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Two experiments examined whether different task ecologies influenced insight problem solving. The 17 animals problem was employed, a pure insight problem. Its initial formulation encourages the application of a direct arithmetic solution, but its solution requires the spatial arrangement of sets involving some degree of overlap. Participants were randomly allocated to either a tablet condition where they could use a stylus and an electronic tablet to sketch a solution or a model building condition where participants were given material with which to build enclosures and figurines. In both experiments, participants were much more likely to develop a working solution in the model building condition. The difference in performance elicited by different task ecologies was unrelated to individual differences in working memory, actively open-minded thinking, or need for cognition (Experiment 1), although individual differences in creativity were correlated with problem solving success in Experiment 2. The discussion focuses on the implications of these findings for the prevailing metatheoretical commitment to methodological individualism that places the individual as the ontological locus of cognition.

Background: The positive relationship between cognitive and physical performance has been widely established. The influence of brain structure on both domains has been shown as well. Objective: We studied whether the relationship between brain structure and physical performance is independent of cognitive performance. Methods: This was a cross-sectional analysis of 297 middle-aged to older adults (mean age ± SD 65.4 ± 6.8 years). Memory function, executive function and physical performance measured by the Tandem Stance Test, Chair Stand Test, 4-meter walk and 25-meter walk were assessed. Magnetic resonance imaging was available in 237 participants and used to determine the (sub)cortical gray matter, white matter, hippocampal and basal ganglia volumes and the presence of cerebral small-vessel disease, i.e. white matter hyperintensities, cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) and lacunar infarcts (LIs). Regression analysis was used adjusting for age, gender, education and whole-brain volume. A Bonferroni correction was applied considering p values Results: Poor memory function was associated with a slower 4-meter walking speed (p < 0.01). No association was found between brain structure and cognitive performance. The presence of CMBs and LIs was associated with a slower 25-meter walking speed (p < 0.001). This result did not change after additional adjustment for cognitive performance. Conclusions: In middle-aged to older adults, CMBs and LIs are associated with walking speed independent of cognitive performance. This emphasizes the clinical relevance of identifying each of the possible underlying mechanisms of physical performance, which is required for the development of timely and targeted therapies.

Astrocytes serve important roles that affect recruitment and function of neurons at the local and network levels. Here we review the contributions of astrocyte signaling to synaptic plasticity, neuronal network oscillations, and memory function. The roles played by astrocytes are not fully understood, but astrocytes seem to contribute to memory consolidation and seem to mediate the effects of vigilance and arousal on memory performance. Understanding the role of astrocytes in cognitive processes may also advance our understanding of how these processes go awry in pathological conditions. Indeed, abnormal astrocytic signaling can cause or contribute to synaptic and network imbalances, leading to cognitive impairment. We discuss evidence for this from animal models of Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis and from animal studies of sleep deprivation and drug abuse and addiction. Understanding the emerging roles of astrocytes in cognitive function and dysfunction will open up a large array of new therapeutic opportunities.

Previous studies have demonstrated that skin vibration is an important factor affecting the roughness perception of fine textures. For coarse textures, the determining physical factor is much less clear and there are indications that this might be participant-dependent. In this paper, we focused on roughness perception of both coarse and fine textures of different materials (glass particle surfaces and sandpapers). We investigated the relationship between subjective roughness ratings and three physical parameters (skin vibration, friction coefficient, and particle size) within a group of 30 participants. Results of the glass particle surfaces showed both spatial information (particle size) and temporal information (skin vibration) had a high correlation with subjective roughness ratings. The former correlation was slightly but significantly higher than the latter. The results also indicated different weights of temporal information and spatial information for roughness ratings among participants. Roughness ratings of a different material (sandpaper versus glass particles) could be either larger, similar or smaller, indicating differences among individuals. The best way to describe our results is that in their perceptual evaluation of roughness, different individuals weight temporal information, spatial information, and other mechanical properties differently.

ObjectivesTo examine the predictors associated with quality of life of nursing home residents with dementia, in order to identify which predictors are most important and hold most promise for future intervention studies.Methods/designThis cross-sectional analysis of data collected in two intervention trials included 143 participants with moderate to severe dementia who resided in 40 psychogeriatric wards in 13 nursing homes. The outcome measure quality of life was assessed with the Qualidem. Predictors examined were demographic factors, cognition, mood, behavioral problems, and comorbid conditions.ResultsLinear mixed regression analyses showed that all nine domains of quality of life showed independent (negative) associations with either depression, agitation, apathy, or a combination of these predictors. Agitation, apathy, depression, and the presence of neurological disease explained 50% of the variance in total quality of life. Male gender, psychiatric/mood disorders, and having one or more comorbid conditions was associated with worse social relations, while the presence of comorbid neurological diseases was associated with more social isolation and a worse care relationship. The presence of endocrine/metabolic disorders and pulmonary disorders was associated with less restless tense behavior.ConclusionsDifferent domains of quality of life showed different associations, confirming the multidimensionality of quality of life in nursing home residents with dementia. Quality of life is independently associated with mood and behavioral problems, comorbid conditions, and gender. This knowledge may help to identify older persons at risk of a lower quality of life, and to offer targeted interventions to improve quality of life.Trial registrationDutch Trial registration NTR5641.

Item does not contain fulltext Dystrophin is an important protein within the central nervous system. The absence of dystrophin, characterizing Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), is associated with brain related comorbidities such as neurodevelopmental (e.g. cognitive and behavioural) deficits and epilepsy. Especially mutations in the downstream part of the DMD gene affecting the dystrophin isoforms Dp140 and Dp71 are found to be associated with cognitive deficits. However, the function of Dp140 is currently not well understood and its expression pattern has previously been implicated to be developmentally regulated. Therefore, we evaluated Dp140 and Dp71 expression in human hippocampi in relation to cognitive functioning in patients with drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and post-mortem controls. Hippocampal samples obtained as part of epilepsy surgery were quantitatively analyzed by Western blot and correlations with neuropsychological test results (i.e. memory and intelligence) were examined. First, we demonstrated that the expression of Dp140 does not appear to differ across different ages throughout adulthood. Second, we identified an inverse correlation between memory loss (i.e. verbal and visual memory), but not intelligence (i.e. neither verbal nor performance), and hippocampal Dp140 expression. Finally, patients with TLE appeared to have similar Dp140 expression levels compared to post-mortem controls without neurological disease. Dp140 may thus have a function in normal cognitive (i.e. episodic memory) processes. 9 p.

