13
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      Cognitive Training Sustainably Improves Executive Functioning in Middle-Aged Industry Workers Assessed by Task Switching: A Randomized Controlled ERP Study

      research-article

      Read this article at

      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Recently, we reported results of a cross-sectional study investigating executive functions in dependence of aging and type of work. That study showed deficits in performance and electrophysiological activity in middle-aged workers with long-term repetitive and unchallenging work. Based on these findings, we conducted a longitudinal study that aimed at ameliorating these cognitive deficits by means of a trainer-guided cognitive training (CT) in 57 further middle-aged workers with repetitive type of work from the same factory. This study was designed as a randomized controlled trail with pre- (t1), post- (t2), and a 3-month follow-up (t3) measure. The waiting control group was trained between t2 and t3. The training lasted 3 months (20 sessions) and was evaluated with the same task switching paradigm used in the previous cross-sectional study. The CT improved performance in accuracy at the behavioral level and affected the electrophysiological correlates of retrieval of stimulus-response sets (P2), response selection (N2), and error detection (Ne), thus unveiling the neuronal background of the behavioral effects. The same training effects were observed in the waiting control group after CT at t3. Moreover, at t3, most of the behavioral and electrophysiological training-induced changes were found stable. Hence, CT appears to be an important intervention for compensating cognitive deficits in executive functions in middle-aged employees with cognitively unchallenging work.

          Related collections

          Most cited references53

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: found
          • Article: not found

          The neural basis of human error processing: reinforcement learning, dopamine, and the error-related negativity.

          The authors present a unified account of 2 neural systems concerned with the development and expression of adaptive behaviors: a mesencephalic dopamine system for reinforcement learning and a "generic" error-processing system associated with the anterior cingulate cortex. The existence of the error-processing system has been inferred from the error-related negativity (ERN), a component of the event-related brain potential elicited when human participants commit errors in reaction-time tasks. The authors propose that the ERN is generated when a negative reinforcement learning signal is conveyed to the anterior cingulate cortex via the mesencephalic dopamine system and that this signal is used by the anterior cingulate cortex to modify performance on the task at hand. They provide support for this proposal using both computational modeling and psychophysiological experimentation.
            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: found
            • Article: not found

            Influence of cognitive control and mismatch on the N2 component of the ERP: a review.

            Recent years have seen an explosion of research on the N2 component of the event-related potential, a negative wave peaking between 200 and 350 ms after stimulus onset. This research has focused on the influence of "cognitive control," a concept that covers strategic monitoring and control of motor responses. However, rich research traditions focus on attention and novelty or mismatch as determinants of N2 amplitude. We focus on paradigms that elicit N2 components with an anterior scalp distribution, namely, cognitive control, novelty, and sequential matching, and argue that the anterior N2 should be divided into separate control- and mismatch-related subcomponents. We also argue that the oddball N2 belongs in the family of attention-related N2 components that, in the visual modality, have a posterior scalp distribution. We focus on the visual modality for which components with frontocentral and more posterior scalp distributions can be readily distinguished.
              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: found
              • Article: not found

              On the utility of P3 amplitude as a measure of processing capacity.

              ALBERT KOK (2001)
              The present review focuses on the utility of the amplitude of P3 of as a measure of processing capacity and mental workload. The paper starts with a brief outline of the conceptual framework underlying the relationship between P3 amplitude and task demands, and the cognitive task manipulations that determine demands on capacity. P3 amplitude results are then discussed on the basis of an extensive review of the relevant literature. It is concluded that although it has often been assumed that P3 amplitude depends on the capacity for processing task relevant stimuli, the utility of P3 amplitude as a sensitive and diagnostic measure of processing capacity remains limited. The major factor that prompts this conclusion is that the two principal task variables that have been used to manipulate capacity allocation, namely task difficulty and task emphasis, have opposite effects on the amplitude of P3. I suggest that this is because, in many tasks, an increase in difficulty transforms the structure or actual content of the flow of information in the processing systems, thereby interfering with the very processes that underlie P3 generation. Finally, in an attempt to theoretically integrate the results of the reviewed studies, it is proposed that P3 amplitude reflects activation of elements in a event-categorization network that is controlled by the joint operation of attention and working memory.
                Bookmark

                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                Front Hum Neurosci
                Front Hum Neurosci
                Front. Hum. Neurosci.
                Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
                Frontiers Media S.A.
                1662-5161
                22 February 2017
                2017
                : 11
                : 81
                Affiliations
                [1] 1Ageing Research Group, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo), Technical University of Dortmund Dortmund, Germany
                [2] 2Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Berlin, Germany
                [3] 3Institute for Working, Learning and Aging Bochum, Germany
                Author notes

                Edited by: Soledad Ballesteros, National University of Distance Education, Spain

                Reviewed by: Philip D. Zelazo, University of Minnesota, USA; Marco Calabria, Pompeu Fabra University, Spain

                *Correspondence: Patrick D. Gajewski, gajewski@ 123456ifado.de
                Article
                10.3389/fnhum.2017.00081
                5319973
                28275347
                a2fd445b-237d-4a01-b70c-d840ec419a90
                Copyright © 2017 Gajewski, Freude and Falkenstein.

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

                History
                : 14 November 2016
                : 08 February 2017
                Page count
                Figures: 6, Tables: 0, Equations: 0, References: 78, Pages: 14, Words: 0
                Categories
                Neuroscience
                Original Research

                Neurosciences
                aging,work,cognitive training,task switching,erps,n2,ne,ern
                Neurosciences
                aging, work, cognitive training, task switching, erps, n2, ne, ern

                Comments

                Comment on this article