Sociolinguistic Diversity Can Boost Cognitive Functions

This study investigates the link between sociolinguistic diversity and executive functions. 127 healthy adults from Malaysia were recruited to complete three cognitive tasks and the Contextual Linguistic Profile Questionnaire (CLiP-Q). A sociolinguistic diversity score was derived for each participant, with a higher score reflecting a greater exposure and use of diverse languages both at the individual and the societal level. The results demonstrated a sociolinguistic diversity advantage in cognitive functions. Higher sociolinguistic diversity scores were associated with lesser interference in the Flanker task and better accuracy in the 2-back task. Additionally, a significant interaction between sociolinguistic diversity and socioeconomic status was found for the set-shifting task, showing that sociolinguistic diversity could reduce mixing costs and improve set-shifting task accuracy for low socioeconomic status participants who are usually disadvantaged in cognitive control. Thus, it is important for research in the multilingualism field to take sociolinguistic diversity context into account.

Assessment of Cognitive Flexibility in Personnel Selection: Validity and Acceptance of a Gamified Version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test

The present study contributes to the emerging field of gamification in personnel selection by examining validity and acceptance of the Gamified Set-Shifting Task (GSST), which is based on a well-established neuropsychological test of cognitive flexibility, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Results based on a sample of 180 participants in an online study provided preliminary support for construct and criterion-related validity. The GSST was better accepted among test-takers than both the WCST and a cognitive ability test. Overall, the findings suggest that the GSST may be an attractive and valid method to assist organizations in selecting employees who are able to adapt to changing environments.

Automatic Intra-/Extra-Dimensional Attentional Set-Shifting Task in Adolescent Mice

Adolescence is a developmental period crucial for the maturation of higher-order cognitive functions. Indeed, adolescence deficits in executive functions are strong predictors of increased vulnerability to several mental disabilities later in life. Here, we tested adolescent mice in a fully-automated attentional set-shifting task equivalent to the humans’ Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery Intra-/Extra-Dimensional set-shift task (ID/ED). Compared to an adult, adolescent mice required more time to complete the task (≈16 days), and a higher percentage failed to finish the entire task. Nevertheless, adolescent mice completing this demanding task showed an increased effort in solving the extradimensional shift stage (EDS) compared to previous stages. Moreover, we found that this paradigm can be used to detect early cognitive dysfunctions in adolescent genetically modified mice. Thus, this automatic paradigm provides a further tool to assess attentional control in adolescent mice, and the development of dysfunctional executive functions from adolescence to adulthood.

Set-shifting-related basal ganglia deformation as a novel familial marker of obsessive–compulsive disorder

The symptoms of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) are suggestive of cognitive rigidity, and previous work identified impaired flexible responding on set-shifting tasks in such patients. The basal ganglia are central to habit learning and are thought to be abnormal in OCD, contributing to inflexible, rigid habitual patterns of behaviour. Here, we demonstrate that increased cognitive inflexibility, indexed by poor performance on the set-shifting task, correlated with putamen morphology, and that patients and their asymptomatic relatives had common curvature abnormalities within this same structure. The association between the structure of the putamen and the extradimensional errors was found to be significantly familial in OCD proband–relative pairs. The data implicate changes in basal ganglia structure linked to cognitive inflexibility as a familial marker of OCD. This may reflect a predisposing heightened propensity toward habitual response patterns and deficits in goal-directed planning.

Mediodorsal thalamus is critical for updating during extra-dimensional shifts but not reversals in the attentional set-shifting task

Cognitive flexibility, attributed to frontal cortex, is vital for navigating the complexities of everyday life. The mediodorsal thalamus (MD), interconnected to frontal cortex, may influence cognitive flexibility. Here rats performed an attentional set-shifting task measuring intra-dimensional and extra-dimensional shifts in sensory discriminations. MD lesion rats needed more trials to learn the rewarded sensory dimension. However, once the choice response strategy was established, learning further two-choice discriminations in the same sensory dimension, and reversals of the reward contingencies in the same dimension, were unimpaired. Critically though, MD lesion rats were impaired during the extra-dimensional shift, when they must rapidly update the optimal choice response strategy. Behavioral analyses showed MD lesion rats had significantly reduced ‘on-the-fly’ correct second choice responses. Diminshed c-Fos expression in the prelimbic and orbitofrontal cortex was also documented. This evidence shows transfer of information via the MD is critical when monitoring and rapid updates in established choice response strategies are required.

Risky decision making and cognitive flexibility among online sports bettors in Nigeria.

Online sports betting is a popular recreational activity in Nigeria. Like other forms of gambling, risk of pathological progression exists for gamblers who continue betting despite severe financial and psychosocial consequences. In the present study, we examined whether this population of gamblers shows deficits in decision making and cognitive flexibility that have been documented in Western gambling populations. Thirty-six online sports bettors and 42 non-gambling participants completed a version of the Iowa gambling task (IGT) and an established set-shifting task for the assessment of cognitive flexibility. The two groups did not differ significantly in the selection of disadvantageous decks on the IGT. In contrast, sports bettors committed significantly more errors on the set-shifting task than non-gambling control participants. As this performance deficit was not specific to trials requiring a set shift, it most likely resulted from gambling-related changes in general cognitive or motivational abilities that are required to successfully complete challenging mental tasks. While our results illustrate that findings from Western populations cannot automatically be generalized to other contexts, it should be noted that we focused on only one particular type of gambling and included mostly participants with mild gambling-related problems.