Age-related differences in the brain areas outside the classical language areas among adults using category decision task

Older adults perform much like younger adults on language. This similar level of performance, however, may come about through different underlying brain processes. In the present study, we evaluated age-related differences in the brain areas outside the typical language areas among adults using a category decision task. Our results showed that similar activation patterns were found in classical language processing areas across the three age groups although regional lateralization indices in Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas decreased with age. The greatest differences, however, among the three groups were found primarily in the brain areas not associated with core language functioning including the hippocampus, middle frontal gyrus, ventromedial frontal cortex, medial superior parietal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex. Therefore, the non-classical language areas may exhibit an age-related difference between three age groups while the subjects show a similar activation pattern in the core, primary language processing during a semantic decision task.     

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS): Demographics,preferred sources of information,and accuracy of ADAS knowledge

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) in passenger vehicles can improve highway safety. ADAS place powerful, yet imperfect, automation in the hands of drivers who hold both misconceptions and reservations about ADAS. There is little previous research on drivers’ knowledge of ADAS, and even less on sources of information drivers use to inform their knowledge. The present study addressed this gap, testing hypotheses about influences on understanding of seven ADAS in 634 licensed US drivers (aged 18–82). Multiple regression to predict self-assessed driver characteristics revealed: (a) Drivers who rated themselves as more technically sophisticated tended to be young and male, to be at once less objectively knowledgeable and more confident of their knowledge of ADAS, to avoid car dealers for ADAS information, and to value brand status; (b) Drivers who rated themselves as faster to adopt new technology also tended to be male but to be more objectively knowledgeable about ADAS and to prefer learning about ADAS from owner manuals; (c) Drivers who rated themselves as more confident in using novel vehicle technology tended to be young males with greater objective knowledge of ADAS who valued “hands-on” ADAS experience; (d) Drivers who rated themselves as more concerned about vehicle safety tended to be female, to value crash data, and to rely on hands-on experience to learn about ADAS; (e) Drivers who rated themselves as having greater aesthetic concerns tended to rely on information on styles, colors, wheels when buying a new car and preferred specific ADAS components. Neither of the latter two differed in objective ADAS knowledge. These results make a novel contribution in revealing how driver demographics and characteristics are related to preference for specific sources of information on ADAS and objective knowledge of ADAS. These results can inform future efforts to increase driver understanding of the capabilities and limitations of ADAS and hence increase public safety.     

Prospective associations between physical fitness and executive function in adolescents: The UP&DOWN study

IntroductionThe objective of the present work is to investigate the prospective associations between physical fitness components (cardiorespiratory fitness, motor fitness, and muscular strength) and two domains of executive function (working memory and inhibitory control) in adolescents.MethodsA total of 422 Spanish adolescents (13.35 ± 1.54 years, at baseline) from the UP&DOWN study with assessments at baseline and at 2-year follow-up were included in the analysis. Physical fitness was assessed using the ALPHA Fitness Test Battery. Working memory was measured by the n-back task and inhibitory control by the go/no-go task. Relationships of physical fitness components with working memory and inhibitory control were examined using linear regression models, adjusted for confounders.ResultsHigher baseline levels of the three physical fitness components (cardiorespiratory fitness, motor fitness, and muscular strength) individually predicted better performance on the working memory (β_ranged, from .159 to .207; all p < .012) and inhibitory control (β_ranged, from 0.168 to 0.263; all p < .004) tasks at the 2-year follow-up. Muscular strength was the only component associated with inhibitory control independent of the other 2 physical fitness components (β = 0.266; p = .005).ConclusionsAll components of adolescents’ physical fitness at baseline were individually associated with better working memory and inhibitory control at 2-year follow-up. Specifically, our results revealed that muscular strength was the component showing the strongest association with executive function, and even the only fitness component associated with inhibitory control independent of the other fitness components. These findings may have important public health and educational implication, since promoting exercise programs that improve physical fitness, and particularly, muscular strength, may positively influence cognitive health.     

