. Clutamate transport is the primary mechanism of inactivation of syiiaptically released glutamate. GLAST is classified BS an astrocytic transporter and occurs in high concentrations in the ccrebcllum. The pathophysiologic rolc of GLAST in epilepsy is not known in detail. To investigate the role of thc astroglial glutamatc transporter GLAST in epileptogenesis, we compared amygdalu-kindling and pentylenctetrazolc (PTZ) induced seizures in GLAST-deficient mice (GLAST(-/-)) wild-type mice (GLAST(+/+)), and maternal C57Black6/J mice (C57). Purpose: Subtest IQ such as verbal IQ (VIQ) and performance IQ (PIQ) in WAIS or WISC are thought to represent neuropsychological functions of the left and right hemispheres, respectively. The P300 (P3) event-related potential reflects cognitive processes. We do not ye1 know the brain site of P3 origin or how epileptogenic foci (EF) influ- ence P3 potentials. To examine neuropsychological influence by partial epilepsy (PE), we studied VIQ-PIQ discrepancies in PE in relation to lateralities of focal MRI lesions, P3 peaks, and EF. Methods: Thirteen patients showed VIQ-PIQ discrepancies significant at the p7lt;O.O5 level, represented by a>l2-point spread for the WAIS in adults, and a 15-point spread in the WISC in children. We evoked P3 potentials in the individuals with discrepant IQ differences by asking them to keep a mental count of rare tones, including introduction of oddbail tones. EEGs were recorded by the international 10,20 system and P3 peaks were shown in a topographical view by offline analysis. Patients were divided into normal and abnormal groups according to MRI findings, and were examined for the laterali- ties of the dominant side in subtest IQ (conventionally, we regarded higher VIQ as left hemisphere dominant and higher PIQ as right hemisphere dominant), P3 peaks, and EF. We did not correlate results with lert or right handedness. Results: Five patients (38.5%) were in the normal group and 8 patients (61.5%) were in the abnormal group. Concordance of the lateralities in P3 peaks and dominant side in subtest IQ was shown in 1 patient (20%) in the normal group and 5 patients (62.5%) in the abnormal group. In the normal group, all patients showed contralateral P3 peak shift to EF, and all except I patient showed contralateral P3 peak shift to the dominant side in subtest IQ. The other 3 patients in the abnormal group showed unilateral focal cortical dysplasias (FCD), ipsilateral P3 shift, and contralateral dominant side in subtest IQ to the focal MRI lesions. Conclusion: In our partial epilepsy series with VIQ-PIQ discrepancies, concordance of the lateralities in P3 peaks and dominant side in subtest IQ was shown in < half of the patients. Epileptogenic foci seem to have 3 different grades of influence on P3 peak shift and dominant side in subtest IQ according to the severities of accompanying focal MRI lesions: 1. Without MRI lesions, EF can make P3 peak shift contralaterally, but the dominant side in the subtest IQ shift ipsilaterally; 2. With less severe focal MRI lesions such as hippocampal atrophy etc., EF can make not only P3 peaks but also the dominant side in the subtest IQ shift contralaterally; 3. With severe focal MRI lesions such as FCD, EF can make the dominant side in the subtest IQ shift contralaterally, but the P3 peak may shift ipsilaterally. Epileptogenic foci without MRI lesions seem to control ipsilateral P3 potentials. MRI lesions render a hemisphere unlikely to become dominant, but epileptogenic foci can coexist with apparently normal neuropsychological function. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||