The "Wear and Tear" of the Organism in Temporomandibular Disorders: A Pilot Study Investigating the Effects of Allostatic Load on Heart Rate Variability and Inhibitory Control.

Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) are the most common cause of non-dental chronic pain in the orofacial region and can chronically increase the activity of the allostatic systems. The allostatic overload related to these conditions causes an autonomic dysregulation, reflected by a reduction in heart rate variability (HRV). Nevertheless, chronic pain in these patients could cause more severe health consequences, such as those related to cognitive functioning. Deficits in executive control have been associated with allostatic overload and could negatively affect pain management strategies. This study aimed to investigate the effects of chronic pain on HRV and both motor and cognitive inhibition (assessed with the Go/No-Go and Stroop tasks, respectively) in a sample of 14 patients with TMD and 15 healthy controls. Consistent with our hypothesis and the previous literature, the group with TMD had a lower resting HRV, but no differences were found between the groups in inhibition. Furthermore, the results showed that the effects of HRV on cognitive inhibition can be mediated by pain intensity. Finally, a correlation between age and HRV emerged in patients with TMD but not in healthy controls.

Does personality affect the cognitive decline in aging? A systematic review.

Cognitive decline is a natural consequence of aging, but several genetic, environmental, and psychological factors can influence its trajectories. Among the most enduring factors, the Big Five personality traits - defined as relatively stable tendencies to think, behave, and react to the environment - can influence both directly (e.g., by physiological correlates) and indirectly (e.g., healthy or risky behaviors) the risk of developing dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) - a preclinical form of cognitive decline. Despite the great amount of studies focusing on the relationship between personality and cognitive decline, an updated systematic synthesis of the results including a broader range of study designs is still lacking. This systematic review aims to summarize the findings of studies investigating: (i) differences in personality traits between groups of healthy individuals and those with MCI, (ii) the impact of personality traits on the risk for both MCI and dementia, and (iii) changes in personality traits among individuals progressing from normal cognition to MCI. Neuroticism emerged as a significant risk factor for MCI and dementia; Conscientiousness and Openness appear to offer protection against dementia and moderate cognitive decline. Overall, these findings suggest a pivotal role of personality structure in shaping cognitive outcomes on the long run.

Adapting Minds: Exploring Cognition to Threatened Stimuli in the Post-COVID-19 Landscape Comparing Old and New Concerns about Pandemic.

The global population has been significantly affected by the pandemic in terms of physical and mental health. According to transactional theory, individuals have undergone an adaptation process influenced by cognitive control abilities. Emotional responses to COVID-19-related stimuli may interfere with top-down attentional processes, thereby hindering adaptation. This study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19-related stimuli on attentional processing and to determine whether psychological factors could modulate these effects. A sample of 96 healthy undergraduate students participated in an emotional Stroop task in which they were presented with a series of stimuli, including both neutral and negative COVID-19-related as well as non-COVID-19 stimuli. COVID-19-related PTSD, as an index of distress (PTSS), and trait anxiety were evaluated. Results showed that participants were more accurate in identifying COVID-19-related stimuli compared to non-COVID-19 stimuli. Being female and having higher retrospective PTSS scores related to COVID-19 were predictive of faster reaction times for both neutral and negative COVID-19-related stimuli. This heightened attentional bias toward COVID-19-related stimuli suggests that individuals may be more sensitive to stimuli associated with the pandemic. The results suggest that the association between COVID-19 stimuli and attentional biases extends beyond emotional valence, being retrospectively influenced by mental health, suggesting potential pathways to future mental health challenges.

Inhibition changes across the lifespan: experimental evidence from the Stroop task.

Individuals constantly exert inhibitory control over their thoughts and behaviors to plan actions that compete with habits and impulses. Cognitive inhibition enhances the selection of task-relevant stimuli and is closely related to neural changes that occur across the lifespan. Since few studies have focused on the entire lifespan, this study aimed to assess cognitive inhibition abilities in a sample of 425 healthy participants (age range: 7-88 years) using the Stroop task. The participants were grouped according to age into children, adolescents, young adults, adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults. A series of ANOVAs considered Group as the independent variable and Performance indices as the dependent variables. The children did not show an interference effect (Stroop effect), likely due to the lack of an automated reading process as a consequence of ongoing brain maturation. Adolescents and young adults performed significantly faster than older adults did. The results indicate that response speed reaches its peak during adolescence and young adulthood and then slightly decreases until older age. Nevertheless, when compared with the other groups, only older adults showed significant differences in the Stroop effect, suggesting that inhibitory abilities remain relatively consistent throughout adulthood but rapidly worsen in recent years due to the physiological decline in cognitive and brain functioning associated with aging.

