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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Cognitive Task Enhancement Through Alpha Neurofeedback, Hannah L. Meyer, Douglas Peterson May 2022

Cognitive Task Enhancement Through Alpha Neurofeedback, Hannah L. Meyer, Douglas Peterson

Honors Thesis

Neurofeedback training has been a recent field of study in neuroscience, as a potential way to increase focus, and possibly boost cognitive performance. Most studies utilize a course of neurofeedback training sessions to find positive results in decreasing ADHD symptoms, depression symptoms, as well as further cognitive changes. In this study, we aim to determine the efficacy of a single session of neurofeedback training in increasing cognitive performance. To do so, we randomly separated 42 volunteers into either a control or experimental group. The experimental group participated in an n-back task both before and after an alpha neurofeedback training session, …


Hearing And Seeing A Speaker: How Perceptual And Cognitive Factors Modulate The Dynamics Of Audiovisual Speech Perception, Elina Kaplan Oct 2018

Hearing And Seeing A Speaker: How Perceptual And Cognitive Factors Modulate The Dynamics Of Audiovisual Speech Perception, Elina Kaplan

Doctoral Dissertations

In face-to-face conversations, listeners process and combine speech information obtained from hearing and seeing the speaker talk. Audiovisual speech typically leads to more robust recognition of speech, as it provides more information for recognition but also as it helps listeners adjust to speaker idiosyncrasies. The goal of the current thesis was to examine how certain perceptual and cognitive factors modulate how listeners use visual speech to facilitate momentary speech perception and to adjust to a speaker’s idiosyncrasies. Results showed that (older) listeners’ sensitivity to cross-modal synchrony is related to the size of the audiovisual interactions during early perceptual processing. Furthermore, …


The Effects Of Changing Attention And Context In An Awake Offline Processing Period On Visual Long-Term Memory, Timothy M. Ellmore, Anna Feng, Kenneth Ng, Luthfunnahar Dewan, James C. Root Jan 2016

The Effects Of Changing Attention And Context In An Awake Offline Processing Period On Visual Long-Term Memory, Timothy M. Ellmore, Anna Feng, Kenneth Ng, Luthfunnahar Dewan, James C. Root

Publications and Research

There is accumulating evidence that sleep as well as awake offline processing is important for the transformation of new experiences into long-term memory (LTM). Yet much remains to be understood about how various cognitive factors influence the efficiency of awake offline processing. In the present study we investigated how changes in attention and context in the immediate period after exposure to new visual information influences LTM consolidation. After presentation of multiple naturalistic scenes within a working memory paradigm, recognition was assessed 30 min and 24 h later in three groups of subjects. One group of subjects engaged in a focused …


The Temporal Nature Of The Acute Stress Response And Its Impact On Explicit Learning, Steven B. Hutchinson Dec 2015

The Temporal Nature Of The Acute Stress Response And Its Impact On Explicit Learning, Steven B. Hutchinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Acute stress is commonly experienced by many throughout their lives. Given the demanding lifestyle of many career paths, it's important to gauge the influence of these stressors upon cognitive performance. The present dissertation focus' upon explicit learning in attempts to explore one avenue of the stress-cognition relationship. The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was used as a lab stressor for Experiments 1 and 2, in which participants are asked to give a speech and complete a difficult math task in front of 2 evaluators trained to monitor non-verbal behavior. Experiment 1 investigates the dynamic stress response during the minutes following …


Effects Of Neonatal Hypoxic Ischemic Brain Injury On Spatial Working Memory, Amanda L. Smith Dec 2012

Effects Of Neonatal Hypoxic Ischemic Brain Injury On Spatial Working Memory, Amanda L. Smith

Master's Theses

Children born prematurely or at very low birth weight (VLBW) have an increased risk for hypoxic ischemic brain injury (HI). HI refers to a lack of adequate blood and oxygen flow in the brain. HI can also occur in the term infant due to birth complications such as prolonged labor, placental dysfunction, or cord prolapse. In both populations (though exact patterns of neuropathology vary) brain damage is likely to occur in the form of decreased hippocampal and cortical volume, and enlargement of the ventricles (Kesler et al., 2004, Nagy et al., 2009). Resulting neuropathology can in turn lead to cognitive …


Affective Decision-Making Predictive Of Chinese Adolescent Drinking Behaviors, Lin Xiao, Antoine Bechara, Jerry L. Grenard, Alan W. Stacy, Paula Palmer, Yonglan Wei, Yong Jia, Xiaolu Fu, C. Anderson Johnson Jan 2009

Affective Decision-Making Predictive Of Chinese Adolescent Drinking Behaviors, Lin Xiao, Antoine Bechara, Jerry L. Grenard, Alan W. Stacy, Paula Palmer, Yonglan Wei, Yong Jia, Xiaolu Fu, C. Anderson Johnson

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

The goal of the current investigation was to address whether affective decision making would serve as a unique neuropsychological marker to predict drinking behaviors among adolescents. We conducted a longitudinal study of 181 Chinese adolescents in Chengdu city, China. In their 10th grade (ages 15–16), these adolescents were tested for their affective decision-making ability using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and working memory capacity using the Self-Ordered Pointing Test. Self-report questionnaires were used to assess academic performance and drinking behaviors. At 1-year follow-up, questionnaires were completed to assess drinking behaviors, and the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale was used to examine …


Gamma Oscillations Correlate With Working Memory Load In Humans, Marc W. Howard, Daniel S. Rizzuto, Jeremy B. Caplan, Joseph R. Madsen, John Lisman Jan 2003

Gamma Oscillations Correlate With Working Memory Load In Humans, Marc W. Howard, Daniel S. Rizzuto, Jeremy B. Caplan, Joseph R. Madsen, John Lisman

Psychology - All Scholarship

Functional imaging of human cortex implicates a diverse network of brain regions supporting working memory—the capacity to hold and manipulate information for short periods of time. Although we are beginning to map out the brain networks supporting working memory, little is known about its physiological basis. We analyzed intracranial recordings from two epileptic patients as they performed a working memory task. Spectral analyses revealed that, in both patients, gamma (30-60 Hz) oscillations increased approximately linearly with memory load, tracking closely with memory load over the course of the trial. This constitutes the first evidence that gamma oscillations, widely implicated in …


Age Differences In The Frontal Lateralization Of Verbal And Spatial Working Memory Revealed By Pet, Alan Hartley, Patricia A. Reuter-Lorenz, John Jonides, Edward E. Smith, Andrea Miller, Christina Marshuetz, Robert A. Koeppe Jan 2000

Age Differences In The Frontal Lateralization Of Verbal And Spatial Working Memory Revealed By Pet, Alan Hartley, Patricia A. Reuter-Lorenz, John Jonides, Edward E. Smith, Andrea Miller, Christina Marshuetz, Robert A. Koeppe

Scripps Faculty Publications and Research

Age-related decline in working memory figures prominently in theories of cognitive aging. However, the effects of aging on the neural substrate of working memory are largely unknown. Positron emission tomography (PET) was used to investigate verbal and spatial short-term storage (3 sec) in older and younger adults. Previous investigations with younger subjects performing these same tasks have revealed asymmetries in the lateral organization of verbal and spatial working memory. Using volume of interest (VOI) analyses that specifically compared activation at sites identified with working memory to their homologous twin in the opposite hemisphere, we show pronounced age differences in this …