The ability to suppress a prepotent response is a crucial component of cognition that begins to develop during infancy and peeks during preschool. As part of understanding how one develops inhibitory control, learning about what conditions may help or hurt task performance is of great interest. The purpose of this project was to study the effects of familiarity and novelty on inhibitory control. Thirty-five preschoolers between two and five years of age were tested in four different versions of the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS). Performance was no different among standard, 2D-familiar, and 3D-familiar conditions. When comparing novel with the standard condition, children performed worse (37% and 68% respectively). Findings support the attentional inertia hypothesis. An exploratory analysis on temperament was also investigated. Children who scored higher in effortful control performed better in the 2D-familiar condition. / Master of Science

Objective: Adolescence is a period of crucial neuropsychological development. Executive control functions (ECF) develop during adolescence and are constructs involving the planning, initiation, and regula¬tion of goal-directed behaviour. ECFs include impulse control critical for behavioural regulation. Training approaches for improving inhibitory control (IC) and impulsivity in young people (YP) are in their infancy, although some positive effects have been found in adults. This research aimed to test the hypothesis that IC intervention would improve IC and impulsivity (direct, near and far-transfer effects) and improve behavioural-control (mid and far-transfer effects) in YP. Methods: Six healthy YP, aged 11-16 years, attending mainstream education, participated in this single-case, multiple-baseline experimental design. The participants completed assessments at three phase-change points and completed continuous measures of their own impulsivity and behaviour goals. Each participant completed a baseline and intervention phase of differing randomised lengths within the 20 day study. The data were analysed visually using non-parametric tests of difference, randomisations tests and indices of reliable change. Results: IC and impulsivity were not observed to improve with intervention based on direct and far-transfer effects and limited improvement was observed based on near-transfer effects. Overall, behavioural control was not observed to improve with intervention based on near and far-training effects, but limited improvements were observed for some individual participants. Conclusion: The intervention was not observed to be effective in reducing IC or improving behavioural control overall, with very limited effects found in individual cases, which are discussed in directions for future research.

This experiment studied relapse by assessing the separate/combined effects of two instigators: alcohol cues and stress on the salience of alcohol/gambling target stimuli and inhibitory control in twelve male problem gamblers and twelve male comorbid drinker-gamblers. Our study day consisted of two test sessions. Subjects received alcohol (non-alcoholic beer) and/or stress (uncontrollable noise) in a counterbalanced method. Hypotheses were tested using computer-based tasks, including the modified Stroop, gambling-word Shift Task, and the conventional and modified Stop-Signal Tasks. Stimuli with incentive value divert attention (i.e., are salient) selectively based on their clinical relevance to the subject and the nature of the instigating factor – stress (expected negative reinforcement) vs. anticipation of alcohol (expected positive reinforcement). Results suggest that alcohol cues and stress have differing effects on incentive salience, and disinhibit behaviour in both pathological populations. These findings have the potential to facilitate treatment and improve understanding for relapse prevention in these subjects.

This experiment studied relapse by assessing the separate/combined effects of two instigators: alcohol cues and stress on the salience of alcohol/gambling target stimuli and inhibitory control in twelve male problem gamblers and twelve male comorbid drinker-gamblers. Our study day consisted of two test sessions. Subjects received alcohol (non-alcoholic beer) and/or stress (uncontrollable noise) in a counterbalanced method. Hypotheses were tested using computer-based tasks, including the modified Stroop, gambling-word Shift Task, and the conventional and modified Stop-Signal Tasks. Stimuli with incentive value divert attention (i.e., are salient) selectively based on their clinical relevance to the subject and the nature of the instigating factor – stress (expected negative reinforcement) vs. anticipation of alcohol (expected positive reinforcement). Results suggest that alcohol cues and stress have differing effects on incentive salience, and disinhibit behaviour in both pathological populations. These findings have the potential to facilitate treatment and improve understanding for relapse prevention in these subjects.

