•Training working memory may improve anxiety related outcomes following exposure.•Cognitive training versus sham completers had differing neural activation.•Training working memory may strengthen ...frontoparietal regions.•Adding working memory training to exposure may alter emotional processing.
Exposure-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the gold standard for treating social anxiety disorder (SAD), yet response is not universal. CBT is thought to operate via extinction-related learning during exposure, which in turn relies on cognitive processes such as working memory. The present proof-of-concept study investigates the potential for training working memory to improve anxiety related outcomes following exposure. Thirty-three adults with elevated social anxiety were randomized to complete a working memory training or sham training condition. Post-training, participants completed a working memory assessment, speech exposure session, and two fMRI tasks. Participants who received working memory training demonstrated lower distress ratings by the end of the speech exposures and better performance on the fMRI working memory task than those in sham. Working memory training completers had greater neural activation in frontoparietal regions during an in-scanner working memory task and exhibited less neural activation in the fusiform gyrus in response to an emotional face processing task than those in sham. Adding working memory training to exposure procedures could strengthen functioning of frontoparietal regions and alter emotional processing - key mechanisms implicated in extinction learning. Findings provide preliminary evidence that training working memory in conjunction with exposure may enhance exposure success.
ABSTRACT
Background
Metacognitive training (MCT) was developed in 2007 and widely used to modify the delusions for patient with schizophrenia. However, its effectiveness remains unclear.
Aims
To ...investigate the overall effectiveness of MCT for delusion in schizophrenia patients from 2007 to 2016, and to investigate the variables (intervention approach, intervention dose, and participant factors) of an MCT study that could influence the effect size.
Methods
Parallel‐arm design of MCT for delusions published from 2007 to 2016 were collected and then cross‐referenced using these keywords: delusion (psychosis or psychotic or schizophrenia) and metacognitive (training or therapy or intervention). The quality of the studies was evaluated and the effect size and the moderating variables of MCT on delusion were determined.
Results
A total of 11 studies on the effect of MCT for delusion were investigated. The MCT had a moderate immediate postintervention effect (g = −0.38) and a lasting effect after 6 months (g = −0.35). In terms of immediate effect, moderating variables with significant differences between them were (a) individual approach versus group‐based approach and mixed approach, and (b) eastern country versus western country.
Linking Evidence to Action
MCT could be used as a valuable nonpharmacologic intervention to reduce delusions in clinical settings. The individual modularized MCT approach had a beneficial effect and is recommended to healthcare professionals as an application for patients with schizophrenia or delusional disorder.
Working memory (WM), the ability to store and manipulate information for short periods of time, is an important predictor of scholastic aptitude and a critical bottleneck underlying higher-order ...cognitive processes, including controlled attention and reasoning. Recent interventions targeting WM have suggested plasticity of the WM system by demonstrating improvements in both trained and untrained WM tasks. However, evidence on transfer of improved WM into more general cognitive domains such as fluid intelligence (
Gf
) has been more equivocal. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis focusing on one specific training program,
n
-back. We searched PubMed and Google Scholar for all
n
-back training studies with
Gf
outcome measures, a control group, and healthy participants between 18 and 50 years of age. In total, we included 20 studies in our analyses that met our criteria and found a small but significant positive effect of
n
-back training on improving
Gf
. Several factors that moderate this transfer are identified and discussed. We conclude that short-term cognitive training on the order of weeks can result in beneficial effects in important cognitive functions as measured by laboratory tests.
The possibility of leveraging video games for enhancing behavior and brain function has led to an emerging new field situated at the crossroads of cognitive neuroscience, health science, educational ...interventions, and game design. Here we review the impact of video game play, in particular action video game play, on attentional control. We also examine the underlying neural bases of these effects and the game design features hypothesized to drive the plastic changes. We argue that not all games have the same impact, with both differences in the characteristics of the games themselves as well as individual differences in player style determining the final outcome. These facts, mixed with changes in the game industry, (e.g., greater mixing of genre characteristics; greater freedom of player experience) calls for a paradigm shift relative to the approach taken in the field to-date, including iteratively alternating between targeted game design and efficacy evaluation.
