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Stage 1 IPA at Cortex

This study examined whether error-related brain responses are sensitive to the degree of error inevitability, a factor which seriously affects the attribution of moral responsibility for an error. We were especially interested in error-related negativity (ERN), which is an electrophysiological marker of subjective evaluation of error significance and its motivational value. In addition, we focused on post-error slowing, which is a post-error behavioural adjustment. We hypothesized that the more avoidable the error, and consequently the greater its significance and motivational value, the larger the ERN amplitude, the shorter the ERN latency, and the greater the post-error slowing should be. To elicit errors whose inevitability varies, we used the stop-signal task. The inevitability of errors in this task depends on whether the stop signal is presented before or after a point beyond which the completion of the movement cannot be cancelled. Consistent with our hypotheses, we found that the higher motivational value of avoidable errors was indeed reflected in larger and earlier ERNs. Moreover, avoidable errors led to greater adjustments in subsequent behaviour aimed at preventing similar failures in the future. These findings show that early performance monitoring, as reflected by ERN, involves an evaluation of error inevitability. In a broader perspective, these results indicate that the elementary basis for distinguishing between culpable (avoidable) and non-culpable (unavoidable) errors may occur in the brain several dozen milliseconds after error commission.

Semantic priming has been studied for nearly 50 years across various experimental manipulations and theoretical frameworks. These studies provide insight into the cognitive underpinnings of semantic representations in both healthy and clinical populations; however, they have suffered from several issues including generally low sample sizes and a lack of diversity in linguistic implementations. Here, we will test the size and the variability of the semantic priming effect across ten languages by creating a large database of semantic priming values, based on an adaptive sampling procedure. Differences in response latencies between related word-pair conditions and unrelated word-pair conditions (i.e., difference score confidence interval is greater than zero) will allow quantifying evidence for semantic priming, whereas improvements in model fit with the addition of a random intercept for language will provide support for variability in semantic priming across languages.

Despite the growing emphasis on embedding interactive social paradigms in the field of cognitive and affective neuroscience, the impact of socially induced emotions on cognition remains widely unknown. The aim of the present study was to fill this gap by testing whether facial stimuli whose emotional valence was acquired through social learning in an economic trust game may influence cognitive performance in a subsequent stop-signal task. The study was designed as a conceptual replication of previous event-related potential experiments, extending them to more naturalistic settings. We hypothesized that response inhibition to briefly presented faces of negative and positive game partners would be enhanced on the behavioral and neural levels as compared to trials with a neutral player. The results revealed that the trust game was an effective paradigm for the induction of differently valenced emotions towards players; however, behavioral inhibitory performance was comparable in all stop-signal conditions. On the neural level, we found decreased P3 amplitude in negative trials due to significantly stronger activation in the right frontoparietal control network, which is involved in theory-of-mind operations and underlies social abilities in humans, especially memory-guided inference of others' mental states. Our findings make an important contribution to the cognition-emotion literature by showing that social interactions that take place during an economic game may influence brain activity within the mentalizing network in a subsequent cognitive task.

