The Cognitive Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Members of the General Population in Italy: A Preliminary Study on Executive Inhibition

The pandemic period which has characterized the last two years has been associated with increasingly worsening psychological conditions, and previous studies have reported severe levels of anxiety, mood disorder, and psychopathological alteration in the general population. In particular, worldwide populations have appeared to present post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). Surprisingly, no studies have evaluated the effect of COVID-related PTSS on cognitive functioning. This study focused on the association between high levels of PTSS related to COVID-19 and alterations in executive functioning by considering executive inhibitions in populations not infected by the virus. Ninety respondents from the Italian population participated in the study. A higher percentage of PTSS was reported. Moreover, respondents with high post-traumatic symptomatology presented deficits in the inhibition of preponderant responses, demonstrating an executive deficit which could be expressed by a difficulty in controlling goal-directed actions. This was underlined by worse performances in elaborating incongruent stimuli in the Stroop task and no-go stimuli in the Go/No-Go task. This report presents preliminary findings underlining the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on cognitive functions. The results confirmed a persistently higher post-traumatic symptomatology related to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Italian population and highlighted an association with cognitive inhibition impairment.

Pain and executive function: no association between remote exercise-induced hypoalgesia and cognitive inhibition in pain-free participants

Objectives Cognitive inhibition, which denotes the ability to suppress predominant or automatic responses, has been associated with lower pain sensitivity and larger conditioned pain modulation in humans. Studies exploring the association between cognitive inhibition and other pain inhibitory phenomena, like exercise-induced hypoalgesia (EIH), are scarce. The primary aim was to explore the association between cognitive inhibition and EIH at exercising (local) and non-exercising (remote) muscles after isometric exercise. The secondary aim was to explore the association between cognitive inhibition and pressure pain sensitivity. Methods Sixty-six pain-free participants (28.3 ± 8.9 years old, 34 women) completed two cognitive inhibition tasks (stop-signal task and Stroop Colour-Word task), a 3-min isometric wall squat exercise, and a quiet rest control condition with pre- and post-assessments of manual pressure pain thresholds at a local (thigh) and a remote site (shoulder). In addition, cuff pressure pain thresholds, pain tolerance and temporal summation of pain were assessed at baseline. Results No association was found between remote EIH and cognitive inhibition (Stroop interference score: r=0.12, [−0.15; 0.37], p=0.405, BF01=6.70; stop-signal reaction time: r=−0.08, [−0.32; 0.17], p=0.524, BF01=8.32). Unexpectedly, individuals with worse performance on the Stroop task, as indicated by a higher Stroop interference score, showed higher local EIH (r=0.33; [0.10; 0.53], p=0.007, BF01=0.29). No associations were observed between pain sensitivity and any of the cognitive inhibition performance parameters. Conclusions The present findings do not support previous evidence on positive associations between exercise-induced hypoalgesia and cognitive inhibition, as well as baseline pain sensitivity and cognitive inhibition.

Sedentary Lifestyle Matters as Past Sedentariness, Not Current Sedentariness, Predicts Cognitive Inhibition Performance among College Students: An Exploratory Study

Background: Currently, sedentariness is assessed over a short period of time, thus it is difficult to study its cognitive implications. To investigate the cognitive consequences of a sedentary lifestyle, the past level (i.e., the sedentary time accumulated over the years) and current level of sedentariness should be considered. This pilot study aimed to investigate the negative association between a sedentary lifestyle and cognition by considering both the current and past sedentariness. It was expected that the physical activity level moderates the potential negative association between sedentariness and cognition. Methods: 52 college students (Mage = 20.19, SDage = 2; 36 women) participated in the study. Current sedentariness (ratio of sedentary time in the last year), past sedentariness (ratio of sedentary time accumulated in previous years), and physical activity (ratio of time spent in physical activity in years) were assessed using a questionnaire. Cognitive inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and working memory updating were measured through three specific tests. Results: Past sedentariness significantly explained the inhibition performance when controlled for physical activity, whereas current sedentariness did not. More precisely, past sedentariness only negatively predicted cognitive inhibition when the physical activity level was low (β = −3.15, z(48) = −2.62, p = 0.01). Conclusions: The impact of sedentariness on cognitive functioning might only be revealed when past sedentariness and physical activity are controlled.

