Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Factors Underlying Cognitive Giftedness: Mental Versus Perceptual Attention, Steven J. Howard, Janice Johnson, Juan Pascual-Leone

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Children identified as cognitively gifted, in comparison with age-matched mainstream samples, are advantaged in numerous areas, including mathematics, speed and efficiency in cognitive processing, and resistance to interfering stimuli. Although working memory (WM) has been implicated as a factor mediating these advantages, evidence suggests that gifted children may not be advantaged in all aspects of WM function. We hypothesized that this difference is related to the contrast between mental (related to prefrontal dopamine circuits) and perceptual attention (likely related to prefrontal acetylcholine circuits). Specifically, it was expected that cognitively gifted children would excel in WM tasks taxing mental but not …

A Randomised Placebo-Controlled Trial To Differentiate The Acute Cognitive And Mood Effects Of Chlorogenic Acid From Decaffeinated Coffee, David A. Camfield, Beata Y. Silber, Andrew B. Scholey, Karen Nolidin, Antionette Goh, Con Stough

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

In the current study, sixty healthy older adults aged 50 years or older, and who were light to moderate coffee drinkers, were administered 6g of a decaffeinated green coffee blend (NESCAFÉ Green Blend coffee; GB) or 540mg pure chlorogenic acids (CGA) or placebo in a double-blind acute cross-over design, with cognitive and mood assessments pre-dose, 40-mins and 120-mins post-dose. The primary outcome measure was accuracy in Rapid Visual Information Processing (RVIP). Secondary cognitive outcome measures included RVIP reaction time as well as Inspection time (IT), Jensen Box decision/reaction times, serial subtraction and N-Back working memory. Secondary mood measures included Bond-Lader …

Acute Effects Of Different Multivitamin Mineral Preparations With And Without Guaraná On Mood, Cognitive Performance And Functional Brain Activation, Andrew Scholey, Isabelle Bauer, Chris Neale, Karen Savage, David Camfield, David White, Silvia Maggini, Andrew Pipingas, Con Stough, Matthew Hughes

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Previous work has identified the positive effects of the acute administration of a multivitamin-guaraná preparation during an effortful executive/working memory task. Here, we aimed to differentiate the effects of multivitamins with and without guaraná and to examine the neural substrates of such effects using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Following a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised, balanced crossover design, 20 participants (mean age 29 ± 5.54 years) consumed multivitamin preparations with or without guaraná (Berocca® Performance and Boost, respectively) and a placebo. Thirty minutes post-treatment, they underwent neurocognitive assessment, consisting of a 10 min Cognitive Demand Battery, with mood ratings taken immediately …

A Randomized Controlled Trial Investigating The Neurocognitive Effects Of Lacprodan® Pl-20, A Phospholipid-Rich Milk Protein Concentrate, In Elderly Participants With Age-Associated Memory Impairment: The Phospholipid Intervention For Cognitive Ageing Reversal (Plicar): Study Protocol For A Randomized Controlled Trial, Andrew B. Scholey, David A. Camfield, Matthew E. Hughes, Will Woods, Con K. Stough, David J. White, Shakuntla V. Gondalia, Pernille D. Frederiksen

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background: Age-related cognitive decline (ARCD) is of major societal concern in an ageing population, with the development of dietary supplements providing a promising avenue for amelioration of associated deficits. Despite initial interest in the use of phospholipids (PLs) for ARCD, in recent years there has been a hiatus in such research. Because of safety concerns regarding PLs derived from bovine cortex, and the equivocal efficacy of soybean-derived PLs, there is an important need for the development of new PL alternatives. Phospholipids derived from milk proteins represent one potential candidate treatment.

Methods: In order to reduce the effects of age-associated memory …

Oscillatory Underpinnings Of Mismatch Negativity And Their Relationship With Cognitive Function In Patients With Schizophrenia, Muzaffer Kaser, Fruzsina Soltesz, Phil Lawrence, Sam Miller, Chris Dodds, Rodney J. Croft, Robert B. Dudas, Rashid Zaman, Emilio Fernandez-Egea, Ulrich Mueller, Anna Dean, Edward T. Bullmore, Pradeep J. Nathan

