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A study on autonomic physiological responses to complex tasks was done. Results showed efficient cardiovascular adaptation to complex task was led by parasympathetically dominated autonomic control mechanism.

A study is conducted to find whether the executive factors inhibition, shifting and updating are common detectable factors in children. Results show that shifting and updating factors are detectable in normally functioning children but inhibition is not detected.

Using an experimentally based, computer-presented task, this study assessed cognitive inhibition and interference in individuals from the dissociative identity disorder (DID; n = 12), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD; n = 12) and non-clinical (n = 12) populations. Participants were assessed in a neutral and emotionally negative (anxiety provoking) context, manipulated by experimental instructions and word stimuli. The DID sample displayed effective cognitive inhibition in the neutral but not the anxious context. The GAD sample displayed the opposite findings. However, the interaction between group and context failed to reach significance. There was no indication of an attentional bias to non-schema specific negative words in any sample. Results are discussed in terms of the potential benefit of weakened cognitive inhibition during anxious arousal in dissociative individuals. Keywords: Dissociative identity disorder: Anxicty; Cognitive inhibition

In light of previous research, the current study tested the hypothesis that dissociative identity disorder (DID) would be characterised by effective cognitive inhibitory functioning when tested in a neutral context, but weakened inhibition when tested in an emotionally negative context. Using a negative priming task (i.e. the flanker task) to assess inhibitory ability 11 DID, 11 depressed, and 11 general population participants were tested in the two differing experimental contexts. The contexts were manipulated by instructions and word stimuli, and following the completion of this task participants completed the Dissociative Experiences Scale and the Schizotypal Personality Scale. DID participants displayed a greater degree of self-reported anxiety in the negative context and as expected displayed a reduction in inhibition in this context but not in the neutral context. The degree of negative priming for the depressed and general population samples remained stable across contexts as did their anxiety levels. The DID sample displayed slower response times to negative compared to neutral words but this attentional bias was not evident for the two comparison groups. The relationship between increased arousal, inhibitory functioning, dissociation and information processing in DID is discussed. Keywords: Cognitive inhibition; Attentional bias; Emotional context; Dissociative identity disorder

Theories about basal ganglia function have always been driven by our knowledge about the spiny projection neurons of the striatum. At the core of these theories lies the question of how, precisely, spiny projection neurons process cortical inputs. Most recently, studies demonstrating the role of spiny projection neurons in local synaptic GABA transmission have provided several new avenues for exploring striatal dynamics. They have also suggested new experimental directives for examining the specific ways in which spiny projection neurons both compete and cooperate through their local axon collaterals during cortical input processing.

It was hoped to replicate findings of slow response inhibition in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) and to discover if the deficits are specifically related to AD/HD. Activation level in task performance was also studied.