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Cognitive Strategies and Natural Environments Interact in Influencing Executive Function.

ABSTRACT: Exposure to natural environments and the adoption of specific cognitive strategies are each claimed to have a direct influence on executive mental functioning. Here we manipulate both factors to help determine whether they draw on common cognitive resources. Three experiments investigated links between environmental effects (nature vs. urban video tours) and strategic effects (active vs. passive instructional approaches to the task). Each experiment used a pretest-posttest design and assessed executive mental functioning using a backward digit span task and Raven's progressive matrices. Experiment 1 manipulated participants' cognitive strategy through explicit instructions in order to establish a link between cognitive strategy and executive mental functioning. Experiment 2 used a pair of 10-min video tours (urban, nature) to examine the relationship between environmental exposure and executive mental function on the same tasks, replicating previous findings with the backward digit span task and extended them to a new task (i.e., Raven's progressive matrices). In Experiment 3, these two manipulations were combined to explore the relations between them. The results showed that the nature video tour attenuated the influence of task instructions relative to the urban video tour. An interaction between environmental video exposure and cognitive strategy was found, in that effects of cognitive strategy on executive function were smaller in the nature video condition than in the urban video condition. This suggests that brief exposure to nature had a direct positive influence on executive mental functioning.

SUBMITTER: Bourrier SC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6064875 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Cognitive Strategies and Natural Environments Interact in Influencing Executive Function.

Bourrier Stefan C SC Berman Marc G MG Enns James T JT

Frontiers in psychology 20180723

Exposure to natural environments and the adoption of specific cognitive strategies are each claimed to have a direct influence on executive mental functioning. Here we manipulate both factors to help determine whether they draw on common cognitive resources. Three experiments investigated links between environmental effects (nature vs. urban video tours) and strategic effects (active vs. passive instructional approaches to the task). Each experiment used a pretest-posttest design and assessed ex ...[more]

PMID: 30083121

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Executive cognitive functions, including working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibition, are impaired in schizophrenia. Executive functions rely on coordinated information processing between the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and thalamus, particularly the mediodorsal nucleus. This raises the possibility that anatomical connectivity between the PFC and mediodorsal thalamus may be 1) reduced in schizophrenia and 2) related to deficits in executive function. The current investigation tested these hypotheses. METHODS:Forty-five healthy subjects and 62 patients with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder completed a battery of tests of executive function and underwent diffusion-weighted imaging. Probabilistic tractography was used to quantify anatomical connectivity between six cortical regions, including PFC, and the thalamus. Thalamocortical anatomical connectivity was compared between healthy subjects and patients with schizophrenia using region-of-interest and voxelwise approaches, and the association between PFC-thalamic anatomical connectivity and severity of executive function impairment was examined in patients. RESULTS:Anatomical connectivity between the thalamus and PFC was reduced in schizophrenia. Voxelwise analysis localized the reduction to areas of the mediodorsal thalamus connected to lateral PFC. Reduced PFC-thalamic connectivity in schizophrenia correlated with impaired working memory but not cognitive flexibility and inhibition. In contrast to reduced PFC-thalamic connectivity, thalamic connectivity with somatosensory and occipital cortices was increased in schizophrenia. CONCLUSIONS:The results are consistent with models implicating disrupted PFC-thalamic connectivity in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and mechanisms of cognitive impairment. PFC-thalamic anatomical connectivity may be an important target for procognitive interventions. Further work is needed to determine the implications of increased thalamic connectivity with sensory cortex.

