Working memory processes and intrinsic motivation: An EEG study.

Processes typically encompassed by working memory (WM) include encoding, retention, and retrieval of information. Previous research has demonstrated that motivation can influence WM performance, although the specific WM processes affected by motivation are not yet fully understood. In this study, we investigated the effects of motivation on different WM processes, examining how task difficulty modulates these effects. We hypothesized that motivation level and personality traits of the participants (N = 48, 32 females; mean age = 21) would modulate the parietal alpha and frontal theta electroencephalography (EEG) correlates of WM encoding, retention, and retrieval phases of the Sternberg task. This effect was expected to be more pronounced under conditions of very high task difficulty. We found that increasing difficulty led to reduced accuracy and increased response time, but no significant relationship was found between motivation and accuracy. However, EEG data revealed that motivation influenced WM processes, as indicated by changes in alpha and theta oscillations. Specifically, higher levels of the Resilience trait-associated with mental toughness, hardiness, self-efficacy, achievement motivation, and low anxiety-were related to increased alpha desynchronization during encoding and retrieval. Increased scores of Subjective Motivation to perform well in the task were related to enhanced frontal midline theta during retention. Additionally, these effects were significantly stronger under conditions of high difficulty. These findings provide insights into the specific WM processes that are influenced by motivation, and underscore the importance of considering both task difficulty and intrinsic motivation in WM research.

Quantitative Meta-analyses of Cognitive Abilities in Children With Pediatric-onset Multiple Sclerosis.

Pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (POMS), is the manifestation of multiple sclerosis in individuals before 18 years of age. About a third of children with POMS show some form of lower cognitive performance. The purpose of this study is to examine using quantitative meta-analyses the effect size of altered performance between children with and without POMS on overall intelligence quotient (IQ), information processing speed, and language functions. We searched the literature for studies that reported scores on cognitive tests administered to children with and without POMS. Studies were systematically reviewed using PRISMA guidelines. We analyzed data from 14 studies that examined 1283 children with and without POMS when cognitive categories consisted of five or more studies. Effect sizes, publication bias and potential confounds were considered. Significant cognitive differences are revealed for all categories with the strongest effect observed for overall IQ. A moderate effect is observed for information processing speed, and small effects for verbal fluency and verbal memory. Cognitive abilities present differently in children with POMS and a better understanding of this manifestation will inform intervention and remediation tools that can improve clinical and educational practice for the benefit of children with POMS.

Parietal Alpha Oscillations: Cognitive Load and Mental Toughness.

Cognitive effort is intrinsically linked to task difficulty, intelligence, and mental toughness. Intelligence reflects an individual's cognitive aptitude, whereas mental toughness (MT) reflects an individual's resilience in pursuing success. Research shows that parietal alpha oscillations are associated with changes in task difficulty. Critically, it remains unclear whether parietal alpha oscillations are modulated by intelligence and MT as a personality trait. We examined event-related (de)synchronization (ERD/ERS) of alpha oscillations associated with encoding, retention, and recognition in the Sternberg task in relation to intelligence and mental toughness. Eighty participants completed the Sternberg task with 3, 4, 5 and 6 digits, Raven Standard Progressive Matrices test and an MT questionnaire. A positive dependence on difficulty was observed for all studied oscillatory effects (t = −8.497, p < 0.001; t = 2.806, p < 0.005; t = −2.103, p < 0.05). The influence of Raven intelligence was observed for encoding-related alpha ERD (t = −2.02, p = 0.049). The influence of MT was observed only for difficult conditions in recognition-related alpha ERD (t = −3.282, p < 0.005). Findings indicate that the modulation of alpha rhythm related to encoding, retention and recognition may be interpreted as correlates of cognitive effort modulation. Specifically, results suggest that effort related to encoding depends on intelligence, whereas recognition-related effort level depends on mental toughness.

Converging evidence for domain-general developmental trends of mental attentional capacity: Validity and reliability of full and abbreviated measures.