This review covers the impact of action video game play on cognition and its neural mediators. It then discusses how this emerging field of inquiry may best inform the development of educational or health video game-based interventions.
The capacity for empathy plays an important role in interpersonal relationships and social functioning, and impairments in empathy can have negative effects on social interactions and overall social ...adjustment. This suggests that empathy may be a critical target for intervention in individuals who struggle with social interactions, yet it is unclear if the skills required for empathy are malleable. This study investigates the efficacy of targeted social cognitive training for improving empathic skills.
Forty-five individuals (mean age = 24) were included in this study. Twenty-four individuals were allocated to the active social cognition training group and 21 individuals were allocated to a computer games control condition. Subjects completed approximately 10.5 h of training over two weeks. Pre- and post- training, they completed measures of empathy and emotion recognition, including the Interpersonal Reactivity Inventory (IRI) and an empathic accuracy task. ANOVA and regression analyses tested changes in participants' performance on the empathic accuracy task and scores on the IRI subscales were used to assess the effect of the social cognitive training.
Repeated measures ANOVA show that there is a significant group by timepoint interaction on the Empathic Accuracy task, with individuals who completed the social cognition training showing a significant improvement in performance following training. There were no significant changes for either group on any of the self-report IRI subscales. Individuals in the active training group show significant improvement on negative valence videos and a trend towards improvement on positive valence videos. In addition, individuals in social cognition active training group who reported higher intrinsic motivation demonstrated greater improvement on the Empathic Accuracy task.
Individuals who completed a computerized social cognition training program demonstrated improved performance on a rater objective measure of empathic accuracy while individuals who completed a computer game control condition did not demonstrate any significant changes in their performance on the empathic accuracy task. These results suggest that targeted training in social cognition may increase empathic abilities, even in healthy individuals, and that this training may be beneficial to individuals with social cognitive deficits.
Children exposed to alcohol in utero may suffer from cognitive and physical sequelae. The most impactful damage in terms of daily functioning is to higher order cognitive functions involved in ...planning and goal-directed behaviour, referred to as executive functions. Cognitive training interventions are used as a remedial tool for executive function deficits but require implementation by professionals. For the South African context, where resources are limited, a tablet computer-based cognitive training game was developed. This study aimed to establish the feasibility of implementing and evaluating this intervention in South Africa for children exposed to alcohol prenatally. This was a three-arm feasibility randomised control trial comparing an alcohol exposed intervention arm, to an alcohol exposed control arm, and a non-exposed normative arm. Arm allocation was based on self-reported maternal alcohol use during a structured interview. To assess feasibility, we evaluated participant recruitment and barriers to implementation. Executive functions were measured at baseline and following intervention to evaluate the preliminary impact of the intervention. No significant differences were found between the three arms on the post-intervention assessments. The retention rate was acceptable for a randomised control trial; however, there was significant variance in the length of time spent playing the game overall. The majority of participants learned to play the game quickly and progressed through the difficulty levels. In conclusion, a full randomised control trial using the recruitment, randomisation and implementation method would be suitable in the South African context. The statistical outcomes of this trial do not support a full-scale randomised control trial of this intervention.
Although several excellent reviews and meta-analyses have investigated the effect of video game trainings as tools to enhance well-being, most of them specifically focused on the effects of digital ...games on brain plasticity or cognitive decline in children and seniors. On the contrary, only one meta-analysis results to be focused on the adult population, and it is restricted to examining the effects of training with a particular genre of games (action video games) on cognitive skills of healthy adults.
This systematic review was aimed to identify research evidences about the impact on cognitive i.e., processing and reaction times (RTs), memory, task-switching/multitasking, and mental spatial rotation and emotional skills of video games training in the healthy adult population.
A multi-component analysis of variables related to the study, the video games, and the outcomes of the training was made on the basis of important previous works. Databases used in the search were PsycINFO, Web of Science (Web of Knowledge), PubMed, and Scopus. The search string was: ("Video Games" OR "Computer Games" OR "Interactive Gaming") AND ("Cognition") OR ("Cognitive") OR ("Emotion") OR ("Emotion Regulation") AND "Training".
