Demystifying Jung's "Archetypes" with Embodied Cognition.

Since he first proposed it, Carl Jung's "archetype" theory has faced resistance from a pervasive but seldom examined set of underlying Cartesian assumptions embedded in mainstream psychology. This paradigm assumed a physical universe (and hence body) free of psyche that coincided with an essentially disembodied mind largely concerned with abstract symbol manipulation. This situation led archetype theory to remain largely within insulated psychoanalytic circles for decades. Since the 1980s, however, cognitive psychology has increasingly become embodied from a variety of standpoints. This article shows how the results of embodied cognition and spontaneous thought "demystify" many of the attributes Jung described in his archetype theory, making archetype theory not only more comprehensible but clinically applicable. Combining approaches suggests new avenues of inquiry for experimental research and enriches the psychoanalytic perspective.

Corrigendum: Neurocognitive and cerebellar function in ADHD, autism and spinocerebellar ataxia.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2023.1168666.].

Executive functions in psychopathy: a meta-analysis of inhibition, planning, shifting, and working memory performance.

Much research has focused on executive function (EF) impairments in psychopathy, a severe personality disorder characterized by a lack of empathy, antisocial behavior, and a disregard for social norms and moral values. However, it is still unclear to what extent EF deficits are present across psychopathy factors and, more importantly, which EF domains are impaired. The current meta-analysis answers these questions by synthesizing the results of 50 studies involving 5,694 participants from 12 different countries. Using multilevel random-effects models, we pooled effect sizes (Cohen's d) for five different EF domains: overall EF, inhibition, planning, shifting, and working memory. Moreover, differences between psychopathy factors were evaluated. Our analyses revealed small deficits in overall EF, inhibition, and planning performance. However, a closer inspection of psychopathy factors indicated that EF deficits were specific to lifestyle/antisocial traits, such as disinhibition. Conversely, interpersonal/affective traits, such as boldness, showed no deficits and in some cases even improved EF performance. These findings suggest that EF deficits are not a key feature of psychopathy per se, but rather are related to antisociality and disinhibitory traits. Potential brain correlates of these findings as well as implications for future research and treatment are discussed.

Therapeutic use of music in neurological disorders: A concise narrative review.

Background: Music elicits multifactorial benefits in emotional, social, cognitive, and academic aspects of human life. Music is clinically proven to reduce stress and anxiety, and improve mood and self-expression, particularly after traumatic events. Studies have also demonstrated that music promotes parasympathetic autonomic systems, suppresses hyperactivation of stress responses, and boosts immune functions. However, its ability to promote brain plasticity and signalling are only beginning to be realized. Moreover, its employment as a therapy for the treatment of specific aspects of other neurological disorders, including neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative conditions and their comorbidities, is fast becoming an interesting field of research. Objective: The aim of this review is to summarize some of the recent studies focused on evaluating the applications of music therapy. For this purpose, we have focused on disorders encompassing both temporal extremities of brain developmental stages, from developmental conditions of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), to ageing-related pathologies of Parkinson's disease and dementias. Results: The findings of the reviewed studies indicate potent utilities of music-based interventions in beneficially affecting multiple spheres of brain functions, such as sensorimotor, auditory, communication/language, psychological/emotional, behavioural, sleep and memory and cognitive attributes of patients diagnosed with diverse neuropathologies. Nevertheless, lack of standardized protocols for music provision as well as absence of information regarding key aspects, such as cultural and musical orientations of subjects and therapists'/caregivers' attitudes, have hindered the complete realization of music's therapeutic potential for neurological conditions. Further, while some studies have undertaken assessments of core neurophysiological mechanisms underlying music therapy, this information is largely lacking for most clinical studies. Conclusion: While this is not an exhaustive review of literature, we do hope that it serves as a platform to promote future research for establishing music therapy as a relevant neurotherapeutic strategy.

Embracing virtual reality in rehabilitation of post-stroke aphasia.