Our ability to understand the world around us hinges on our cognition. Theoretically, children's abilities improve with age; however, a lively discussion exists on how factors such as task domain, task interference, and task difficulty, as indexed mainly by relevant cues, affect cognitive performance. Practically, cognitive measures take a substantial amount of time to administer, which poses limitations for researchers in the field of psychology. The current study addressed theoretical and practical questions regarding the nature of child cognition using full and abbreviated versions of classic, recent, and new tasks of mental attentional capacity. We employed a cross-sectional design testing 483 participants in six groups (7-30 years of age) on the new Number Matching Task (NMT), the established Color Matching Task (CMT), and the classic Figural Intersection Task (FIT). Results confirm theoretical predictions of the developmental increase in mental attentional capacity and the adjunct hypothesis that tasks with high interference are better to assess the developmental trajectory of mental attentional capacity quantitatively. NMT scores are significantly equivalent to CMT scores and the theoretically predicted mental attentional capacity, and the abbreviated CMT and NMT produce comparable scores to those of the full tests. We determined that the NMT can be administered developmentally and is appropriate for use in assessing mental attentional capacity in studies with both children and adults.

Multiple levels of mental attentional demand modulate peak saccade velocity and blink rate.

Every day we mentally process new information that needs to be attended, encoded and retrieved. Processing demands depend on the amount of information and the mental attentional capacity of the individual. Research shows that eye movement indices such as peak saccade velocity and blink rate are related to processes of attentional control, however it is still unclear how eye movements are affected by graded changes in task demand. We examine for the first time relations of eye movements to mental attentional tasks with six levels of task demand and two interference conditions. We report data on 57 adults who completed two versions of the color matching task and provided subjective self rating for each mental attentional demand level. Results show that peak saccade velocity and blink rate decrease as a function of mental attentional demand and correlate negatively with self rating of mental effort. Theoretically, new findings related to mental attentional demand and eye movements inform models of visual processing and cognition. Practically, results point to directions for further research to better understand complex relations among eye movements and mental attentional demand in pediatric populations and individuals with cognitive deficits.

Effects of age, gender, and hemisphere on cerebrovascular hemodynamics in children and young adults: Developmental scores and machine learning classifiers.

A constant blood supply to the brain is required for mental function. Research with Doppler ultrasonography has important clinical value and burgeoning potential with machine learning applications in studies predicting gestational age and vascular aging. Critically, studies on ultrasound metrics in school-age children are sparse and no machine learning study to date has used color duplex ultrasonography to predict age and classify age-group. The purpose of our study is two-fold: first to document cerebrovascular hemodynamics considering age, gender, and hemisphere in three arteries; and second to construct machine learning models that can predict and classify the age and age-group of a participant using ultrasonography metrics. We record peak systolic, end-diastolic, and time-averaged maximum velocities bilaterally in internal carotid, vertebral, and middle cerebral arteries from 821 participants. Results confirm that ultrasonography values decrease with age and reveal that gender and hemispheres show more similarities than differences, which depend on age, artery, and metric. Machine learning algorithms predict age and classifier models distinguish cerebrovascular hemodynamics between children and adults. Blood velocities, rather than blood vessel diameters, are more important for classifier models, and common and distinct variables contribute to age classification models for males and females.

Cerebral White Matter Myelination and Relations to Age, Gender, and Cognition: A Selective Review.

White matter makes up about fifty percent of the human brain. Maturation of white matter accompanies biological development and undergoes the most dramatic changes during childhood and adolescence. Despite the advances in neuroimaging techniques, controversy concerning spatial, and temporal patterns of myelination, as well as the degree to which the microstructural characteristics of white matter can vary in a healthy brain as a function of age, gender and cognitive abilities still exists. In a selective review we describe methods of assessing myelination and evaluate effects of age and gender in nine major fiber tracts, highlighting their role in higher-order cognitive functions. Our findings suggests that myelination indices vary by age, fiber tract, and hemisphere. Effects of gender were also identified, although some attribute differences to methodological factors or social and learning opportunities. Findings point to further directions of research that will improve our understanding of the complex myelination-behavior relation across development that may have implications for educational and clinical practice.

