Individual differences in cognitive control processes and their relationship to emotion regulation

Cognitive control and emotional control share many similarities, but the specific relationship between these processes is not well understood. This study explored the relationship between three types of cognitive control (working memory updating, response inhibition and set-shifting) and two emotional regulation strategies (expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal). Corrugator electromyography, behaviour and self-reports of affect were measured as indices of emotion regulation. Results indicate that working memory updating predicted negative affect reduction during reappraisal and during expressive suppression. This study specifically shows that the working memory component of cognitive control is associated with negative affect reduction. Response inhibition and set-shifting were not specifically related to negative affect reduction, but these variables did predict aspects of emotional behaviour and regulation. These results suggest a general role for cognitive control in some aspects of emotion regulation as well as a specific modulatory role for working memory updating in the regulation of negative affect.     

Modeling development of frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry: Sex differences and links with temperament

Asymmetric patterns of frontal brain electrical activity reflect approach and avoidance tendencies, with stability of relative right activation associated with withdrawal emotions/motivation and left hemisphere activation linked with approach and positive affect. However, considerable shifts in approach/avoidance‐related lateralization have been reported for children not targeted because of extreme temperament. In this study, dynamic effects of frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) power within and across hemispheres were examined throughout early childhood. Specifically, EEG indicators at 5, 10, 24, 36, 48, and 72 months‐of‐age (n = 410) were analyzed via a hybrid of difference score and panel design models, with baseline measures and subsequent time‐to‐time differences modeled as potentially influencing all subsequent amounts of time‐to‐time change (i.e., predictively saturated). Infant sex was considered as a moderator of dynamic developmental effects, with temperament attributes measured at 5 months examined as predictors of EEG hemisphere development. Overall, change in left and right frontal EEG power predicted declining subsequent change in the same hemisphere, with effects on the opposing neurobehavioral system enhancing later growth. Infant sex moderated the pattern of within and across‐hemisphere effects, wherein for girls more prominent left hemisphere influences on the right hemisphere EEG changes were noted and right hemisphere effects were more salient for boys. Largely similar patterns of temperament prediction were observed for the left and the right EEG power changes, with limited sex differences in links between temperament and growth parameters. Results were interpreted in the context of comparable analyses using parietal power values, which provided evidence for unique frontal effects.     

Frontal brain electrical activity (EEG) and heart rate in response to affective infant-directed (ID) speech in 9-month-old infants

Many studies have shown that infants prefer infant-directed (ID) speech to adult-directed (AD) speech. ID speech functions to aid language learning, obtain and/or maintain an infant's attention, and create emotional communication between the infant and caregiver. We examined psychophysiological responses to ID speech that varied in affective content (i.e., love/comfort, surprise, fear) in a group of typically developing 9-month-old infants. Regional EEG and heart rate were collected continuously during stimulus presentation. We found the pattern of overall frontal EEG power was linearly related to affective intensity of the ID speech, such that EEG power was greatest in response to fear, than surprise than love/comfort; this linear pattern was specific to the frontal region. We also noted that heart rate decelerated to ID speech independent of affective content. As well, infants who were reported by their mothers as temperamentally distressed tended to exhibit greater relative right frontal EEG activity during baseline and in response to affective ID speech, consistent with previous work with visual stimuli and extending it to the auditory modality. Findings are discussed in terms of how increases in frontal EEG power in response to different affective intensity may reflect the cognitive aspects of emotional processing across sensory domains in infancy.     

Negative affectivity and EEG asymmetry interact to predict emotional interference on attention in early school-aged children

Negative affectivity (NA) is a broad construct that has been associated with the development of psychopathologies, such as anxiety, and with exaggerated attention to threatening stimuli. EEG asymmetry reflects biological individual differences in emotional reactivity that may underlie the association between NA and attention to threat. The present study included a sample of 31 five-seven year olds (M age in months = 74.39, SD = 6.57) to test the hypothesis that greater NA, combined with greater right anterior and posterior asymmetries, predicts increased attention interference following threat stimuli. Children completed an executive attention task which presented task-irrelevant threat (angry) and non-threat (neutral) faces prior to each trial. EEG asymmetry was measured at baseline for anterior, anterior-temporal and posterior scalp regions and child NA was measured via maternal report. As predicted, children showing greater NA and greater right anterior-temporal asymmetry showed more attention interference following angry faces. Additionally, two trend-level effects emerged: children showing greater NA and greater left anterior-temporal asymmetry showed less attention interference following angry faces, and children showing greater NA and greater left posterior asymmetry showed less attention interference, but only following neutral faces. Discussion focuses on the utility of using EEG asymmetry in the study of temperament, attentional biases, and the biological processes by which temperament confers risk for psychopathology.     