Background Neurosensory stimulation is effective in enhancing the recovery process of severely brain-injured patients with disorders of consciousness. Multisensory environments are found in nature, recognized as beneficial to many medical conditions. Recent advances detected covert cognition in patients behaviorally categorized as un- or minimally responsive; a state described as cognitive motor dissociation (CMD). Objective To determine effectiveness of a neurosensory stimulation approach enhanced by outdoor therapy, in the early phases of recovery in patients presenting with CMD. Methods A prospective non-randomized crossover study was performed. A two-phase neurosensory procedure combined identical individually goal assessed indoor and outdoor protocols. All sessions were video-recorded and observations rated offline. The frequency of volitional behavior was measured using a behavioral grid. Results Fifteen patients participated in this study. The outdoor group patients had statistically significant higher number of intentional behaviors than the indoor group on seven features of the grid. Additionally, for all items assessed, total amount of behaviors in the outdoor condition where higher than those in the indoor condition. Conclusions Although preliminary, this study provides robust evidence supporting the effectiveness and appropriateness of an outdoor neurosensory intervention in patients with covert cognition, to improve adaptive goal-oriented behavior. This may be a step towards helping to restore functional interactive communication.

The ability to generate options for action is crucial for everyday life decision-making. In this article, we propose and test a model of the cognitive underpinnings of option generation in everyday life situations. We carried out a laboratory study using measures of a wide range of cognitive functions and asked participants (N = 157) to generate options for actions for different everyday life decision-making scenarios. The results of a latent variable analysis show that the cognitive underpinnings of option generation are consistent across different everyday life situations and, hence, option generation can be conceptualized as a general construct. Moreover, the results of a confirmatory factor analysis reveal that, when controlling for the shared variance among the cognitive processes assessed, verbal fluency, working memory capacity, ideation fluency, and processing speed predicted option generation. These findings suggest that option generation in everyday life situations can be distinguished from other cognitive constructs, such as divergent thinking (in terms of ideas' originality) and long-term memory.

BACKGROUND Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) have an increased risk of cognitive decline, potentially resulting from clinically unrecognized vascular brain lesions. OBJECTIVES This study sought to assess the relationships between cognitive function and vascular brain lesions in patients with AF. METHODS Patients with known AF were enrolled in a multicenter study in Switzerland. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and cognitive testing using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) were performed in all participants. Large noncortical or cortical infarcts (LNCCIs), small noncortical infarcts (SNCIs), microbleeds, and white matter lesions were quantified by a central core laboratory. Clinically silent infarcts were defined as infarcts on brain MRI in patients without a clinical history of stroke or transient ischemic attack. RESULTS The study included 1,737 patients with a mean age of 73 ± 8 years (28% women, 90% taking oral anticoagulant agents). On MRI, LNCCIs were found in 387 patients (22%), SNCIs in 368 (21%), microbleeds in 372 (22%), and white matter lesions in 1715 (99%). Clinically silent infarcts among the 1,390 patients without a history of stroke or transient ischemic attack were found in 201 patients with LNCCIs (15%) and 245 patients with SNCIs (18%). The MoCA score was 24.7 ± 3.3 in patients with and 25.8 ± 2.9 in those without LNCCIs on brain MRI (p < 0.001). The difference in MoCA score remained similar when only clinically silent LNCCIs were considered (24.9 ± 3.1 vs. 25.8 ± 2.9; p < 0.001). In a multivariable regression model including all vascular brain lesion parameters, LNCCI volume was the strongest predictor of a reduced MoCA (β = -0.26; 95% confidence interval: -0.40 to -0.13; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Patients with AF have a high burden of LNCCIs and other brain lesions on systematic brain MRI screening, and most of these lesions are clinically silent. LNCCIs were associated with worse cognitive function, even among patients with clinically silent infarcts. Our findings raise the question of MRI screening in patients with AF.

Both hand and finger sensory perception and motor abilities are essential for the development of skilled gestures and efficient bimanual coordination. While finger dexterity and finger sensory perception can be impaired in children with cerebral palsy (CP), the relationship between these two functions in this population is not clearly established. The common assumption that CP children with better sensory function also demonstrate better motor outcomes has been recently challenged. To study these questions further, we assessed both finger dexterity and finger gnosia, the ability to perceive one’s own fingers by touch, in groups of 11 children with unilateral (i.e., hemiplegic CP) and 11 children with bilateral spastic CP (i.e., diplegic CP) and compared them with typical children. In our sample, children with hemiplegia exhibited finger dexterity deficit in both hands and finger gnosia deficit only in their paretic hand. In contrast, children with diplegia exhibited finger gnosia deficits in both hands and finger dexterity deficit only in their dominant hand. Thus, our results indicated that children with spastic hemiplegia and diplegia present different sensory and motor profiles and suggest that these two subgroups of CP should be considered separately in future experimental and clinical research. We discuss the implications of our results for rehabilitation.

Antipsychotics are the most widely used medications for the treatment of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. While such drugs generally ameliorate positive symptoms, clinical responses are highly variable in terms of negative symptoms and cognitive impairments. However, predictors of individual responses have been elusive. Here, we report a pharmacogenetic interaction related to a core cognitive dysfunction in patients with schizophrenia. We show that genetic variations reducing dysbindin-1 expression can identify individuals whose executive functions respond better to antipsychotic drugs, both in humans and in mice. Multilevel ex vivo and in vivo analyses in postmortem human brains and genetically modified mice demonstrate that such interaction between antipsychotics and dysbindin-1 is mediated by an imbalance between the short and long isoforms of dopamine D2 receptors, leading to enhanced presynaptic D2 function within the prefrontal cortex. These findings reveal one of the pharmacodynamic mechanisms underlying individual cognitive response to treatment in patients with schizophrenia, suggesting a potential approach for improving the use of antipsychotic drugs.

Achtergrond Apathie wordt bij patiënten met dementie en lichte cognitieve problemen (MCI) vaak gezien als een symptoom van depressie, maar anderen beschrijven apathie en depressie als aparte stoornissen. Voor de correcte behandeling is onderscheid tussen beide echter noodzakelijk. Mogelijk hebben deze stoornissen een verschillende relatie met cognitie en zou dit onderscheid van diagnostisch belang kunnen zijn. Dit is echter nog niet éénduidig bewezen. In dit onderzoek tonen we aan in welke mate apathie en depressie voorkomt bij patiënten met MCI en dementie en onderzochten we de relatie met cognitieve maten binnen de MCI-groep. Methode Bij 117 cognitief gezonde controles (GC), 97 deelnemers met MCI en 50 deelnemers met een beginnende dementie (DEM) werd de Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) afgenomen. Daarnaast werden de apathie evaluatie schaal klinische versie (AES-C, grenswaarde 38) en de geriatrische depressie schaal (GDS, grenswaarde 11) afgenomen. Resultaten Het aantal deelnemers met apathie was hoger naarmate er sprake was van een meer gevorderd stadium van cognitieve klachten met respectievelijk 3,4 %; 10,4 % en 41,5 % van de deelnemers in de GC-, MCI- en DEM-groep. De prevalentie van geïsoleerde depressieve symptomen was het hoogst in de MCI-groep (18,8 %). Correlatieanalyses binnen de MCI-groep tonen aan dat apathie geassocieerd is, met zwakker presteren op inprenting, aandacht en het algemeen cognitief functioneren. Conclusie Apathie en depressieve symptomen komen in verschillende mate voor bij GC, MCI en DEM en zijn in de MCI-groep geassocieerd met achteruitgang in verschillende cognitieve domeinen.