Skala Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination III (ACE-III) jest poszerzonym narzędziem przesiewowej oceny funkcji poznawczych, użytecznym we wczesnym wykrywaniu zaburzeń poznawczych, wstępnej diagnostyce różnicowej zespołów otępiennych oraz monitorowaniu postępu choroby. ACE-III ocenia uwagę i orientację, pamięć, fluencję słowną, funkcje językowe i wzrokowo-przestrzenne. Skala może być używana przez lekarzy i psychologów, zarówno jako narzędzie przesiewowe, jak i jako wstęp do kompleksowej oceny neuropsychologicznej. ACE-III zawiera również krótsze narzędzie, Mini-ACE, które w razie potrzeby może być stosowane niezależnie. W niniejszej pracy ACE-III porównano z innymi najbardziej popularnymi skalami przesiewowej oceny funkcji poznawczych: Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) oraz Montrealską Skalą Oceny Funkcji Poznawczych (Montreal Cognitive Assessment, MoCA). Następnie omówiono przydatność kliniczną analizy profilu wykonania ACE-III w diagnostyce różnicowej wybranych chorób neurozwyrodnieniowych. Zaprezentowano profile wykonania ACE-III typowe dla choroby Alzheimera (zarówno o wczesnym, jak i o późnym początku), zwyrodnienia czołowo-skroniowego, choroby Parkinsona, atypowych zespołów parkinsonowskich oraz otępienia naczyniopochodnego. Spośród atypowych wariantów choroby Alzheimera uwzględniono zanik korowy tylny, wariant logopeniczny afazji pierwotnej postępującej i wariant czołowy. Spośród podstawowych wariantów zwyrodnienia czołowo-skroniowego przedstawiono wariant behawioralny otępienia czołowo-skroniowego oraz niepłynny i semantyczny wariant afazji pierwotnej postępującej. Wreszcie spośród zespołów parkinsonizm plus omówiono otępienie z ciałami Lewy’ego, zanik wieloukładowy, postępujące porażenie ponadjądrowe i zwyrodnienie korowo-podstawne. Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination III (ACE-III) is an extended cognitive screening instrument for an early detection of cognitive impairment, initial differential diagnosis of dementia syndromes and monitoring of disease progression. ACE-III assesses attention and orientation, memory, verbal fluency, language and visuospatial function. The scale may be used by physicians and psychologists as either a stand-alone cognitive screening or an introduction to a more in-depth neuropsychological assessment. It comprises a shorter scale, Mini-ACE, which can also be used independently as a very short screening. In this paper, the ACE-III was compared with other most common cognitive screening tools, such as the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). We have presented the clinical utility of ACE-III profile analysis in the differential diagnosis of selected neurodegenerative diseases. We have reviewed ACE-III profiles typical for late and early onset Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal lobar degeneration syndromes, Parkinson’s disease and a typical parkinsonian syndromes as well as vascular dementia. Among Alzheimer’s disease atypical variants, posterior cortical atrophy, logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia and frontal variant have been discussed. As regards the frontotemporal lobar degeneration spectrum, the behavioural variant of frontotemporal dementia, non-f luent and semantic variants of primary progressive aphasia have been presented. Finally, among parkinsonism plus syndromes, dementia with Lewy bodies, multiple system atrophy, progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration have been reviewed.

The first aim of the present study was to test whether arousing, aversive sounds can influence inhibitory task performance and lead to increased error monitoring relative to a neutral task condition. The second aim was to examine whether the enhancement of error monitoring in an affective context (if present) could be predicted from stop-signal-related brain activity. Participants performed an emotional stop-signal task that required response inhibition to aversive and neutral auditory stimuli. The behavioral data revealed that unpleasant sounds facilitated inhibitory processing by decreasing the stop-signal reaction time and increasing the inhibitory rate relative to neutral tones. Aversive sounds evoked larger N1, P3, and Pe components, indicating improvements in perceptual processing, inhibition, and conscious error monitoring. A first regression analysis, conducted regardless of the category of the stop signal, revealed that both selected indexes of stop-signal-related brain activity - the N1 and P3 amplitudes recorded in the unsuccessfully inhibited trials - significantly accounted for the Pe component variance, explaining a large amount of the observed variation (66%). A second regression model, focused on difference measures (emotional minus neutral), revealed that the affective increase in the P3 amplitude on failed stop trials was the only factor that significantly accounted for the emotional enhancement effect in the Pe amplitude. This suggests that, in general (regardless of stop - signal condition), error processing is stronger if the erroneous response directly follows the stimulus, which was effectively processed on both the perceptual and action - monitoring levels. However, only inhibition - monitoring evidence accounts for the emotional increase in conscious error detection.