Facilitation and disruption of lateralized syllable processing by unattended stimuli in the opposite visual field

The influence of lateralized unattended stimuli on the processing of attended stimuli in the opposite visual field can shed light on the nature of information that is transferred between hemispheres. On a cued bilateral task, participants tried to identify a syllable in the attended visual field, which elicits a left hemisphere (LH) advantage and different processing strategies by the two hemispheres. The same or a different syllable or a neutral stimulus appeared in the unattended field. Transmission of unattended syllable codes between hemispheres is symmetric, as revealed by equal interference for the two visual fields. The LH is more accurate than the RH in encoding unattended syllables, as indicated by facilitation in the left but not right visual field and a greater frequency of identifiable intrusions into the left than right field. However, asymmetric encoding strategies are different for attended and unattended syllables.     

Individual differences in reappraisal ability: Links to reappraisal frequency, well-being, and cognitive control

Reappraisal is generally viewed as an adaptive emotion regulation strategy. Reappraisal frequency has been associated with greater well-being, and reappraisal ability is thought to be composed of several crucial cognitive control processes. However, the relationships among reappraisal ability, reappraisal frequency, well-being, and various cognitive control processes have not yet been determined. In this study, we experimentally examined individual differences in reappraisal ability (RA), and also assessed reappraisal frequency, well-being, and several cognitive control processes. We observed a positive relationship between RA, reappraisal frequency, and well-being. RA was also related positively to working memory capacity and set-shifting costs, and marginally related to abstract reasoning. These findings have important implications for understanding the cognitive components and affective outcomes of RA.     

Hemispheric asymmetry in the processing of negative and positive words: A divided field study

Research on the lateralisation of brain functions for emotion has yielded different results as a function of whether it is the experience, expression, or perceptual processing of emotion that is examined. Further, for the perception of emotion there appear to be differences between the processing of verbal and nonverbal stimuli. The present research examined the hemispheric asymmetry in the processing of verbal stimuli varying in emotional valence. Participants performed a lexical decision task for words varying in affective valence (but equated in terms of arousal) that were presented briefly to the right or left visual field. Participants were significantly faster at recognising positive words presented to the right visual field/left hemisphere. This pattern did not occur for negative words (and was reversed for high arousal negative words). These results suggest that the processing of verbal stimuli varying in emotional valence tends to parallel hemispheric asymmetry in the experience of emotion.     

Hemispheric differences in the perception of words and faces in deaf and hearing children

The purpose of this study was to investigate hemispheric functional asymmetry in 18 normal hearing children and 18 congenitally deaf children aged 13-14 years. The task was identification of a visual stimulus (3-letter word or photograph of a face) presented in either the left or right visual field. The children responded by pointing to the target stimulus on a response card which contained four different words or three different faces. The percentage of errors for presentations to the two visual fields were analysed to determine hemispheric dominance. The pattern of hemispheric differences for the hearing children was consistent with that from previous investigations. The results for the deaf children differed from those of the normals. In word perception we observed a right hemisphere advantage and in the face recognition a lack of hemispheric differences. These results point to a lack of auditory experiences which is affecting the functional organization of the two hemispheres. It is suggested that the necessity to make use of visuo-spatial information in the process of communication causes right hemisphere dominance in verbal tasks. This may influence the perception of other visuo-spatial stimuli which may yield a lack of hemispheric asymmetry in face recognition.     