Background: Genome-wide association studies have identified numerous genetic variants that predispose to neuropsychiatric traits. Identification of mechanisms in the brain that underlie these associations is essential for understanding manifestations of genetic predisposition within the general population. Here, we investigated the association between polygenic scores (PGSs) for seven neuropsychiatric traits and white matter microstructure of the brain on diffusion tensor imaging in the pediatric population. Methods: Participants from the Generation R Study who had genotype and diffusion tensor imaging data available (n = 1138, mean age = 10.2 years, range = 8.7–12.0) were included. PGSs were calculated for five psychiatric disorders (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, autism, major depressive disorder, and schizophrenia) and two cognitive traits (intelligence and educational attainment) and were tested for associations with global and tract-specific fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity. Results: Significant positive associations with global FA were observed for the PGSs of intelligence (β =.109, SE =.029, p 2 =.012) and educational attainment (β =.118, SE =.029, p 2 =.014). No significant associations were observed with FA for the PGSs of psychiatric disorders. Tract-specific analysis showed that the PGSs for intelligence and educational attainment were associated with FA of several association and projection fibers of the brain. Conclusions: Our results show that genetic predisposition for cognition-related traits, but not for psychiatric disorders, is associated with microstructural diffusion measures of white matter tracts at an early age. These results suggest a shared genetic etiology among structural connectivity, intelligence, and educational achievement.

Although, cognitive working memory training (CWMT) has been reported to enhance working memory functioning in youths with attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), few studies take into account the concomitant effects of medication. Sixty adolescents aged from 11 to 15 years were randomly assigned to CWMT treatment, whereas medication was either continued or not introduced (no randomization performed). Results revealed beneficial effects of CWMT on the different components of working memory (WM), namely the phonological loop, the visuospatial sketchpad and the central executive. In particular, CWMT allowed participants to obtain a level of performance similar to the typically-developing adolescents for the phonological loop (i.e., forward digit span) as well as for the visuospatial sketchpad (i.e., board span). For the central executive (i.e., backward digit span) the concomitant effects of CWMT and medication allows participants to obtain the performance level of the typically-developing adolescents. Although, no transfers were observed with respect to other cognitive functions, in medicated patients with ADHD, CWMT reduced hyperactivity / impulsivity symptoms at 2-month follow-up. The present study gives evidence of the efficacy of CWMT to enhance WM performance, as well as, to reduce symptoms. The overall results highlight the usefulness of multimodal interventions.

Aims/hypothesis The aim of this randomised, crossover trial was to compare cognitive functioning and associated brain activation patterns during hypoglycaemia (plasma glucose [PG] just below 3.1 mmol/l) and euglycaemia in individuals with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Methods In this patient-blinded, crossover study, 26 participants with type 1 diabetes mellitus attended two randomised experimental visits: one hypoglycaemic clamp (PG 2.8 ± 0.2 mmol/l, approximate duration 55 min) and one euglycaemic clamp (PG 5.5 mmol/l ± 10%). PG levels were maintained by hyperinsulinaemic glucose clamping. Cognitive functioning was assessed during hypoglycaemia and euglycaemia conditions using a modified version of the digit symbol substitution test (mDSST) and control DSST (cDSST). Simultaneously, regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was measured in pre-specified brain regions by six H2 15O-positron emission tomographies (PET) per session. Results Working memory was impaired during hypoglycaemia as indicated by a statistically significantly lower mDSST score (estimated treatment difference [ETD] −0.63 [95% CI −1.13, −0.14], p = 0.014) and a statistically significantly longer response time (ETD 2.86 s [7%] [95% CI 0.67, 5.05], p = 0.013) compared with euglycaemia. During hypoglycaemia, mDSST task performance was associated with increased activity in the frontal lobe regions, superior parietal lobe and thalamus, and decreased activity in the temporal lobe regions (p

Introduction Although conceptual models of sexual functioning have suggested a major role for implicit cognitive processing in sexual functioning, this has thus far, only been investigated in women. Aim The aim of this study was to investigate the role of implicit cognition in sexual functioning in men. Methods Men with (N = 29) and without sexual dysfunction (N = 31) were compared. Main Outcome Measures Participants performed two single-target implicit association tests (ST-IAT), measuring the implicit association of visual erotic stimuli with attributes representing, respectively, valence (‘liking’) and motivation (‘wanting’). Participants also rated the erotic pictures that were shown in the ST-IAT on the dimensions of valence, attractiveness, and sexual excitement to assess their explicit associations with these erotic stimuli. Participants completed the International Index of Erectile Functioning for a continuous measure of sexual functioning. Results Unexpectedly, compared with sexually functional men, sexually dysfunctional men were found to show stronger implicit associations of erotic stimuli with positive valence than with negative valence. Level of sexual functioning, however, was not predicted by explicit nor implicit associations. Level of sexual distress was predicted by explicit valence ratings, with positive ratings predicting higher levels of sexual distress. Conclusions Men with and without sexual dysfunction differed significantly with regard to implicit liking. Research recommendations and implications are discussed.

Contains fulltext : 183400.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Introduction: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is mainly characterized by functional and communication impairments as well as restrictive and repetitive behavior. The leading hypothesis for the neural basis of autism postulates globally abnormal brain connectivity, which can be assessed using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Even in the absence of a task, the brain exhibits a high degree of functional connectivity, known as intrinsic, or resting-state, connectivity. Global default connectivity in individuals with autism versus controls is not well characterized, especially for a high-functioning young population. The aim of this study is to test whether high-functioning adolescents with ASD (HFA) have an abnormal resting-state functional connectivity. Materials and Methods: We performed spatial and temporal analyses on resting-state networks (RSNs) in 13 HFA adolescents and 13 IQ- and age-matched controls. For the spatial analysis, we used probabilistic independent component analysis (ICA) and a permutation statistical method to reveal the RSN differences between the groups. For the temporal analysis, we applied Granger causality to find differences in temporal neurodynamics. Results: Controls and HFA display very similar patterns and strengths of resting-state connectivity. We do not find any significant differences between HFA adolescents and controls in the spatial resting-state connectivity. However, in the temporal dynamics of this connectivity, we did find differences in the causal effect properties of RSNs originating in temporal and prefrontal cortices. Conclusion: The results show a difference between HFA and controls in the temporal neurodynamics from the ventral attention network to the salience-executive network: a pathway involving cognitive, executive, and emotion-related cortices. We hypothesized that this weaker dynamic pathway is due to a subtle trigger challenging the cognitive state prior to the resting state. 10 p.