About one-third of stroke survivors experience aphasia, i.e., language dysfunction caused by brain damage. Aphasia affects not only a person's ability to communicate, but it often leads to the inability to return to work, loss of close relationships, diminished quality of life, negative self-perception, and depression. Yet persons with aphasia are globally underserved due to limited access to resources, which limits their chance for recovery. Immersive virtual reality (VR) has the potential to solve this problem and deliver efficient, personalized treatments to millions of people worldwide who need access to rehabilitation services or more flexibility in treatment delivery. To reduce the global burden of stroke experts recommend taking bold, pragmatic actions across all four pillars of stroke quadrangle-surveillance, prevention, acute care, and rehabilitation. Embracing immersive VR-based rehabilitation of poststroke aphasia would be one step in that direction.

Interview Versus Performance Assessment of Cognition as Predictors of Real-World Outcomes in a Large-Scale Cross-Sectional Study in Schizophrenia.

The Cognitive Assessment Interview (CAI) is an interview-based scale measuring cognitive impairment and its impact on functioning in subjects with schizophrenia (SCZ). It is approved as a coprimary measure of performance-based instruments, such as the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB). Recent research highlights negative symptoms, social cognition, and functional capacity as mediators of cognitive impairment's impact on functioning. This study compared mediation analysis outcomes using CAI or MCCB scores, providing insights into the utility of interview-based tools in research and clinical practice. The study included 618 individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, recruited from 24 Italian psychiatric clinics. Neurocognitive assessments utilized both CAI and MCCB. Mediation analyses explored negative symptoms, social cognition, and functional capacity as mediators of the impact of neurocognition on real-life functioning domains. The study's results extend the validation of the CAI as a coprimary measure that provides valid information on the impact of cognitive impairment on real-life functioning and its possible mediators, complementing the information obtained using the MCCB. Interview-based cognitive assessment might be essential for understanding schizophrenia complexity and its impact on various cognitive and functional domains for clinicians, patients, and caregivers.

A central role of sulcal width in the associations of sleep duration and depression with cognition in mid to late life.

Study Objectives: Evidence suggests that poor sleep impacts cognition, brain health, and dementia risk but the nature of the association is poorly understood. This study examined how self-reported sleep duration, napping, and subjective depression symptoms are associated with the brain-cognition relationship in older adults, using sulcal width as a measure of relative brain health. Methods: A canonical partial least squares analysis was used to obtain two composite variables that relate cognition and sulcal width in a cross-sectional study of 137 adults aged 46-72. We used a combination of ANCOVA and path analyses to test the associations of self-reported sleep duration, napping, and subjective depression symptoms with the brain-cognition relationship. Results: We observed a significant main effect of sleep duration on sulcal width, with participants reporting 7 hours showing narrower sulci than other durations. This effect remained significant after including subjective depression as a covariate, which also had a significant main effect on sulcal width in the model. There was no significant effect of napping on sulcal width. In path analyses where the effects of age, self-reported sleep duration and depression symptoms were investigated together, sulcal width mediated the relationship between age and cognition. We also observed a significant indirect effect of sulci width in the subjective depression-cognition relationship. Conclusions: Findings suggest that self-reported sleep duration and subjective depression may each be independently associated with brain morphology, which is related to cognitive functions. Results could help inform clinical trials and related intervention studies that aim at delaying cognitive decline in adults at risk of developing dementia.

The relationship of neurocognitive and social cognitive performance to social competence and appropriateness on a performance-based social skills assessment in individuals with psychosis and unaffected controls.

Social deficits are common in psychosis. The Social Skills Performance Assessment (SSPA) is a performance-based measure used to approximate an individual's social skills. Those with psychosis perform worse than do unaffected controls. Prior work has examined two social skills domains derived from the SSPA: social competence and social appropriateness. Social competence and appropriateness are associated with neurocognition and functioning outcomes. However, no study to date has examined the relationship of social cognition to social competence and appropriateness. We aimed to examine the relationships among different aspects of social cognition and performance-based social functioning and hypothesized that social cognitive performance would be related to social competence and appropriateness. We also hypothesized that after controlling for neurocognition, social cognition would account for unique variance in social competence and appropriateness in separate regression models. Forty-one participants who had experienced psychosis and 42 unaffected controls completed a comprehensive battery of neurocognitive, social cognitive, and social functioning measures. Social competence was associated with neurocognition and some aspects of social cognition, while social appropriateness was only marginally associated with neurocognition. Regression models revealed that social cognition did not account for additional and unique variance in social competence or appropriateness, after adjusting for demographic covariates and neurocognition. Findings suggest that aspects of social functioning performance are differentially related to neurocognitive and social cognitive skills. Social skill interventions may be most effective when targeting both neurocognitive and social cognitive skills in treatment.