The Effect of Different tDCS Protocols on Drug Craving and Cognitive Functions in Methamphetamine Addicts

Background and objective: Drug craving is considered to be a major problem in addiction treatment. Neuroimaging research has revealed various areas for drug craving, among which two key areas are the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the cerebellum. The DLPFC is involved in different cognitive tasks like the inhibitory control over seductive options harboring the promise of immediate reward. The cerebellum considered to be related to cognition and memory and gets activated by drug-related cues. Therefore based on the previous researches we decided to study the effects of applying tDCS on six different protocols in reducing Drug Craving and increasing Cognitive Functions in Methamphetamine Addicts. Methods: The present study is a semi-experimental, with pre/post-test, and a control group. Based on a simple sampling method, 15 male methamphetamine addicts in two rehabilitation centers in Tehran were recruited. The participants were 18-65 years old with a minimum 12-month history of methamphetamine dependence. Visual Analog Scale (VAS), The Go/No-Go Task and The N-Back Task was administered before and after single session of tDCS. tDCS applied on six protocols which were: 1. The right DLPFC anodal and the left DLPFC cathodal stimulation 2. The right DLPFC cathodal and the left DLPFC anodal stimulation 3. The right DLPFC anodal and the right arm cathodal stimulation 4. The left DLPFC anodal and the left arm cathodal stimulation 5. The right cerebellar hemisphere (O2) anodal and the left cerebellar hemisphere (O1) cathodal stimulation 6. The right cerebellar hemisphere (O2) cathodal and the left cerebellar hemisphere (O1) anodal stimulation. The data were analyzed by covariance method using SPSS-22 software Results: Study results indicated while single session tDCS effects on craving were not significant, it increased cognitive inhibition especially in protocol 2: The right DLPFC cathodal and the left DLPFC anodal stimulation Conclusion and discussion: Single session of tDCS has an insignificant effect on craving but it can increase cognitive inhibition significantly. These findings extend the results of previous studies on the effects of brain stimulation for drug craving reduction in other drug type settings.

Enhancements in Cognitive Performance and Academic Achievement in Adolescents through the Hybridization of an Instructional Model with Gamification in Physical Education

An educational physical education (PE) hybridization program based on the personal and social responsibility model and gamification strategies was used in order to explore the effect on cognitive performance and academic achievement. A 9-month group-randomized controlled trial was conducted, with 150 participants (age: 14.63 ± 1.38) allocated into the control group (CG, n = 37) and experimental group (EG, n = 113). Inhibition, verbal fluency, planning, and academic achievement were assessed. Significant differences were observed in the post-test for cognitive inhibition, verbal fluency (named animals), and the mean of both verbal fluency tasks in favor of the EG. With regard to the intervention, verbal fluency (named animals), verbal fluency (named vegetables), the mean of both verbal fluency tasks, cognitive inhibition, language, the average of all subjects, the average of all subjects except PE, and the average from the core subjects increased significantly in the EG. Values for the last five variables (academic variables and cognitive inhibition) in addition to mathematics also increased in the CG. This study contributes to the current knowledge by suggesting that both methodologies produced improvements in the measured variables, but the use of the hybridization resulted in improvements in cognitive performance, specifically with regard to cognitive inhibition and verbal fluency.

A Systematic Review of Obesity and Binge Eating Associated Impairment of the Cognitive Inhibition System

Altered functioning of the inhibition system and the resulting higher impulsivity are known to play a major role in overeating. Considering the great impact of disinhibited eating behavior on obesity onset and maintenance, this systematic review of the literature aims at identifying to what extent the brain inhibitory networks are impaired in individuals with obesity. It also aims at examining whether the presence of binge eating disorder leads to similar although steeper neural deterioration. We identified 12 studies that specifically assessed impulsivity during neuroimaging. We found a significant alteration of neural circuits primarily involving the frontal and limbic regions. Functional activity results show BMI-dependent hypoactivity of frontal regions during cognitive inhibition and either increased or decreased patterns of activity in several other brain regions, according to their respective role in inhibition processes. The presence of binge eating disorder results in further aggravation of those neural alterations. Connectivity results mainly report strengthened connectivity patterns across frontal, parietal, and limbic networks. Neuroimaging studies suggest significant impairment of various neural circuits involved in inhibition processes in individuals with obesity. The elaboration of accurate therapeutic neurocognitive interventions, however, requires further investigations, for a deeper identification and understanding of obesity-related alterations of the inhibition brain system.