Cognitive insight or the ability to be self-reflective and to retain from being over-confident in own beliefs is an upcoming topic in research regarding psychiatric disorders. In bipolar disorder investigations are scarce and an important lacuna is the unexamined longitudinal relationship between cognitive insight and mood. Therefore, in this study the level of cognitive insight, mania and depression were assessed in a total of 56 patients with bipolar disorder at baseline, four months and eight months follow-up. In addition, the cognitive insight of 35 healthy controls was assessed at baseline and at four months follow-up. The current research shows that self-reflectiveness and self-certainty remained stable over time in bipolar disorder. The improvement of mood did not affect the course of cognitive insight. However, at baseline higher levels of depression were correlated with more self-reflectiveness. In addition, self-reflectiveness was higher for bipolar disorder patients in comparison with the healthy controls. Our results could imply that higher levels of self-reflectiveness are a specific characteristic in bipolar disorder that is independent from an improvement in mood.

INTRODUCTION: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) are a promising means to an objectified assessment of cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Individually, however, these modalities tend to lack precision in both AD diagnosis and AD staging. A joint MRI-EEG approach that combines structural with functional information has the potential to overcome these limitations.MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study systematically investigated the link between MRI and EEG markers and the global cognitive status in early AD. We hypothesized that the joint modalities would identify cognitive deficits with higher accuracy than the individual modalities. In a cohort of 111 AD patients, we combined MRI measures of cortical thickness and regional brain volume with EEG measures of rhythmic activity, information processing and functional coupling in a generalized multiple regression model. Machine learning classification was used to evaluate the markers' utility in accurately separating the subjects according to their cognitive score.RESULTS: We found that joint measures of temporal volume, cortical thickness, and EEG slowing were well associated with the cognitive status and explained 38.2% of ifs variation. The inclusion of the covariates age, sex, and education considerably improved the model. The joint markers separated the subjects with an accuracy of 84.7%, which was considerably higher than by using individual modalities.CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that including joint MRI-EEG markers may be beneficial in the diagnostic workup, thus allowing for adequate treatment. Further studies in larger populations, with a longitudinal design and validated against functional-metabolic imaging are warranted to confirm the results.

WOS: 000428233700003 PubMed ID: 29407464 Previous evidence showed abnormal posterior sources of resting-state delta (< 4 Hz) and alpha (8-12 Hz) rhythms in patients with Alzheimer's disease with dementia (ADD), Parkinson's disease with dementia (PDD), and Lewy body dementia (DLB), as cortical neural synchronization markers in quiet wakefulness. Here, we tested the hypothesis of additional abnormalities in functional cortical connectivity computed in those sources, in ADD, considered as a "disconnection cortical syndrome", in comparison with PDD and DLB. Resting-state eyes-closed electroencephalographic (rsEEG) rhythms had been collected in 42 ADD, 42 PDD, 34 DLB, and 40 normal healthy older (Hold) participants. Exact low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (eLORETA) freeware estimated the functional lagged linear connectivity (LLC) from rsEEG cortical sources in delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma bands. The area under receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve indexed the classification accuracy between Nold and diseased individuals (only values > 0.7 were considered). Interhemispheric and intrahemispheric LLCs in widespread delta sources were abnormally higher in the ADD group and, unexpectedly, normal in DLB and PDD groups. Intrahemispheric LLC was reduced in widespread alpha sources dramatically in ADD, markedly in DLB, and moderately in PDD group. Furthermore, the interhemispheric LLC in widespread alpha sources showed lower values in ADD and DLB than PDD groups. At the individual level, AUROC curves of LLC in alpha sources exhibited better classification accuracies for the discrimination of ADD versus Nold individuals (0.84) than for DLB versus Nold participants (0.78) and PDD versus Nold participants (0.75). Functional cortical connectivity markers in delta and alpha sources suggest a more compromised neurophysiological reserve in ADD than DLB, at both group and individual levels. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. H2020 Marie S. Curie ITN-ETN project The present study was developed based on the data of the informal European Consortium PDWAVES and European Consortium of Dementia with Lewy Body. The members and institutional affiliations of the consortia are reported in the cover page of this manuscript. The research activities of the Unit of University of Rome "La Sapienza" were partially supported by the H2020 Marie S. Curie ITN-ETN project with the short title "BBDiag" (http://bddiag-itn-etn.eu). We thank Mrs. Jessica Janson and Mrs. Marina Selivanova for their support to those activities in the framework of the BBDiag project.

Music performances are social-evaluative situations that can elicit marked short-term neuroendocrine activation and anxious thoughts especially in musicians suffering from music performance anxiety (MPA). The temporal patterns of neuroendocrine activity and concert-related worry and rumination (perseverative cognition, PC) days before and after a concert in low- and high-anxious musicians are unknown. The first goal of the present study was to investigate the prolonged effects of a solo music performance and the effects of trait MPA on salivary cortisol (sC), alpha-amylase (sAA), and concert-related PC. The second goal was to investigate whether concert-related PC is associated with neuroendocrine activity and mediates the effects of measurement day and trait MPA on neuroendocrine responses. Seventy-two university music students collected saliva samples and reported their PC for seven consecutive days. On the fifth day, they performed solo. Measurement day and trait MPA were tested as main predictors of the diurnal area under the curve with respect to ground (sC AUCg, sAA AUCg), awakening responses, and PC. SC AUCg, sAA AUCg, and concert-related PC were highest on concert day. SC AUCg decreased only partially on post-concert days. SAA AUCg remained elevated on the first post-concert day among students with moderate to very high trait MPA. Throughout the assessment period, trait MPA was associated with smaller sC AUCg and higher concert-related PC. Concert-related PC showed significant positive associations with sC AUCg and sAA AUCg but did not mediate the effects of measurement day and trait MPA on these measures. These findings suggest that solo music performances have prolonged neuroendocrine effects and that trait MPA is an important factor having specific effects on university music students' hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, autonomic nervous system, and cognitive activity.

Recent research has suggested that language processing activates perceptual simulations. We have demonstrated that findings that have been attributed to an embodied cognition account can also be explained by language statistics, because language encodes perceptual information. We investigated whether comprehension of emotion words can be explained by an embodied cognition or a language statistics account. A corpus linguistic study comparing emotions words showed that words denoting the same emotions (happy-delighted) co-occur more frequently than different emotions (happy-angry). These findings were used in two experiments in which participants read same-emotion and different-emotion sentence pairs. Sentence pairs with different emotions yielded longer RTs than sentences with the same emotions both in a cognitive task tailored toward linguistic representations and a task tailored toward embodied representations. These findings contribute to a growing body of literature that demonstrates that language processing does not always rely solely on perceptual simulation.