Spatial migration of human reward processing with functional development: Evidence from quantitative meta-analyses.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have shown notable age-dependent differences in reward processing. We analyzed data from a total of 554 children, 1,059 adolescents, and 1,831 adults from 70 articles. Quantitative meta-analyses results show that adults engage an extended set of regions that include anterior and posterior cingulate gyri, insula, basal ganglia, and thalamus. Adolescents engage the posterior cingulate and middle frontal gyri as well as the insula and amygdala, whereas children show concordance in right insula and striatal regions almost exclusively. Our data support the notion of reorganization of function over childhood and adolescence and may inform current hypotheses relating to decision-making across age.

Correction: School engagement of children in early grades: Psychometric, and gender comparisons.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0225542.].

Cognitive Brain Signatures of Youth With Early Onset and Relatives With Schizophrenia: Evidence From fMRI Meta-analyses.

Deficits in cognitive function are a major characteristic of schizophrenia. Many functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies examine brain correlates of cognitive function in adults with schizophrenia, showing altered implication of associative areas such as the prefrontal cortex and temporal cortex. fMRI studies also examine brain representation of cognitive function in adolescents with early onset schizophrenia and those at risk of the disorder, yet results are often inconsistent. We compile and analyze data from eligible fMRI studies using quantitative meta-analyses to reveal concordant brain activity associated with adolescent relatives of patients with schizophrenia and those with early onset schizophrenia. Results show similar functional hubs of brain activity (eg, precuneus) yet in opposite hemispheres and clusters in ventrolateral rather than dorsolateral prefrontal cortices. Other areas of altered implication include the middle temporal gyrus, insula, and cerebellum. We discuss the findings in reference to the protracted maturation of the prefrontal cortex and possible effects due to the medication status of the two groups.

Basal ganglia lateralization in different types of reward.

Reward processing is a fundamental human activity. The basal ganglia are recognized for their role in reward processes; however, specific roles of the different nuclei (e.g., nucleus accumbens, caudate, putamen and globus pallidus) remain unclear. Using quantitative meta-analyses we assessed whole-brain and basal ganglia specific contributions to money, erotic, and food reward processing. We analyzed data from 190 fMRI studies which reported stereotaxic coordinates of whole-brain, within-group results from healthy adult participants. Results showed concordance in overlapping and distinct cortical and sub-cortical brain regions as a function of reward type. Common to all reward types was concordance in basal ganglia nuclei, with distinct differences in hemispheric dominance and spatial extent in response to the different reward types. Food reward processing favored the right hemisphere; erotic rewards favored the right lateral globus pallidus and left caudate body. Money rewards engaged the basal ganglia bilaterally including its most anterior part, nucleus accumbens. We conclude by proposing a model of common reward processing in the basal ganglia and separate models for money, erotic, and food rewards.

School engagement of children in early grades: Psychometric, and gender comparisons.

School engagement reflects the degree to which students are invested, motivated and willing to participate in learning at their school and this relates to future academic and professional success. Although school engagement is a primary factor predicting educational dropout or successful school completion in Europe and North America, little is known about school engagement factors in non-English speaking countries. We adapted a 15-item school engagement scale and assessed validity and reliability of the Russian translation on a sample of Russian school-aged children (N = 537, 6-12 years, 46% females) who attended at public schools in Moscow. Results of the final factorial structure that included emotional, cognitive and behavioral components were selected based on its excellent fit indices and principles of parsimony. Component results show that the emotional component has the highest internal consistency and the behavioral component has the lowest. Although, all components are significantly interrelated, we observed no gender differences and no significant correlation with age. Theoretically, our data agree with the notion that children's emotional engagement in schools sets the foundation for learning, participating and succeeding in school activities. Practically, the proposed scale in Russian can be used in educational and clinical settings with Russian speaking children.