The role of cognitive flexibility on higher level executive functions in mild cognitive impairment and healthy older adults.

BACKGROUND: Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a preclinical condition between healthy and pathological aging, which is characterized by impairments in executive functions (EFs), including cognitive flexibility. According to Diamond's model, cognitive flexibility is a core executive function, along with working memory and inhibition, but it requires the development of these last EFs to reach its full potential. In this model, planning and fluid intelligence are considered higher-level EFs. Given their central role in enabling individuals to adapt their daily life behavior efficiently, the goal is to gain valuable insight into the functionality of cognitive flexibility in a preclinical form of cognitive decline. This study aims to investigate the role of cognitive flexibility and its components, set-shifting and switching, in MCI. The hypotheses are as follows: (I) healthy participants are expected to perform better than those with MCI on cognitive flexibility and higher-level EFs tasks, taking into account the mediating role of global cognitive functioning; (II) cognitive flexibility can predict performance on higher-level EFs (i.e., planning and fluid intelligence) tasks differently in healthy individuals and those diagnosed with MCI. METHODS: Ninety participants were selected and divided into a healthy control group (N = 45; mean age 64.1 ± 6.80; 66.6% female) and an MCI group (N = 45; mean age 65.2 ± 8.14; 40% female). Cognitive flexibility, fluid intelligence, planning, and global cognitive functioning of all participants were assessed using standardized tasks. RESULTS: Results indicated that individuals with MCI showed greater impairment in global cognitive functioning and EFs performance. Furthermore, the study confirms the predictive role of cognitive flexibility for higher EFs in individuals with MCI and only partially in healthy older adults.

Inhibition and Heart Rate Variability in Experimentally Induced Pain.

Introduction: Pain is a complex experience that requires executive functions (EFs) to be processed. The autonomic outcome of the neural networks involved in the cognitive evaluation of pain is reflected by heart rate variability (HRV), an index of self-regulation abilities. Although some results suggest a relationship between HRV, EFs, and pain, studies focusing on this three-way relationship are still scarce. Objective: This study aims to investigate the relationship between pain, cognitive, and autonomic mechanisms, hypothesizing an association between resting HRV and both cognitive and motor inhibition as indices of executive functioning. This relationship was investigated after an experimental-induced pain. Methods: Seventy-six young adults were exposed to the Cold Pressure Arm Warp to induce experimental pain. HRV was collected, and cognitive tasks were administered to assess executive performance. Results: The results showed that (1) HRV indices significantly increased during pain stimulation, (2) cognitive inhibition was positively correlated with vagal indices and with pain parameters, (3) both inhibition tasks significantly predicted pain threshold while the performance on the Stroop Task predicted pain tolerance. Conclusion: Results suggest a three-way relationship. Further research would focus on the role of HRV and cognitive strategies in pain management in chronic pain conditions.

Heart Rate Variability and Pain: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Heart rate variability (HRV) as an index of the autonomic nervous system appears to be related to reactivity to experimental pain stimuli. HRV could better explain the contributions of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity response to nociceptive stimulation. The aim of this study was to systematically review and synthesize the current evidence on HRV in relation to the experience of pain in experimental tasks. Databases and Data Treatment: Studies indexed in the PubMed, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, WebOfScience, and Scopus databases were reviewed for eligibility. Studies on the autonomic response (i.e., HRV) to experimentally induced pain in healthy adults were included. Different methods of pain induction were considered (e.g., thermal, pressure, and electrical). Data were synthesized considering the association between HRV and both pain induction and subjective measures of pain. RESULTS: Seventy-one studies were included. The results underline significant change in both the sympathetic and parasympathetic autonomic nervous systems during the painful stimulation independent of the pain induction method. The autonomic reaction to pain could be affected by several factors, such as sex, age, body mass index, breathing patterns, the intensity of the stimulation, and the affective state. Moreover, an association between the autonomic nervous system and the subjective experience of pain was found. Higher parasympathetic activity was associated with better self-regulation capacities and, accordingly, a higher pain inhibition capacity. CONCLUSIONS: HRV appears to be a helpful marker to evaluate nociceptive response in experimentally induced pain. Future studies are also needed in clinical samples to understand better the interindividual changes of autonomic response due to pain stimuli.