Medication non-adherence has been recognised as one of the major problems in health care that leads to preventable costs and hospitalisations. This study aimed to assess the role of affect in medication adherence. We propose a dual-process framework of medication adherence based on the reflective–impulsive model, which includes both cognitive and affective processes. We tested this framework in a cross-sectional study (N = 525). The results supported this framework by illustrating the clear role of both cognitive and affective processes.

PURPOSE: To examine the association between exposure to surgery and 10-year change in cognitive functioning.METHODS: Among 2351 middle-aged twins, a 10-year change in composite cognitive scores derived from five cognitive tests was compared between 903 (38%) twins exposed to surgery classified as major, minor, knee and hip replacement, and other, and a reference group of 1448 (62%) twins without surgery, using linear regression models adjusted for socioeconomic factors. Genetic and shared environmental confounding was addressed in intrapair analyses of 48 monozygotic and 74 dizygotic same-sexed twin pairs.RESULTS: In individual-level analyses, twins with major surgery (mean difference, -0.37; 95% CI, -0.76 to 0.02) or knee and hip replacement surgery (mean difference, -0.54; 95% CI, -1.30 to 0.22) had a tendency of a negligibly higher rate of decline in cognitive score than the reference group. In the intrapair analyses, the surgery-exposed twin had a higher rate of cognitive decline than the co-twin in 55% (95% CI, 45% to 63%) of the pairs. The mean difference in cognitive decline within pairs was -0.21 (95% CI, -0.81 to 0.39).CONCLUSIONS: No significant associations were found between exposure to surgery and change in cognitive score either in individual-level or in intrapair analyses.

Plaguing humans for more than two millennia, manifest on every continent studied, and with more than one billion patients having an attack in any year, migraine stands as the sixth most common cause of disability on the planet. The pathophysiology of migraine has emerged from a historical consideration of the “humors” through mid-20th century distraction of the now defunct Vascular Theory to a clear place as a neurological disorder. It could be said there are three questions: why, how, and when? Why: migraine is largely accepted to be an inherited tendency for the brain to lose control of its inputs. How: the now classical trigeminal durovascular afferent pathway has been explored in laboratory and clinic; interrogated with immunohistochemistry to functional brain imaging to offer a roadmap of the attack. When: migraine attacks emerge due to a disorder of brain sensory processing that itself likely cycles, influenced by genetics and the environment. In the first, premonitory, phase that precedes headache, brain stem and diencephalic systems modulating afferent signals, light-photophobia or sound-phonophobia, begin to dysfunction and eventually to evolve to the pain phase and with time the resolution or postdromal phase. Understanding the biology of migraine through careful bench-based research has led to major classes of therapeutics being identified: triptans, serotonin 5-HT1B/1Dreceptor agonists; gepants, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonists; ditans, 5-HT1Freceptor agonists, CGRP mechanisms monoclonal antibodies; and glurants, mGlu5modulators; with the promise of more to come. Investment in understanding migraine has been very successful and leaves us at a new dawn, able to transform its impact on a global scale, as well as understand fundamental aspects of human biology.

This cohort study assesses physical activity levels among elderly patients hospitalized for acute medical illness and examines the association between physical activity in the hospital setting and functional decline., Key Points Question What is the association between in-hospital physical activity and hospital-acquired functional decline in elderly patients? Findings This cohort study included 177 patients 65 years or older, of whom 63 (35.6%) presented with functional decline; no association was found between physical activity levels and functional decline. Patients able to return home had significantly higher physical activity levels than those institutionalized (multivariable-adjusted mean, 14 vs 12 mG for daytime levels and 11 vs 10 mG for 24-hour levels). Meaning In this study, many elderly hospitalized patients presented with functional decline on discharge, and higher in-hospital physical activity levels were inversely associated with institutionalization but were not associated with functional decline., Importance The effects of in-hospital physical activity (PA) on outcomes among elderly patients has seldom been assessed. Objectives To assess PA levels among elderly patients hospitalized for acute medical illness and to examine the association between PA levels and functional decline and other clinical outcomes at discharge. Design, Setting, and Participants This monocentric cohort study was performed among patients 65 years or older who were admitted for acute medical illness to the internal medicine ward of Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland, from February 1 through November 30, 2018. Data were analyzed from January 1 through December 2, 2019. Exposures Daytime and 24-hour PA levels assessed via wrist accelerometers and measured in millig units (mG; 1 mG = 9.80665 × 10−3 m/s2). Mean Outcomes and Measures Functional decline (defined as a ≥5-point decrease in the modified Barthel Index), risk of bedsores, length of stay (LOS), and inability to return home. Results A total of 177 patients (106 [59.9%] men; median age, 83 [interquartile range, 74-87] years) were included. Lower mean (SD) PA levels were found in patients using walking aids before admission (daytime, 12 [5] vs 15 [7] mG; 24-hour, 10 [3] vs 11 [5] mG), those admitted for a reason associated with functional decline (daytime, 12 [6] vs 14 [7] mG; 24-hour, 10 [4] vs 11 [4] mG), or those prescribed physiotherapy (daytime, 12 [5] vs 15 [7] mG; 24-hour, 10 [4] vs 12 [5] mG). At discharge, functional decline was found in 63 patients (35.6%; 95% CI, 25.6%-43.1%), bedsore risk in 78 (44.1%; 95% CI, 36.6%-51.7%), and inability to return home in 82 (46.3%; 95% CI, 38.8%-54.0%). After multivariate analysis, no association was found between PA levels and functional decline (multivariable-adjusted mean [SE], 13 [1] vs 13 [1] mG for daytime levels [P = .69] and 10 [1] vs 11 [1] mG for 24-hour PA levels [P = .45]) or LOS (Spearman rank correlation, ρ = −0.06 for daytime PA levels [P = .93] and −0.01 for 24-hour PA levels [P = .52]). Patients at risk of bedsores had significantly lower PA levels than those not at risk (multivariable-adjusted mean [SE], 12 [1] vs 15 [1] mG for daytime PA levels [P = .008]; 10 [1] vs 12 [1] mG for 24-hour PA levels [P = .01]). Patients able to return home had significantly higher PA levels than those institutionalized (multivariable-adjusted mean [SE], 14 [1] vs 12 [1] mG for daytime PA levels [P = .04]; 11 [1] vs 10 [1] mG for 24-hour PA levels [P = .009]). Conclusions and Relevance In this study, lower in-hospital daytime and 24-hour PA levels were associated with risk of bedsores and inability to return home on discharge. These findings are important given that one-third of elderly patients present with hospital-acquired functional decline.