Infant frontal EEG asymmetry moderates the association between maternal behavior and toddler negative affectivity

Relatively little work has examined potential interactions between child intrinsic factors and extrinsic environmental factors in the development of negative affect in early life. This work is important because high levels of early negative affectivity have been associated with difficulties in later childhood adjustment. We examined associations between infant frontal electroencephalogram (EEG), maternal parenting behaviors, and children’s negative affect across the first two years of life. Infant baseline frontal EEG asymmetry was measured at 5 months; maternal sensitivity and intrusiveness were observed during mother-child interaction at 5 and 24 months; and mothers provided reports of toddler negative affect at 24 months. Results indicated that maternal sensitive behaviors at 5 months were associated with less negative affect at 24 months, but only for infants with left frontal EEG asymmetry. Similarly, maternal sensitive behaviors at 24 months were associated with less toddler negative affect at 24 months, but only for infants with left frontal EEG asymmetry. In contrast, maternal intrusive behaviors at 5- and 24-months were associated with greater toddler negative affect, but only for infants with right frontal EEG asymmetry at 5-months. Findings suggest that levels of negative affect in toddlers may be at least partially a result of interactions between children’s own early neurophysiological functioning and maternal behavior during everyday interactions with children in the first two years of life.     

Individual differences in higher-level cognitive abilities do not predict overconfidence in complex task performance

Even when people perform tasks poorly, they often report unrealistically positive estimates of their own abilities in these situations. To better understand the origins of such overconfidence, we investigated whether it could be predicted by individual differences in working memory, attentional control, and self-reported trait impulsivity. Overconfidence was estimated by contrasting objective and subjective measures of situation awareness (the ability to perceive and understand task-relevant information in the environment), acquired during a challenging air traffic control simulation. We found no significant relationships between overconfidence and either working memory or attentional control. However, increased impulsivity significantly predicted greater overconfidence. In addition, overall levels of overconfidence were lower in our complex task than in previous studies that used less-complex lab-based tasks. Our results suggest that overconfidence may not be linked to high-level cognitive abilities, but that dynamic tasks with frequent opportunities for performance feedback may reduce misconceptions about personal performance.     

The role of instruction preference in analogy learning: Brain activity and motor performance

This study examined the role of verbal instruction preference when learning motor skills by analogy. During skill learning, analogies are a useful tool for providing knowledge about how to move. It has been argued that analogy instructions reduce reliance on verbal information processes during motor planning, compared to traditional forms of instruction (i.e., explicit rules about how to move). This may be reflected by reduced verbal activity in the brain, measured by EEG alpha power at the temporal region, as well as reduced verbal-motor cross-communication (EEG T7-Fz coherence) during the preparation phase of a movement. Preference for using verbal or visual instructions is likely to influence the efficacy of analogy instructions. This study investigated whether preference for verbal instructions was related to a) changes in performance and b) changes in verbal-cognitive information processing during performance of an adapted basketball task after instruction by analogy. Basketball novices with a high preference for verbal instructions (n = 15) showed significantly decreased activation of verbal brain regions when they used the analogy (high-alpha power), but their performance remained stable. Novices with a low preference for verbal instructions (n = 13) did not show a significant decrease in activation of verbal regions, and their performance deteriorated significantly after introduction of the analogy instruction. It is likely that both cognitive and performance changes after analogy instruction depend on personal aspects of information processing, such as verbal preference.     

Magnitude,timing and duration of mood state and cognitive effects of acute moderate exercise in major depressive disorder

BackgroundAcute exercise generally improves mood state and cognitive functioning in healthy adults. However, the impact of acute exercise on primary symptoms in adults with major depressive disorder (MDD) is poorly understood. The present randomized cross-over study evaluated the magnitude, timing, and duration of the psychological effects of 30 min of moderate-intensity cycling exercise compared to quiet rest in 30 adults (21 female) with MDD.MethodsDepressed mood state (Profile of Mood States Short Form-Depression; POMS-D), state anhedonia (anhedonia Visual Analog Scale [VAS], and Dimensional Anhedonia Rating Scale [DARS]), and cognition (inhibition via Stroop and working memory via the 2-back task) were assessed pre, mid, post, 25-, 50- and 75-min after each session.ResultsGeneralized estimating equations demonstrated significant session by time interactions for POMS-D and VAS indicating small-to-large improvements in mood state and anhedonia up to 75 min post-exercise (p < 0.05; Cohen’s d ranges: POMS [-0.69, -0.95]; DARS, [-0.02, 0.16]; VAS [0.33, 0.83]) with greater immediate effects that lessened somewhat across time. For cognition, Stroop reaction time improved during exercise, but was worse at 25- and 50-min post-exercise compared to quiet rest (p < 0.05); no differences were found for 2-back reaction time.LimitationsThe small sample and continued psychological effects at 75 min indicate a potentially longer-lasting response than was measured herein.ConclusionPerforming short bouts of moderate intensity exercise appears to be effective for management of key symptoms (anhedonia, depressed mood state) in adults with MDD. The time immediately post-exercise may be ideal for performing emotionally challenging tasks and/or tasks where a low symptom severity would be helpful (e.g., psychotherapy).     