Information seeking and subsequent affective well-being in Chinese young adults: the mediating effects of worry.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to unravel micro-processes that link information seeking to subsequent affective well-being (i.e., positive and negative affect) at the within-person level, as well as the role of worry as a mediator in this relationship. METHODS AND MEASURES: Within the initial weeks following the Chinese government's relaxation of its epidemic control measures, 184 participants completed experience sampling methods on information seeking, COVID-related worry, and affective well-being three times a day for 14 days. RESULTS: According to dynamic structural equation models, information seeking was associated with high negative affect but not with low positive affect. COVID-related worry acted as a full mediator between information seeking at the previous time point (approximately 5 h ago) and the current negative affect, but not in positive affect. CONCLUSION: These findings suggested that the impact of information seeking on affective well-being was different for the two dimensions of affect. Furthermore, the persistent impact of information seeking on negative affect was attributed to the indirect effect of worry, suggesting that worry should be a point of focus for intervention to mitigate the potentially negative effects of information seeking within the context of the public health crises.

Major Depression in Comorbidity with Substance use Disorders: Patients' Features and Clinical-Neurobiological Rationale of Antidepressant Treatments.

The frequent co-occurrence of major depressive disorder (MDD) and substance use disorders (SUDs) entails significant clinical challenges. Compared to patients with MDD alone, patients with MDD and SUD often show increased anhedonia, emotional blunting, and impaired cognitive function. These symptoms lead to an inability to control cravings, more substance use, increased relapse rates, and poor adherence to the treatment. This fosters a detrimental cycle leading to more severe depressive symptoms, functional impairment, and chronicity, culminating in heightened morbidity, mortality, and healthcare resource utilization. Data on antidepressant treatment of MDD-SUD patients are inconclusive and often conflicting because of a number of confounding factors in clinical trials or difficulty in dissecting the specific contributions of pharmacological versus psychological interventions in real-world studies. The patient's unique clinical features and specific SUD and MDD subtypes must be considered when choosing treatments. Ideally, drug treatment for MDD-SUD should act on both conditions and address core symptoms such as anhedonia, craving, and cognitive dysfunction while ensuring minimal emotional blunting, absence of drug interactions, and no addictive potential. This approach aims to address unmet needs and optimize the outcomes in a clinical population often underrepresented in treatment paradigms.

The mediational role of hearing acuity in the association between personality and memory: Evidence from the health and retirement study and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

OBJECTIVES: Personality traits (i.e., the enduring patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors) are associated with cognition across adulthood. There is interest in identifying potential mechanisms to explain this association, but none has focused on sensory function. Therefore, the present study examined whether an objective measure of hearing acuity mediates the association between personality and memory. METHODS: Participants were from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS, N = 5497, 60 % women, Mean age = 65.66, SD = 9.00) and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA, N = 4706, 57 % women, Mean age = 64.47, SD = 7.59). In the HRS, participants had data on personality and demographic variables in 2012/2014, hearing acuity in 2016/2018, and memory in 2020. In ELSA, participants had data on personality and demographic variables measured in 2010/2011, hearing acuity in 2014/2015, and memory in 2018/2019. RESULTS: In both HRS and ELSA, higher hearing acuity partially mediated the association between lower neuroticism (4 % and 5 % proportion effect mediated), higher conscientiousness (6 % and 15 %) and higher openness (3 % and 7 %) and better memory performances at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The present study provides novel evidence that hearing acuity mediates the association between personality and cognition.

Multivariate Association between Functional Connectivity Gradients and Cognition in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders.

BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (SSDs), which are characterized by social cognitive deficits, have been associated with dysconnectivity in "unimodal" (e.g., visual, auditory) and "multimodal" (e.g., default-mode and frontoparietal) cortical networks. However, little is known regarding how such dysconnectivity relates to social and non-social cognition, and how such brain-behavioral relationships associate with clinical outcomes of SSDs. METHODS: We analyzed cognitive (non-social and social) measures and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from the 'Social Processes Initiative in Neurobiology of the Schizophrenia(s) (SPINS)' study (247 stable participants with SSDs and 172 healthy controls, ages 18-55). We extracted gradients from parcellated connectomes and examined the association between the first 3 gradients and the cognitive measures using partial least squares correlation (PLSC). We then correlated the PLSC dimensions with functioning and symptoms in the SSDs group. RESULTS: The SSDs group showed significantly lower differentiation on all three gradients. The first PLSC dimension explained 68.53% (p<.001) of the covariance and showed a significant difference between SSDs and Controls (bootstrap p<.05). PLSC showed that all cognitive measures were associated with gradient scores of unimodal and multimodal networks (Gradient 1), auditory, sensorimotor, and visual networks (Gradient 2), and perceptual networks and striatum (Gradient 3), which were less differentiated in SSDs. Furthermore, the first dimension was positively correlated with negative symptoms and functioning in the SSDs group. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest a potential role of lower differentiation of brain networks in cognitive and functional impairments in SSDs.

Predictive coding for the actions and emotions of others and its deficits in autism spectrum disorders.

Traditionally, the neural basis of social perception has been studied by showing participants brief examples of the actions or emotions of others presented in randomized order to prevent participants from anticipating what others do and feel. This approach is optimal to isolate the importance of information flow from lower to higher cortical areas. The degree to which feedback connections and Bayesian hierarchical predictive coding contribute to how mammals process more complex social stimuli has been less explored, and will be the focus of this review. We illustrate paradigms that start to capture how participants predict the actions and emotions of others under more ecological conditions, and discuss the brain activity measurement methods suitable to reveal the importance of feedback connections in these predictions. Together, these efforts draw a richer picture of social cognition in which predictive coding and feedback connections play significant roles. We further discuss how the notion of predicting coding is influencing how we think of autism spectrum disorder.

Assessing the effect of anthocyanins through diet and supplementation on cognitive function in older adults at risk for dementia: protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: Promising evidence is emerging for the procognitive, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties of dietary flavonoids, particularly anthocyanins that provide red, purple and blue plant pigments. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The 'Food for Thought' study is a multicentre, 6-month randomised, parallel 3-arm clinical trial. Its primary aim is to investigate whether anthocyanin consumption, either through diet or supplementation, can prevent memory loss progression and improve inflammatory and cardiovascular health in older adults at risk for dementia. Eligible participants will include those aged 60-85 years with a diagnosis of amnestic mild cognitive impairment or with a self-referral of memory concerns and scoring ≤13 on the Memory Index Score within the Telephone Montreal Cognitive Assessment screening test. Participants will be randomised to one of three arms: High anthocyanin ('purple foods') diet (aiming for a target of 250 mg anthocyanins/day); freeze-dried product derived from blackcurrants (250 mg anthocyanins/day); or control (coloured maltose powder). The primary outcome is auditory anterograde memory functioning assessed by the Buschke and Grober Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test-Immediate Recall. Secondary outcomes are additional cognitive functions including processing speed, working memory, aspects of executive functioning (attentional shifting and word generativity) and premorbid estimate as well as subjective memory problems and self-reported depression symptoms. Additional secondary outcomes are blood pressure, inflammatory biomarkers, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, fatty acid profile, apolipoprotein E and polyphenol metabolites, gut microbiota composition and function and vascular and microvascular endothelial function tests. Repeated measures analysis of variance and/or mixed linear modelling will evaluate changes over time, with the inclusion of covariates. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics approval has been obtained from the Greater Western Human Research Ethics Committee (2021/ETH12083). A Consumer Advisory Group was established to guide and review the protocol and dissemination strategy. The results of this trial are intended to be published in a peer-reviewed journal. TRIAL SPONSOR: National Health and Medical Research Centre Dementia Collaborative Research Centre.Start date of clinical trial: 02 September 2022.Expected end date: 11 October 2024. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ACTRN12622000065796.

A color-digit Stroop task shows numerical influence on numerosity processing.

The numerical Stroop task involves presenting participants with two digits that differ in physical size and numerical value and asking them to report which digit had the larger size or value while ignoring the other dimension. Previous studies show that participants have difficulty ignoring the irrelevant dimension and thus have implications on the automaticity of numerical processing. The present study investigates the automatic influence of numerical value on numerosity processing in a novel Stroop-like task. In two experiments, participants were presented with digits made of colored stripes and asked to identify the number of different colors. In both experiments, interference and facilitation effects were found, supporting the automaticity of symbolic number processing and its influence on numerosity processing. These findings expand upon previous research on numerical as well as counting Stroop tasks, and have potential implications for studying interference and basic numerical processing in children and clinical populations.