Neuropsychological tests of visual perception mostly assess high-level processes like object recognition. Object recognition, however, relies on distinct mid-level processes of perceptual organization that are only implicitly tested in classical tests. Furthermore, the psychometric properties of the existing instruments are limited. To fill this gap, the Leuven perceptual organization screening test (L-POST) was developed, in which a wide range of mid-level phenomena are measured in 15 subtests. In this study, we evaluated reliability and validity of the L-POST. Performance on the test is evaluated relative to a norm sample of more than 1,500 healthy control participants. Cronbach's alpha of the norm sample and test-retest correlations for 20 patients provide evidence for adequate reliability of L-POST performance. The convergent and discriminant validity of the test was assessed in 40 brain-damaged patients, whose performance on the L-POST was compared with standard clinical tests of visual perception and other measures of cognitive function. The L-POST showed high sensitivity to visual dysfunction and decreased performance was specific to visual problems. In conclusion, the L-POST is a reliable and valid screening test for perceptual organization. It offers a useful online tool for researchers and clinicians to get a broader overview of the mid-level processes that are preserved or disrupted in a given patient.

Background and objectives: Some cognitive models propose that information processing biases and fear are reciprocally related. This idea has never been formally tested. Therefore, this study investigated the existence of a vicious circle by which confirmation bias and fear exacerbate each other.Methods: One-hundred-and-seventy-one school children (8-13 years) were first provided with threatening, ambiguous, or positive information about an unknown animal. Then they completed a computerized information search task during which they could collect additional (negative, positive, or neutral) information about the novel animal. Because fear levels were repeatedly assessed during the task, it was possible to examine the reciprocal relationship between confirmation bias and fear.Results: A reciprocal relation of mutual reinforcement was found between confirmation bias and fear over the course of the experiment: increases in fear predicted subsequent increases in the search for negative information, and increases in the search for negative information further enhanced fear on a later point-in-time. In addition, the initial information given about the animals successfully induced diverging fear levels in the children, and determined their first inclination to search for additional information.Limitations: As this study employed a community sample of primary school children, future research should test whether these results can be generalized to clinically anxious youth.Conclusions: These findings provide first support for the notion that fearful individuals may become trapped in a vicious circle in which fear and a fear-related confirmation bias mutually strengthen each other, thereby maintaining the anxiety pathology. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Decision-making research has thoroughly investigated how people choose from a set of externally provided options. However, in ill-structured real-world environments, possible options for action are not defined by the situation but have to be generated by the agent. Here, we apply behavioral analysis (Study 1) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (Study 2) to investigate option generation and subsequent choice. For this purpose, we employ a new experimental task that requires participants to generate options for simple real-world scenarios and to subsequently decide among the generated options. Correlational analysis with a cognitive test battery suggests that retrieval of options from long-term memory is a relevant process during option generation. The results of the fMRI study demonstrate that option generation in simple real-world scenarios recruits the anterior prefrontal cortex. Furthermore, we show that choice behavior and its neural correlates differ between self-generated and externally provided options. Specifically, choice between self-generated options is associated with stronger recruitment of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. This impact of option generation on subsequent choice underlines the need for an expanded model of decision making to accommodate choice between self-generated options.

Background During adulthood, personality characteristics may contribute to the individual capacity to compensate the impact of developing cerebral Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology on cognitive impairment in later life. In this study we aimed to investigate whether and how premorbid personality traits interact with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) markers of AD pathology to predict cognitive performance in subjects with mild cognitive impairment or mild AD dementia and in participants with normal cognition. Methods One hundred and ten subjects, of whom 66 were patients with mild cognitive impairment or mild AD dementia and 44 were healthy controls, had a comprehensive medical and neuropsychological examination as well as lumbar puncture to measure CSF biomarkers of AD pathology (amyloid beta1–42, phosphorylated tau and total-tau). Participants’ proxies completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, Form R to retrospectively assess subjects’ premorbid personality. Results In hierarchical multivariate regression analyses, including age, gender, education, APOEε4 status and cognitive level, premorbid neuroticism, conscientiousness and agreeableness modulated the effect of CSF biomarkers on cognitive performance. Low premorbid openness independently predicted lower levels of cognitive functioning after controlling for biomarker concentrations. Conclusion Our findings suggest that specific premorbid personality traits are associated with cerebral AD pathology and modulate its impact on cognitive performance. Considering personality characteristics may help to appraise a person’s cognitive reserve and the risk of cognitive decline in later life.

Recent studies have shown that it is feasible to record simultaneously intracerebral EEG (icEEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in patients with epilepsy. While it has mainly been used to explore the hemodynamic changes associated with epileptic spikes, this approach could also provide new insight into human cognition. However, the first step is to ensure that cognitive EEG components, that have lower amplitudes than epileptic spikes, can be appropriately detected under fMRI. We compared the high frequency activities (HFA, 50–150[Formula: see text]Hz) elicited by a reading task in icEEG-only and subsequent icEEG-fMRI in the same patients ([Formula: see text]), implanted with depth electrodes. Comparable responses were obtained, with 71% of the recording sites that responded during the icEEG-only session also responding during the icEEG-fMRI session. For all the remaining sites, nearby clusters (distant of 7[Formula: see text]mm or less) also demonstrated significant HFA increase during the icEEG-fMRI session. Significant HFA increases were also observable at the single-trial level in icEEG-fMRI recordings. Our results show that low-amplitude icEEG signal components such as cognitive-induced HFAs can be reliably recorded with simultaneous fMRI. This paves the way for the use of icEEG-fMRI to address various fundamental and clinical issues, notably the identification of the neural correlates of the BOLD signal.