Meta-analyses of the n-back working memory task: fMRI evidence of age-related changes in prefrontal cortex involvement across the adult lifespan.

Working memory, a fundamental cognitive function that is highly dependent on the integrity of the prefrontal cortex, is known to show age-related decline across the typical healthy adult lifespan. Moreover, we know from work in neurophysiology that the prefrontal cortex is disproportionately susceptibly to the pathological effects of aging. The n-back task is arguably the most ubiquitous cognitive task for investigating working memory performance. Many functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies examine brain regions engaged during performance of the n-back task in adults. The current meta-analyses are the first to examine concordance and age-related changes across the healthy adult lifespan in brain areas engaged when performing the n-back task. We compile data from eligible fMRI articles that report stereotaxic coordinates of brain activity from healthy adults in three age-groups: young (23.57 ±â€¯5.63 years), middle-aged (38.13 ±â€¯5.63 years) and older (66.86 ±â€¯5.70 years) adults. Findings show that the three groups share concordance in the engagement of parietal and cingulate cortices, which have been consistently identified as core areas involved in working memory; as well as the insula, claustrum, and cerebellum, which have not been highlighted as areas involved in working memory. Critically, prefrontal cortex engagement is concordant for young, to a lesser degree for middle-aged adults, and absent in older adults, suggesting a gradual linear decline in concordance of prefrontal cortex engagement. Our results provide important new knowledge for improving methodology and theories of cognition across the lifespan.

Dissociations of cognitive inhibition, response inhibition, and emotional interference: Voxelwise ALE meta-analyses of fMRI studies.

Inhibitory control is the stopping of a mental process with or without intention, conceptualized as mental suppression of competing information because of limited cognitive capacity. Inhibitory control dysfunction is a core characteristic of many major psychiatric disorders. Inhibition is generally thought to involve the prefrontal cortex; however, a single inhibitory mechanism is insufficient for interpreting the heterogeneous nature of human cognition. It remains unclear whether different dimensions of inhibitory processes-specifically cognitive inhibition, response inhibition, and emotional interference-rely on dissociated neural systems. We conducted systematic meta-analyses of fMRI studies in the BrainMap database supplemented by PubMed using whole-brain activation likelihood estimation. A total of 66 study experiments including 1,447 participants and 987 foci revealed that while the left anterior insula was concordant in all inhibitory dimensions, cognitive inhibition reliably activated specific dorsal frontal inhibitory system, engaging dorsal anterior cingulate, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and parietal areas, whereas emotional interference reliably implicated a ventral inhibitory system, involving the ventral surface of the inferior frontal gyrus and the amygdala. Response inhibition showed concordant clusters in the fronto-striatal system, including the dorsal anterior cingulate region and extended supplementary motor areas, the dorsal and ventral lateral prefrontal cortex, basal ganglia, midbrain regions, and parietal regions. We provide an empirically derived dimensional model of inhibition characterizing neural systems underlying different aspects of inhibitory mechanisms. This study offers a fundamental framework to advance current understanding of inhibition and provides new insights for future clinical research into disorders with different types of inhibition-related dysfunctions.

Brain Responses to Dynamic Facial Expressions: A Normative Meta-Analysis.

Identifying facial expressions is crucial for social interactions. Functional neuroimaging studies show that a set of brain areas, such as the fusiform gyrus and amygdala, become active when viewing emotional facial expressions. The majority of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies investigating face perception typically employ static images of faces. However, studies that use dynamic facial expressions (e.g., videos) are accumulating and suggest that a dynamic presentation may be more sensitive and ecologically valid for investigating faces. By using quantitative fMRI meta-analysis the present study examined concordance of brain regions associated with viewing dynamic facial expressions. We analyzed data from 216 participants that participated in 14 studies, which reported coordinates for 28 experiments. Our analysis revealed bilateral fusiform and middle temporal gyri, left amygdala, left declive of the cerebellum and the right inferior frontal gyrus. These regions are discussed in terms of their relation to models of face processing.