Genetic estimation of causalities between educational attainment with common digestive tract diseases and the mediating pathways.

BACKGROUND: The association between education, intelligence, and cognition with digestive tract diseases has been established. However, the specific contribution of each factor in the pathogenesis of these diseases are still uncertain. METHOD: This study employed multivariable Mendelian randomization (MR) to assess the independent effects of education, intelligence, and cognition on gastrointestinal conditions in the FinnGen and UK Biobank European-ancestry populations. A two-step MR approach was employed to assess the mediating effects of the association. RESULTS: Meta-analysis of MR estimates from FinnGen and UK Biobank showed that 1- SD (4.2 years) higher education was causally associated with lower risks of gastroesophageal reflux (OR: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.50, 0.66), peptic ulcer (OR: 0.57; 95% CI: 0.47, 0.69), irritable bowel syndrome (OR: 0.70; 95% CI: 0.56, 0.87), diverticular disease (OR: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.61, 0.78), cholelithiasis (OR: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.59, 0.79) and acute pancreatitis (OR: 0.54; 95% CI: 0.41, 0.72), independently of intelligence and cognition. These causal associations were mediating by body mass index (3.7-22.3%), waist-to-hip ratio (8.3-11.9%), body fat percentage (4.1-39.8%), fasting insulin (1.4-5.5%) and major depression (6.0-12.4%). CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrate a causal and independent association between education and six common digestive tract diseases. Additionally, our study highlights five mediators as crucial targets for preventing digestive tract diseases associated with lower education levels.

Cognitive impairment and depression precede increased HDL-C levels in middle-aged and older Chinese adults: cross-lagged panel analyses.

BACKGROUND: High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) is widely recognized for its protective effects against cognitive decline. However, recent studies have presented conflicting results, with some suggesting no significant cognitive benefits or even an increased risk of dementia associated with high HDL-C levels. For those who suffer from depression, the cognitive benefits of HDL-C may be diminished or reversed. The purpose of this study is to investigate the associations between HDL-C, cognitive ability, and depressive symptoms in middle-aged and older Chinese adults. METHODS: The datasets utilized were sourced from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) for the years 2011 and 2015, comprising 4,302 participants. Cross-lagged models were employed to explore the temporal sequence between cognitive performance and HDL-C levels, and to examine the interplay among depression, cognition, and HDL-C. Confounding factors such as sociodemographic characteristics, sleep conditions, and history of chronic diseases were controlled for. RESULTS: The analysis revealed unidirectional effects of baseline impaired cognition and greater severity of depression on increased HDL-C levels at follow-up (ß = - 0.036 and ß = 0.028, respectively, P < 0.05). However, higher baseline HDL-C levels did not significantly predict cognitive performance or depression 4 years later (ß = - 0.008 and ß = 0.023, respectively, P > 0.05). Depressive symptoms and cognition were found to have a significant bidirectional association (ß = - 0.026 and ß = - 0.053, respectively, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive impairment and depression are associated with higher HDL-C levels, whereas higher HDL-C levels do not appear to protect against cognitive decline or depressive symptoms. These findings underscore the importance of preserving cognitive and mental health, which may lower the likelihood of cardiovascular disease and dementia. Future studies should validate these findings and develop targeted interventions tailored to specific populations.

Task-based functional neural correlates of social cognition across autism and schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