The causal nature of the association between hypovitaminosis D and poor cognitive function in mid- to later-life is uncertain. Using a Mendelian randomisation(MR) approach, we examined the causal relationship between 25(OH)D and cognitive function. Data came from 172,349 participants from 17 cohorts. DHCR7(rs12785878), CYP2R1 rs12794714) and their combined synthesis score were chosen to proxy 25(OH)D. Cognitive tests were standardised into global and memory scores. Analyses were stratified by 25(OH)D tertiles, sex and age. Random effects meta-analyses assessed associations between 25(OH)D and cognitive function. Associations of serum 25(OH)D with global and memory-related cognitive function were non-linear (lower cognitive scores for both low and high 25(OH)D, pcurvature ≤ 0.006), with much of the curvature attributed to a single study. DHCR7, CYP2R1, and the synthesis score were associated with small reductions in 25(OH)D per vitamin D-decreasing allele. However, coefficients for associations with global or memory-related cognitive function were non-significant and in opposing directions for DHCR7 and CYP2R1, with no overall association observed for the synthesis score. Coefficients for the synthesis score and global and memory cognition were similar when stratified by 25(OH)D tertiles, sex and age. We found no evidence for serum 25(OH)D concentration as a causal factor for cognitive performance in mid- to later life. © The Author(s) 2017. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Older people are particularly exposed to stressful events, known to activate the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis resulting in increased cortisol levels. High cortisol has been associated with deleterious effects on cognition. We hypothesized that stressful life events could increase cortisol secretion leading to cognitive impairment. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using data from Colaus/PsyColaus, a longitudinal population-based study among Lausanne residents. Salivary cortisol samples were obtained from 796 nondemented subjects aged at least 65. A neuropsychological battery was used to assess cognitive performance and determine the Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes (CDRSOB). Lifetime life events and their subjective impact were assessed using a validated questionnaire. The total impact of life events was associated neither with cortisol area under the curve (AUC) nor with CDRSOB nor with any cognitive domain performance. The CDRSOB was associated with the cortisol AUC, controlling for age, sex, body mass index, education and depressive symptoms (p = 0.003; B = 0.686 [0.240; 1.333]; r = 0.114). This association between CDRSOB and the cortisol AUC remained significant after controlling for life events total impact (p = 0.040; B = 0.591 [0.027; 1.155]; r = 0.106). These findings do not support the hypothesis that stressful life events increase cortisol secretion leading to cognitive impairment. The association of higher cortisol levels with poorer cognition might be not a mere reflection of stressful events but rather explained by other factors, yet to be elucidated.

Background:Physical activity is positively associated with physical health, cognitive performance, brain functioning and academic performance. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of bike desks in the classroom on adolescents’ energy expenditure, physical health, cognitive performance, brain functioning and academic performance.Methods:Forty-four adolescents were randomly assigned to control group (CG) or intervention group (IG). During 5 months, the IG used a bike desk for 4 class hours/week. Energy expenditure was measured during 6 consecutive days. Anthropometric parameters, aerobic fitness, academic performance, cognitive performance and brain functioning were assessed before (T0) and after (T1) the intervention.Results:Energy expenditure of the IG was significantly higher during the class hours in which they used the bike desks relative to normal class hours. The CG had a significantly higher BMI at T1 relative to T0 while this was not significantly different for the IG. Aerobic fitness was significantly better in the IG at T1 relative to T0. No significant effects on academic performance cognitive performance and brain functioning were observed.Conclusions:As the implementation of bike desks in the classroom did not interfere with adolescents’ academic performance, this can be seen as an effective means of reducing in-class sedentary time and improving adolescents’ physical health.

Aim To date, no clinical test is able to predict cognitive and functional outcome of cardiac arrest survivors. Improvement of auditory discrimination in acute coma indicates survival with high specificity. Whether the degree of this improvement is indicative of recovery remains unknown. Here we investigated if progression of auditory discrimination can predict cognitive and functional outcome. Methods We prospectively recorded electroencephalography responses to auditory stimuli of post-anoxic comatose patients on the first and second day after admission. For each recording, auditory discrimination was quantified and its evolution over the two recordings was used to classify survivors as "predicted" when it increased vs. "other" if not. Cognitive functions were tested on awakening and functional outcome was assessed at 3 months using the Cerebral Performance Categories (CPC) scale. Results Thirty-two patients were included, 14 "predicted survivors" and 18 "other survivors". "Predicted survivors" were more likely to recover basic cognitive functions shortly after awakening (ability to follow a standardized neuropsychological battery: 86% vs. 44%; p =0.03 (Fisher)) and to show a very good functional outcome at 3 months (CPC 1: 86% vs. 33%; p =0.004 (Fisher)). Moreover, progression of auditory discrimination during coma was strongly correlated with cognitive performance on awakening (phonemic verbal fluency: r s =0.48; p =0.009 (Spearman)). Conclusions Progression of auditory discrimination during coma provides early indication of future recovery of cognitive functions. The degree of improvement is informative of the degree of functional impairment. If confirmed in a larger cohort, this test would be the first to predict detailed outcome at the single-patient level.

The article discusses the potential of video games to enhance mental skills. Topics covered include the finding of a study that people who regularly play action games show improved ability to focus on visual details, the ability to make correct decisions under pressure conferred by game playing, and the ability of the video games Call of Duty and Medal of Honor to enhance attention. Also mentioned is the recommendation to customize games for dyslexic children or head-trauma patients.

Machine learning and pattern recognition methods have been used to diagnose Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from individual MRI scans. Another application of such methods is to predict clinical scores from individual scans. Using relevance vector regression (RVR), we predicted individuals' performances on established tests from their MRI T1 weighted image in two independent data sets. From Mayo Clinic, 73 probable AD patients and 91 cognitively normal (CN) controls completed the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Dementia Rating Scale (DRS), and Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) within 3months of their scan. Baseline MRI's from the Alzheimer's disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) comprised the other data set; 113 AD, 351 MCI, and 122 CN subjects completed the MMSE and Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale—Cognitive subtest (ADAS-cog) and 39 AD, 92 MCI, and 32 CN ADNI subjects completed MMSE, ADAS-cog, and AVLT. Predicted and actual clinical scores were highly correlated for the MMSE, DRS, and ADAS-cog tests (P

Objectives: The aim of this study was to test for interactions between education and health status (i.e., physical, social, and psychological functioning) with respect to baseline cognitive performance and change over 6 years. Method: Longitudinal data from the Maastricht Aging Study of 1344 men and women aged 24-47 and 49-77 were used. Results: Education by health interactions were restricted to the younger group. The components of health status that most consistently interacted with education were physical functioning on cognitive performance at baseline and physical and psychological functioning on cognitive change. Conclusion: These results indicate that high education attenuates age-related decline and lower baseline performance incurred by low health status in persons younger than 50.

The investigation of perceptual and cognitive functions with non-invasive brain imaging methods critically depends on the careful selection of stimuli for use in experiments. For example, it must be verified that any observed effects follow from the parameter of interest (e.g. semantic category) rather than other low-level physical features (e.g. luminance, or spectral properties). Otherwise, interpretation of results is confounded. Often, researchers circumvent this issue by including additional control conditions or tasks, both of which are flawed and also prolong experiments. Here, we present some new approaches for controlling classes of stimuli intended for use in cognitive neuroscience, however these methods can be readily extrapolated to other applications and stimulus modalities. Our approach is comprised of two levels. The first level aims at equalizing individual stimuli in terms of their mean luminance. Each data point in the stimulus is adjusted to a standardized value based on a standard value across the stimulus battery. The second level analyzes two populations of stimuli along their spectral properties (i.e. spatial frequency) using a dissimilarity metric that equals the root mean square of the distance between two populations of objects as a function of spatial frequency along x- and y-dimensions of the image. Randomized permutations are used to obtain a minimal value between the populations to minimize, in a completely data-driven manner, the spectral differences between image sets. While another paper in this issue applies these methods in the case of acoustic stimuli (Aeschlimann et al., Brain Topogr 2008), we illustrate this approach here in detail for complex visual stimuli.

