One Step Ahead-Attention Control Capabilities at Baseline Are Associated With the Effectiveness of the Attention Training Technique.

BACKGROUND: Attentional control has been observed to play an important role in affective disorders by impacting information processing, the ability to exert top-down control in response to distracting stimuli, and by affecting emotional regulation. Prior studies demonstrated an association between attentional control and response to psychotherapy, thereby identifying attentional control as an interesting prognostic pre-treatment factor. Improving attentional control and flexibility is a cornerstone in metacognitive therapy (MCT), which is trained by the use of the Attentional Training Technique (ATT). However, as of yet, it remains unclear if pre-treatment attentional control is related to the effect of ATT. METHODS: An aggregated sample of 139 healthy participants [study 1: 85 participants, mean age 23.7 years, previously published (Barth et al., 2019); study 2: 54 participants, mean age 33.7 years, not previously published] performed an attentional performance test battery before and after applying ATT. Before ATT was administered, attentional control was measured using a well-established self-report instrument, i.e., the Attentional Control Scale (ACS; Derryberry and Reed, 2002). ATT was given in 2, 4, or 15 doses and compared to sham ATT. The test battery comprised a selection of established neurocognitive tasks: emotional dot probe, Stroop, 2-back, and dichotic listening. RESULTS: Sham ATT showed no interaction with ACS score on performance outcome in all tests. At four doses of ATT, ACS score was associated with training response, i.e., subjects with high self-reported attentional control before training showed the largest improvements post-training (all P-values <0.05; see Figure 3). At 2 and 15 doses of ATT, the ACS score was unrelated to training response. CONCLUSION: This is a first attempt in understanding the optimal dosage in which ATT should be administered dependent on the individual characteristics of each subject pre-training. The current data suggest self-reported attentional control pre-training as a marker to determine an optimal individual ATT training profile. Future studies should investigate if other domains of metacognitions also interact with training outcome and evaluate the extent to which this relationship transfers to clinical samples. If successful, assessing attentional control prior to treatment in clinical samples could be of use regarding personalized therapy plans and treatment outcome.

Shifting Instead of Drifting - Improving Attentional Performance by Means of the Attention Training Technique.

Background: The Attention Training Technique (ATT) as part of Metacognitive Therapy (MCT) has shown to be a promising treatment element for several psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety. ATT predicts improvements of the ability to shift attention away from internal and non-relevant stimuli (e.g., ruminative thoughts) toward the relevant stimuli and aims to increase attentional flexibility and control. The current study investigated the impact of the Attention Training Technique on attentional performance. Methods: Eighty-five healthy participants (29 in two doses ATT, 28 in four doses ATT and 28 in the control group; 18-37 years of age) were administered a test battery for attentional performance before and after an intervention of two doses ATT (23 min duration) vs. four doses of ATT (46 min duration) vs. a control condition (non-intervention audio file via headphones. The test battery measured selective attention, inhibition, working memory, and attentional disengagement and comprised the following tasks: dichotic listening, attentional bias, attentional network, stroop, 2-back and a 3-back. Results: After ATT (both two and four doses), reaction time during dichotic listening was significantly faster compared to the control condition. Furthermore, reaction time to neutral stimuli in the attentional bias task was faster after four-doses ATT compared to two doses ATT and the control condition. We found a trend toward a reduced stroop effect for both ATT conditions compared to control group. There were no effects of ATT with regard to the attentional network task, the 2-back or the 3-back task. Conclusion: This first empirical evidence suggests that ATT promotes specific attentional flexibility in healthy participants. Based on the same mechanism, ATT may have beneficial effects on attentional performance in clinical populations and might be a promising tool in both healthy and clinical participants.

Energy-Level Alignment of a Hole-Transport Organic Layer and ITO: Toward Applications for Organic Electronic Devices.

2,2',6,6'-Tetraphenyl-4,4'-dipyranylidene (DIPO-Ph4) was grown by vacuum deposition on an indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate. The films were characterized by atomic force microscopy as well as synchrotron radiation UV and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to gain an insight into the material growth and to better understand the electronic properties of the ITO/DIPO-Ph4 interface. To interpret our spectroscopic data, we consider the formation of cationic DIPO-Ph4 at the ITO interface owing to a charge transfer from the organic layer to the substrate. Ionization energy DFT calculations of the neutral and cationic species substantiate this hypothesis. Finally, we present the energetic diagram of the ITO/DIPO-Ph4 system, and we discuss the application of this interface in various technologically relevant systems, as a hole-injector in OLEDs or as a hole-collector interfacial layer adjacent to the prototypical OPV layer P3HT:PCBM.