N-back Working Memory Task: Meta-analysis of Normative fMRI Studies With Children.

The n-back task is likely the most popular measure of working memory for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies. Despite accumulating neuroimaging studies with the n-back task and children, its neural representation is still unclear. fMRI studies that used the n-back were compiled, and data from children up to 15 years (n = 260) were analyzed using activation likelihood estimation. Results show concordance in frontoparietal regions recognized for their role in working memory as well as regions not typically highlighted as part of the working memory network, such as the insula. Findings are discussed in terms of developmental methodology and potential contribution to developmental theories of cognition.

Brain areas associated with numbers and calculations in children: Meta-analyses of fMRI studies.

Children use numbers every day and typically receive formal mathematical training from an early age, as it is a main subject in school curricula. Despite an increase in children neuroimaging studies, a comprehensive neuropsychological model of mathematical functions in children is lacking. Using quantitative meta-analyses of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies, we identify concordant brain areas across articles that adhere to a set of selection criteria (e.g., whole-brain analysis, coordinate reports) and report brain activity to tasks that involve processing symbolic and non-symbolic numbers with and without formal mathematical operations, which we called respectively number tasks and calculation tasks. We present data on children 14 years and younger, who solved these tasks. Results show activity in parietal (e.g., inferior parietal lobule and precuneus) and frontal (e.g., superior and medial frontal gyri) cortices, core areas related to mental-arithmetic, as well as brain regions such as the insula and claustrum, which are not typically discussed as part of mathematical problem solving models. We propose a topographical atlas of mathematical processes in children, discuss findings within a developmental constructivist theoretical model, and suggest practical methodological considerations for future studies.

Brain responses to social norms: Meta-analyses of fMRI studies.

Social norms have a critical role in everyday decision-making, as frequent interaction with others regulates our behavior. Neuroimaging studies show that social-based and fairness-related decision-making activates an inconsistent set of areas, which sometimes includes the anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and others lateral prefrontal cortices. Social-based decision-making is complex and variability in findings may be driven by socio-cognitive activities related to social norms. To distinguish among social-cognitive activities related to social norms, we identified 36 eligible articles in the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) literature, which we separate into two categories (a) social norm representation and (b) norm violations. The majority of original articles (>60%) used tasks associated with fairness norms and decision-making, such as ultimatum game, dictator game, or prisoner's dilemma; the rest used tasks associated to violation of moral norms, such as scenarios and sentences of moral depravity ratings. Using quantitative meta-analyses, we report common and distinct brain areas that show concordance as a function of category. Specifically, concordance in ventromedial prefrontal regions is distinct to social norm representation processing, whereas concordance in right insula, dorsolateral prefrontal, and dorsal cingulate cortices is distinct to norm violation processing. We propose a neurocognitive model of social norms for healthy adults, which could help guide future research in social norm compliance and mechanisms of its enforcement.

Negative priming: a meta-analysis of fMRI studies.

A phenomenon termed negative priming is defined as an increase in reaction time and/or decrease in performance during instances in which current target stimuli are employed as distractor stimuli in the previous trial. A recent qualitative review on negative priming reported neural regions of interest underlined by activity within the right middle frontal gyrus and left middle temporal gyrus; however, these areas of interest have not been tested and supported by using coordinate-based, quantitative meta-analysis. We compiled functional magnetic resonance imaging studies that examined neural correlates of priming tasks using perceptual, conceptual and lexical primes. Effect-size signed differential mapping was used to perform a neuroimaging meta-analysis on the negative priming effect. Results from fourteen studies (245 participants; 85 foci) show concordance across studies in the right middle frontal gyrus and the left superior temporal gyrus, as suggested by the previous review; however, results also yielded concordance within the anterior cingulate cortex. Our data support the extant hypothesis and offer new insights into the neural mechanisms of the negative priming effect.