Project description:ObjectiveThis study examined cognitive, affective, and medical impairments and their impact on rehabilitation approaches for improving functional outcome after hospitalization in older adults.DesignA secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial in 229 adults 65 yrs or older admitted to two skilled nursing facilities undergoing rehabilitation services was conducted. Patients were randomized to receive physical and occupational therapy by therapists trained in systematic approaches to engage patients, called Enhanced Medical Rehabilitation, or standard of care. The outcome of interest was functional improvement, defined as Barthel Index at discharge (controlling for Barthel Index upon admission). This study analyzed the relationship of measures of cognition, depression, and medical comorbidities as predictors of functional outcome and as moderators interacting with treatment group.ResultsClock drawing score moderated treatment effect size; the functional improvement of Enhanced Medical Rehabilitation over standard of care therapy reduced with increasing executive impairment. In contrast, general cognitive abilities, depression, medical comorbidities, and readiness for rehabilitation were neither predictors nor moderators of functional improvement.ConclusionsFor older adults undergoing rehabilitation, greater functional improvement with the motivational techniques of Enhanced Medical Rehabilitation was contingent on patients having intact executive function. Given that executive function impairments are common in rehabilitation populations, new strategies are needed to improve treatment outcomes in physical/occupational therapy.To claim cme creditsComplete the self-assessment activity and evaluation online at http://www.physiatry.org/JournalCME.Cme objectivesUpon completion of this article, the reader should be able to (1) Discuss the role of baseline affective, cognitive, and medical impairments in impacting functional outcomes of older adults undergoing rehabilitation; (2) Describe the behavioral change and motivational approaches that are core features of the novel intervention known as Enhanced Medical Rehabilitation (E-MR); and (3) Determine the role of baseline executive function in moderating the effect of rehabilitation intervention on functional outcomes in older adults.LevelAdvanced.AccreditationThe Association of Academic Physiatrists is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.The Association of Academic Physiatrists designates this Journal-based CME activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Project description:BackgroundGiven the importance of attention and executive functions (EF) in children's behavior, programs aimed at improving these processes are of special interest. Nexxo-training combines the use of the Nexxo touchscreen application (inhibition and vigilance tasks) with procedural metacognitive strategies (imparted by an instructor) for all the individuals using the app, regardless of their level of ability, plus compensatory strategies based on individual child performance. This study presents an analysis of the compensatory strategies that schoolchildren (aged 6-8 years old) receive when experiencing difficulties with EF tasks, in addition to an analysis of the developmental factors and cognitive skills that may modulate EF task performance.MethodsFor this study, we use data from a previous randomized active-controlled study (under review), in which forty-six typically developing children aged between 6 and 8 years old (24 girls/22 boys) were enrolled in the training group. The selected children were in the 1st grade (n = 28, x ¯ = 78.32 ± 4.037 months) and 3rd grade of primary education (n = 18, x ¯ = 102.11 ± 3.445). We collected data on EF training performance, compensatory strategies needed and neuropsychological assessments.ResultsA total of 80.43% participants required some form of compensatory strategy during training. Regarding required compensatory strategies, those who had lower scores in EF training needed more compensatory strategies, in particular, instructional comprehension (r = -0.561, p < 0.001 for inhibition-tasks; r = -0.342, p < 0.001 for vigilance-tasks). Concerning developmental factors, age significantly predicted better performance in both EF tasks (? = 0.613, p < 0.001 for inhibition; ? = 0.706, p < 0.001 for attention). As regards task performance, those with better performance in inhibition tasks also had better performance in vigilance tasks (r = 0.72, p < 0.001). Finally, regarding cognitive skills, participants with higher performance in fluid intelligence (Q1, n = 12) had higher scores (U = 14.5, p < 0.05) than the group with the lowest performance (Q4, n = 11) in vigilance.ConclusionAs previous literature suggests, inhibition is one of the core processes of EF. Therefore, we should focus training on the core EF processes. Inhibition and vigilance are closely related processes. In terms of the use of compensatory strategies, these are more needed for participants with lower levels of performance in inhibition or vigilance. Regarding strategy analysis, instructional comprehension and self-instruction (goal setting and planning) seem to be the most useful strategies for those with difficulties in inhibitory and vigilance task performance. Regarding development, as expected, age moderates task performance in inhibition and attention. Finally, cognitive skills, such as fluid intelligence and cognitive flexibility, predicted better results in attention. EF training using not only an app, but also compensatory strategies based on user performance, is a new research direction offering more opportunities to generalize EF training in everyday life.

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Cognitive Strategies and Natural Environments Interact in Influencing Executive Function.

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Cognitive Strategies and Natural Environments Interact in Influencing Executive Function.

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