Associations of cardiorespiratory fitness and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity with latent cognitive abilities in older adults

It has been demonstrated that physical activity has a small but positive effect on cognition in old age, which suggests that it may be possible to alter the trajectory of age-related cognitive decline. However, our understanding of which aspects of physical activity that are important for modifying cognition remains incomplete. Adopting an exploratory approach in a sample of 115 healthy older adults (65–75 years), the present cross-sectional study used structural equation modelling to investigate the dissociable associations of physical activity (moderate-to-vigorous activity, derived from 7-day accelerometry) and cardiorespiratory fitness (VO₂ max, derived from maximal treadmill ergometer test) with multiple latent cognitive abilities (working memory, episodic memory, spatial and verbal reasoning). The results showed a significant positive association between fitness and working memory, when physical activity was statistically controlled for, and a positive association of similar point magnitude between physical activity and episodic memory, when fitness was statistically controlled for, although the latter association did not reach statistical significance. The results add to the foundation for a more careful investigation of the dissociable associations of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and fitness with cognition in old age, and encourages future research to test the hypothesis that cardiorespiratory fitness benefits working memory via general cerebrovascular effects on grey matter volume, whilst moderate-to-vigorous physical activity benefits episodic memory via effects on neuroplastic processes.     

Explanatory power of extended cognition

I argue that examining the explanatory power of the hypothesis of extended cognition (HEC) offers a fruitful approach to the problem of cognitive system demarcation. Although in the discussions on HEC it has become common to refer to considerations of explanatory power as a means for assessing the plausibility of the extended cognition approach, to date no satisfying account of explanatory power has been presented in the literature. I suggest that the currently most prominent theory of explanation in the special sciences, James Woodward's contrastive-counterfactual theory, and an account of explanatory virtues building on that theory can be used to develop a systematic picture of cognitive system demarcation in the psychological sciences. A major difference between my differential influence (DI) account and most other theories of cognitive extension is the cognitive systems pluralism implied by my approach. By examining the explanatory power of competing traditions in psychological memory research, I conclude that internalist and externalist classificatory strategies are characterized by different profiles of explanatory virtues and should often be considered as complementary rather than competing approaches. This suggests a deflationary interpretation of HEC.     

E-Science and the data deluge

This paper attempts to show how the “big data” paradigm is changing science through offering access to millions of database elements in real time and the computational power to rapidly process those data in ways that are not initially obvious. In order to gain a proper understanding of these changes and their implications, we propose applying an extended cognition model to the novel scenario.     

The cultural ecosystem of human cognition

Everybody knows that humans are cultural animals. Although this fact is universally acknowledged, many opportunities to exploit it are overlooked. In this article, I propose shifting our attention from local examples of extended mind to the cultural-cognitive ecosystems within which human cognition is embedded. I conclude by offering a set of conjectures about the features of cultural-cognitive ecosystems.     

具身认知研究述评

具身认知是以身体为解释核心的新的研究视角。来自具身认知实证研究的证据表明,身体的生理属性、运动经验和现实环境影响认知的形成与发展。目前的具身认知实证研究主要采用传统认知的实验范式,集中于研究身体的结构属性和静态动作对认知的影响。未来,具身认知与传统认知将会相互吸收和融合,更多关注身体的机能属性和动态属性。     

A Longitudinal Investigation of Perceived Control and Cognitive Performance in Young,Midlife and Older Adults

ABSTRACT

Longitudinal associations between generalized control beliefs (one's perceived capacity to influence events) and cognitive test performance were examined in a population-based sample of young, midlife and older adults. Participants provided measures of perceived control, self-assessed health, education and depression and anxiety symptoms, and completed cognitive tests at two assessments, 4 years apart. For each age group, baseline (between-person) control was positively related to performance on tests of memory (immediate recall and digits backwards), speed (Symbol Digit Modalities Test and choice reaction time) and verbal intelligence (Spot-the-Word). Interaction effects indicated stronger associations of between-person control beliefs with indices of speed for the older age group relative to the younger groups. Within-person changes in control were not significantly associated with changes in cognitive test performance over the study interval. Implications of the findings for self-efficacy based interventions designed to promote cognitive functioning are discussed.     

Increasing Levels of Semantic Verbal Fluency in Elderly English Adults

ABSTRACT

Analyses incorporating large independent population-based samples and identical measures are needed to investigate recent trends in cognitive function. Nationally representative independent cohorts of community living individuals in England aged 65 years or older from the MRC Cognitive Function and Ageing Study in 1991 (n = 9458) and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing in 2002 (n = 5196) were compared. East Cambridgeshire participants aged 65–69 years in 1991 (n = 680) were also compared to an independent cohort examined in 1996 (n = 600). Semantic verbal fluency, as measured by the animal naming neuropsychological test, increased by 1.1 extra words a minute in England between 1991 and 2002 (95% CI 0.9, 1.3). A similar increase was also observed in East Cambridgeshire. Levels of semantic verbal fluency appear to have increased in the older English population, which may help to buffer the aging population from future increases in dementia.