The relationship between working memory capacity and cortical activity during performance of a novel motor task

ObjectivesThis study assessed whether individual differences in working memory capacity influenced verbal-analytical processes when performing a novel motor skill.DesignParticipants performed a tennis-hitting task in two conditions: no pressure and high-pressure.MethodsEighteen young adults participated in the study. EEG coherence between the T3-F3 and T4-F4 regions in the Beta1 and Alpha2 frequencies was recorded during performance in each condition. Verbal and visuo-spatial working memory capacity were assessed using the Automated Working Memory Assessment.ResultsNo differences were found between the two conditions for hitting performance and EEG activity. However, across both conditions, verbal and visuo-spatial working memory were significant predictors of EEG coherence between the T3-F3 and T4-F4 regions in the Beta1 and Alpha2 frequencies. Larger verbal working memory capacity was associated with greater coherence while the opposite trend was observed for visuo-spatial working memory capacity.ConclusionsThese results indicate that larger verbal working memory capacity is associated with a greater tendency to use explicit processes during motor performance, whereas larger visuo-spatial working memory capacity is associated more with implicit processes. The findings are discussed with relevance to the theory of implicit motor learning.     

A male advantage for spatial and object but not verbal working memory using the n-back task

Sex-related differences have been reported for performance and neural substrates on some working memory measures that carry a high cognitive load, including the popular n-back neuroimaging paradigm. Despite some evidence of a sex effect on the task, the influence of sex on performance represents a potential confound in neuroimaging research. The present study investigated sex-related differences in verbal, spatial, and common object versions of the high cognitive load "n-back" working memory task. Eighteen male and 18 female undergraduates completed all 3 versions of the task. A mixed ANOVA, with Sex (male and female) as the between-subjects factor and Condition (verbal, spatial, and object) as the within-subjects repeated measure revealed that males were significantly more accurate than females on the spatial and object versions of the n-back task and performed equivalently to females on the verbal version of the task. Although the expected female advantage for verbal working memory was not found using this effortful n-back task, these results support a male advantage for high cognitive load spatial and object working memory. Future research should take into account the influence of sex on performance of the n-back task, and examine sex-related differences in working memory using other paradigms.     

Sources of variability in working memory in early childhood: A consideration of age, temperament, language, and brain electrical activity

This study investigated age-related differences in working memory and inhibitory control (WMIC) in -, 4-, and -year-olds and how these differences were associated with differences in regulatory aspects of temperament, language comprehension, and brain electrical activity. A series of cognitive control tasks was administered to measure WMIC ability, including the Stroop-like day–night and the yes–no tasks. Baseline and task electroencephalographic data were collected. The Children's Behavior Questionnaire was used to assess caregiver perceptions of temperament with a particular interest in the effortful control and surgency factors, and language comprehension was measured with the Peabody-Picture Vocabulary Test-III. The results of this study demonstrated differential temperament-cognition relations for the three age groups, as positive associations were found between WMIC and effortful control for the - and 4-year-olds and negative associations were found between WMIC and surgency for the -year-olds. An increasingly robust relation between WMIC and language comprehension was demonstrated across the three age groups, as well as differential patterns of task-related brain electrical activity.     

Volunteering in older adulthood is associated with activity engagement and cognitive functioning

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Given evidence that activity engagement in older adulthood can have protective effects on the aging brain, we investigated the idea that volunteering in the community, which often encompasses social, cognitive, and physical activity, might benefit cognition.

Method: Ninety-one retired 65- to 75-year-olds reported their sociodemographic characteristics, wellbeing, volunteering, and activity engagement. They also completed computerized cognitive tests that tapped specific functions known to decline disproportionately with age.

Results: Volunteering at least monthly was associated with better working memory and more social and cognitive activity. Mediation analyses indicated that volunteering was indirectly related to switching performance via cognitive activity. However, the volunteering-working memory association did not depend on activity engagement, leaving the underpinning mechanisms unclear.