BACKGROUND: Studies of physical exercise in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are few and results have been inconsistent.OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of a moderate-to-high intensity aerobic exercise program in patients with mild AD.METHODS: In a randomized controlled trial, we recruited 200 patients with mild AD to a supervised exercise group (60-min sessions three times a week for 16 weeks) or to a control group. Primary outcome was change from baseline in cognitive performance estimated by Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) in the intention-to-treat (ITT) group. Secondary outcomes included changes in quality of life, ability to perform activities of daily living, and in neuropsychiatric and depressive symptoms.RESULTS: The ITT analysis showed no significant differences between intervention and control groups in change from baseline of SDMT, other cognitive tests, quality of life, or activities of daily living. The change from baseline in Neuropsychiatric Inventory differed significantly in favor of the intervention group (mean: -3.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) -5.8 to -1.3, p = 0.002). In subjects who adhered to the protocol, we found a significant effect on change from baseline in SDMT as compared with the control group (mean: 4.2, 95% CI 0.5 to 7.9, p = 0.028), suggesting a dose-response relationship between exercise and cognition.CONCLUSIONS: This is the first randomized controlled trial with supervised moderate-to-high intensity exercise in patients with mild AD. Exercise reduced neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with mild AD, with possible additional benefits of preserved cognition in a subgroup of patients exercising with high attendance and intensity.

From 4 to 7 April 2016, 24 researchers from 8 countries and from a variety of academic disciplines gathered in Snekkersten, Denmark, to reach evidence-based consensus about physical activity in children and youth, that is, individuals between 6 and 18 years. Physical activity is an overarching term that consists of many structured and unstructured forms within school and out-of-school-time contexts, including organised sport, physical education, outdoor recreation, motor skill development programmes, recess, and active transportation such as biking and walking. This consensus statement presents the accord on the effects of physical activity on children's and youth's fitness, health, cognitive functioning, engagement, motivation, psychological well-being and social inclusion, as well as presenting educational and physical activity implementation strategies. The consensus was obtained through an iterative process that began with presentation of the state-of-the art in each domain followed by plenary and group discussions. Ultimately, Consensus Conference participants reached agreement on the 21-item consensus statement. From 4 to 7 April 2016, 24 researchers from 8 countries and from a variety of academic disciplines gathered in Snekkersten, Denmark, to reach evidence-based consensus about physical activity in children and youth, that is, individuals between 6 and 18 years. Physical activity is an overarching term that consists of many structured and unstructured forms within school and out-of-school-time contexts, including organised sport, physical education, outdoor recreation, motor skill development programmes, recess, and active transportation such as biking and walking. This consensus statement presents the accord on the effects of physical activity on children’s and youth’s fitness, health, cognitive functioning, engagement, motivation, psychological well-being and social inclusion, as well as presenting educational and physical activity implementation strategies. The consensus was obtained through an iterative process that began with presentation of the state-of-the art in each domain followed by plenary and group discussions. Ultimately, Consensus Conference participants reached agreement on the 21-item consensus statement.

International audience; Human breathing stems from automatic brainstem neural processes. It can also be operated by cortico-subcortical networks, especially when breathing becomes uncomfortable because of external or internal inspiratory loads. How the " irruption of breathing into consciousness " interacts with cognition remains unclear, but a case report in a patient with defective automatic breathing (Ondine's curse syndrome) has shown that there was a cog-nitive cost of breathing when the respiratory cortical networks were engaged. In a pilot study of putative breathing-cognition interactions, the present study relied on a randomized design to test the hypothesis that experimentally loaded breathing in 28 young healthy subjects would have a negative impact on cognition as tested by " timed up-and-go " test (TUG) and its imagery version (iTUG). Progressive inspiratory threshold loading resulted in slower TUG and iTUG performance. Participants consistently imagined themselves faster than they actually were. However, progressive inspiratory loading slowed iTUG more than TUG, a finding that is unexpected with regard to the known effects of dual tasking on TUG and iTUG (slower TUG but stable iTUG). Insofar as the cortical networks engaged in response to inspiratory loading are also activated during complex locomotor tasks requiring cognitive inputs, we infer that competition for cortical resources may account for the breathing-cogni-tion interference that is evidenced here.

Health research suggests that findings on young-old adults cannot be generalized to old-old adults and thus that old-old age seems not a simple continuation of young-old age due to qualitative changes that result in a discontinuity in old age. Specifically, it would be of conceptual and methodological importance to inform research regarding estimates around which chronological age the beginning of old-old age could be placed at a population level, and whether this is universal or domain-specific. To derive such criteria, we investigated potential discontinuity of age relations between young-old and old-old age in a large population-based sample considering measures in different domains (processing speed, verbal abilities, general health status, activity participation, and life satisfaction). For processing speed, verbal abilities, general health status, and life satisfaction we observed some very small indication that there might be a discontinuity of age relations at the end of individuals’ eighties, and for activity participation already at the beginning of individuals’ eighties. In conclusion, models conceptualizing aging as a gradual development might not suffice to adequately represent the differences between the stages of young-old and old-old age due to some very small indication that there might be discontinuity in late adulthood.

Impairment in mental flexibility may be a key component contributing to cardinal cognitive symptoms among mood disorders patients, particularly thought control disorders. Impaired ability to switch from one thought to another might reflect difficulties in either generating new mental states, inhibiting previous states, or both. However, the neural underpinnings of impaired cognitive flexibility in mood disorders remain largely unresolved. We compared a group of mood disorders patients (n = 29) and a group of matched healthy subjects (n = 32) on a novel task‐switching paradigm involving happy and sad faces, that allowed us to separate generation of a new mental set (Switch Cost) and inhibition of the previous set during switching (Inhibition Cost), using fMRI. Behavioral data showed a larger Switch Cost in patients relative to controls, but the average Inhibition Cost did not differ between groups. At the neural level, a main effect of group was found with stronger activation of the subgenual cingulate cortex in patients. The larger Switch Cost in patients was reflected by a stronger recruitment of brain regions involved in attention and executive control, including the left intraparietal sulcus, precuneus, left inferior fontal gyrus, and right anterior cingulate. Critically, activity in the subgenual cingulate cortex was not downregulated by inhibition in patients relative to controls. In conclusion, mood disorder patients have exaggerated Switch Cost relative to controls, and this deficit in cognitive flexibility is associated with increased activation of the fronto‐parietal attention networks, combined with impaired modulation of the subgenual cingulate cortex when inhibition of previous mental states is needed. Hum Brain Mapp 37:1335‐1348, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.