BACKGROUND: Autism and schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) both feature atypical social cognition. Despite evidence for comparable group-level performance in lower-level emotion processing and higher-level mentalizing, limited research has examined the neural basis of social cognition across these conditions. Our goal was to compare the neural correlates of social cognition in autism, SSDs, and typically developing controls (TDCs). METHODS: Data came from two harmonized studies in individuals diagnosed with autism or SSDs and TDCs (aged 16-35 years), including behavioral social cognitive metrics and two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) tasks: a social mirroring Imitate/Observe (ImObs) task and the Empathic Accuracy (EA) task. Group-level comparisons, and transdiagnostic analyses incorporating social cognitive performance, were run using FSL's PALM for each task, covarying for age and sex (1000 permutations, thresholded at p < 0.05 FWE-corrected). Exploratory region of interest (ROI)-based analyses were also conducted. RESULTS: ImObs and EA analyses included 164 and 174 participants, respectively (autism N = 56/59, SSD N = 50/56, TDC N = 58/59). EA and both lower- and higher-level social cognition scores differed across groups. While canonical social cognitive networks were activated, no significant whole-brain or ROI-based group-level differences in neural correlates for either task were detected. Transdiagnostically, neural activity during the EA task, but not the ImObs task, was associated with lower- and higher-level social cognitive performance. LIMITATIONS: Despite attempting to match our groups on age, sex, and race, significant group differences remained. Power to detect regional brain differences is also influenced by sample size and multiple comparisons in whole-brain analyses. Our findings may not generalize to autism and SSD individuals with co-occurring intellectual disabilities. CONCLUSIONS: The lack of whole-brain and ROI-based group-level differences identified and the dimensional EA brain-behavior relationship observed across our sample suggest that the EA task may be well-suited to target engagement in novel intervention testing. Our results also emphasize the potential utility of cross-condition approaches to better understand social cognition across autism and SSDs.

A behavioral dataset of predictive decisions given trends in information across adulthood.

Making early and good predictions is a critical feature of decision making in domains such as investing and predicting the spread of diseases. Past literature indicates that people use recent and longer-term trends to extrapolate future outcomes. Nonetheless, less is known about what differentiates the strategies people use to make better predictions than others. Furthermore, factors underlying predictive judgments could be an important behavioral component in psychosocial research investigating manic-depression, anxiety, and age effects. Additionally, predictive judgments may be moderated based on the experience of living in areas with greater income inequality. To address these issues, we used investment tasks where participants had to predict future outcomes of their investments based on a trend in information. In the task, participants predicted how many tokens a gold mine would produce on the twelfth turn. On each turn, participants could ask for more information at a cost, or make a prediction about whether the gold mine would produce more or less than 100 tokens by the 12th turn. The trend was determined by function type (exponential and inverse exponential functions), whether the function was more linear or curved (growth factors), and good or bad outcomes (final values). This paradigm could help disentangle to what degree people use recent or longer-term information to inform their predictive judgments. We used Qualtrics to conduct this study. We also collected questionnaire data quantifying anxiety, impulsivity, risk attitudes, manic-depressive symptoms, and other psychosocial characteristics. The study was administered to adults with age ranges across the lifespan (N = 360; 225 male, 132 female; 3 nonbinary; mean age: 44.3 years; SD: 15.4 years, min: 18 years, max: 78 years). Additionally, we sampled across areas with high- and low-income inequality, thereby allowing researchers to investigate if value-based decisions are associated with participants' local communities. We outline potential ways to use and reuse this data, including exploring how individual differences are associated with predictive judgments.

Dataset of autobiographical and future-related thoughts recorded during a laboratory vigilance task with working memory load manipulation.

The dataset provided in this article comprises frequencies of task-related thoughts, task-unrelated thoughts, involuntary autobiographical memories (IAMs), and involuntary future thoughts (IFTs) reported by adult participants during a laboratory vigilance task. Participants completed a vigilance task that included incidental cue words intended to trigger IAMs and IFTs, whose frequency was measured using random thought probes. The data were collected from two studies (n = 240 per study) in which working memory load and cue-presentation were manipulated. In both studies, participants completed an unexpected cue-recognition task after completing the vigilance task, which allowed for gathering additional data about noticing and remembering specific categories of cues (positive, neutral or negative). The dataset includes not only the frequencies of specific categories of thoughts but also data from numerous follow-up questions related to how participants perceived their performance in the task, such as their concentration level or perceived task difficulty. In conclusion the dataset contains three categories of variables: (1) variables related to participants and the conditions of the experimental sessions (i.e., age, gender, working memory load condition, etc.); (2) variables related to control questions (i.e., perceived task difficulty, emotional states, fatigue, etc.); and (3) variables related to performance in the vigilance task and the occurrence of thoughts (i.e., number of task-unrelated thoughts, number of involuntary memories, percentage of successfully recognized cues, etc.). This dataset could be reused to investigate many interesting relationships between cognitively engaging computer task characteristics and various parameters of task performance. Additionally, it could be used to conduct alternative or replication analyses to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between working memory load and the experience of involuntary thoughts.