Znaczący odsetek pacjentów lekarzy podstawowej opieki zdrowotnej oraz lekarzy rodzinnych stanowią osoby powyżej 65. r.ż. Pacjenci ci obarczeni są podwyższonym ryzykiem wystąpienia zaburzeń funkcji poznawczych. To właśnie lekarz podstawowej opieki zdrowotnej oraz lekarz rodzinny stanowią niezwykle ważne ogniwo we wstępnym rozpoznawaniu tych zaburzeń, ich różnicowaniu oraz w wyznaczeniu dalszego postępowania diagnostycznego i terapeutycznego. W artykule zaprezentowano podstawowe zasady i elementy procesu wstępnej diagnozy zaburzeń funkcji poznawczych z uwzględnieniem wywiadu od pacjenta, od osób bliskich oraz przesiewowej oceny funkcji poznawczych. Zaproponowano także algorytm postępowania diagnostycznego z uwzględnieniem konsultacji specjalistycznych, które służyć mają - w zależności od informacji uzyskanych z wywiadu oraz wyników badania przesiewowego - pogłębionej ocenie ogólnego stanu somatycznego, ocenie neurologicznej, czy też ocenie stanu psychicznego pacjenta, postawieniu rozpoznania i zaplanowaniu dalszego leczenia. Zaprezentowano 6 wybranych testów przesiewowych służących wstępnej ocenie funkcjonowania poznawczego, a wśród nich: Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Test Rysowania Zegara (TRZ), Mini-Cog, Skalę Oceny Funkcji Poznawczych dla Lekarza Ogólnego (GPCOG), Montrealską Skalę Oceny Funkcji Poznawczych (MoCA) oraz Mini-Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Assessment (M-ACE). Skala GPCOG wydaje się narzędziem najlepiej przystosowanym do potrzeb lekarzy POZ oraz specjalistów medycyny rodzinnej, gdyż zawiera zarówno próby pozwalające na psychometryczną ocenę funkcjonowania poznawczego, jak i pytania do osoby bliskiej ujęte w formie krótkiego ustrukturyzowanego wywiadu. Individuals over 65 constitute a significant proportion of patients in both primary care and family medicine settings. Those patients have elevated risk of cognitive dysfunction. Primary care physicians or family medicine specialists are of key importance in the initial recognition of this dysfunction, its differentiation and planning diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. This paper presents the basic rules and steps of the initial diagnosis of cognitive impairment including the patient and proxy interview as well as cognitive screening assessment. Moreover, diagnostic algorithm including referrals to specialists, is proposed. These referrals, if justified by the interview and screening assessment results, aim at the assessment of the patient’s general somatic, neurological and / or psychiatric status, establishing diagnosis and planning further treatment. Six selected cognitive screening tests are presented: Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Clock Drawing Test (CFT), Mini-Cog, The General Practitioner assessment of Cognition (GPCOG), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Mini-Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination (M-ACE). GPCOG seems to be the most suitable tool for both primary care and family medicine practice, as it consists of tasks allowing psychometric assessment of cognition as well as short, structured proxy interview.

The auditory oddball paradigm is one of the most often used experimental methods in attention research. It offers the possibility to investigate the ability to concentrate on target stimuli and to ignore unimportant stimulation. In recent years, the oddball paradigm has gained popularity in electrophysiological research concerning children with ADHD. The aim of the study was to investigate differences in electrophysiological brain activity between children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder combined type (ADHD-Com) and normally developing children, matched on age and sex, using the auditory 2-tone oddball paradigm. Event related potentials (ERPs) elicited to target and standard stimuli were analyzed for between-group differences. The ADHD group showed enhanced P2 and reduced N2 component to both oddball stimuli, followed by reduced P3 component to attended targets compared with controls. The findings of the present study indicate that ERPs to target and standard stimuli during the auditory oddball task are altered in ADHD children relative to controls. These alterations suggest a complex deficit of early and late stimulus processing stages. Enhanced amplitude of P2 in ADHD children may reflect an early orienting deficit which affects later processing stages in the oddball task. Reduced amplitude of N2 in the clinical group may be associated with stimulus discrimination impairment and inappropriate conflict monitoring. Finally, reduced amplitude of target P3 in ADHD children may reflect a deficit in higher-level executive functions, such as attention allocation and stimulus evaluation.

The results of most research on the role of the two hemispheres in processing hierarchical patterns indicate a right hemisphere relative superiority in processing of global shape and a left hemisphere relative predominance in processing of local details. However, some studies suggest that hemispheric specialization can be modified by stimulus category - verbal or figural. The purpose of this research was to study hemispheric lateralization for global and local processing of visual stimuli from different categories. Furthermore we investigated whether biological sex influences the processing of complex visual patterns. Fifty men and forty eight women participated in the experiment. It was carried out using lateral presentation of letter- and figure-based hierarchical stimuli. The results of this study indicated relative right hemisphere specialization for global processing and relative left hemisphere specialization for local processing. This asymmetry was more pronounced in men. This finding is in agreement with a hypothesis that male brains are more lateralised than female brains. Stimulus category did not modify hemispheric specialization but it influenced response time and accuracy. In addition the study showed that stimulus category modifies effect of interference between elements from different levels of stimuli.