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background: Impairments in mismatch negativity (MMN) generation have been consistently reported in patients with schizophrenia. However, underlying oscillatory activity of MMN deficits in schizophrenia and the relationship with cognitive impairments have not been investigated in detail. Time-frequency power and phase analyses can provide more detailed measures of brain dynamics of MMN deficits in schizophrenia. Method: 21 patients with schizophrenia and 21 healthy controls were tested with a roving frequency paradigm to generate MMN. Time-frequency domain power and phase-locking (PL) analysis was performed on all trials using short-time Fourier transforms with Hanning window tapering. A comprehensive battery (CANTAB) was used to …

Estimation Of Dietary Flavonoid Intake And Cognitive Performance In Older Adults With Alzheimer's Type Dementia, Katherine Caldwell, Karen E. Charlton, Steven J. Roodenrys

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract presented at The Nutrition Society of Australia and Nutrition Society of New Zealand 2013 Joint Annual Scientific Meeting, 4-6 December 2013, Brisbane, Australia

Development Of An Instrument For Measuring Different Types Of Cognitive Load, J Leppink, Fred Paas, C Van Der Vleuten, Tamara Van Gog, Jeroen Van Merrienboer

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

According to cognitive load theory, instructions can impose three types of cognitive load on the learner: intrinsic load, extraneous load, and germane load. Proper measurement of the different types of cognitive load can help us understand why the effectiveness and efficiency of learning environments may differ as a function of instructional formats and learner characteristics. In this article, we present a ten-item instrument for the measurement of the three types of cognitive load. Principal component analysis on data from a lecture in statistics for PhD students (n = 56) in psychology and health sciences revealed a three-component solution, consistent with …

The Potent M1 Receptor Allosteric Agonist Gsk1034702 Improves Episodic Memory In Humans In The Nicotine Abstinence Model Of Cognitive Dysfunction, Pradeep J. Nathan, Jeannette Watson, Jesper Lund, Ceri H. Davies, Gary Peters, Chris M. Dodds, Bridget Swirski, Philip Lawrence, Graham D. Bentley, Barry V. O'Neill, Jon Robertson, Stephen Watson, Gareth A. Jones, Paul Maruff, Rodney J. Croft, Marc Laruelle, Edward T. Bullmore

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Episodic memory deficits are a core feature of neurodegenerative disorders. Muscarinic M1 receptors play a critical role in modulating learning and memory and are highly expressed in the hippocampus. We examined the effect of GSK1034702, a potent M1 receptor allosteric agonist, on cognitive function, and in particular episodic memory, in healthy smokers using the nicotine abstinence model of cognitive dysfunction. The study utilized a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over design in which 20 male nicotine abstained smokers were tested following single doses of placebo, 4 and 8 mg GSK1034702. Compared to the baseline (nicotine on-state), nicotine abstinence showed statistical significance in …

Measurement Of Mental Attention: Assessing A Cognitive Component Underlying Performance On Standardized Intelligence Tests, Steven J. Howard, Janice Johnson, Juan Pascual-Leone

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Despite the widespread use of standardized IQ tests to measure human intelligence, problems with such measures have led some to suggest that better indices may derive from measurement of cognitive processes underlying performance on IQ tests (e.g., working memory capacity). However, measures from both approaches may exhibit performance biases in favour of majority groups, due to the influence of prior learning and experience. Mental attentional (M-) capacity is proposed to be a causal factor underlying developmental growth in working memory. Measures of M-capacity index important cognitive variance underlying performance on standardized intelligence tests. These measures appear to be reasonably culture-fair …

Effects Of Simultaneously Observing And Making Gestures While Studying Grammar Animations On Cognitive Load And Learning, Lysanne S. Post, Tamara Van Gog, Fred Paas, Rolf A. Zwaan

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This study examined whether simultaneously observing and making gestures while studying animations would lighten cognitive load and facilitate the acquisition of grammatical rules. In contrast to our hypothesis, results showed that children in the gesturing condition performed worse on the posttest than children in the non-gesturing, control condition. A more detailed analysis of the data revealed an expertise reversal effect, indicating that this negative effect on posttest performance materialized for children with lower levels of general language skills, but not for children with higher levels of general language skills. The finding that for children with lower language ability, cognitive load …

Combined Cognitive And State-Control Training For Children With And Without Ad/Hd: Effects On Behaviour, Working Memory And Resting Eeg, Rebecca Bonfield, Stuart Johnstone, Kirsten Johnson, Stephanie Carrigan, Steven Roodenrys, Sue Bennett, Emily Church, Jacob Sargeant

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract presented at the 23rd Australasian Society for Psychophysiology Conference, 20-22 Nov 2013, Wollongong, Australia