Conclusions: These findings provide new insight into positive associations between older people’s volunteering, activity engagement, and cognitive functioning. However, further work is needed to understand the mechanisms that drive volunteering-cognition links, and to establish causality.     

Cognition and affective style: Individual differences in brain electrical activity during spatial and verbal tasks

Relations between brain electrical activity and performance on two cognitive tasks were examined in a normal population selected to be high on self-reported measures of Positive or Negative Affectivity. Twenty-five right-handed women, from an original pool of 308 college undergraduates, were the participants. EEG was recorded during baseline and during psychometrically matched spatial and verbal tasks. As predicted, participants who were high in Positive Affectivity performed equally well on the verbal and spatial tasks, while participants who were high in Negative Affectivity had spatial scores that were lower than their verbal scores. There were no group differences in baseline EEG. Both groups exhibited left central activation (i.e., alpha suppression) during the verbal and spatial tasks. When EEG data were analyzed separately for the group high in Positive Affectivity, there was evidence of parietal activation for the spatial task relative to the verbal task. The EEG data for the group high in Negative Affectivity had comparable EEG power values during verbal and spatial tasks at parietal scalp locations. These data suggest that, within a selected normal population, differences in affective style may interact with cognitive performance and with the brain electrical activity associated with that performance.     

On the language specificity of basic number processing: transcoding in a language with inversion and its relation to working memory capacity

Transcoding Arabic numbers from and into verbal number words is one of the most basic number processing tasks commonly used to index the verbal representation of numbers. The inversion property, which is an important feature of some number word systems (e.g., German einundzwanzig [one and twenty]), might represent a major difficulty in transcoding and a challenge to current transcoding models. The mastery of inversion, and of transcoding in general, might be related to nonnumerical factors such as working memory resources given that different elements and their sequence need to be memorized and manipulated. In this study, transcoding skills and different working memory components in Austrian (German-speaking) 7-year-olds were assessed. We observed that inversion poses a major problem in transcoding for German-speaking children. In addition, different components of working memory skills were differentially correlated with particular transcoding error types. We discuss how current transcoding models could account for these results and how they might need to be adapted to accommodate inversion properties and their relation to different working memory components.     

Angry expressions strengthen the encoding and maintenance of face identity representations in visual working memory

Visual working memory (WM) for face identities is enhanced when faces express negative versus positive emotion. To determine the stage at which emotion exerts its influence on memory for person information, we isolated expression (angry/happy) to the encoding phase (Experiment 1; neutral test faces) or retrieval phase (Experiment 2; neutral study faces). WM was only enhanced by anger when expression was present at encoding, suggesting that retrieval mechanisms are not influenced by emotional expression. To examine whether emotional information is discarded on completion of encoding or sustained in WM, in Experiment 3 an emotional word categorisation task was inserted into the maintenance interval. Emotional congruence between word and face supported memory for angry but not for happy faces, suggesting that negative emotional information is preferentially sustained during WM maintenance. Our findings demonstrate that negative expressions exert sustained and beneficial effects on WM for faces that extend beyond encoding.     

Typical performance measures of emotion regulation and emotion perception and frontal EEG asymmetry in an emotional contagion paradigm

In order to replicate and extend previous observations of validity of the self-reported habitual regulation of one’s affect and the perception of other people’s emotions, prefrontal electroencephalographic (EEG) asymmetry was recorded during and after social-emotional stimulation. After stimulation with other people’s vocal expression of anxiety, individuals with lower scores on emotion regulation did not show recovery of asymmetry changes but even increased changes in the direction that had been adopted during the stimulation. Whether this was to the right or to the left depended on their scores on emotion perception. Participants high on perception showed the expected changes to the right during the anxiety stimulation (indicating increased withdrawal motivation) and to the left during the cheerfulness stimulation (indicating increased approach motivation), whereas individuals low on perception showed the opposite pattern. During the anxiety stimulation, participants low on perception only showed the unexpected change to the left if they were also low on regulation. Individual differences in regulation did not play a role when participants were confronted with other people’s laughter. The findings demonstrate the validity of the self-report measures by using EEG measures, and moreover support the usefulness of differentiated and process-oriented approaches in the field of trait emotional intelligence.