Thirty-five studies met the inclusion criteria and were further classified into the different analysis' variables. The majority of the retrieved studies used commercial video games, and action games in particular, which resulted to be the most commonly used, closely followed by puzzle games. Effect sizes for training with video games on cognitive skills in general ranged from 0.06 to 3.43: from 0.141 to 3.43 for processing and RTs, 0.06 to 1.82 for memory, 0.54 to 1.91 for task switching/multitasking, and 0.3 to 3.2 for mental spatial rotation; regarding video games for the training of emotional skills, effect sizes ranged from 0.201 to 3.01.
Overall, findings give evidences of benefits of video games training on cognitive and emotional skills in relation to the healthy adult population, especially on young adults. Efficacy has been demonstrated not only for non-commercial video games or commercial brain-training programs, but for commercial video games as well.
Background and objective: This study aimed to develop agro-healing program to enable the elderly to improve cognitive health, and to determine impacts on cognitive, emotional, and physical function ...through applying the program to seniors at welfare facilities.Methods: The agro-healing program was developed in consultation with experts on material selection, activity types, physical exercises, and evaluation methods. The program was conducted for seniors who used Jeonju Y Senior Welfare Center from May to August 2022. The total of 19 participants in the program were divided into 9 in the control group and 10 in the experimental group.A agro-healing program with 12 activities was given to the experimental group. As a pre- and post-test, the results of a cognitive screening test, short form of geriatric depression scale, and physical fitness test for the elderly were compared. For the experimental group, their activity preference was surveyed. The results were analyzed using SAS 9.4.Results: The agro-healing program to promote cognitive health did not show significant results in terms of differences in mean scores for cognitive, emotional, and physical area between the control and experimental groups in the pre- and post-test. However, through this study, it was found that the subjects preferred interesting activities with work stages using plants.Conclusion: A cognitive health promotion program for the elderly was developed and applied. Although the effectiveness of program was not proven, it is expected that activities preferred by the elderly can be used as basic data in agro-healing programs for the cognitive health of the elderly.
Emotion recognition of voices may play an important role in interpersonal communication and patients with schizophrenia present alterations in this regard. Several on-line rehabilitation tools have ...been developed for treatment in this area.
is an on-line prosodic recognition program consisting of identifying different emotional tones in neutral phrases, in different sessions of gradually increasing difficulty. This training tool has previously reported benefits, and a new version has been created called
. The main aim of this study is to test the capacity of the
program to improve emotion recognition through prosody for adults with schizophrenia. Secondly, it seeks to observe durability effects 1 month after intervention.
A randomized, single-blind, multicenter clinical trial was conducted with 44 outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. The intervention group (also called
) was treated with
, whereas the control group was treated with auditory training that was not related to emotions. Sociodemographic and clinical data, clinical state (PANSS), Intelligence Quotient and prosodic recognition (RMV-SV) were measured at baseline. After intervention, RMV-SV and PANSS were assessed. One month later, the RMV-SV measure was repeated.
The control group (
= 19) and the
group (
= 22) did not differ on χ
, t or
tests in sociodemographic, clinical and psychometric variables at baseline or post-intervention (all
-values > 0.05). In the
group, statistically significant differences were observed in the RMV-SV scale applied post-intervention vs. that applied pre-intervention (
= 2.47,
= 0.013). Similar results were observed in the 1-month follow-up RMV-SV vs. the pre-intervention RMV-SV (
= 1.97,
= 0.049). PANSS scale was also assessed with no significant differences between pre vs. post measures in both groups. Lastly,
was rated relatively higher, based on its ease of understanding, entertainment value, usefulness and the appropriateness of use of its emotional glossary.
Improvements were observed in prosodic recognition following intervention with
in the
group. Although these results are similar to other clinical trial rehabilitation programs, specific research on the matter remains scarce. Certain aspects, such as the durability of effects or adherence should be thoroughly studied and clarified.
https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/G95C4.
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