The aim of this study was to further examine the relationship between anxiety, inhibitory control (IC), and brain functioning (electroencephalogram) in a critical age-range for social and emotional development (8-12-year-olds). Depression was a secondary focus but was included in the analyses given the common anxiety/depression overlap. Additionally, the participants (N = 42) were assigned to 4 weeks of either an emotional training program (Emotional gFocus), a neutral training program (Neutral gFocus), or a waitlisted control and were tested using cognitive, neurophysiological, and mood measures. Hierarchical regression models revealed that IC accuracy scores were significantly and negatively related to anxiety levels as indicated by the Screening For Child Anxiety Related Disorders (SCARED), as well as depression levels (using the Child Depression Inventory (CDI)), controlling for age and gender. Additionally, increased resting-state right lateral frontal alpha asymmetry was predictive of increased anxiety as well as depression levels. To evaluate the intervention effects, a series of Multivariate Analyses of Covariance (MANCOVA) and contrast tests were conducted to determine if group differences existed from pre-to-post for any of the measures of interest. Overall, the emotional and neutral training conditions showed similar reductions in anxiety and depression compared to the waitlist condition. Both the emotional and neutral conditions also facilitated significant improvements in IC accuracy compared to the control. Minimal pre-to-post power and asymmetry changes occurred in frontal and parietal regions; however, a lateral frontal leftward activity shift was found in the emotional training group. These findings further demonstrated a relationship between IC and anxiety and showed preliminary evidence that training IC has the potential to mitigate negative emotional functioning in adolescents. Future research is necessary to determine the importance of emotional training versus neutral as well as whether longer training intervals will be needed to facilitate a long-term impact. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

How individuals process different affective cues, as well as how intensely they experience different emotions, may influence how efficient they are at engaging inhibitory control. To date, it is unclear if these influences differ among young adults with and without ADHD. The current study tested the variation in young adults’ inhibitory control to three affective cues (i.e., fear, happy, and neutral) in an Emotion Go/Nogo task. Results suggest better inhibitory control in response to more distinct cues (i.e., fear Nogo/happy Go). The order in which cues were presented also mattered, such that participants displayed enhanced inhibitory control when first presented with expressions that had similar valence. This task order was particularly helpful for inhibitory control engagement among young adults with ADHD. Furthermore, self-report measures suggest that young adults with ADHD were associated with higher levels of affect intensity. However, no additional relations were found in the processing of affective cues, affect intensity, and inhibitory control between young adults with and without ADHD. Results provide evidence for how affective cues and contexts differentially influence behavioral responses in young adults. Individuals with and without ADHD also appear to differ in the intensity with which they experience different emotions. Overall, the current study provides a framework for how to further explore how emotional cues and affect intensity influence inhibitory control.

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Inhibitory control refers to a person’s ability to control responses and impulses. Deficits in inhibitory control have been found in the neurodevelopmental disorder of Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), though this has mainly been studied in children. This thesis is a systematic review of how inhibition is impacted in adults with ADHD and which neural correlates that are associated with inhibitory control. Only peer-reviewed original articles that used adults above the age of 18 were included. All articles used a between subject design, meaning healthy participants were compared to participants with ADHD. To measure inhibitory control, articles which used either the Stroop Task or Go/No-go task were examined. Nine articles were included in this systematic review. Through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) altered neural activation was seen in several brain regions, such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, fronto-basal ganglia networks, anterior cingulate cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, parietal lobe and inferior frontal gyrus. Many of these regions have previously been linked to inhibitory control, while others hint at possible compensatory pathways for inhibition in ADHD. In summary, subtle impairments in inhibition networks appear to underlie the disorder all the way into adulthood.

Background: Poor inhibitory control is a hallmark of problem gambling (PG), which is characterised by frequent gambling and unsuccessful efforts to control/stop gambling. Stress and PG demonstrate a cyclical relationship, whereby gambling can act as a coping mechanism for dealing with stressful life events, while consistent gambling engagement can increase stress. To date, few studies examine acute stress effects on inhibitory control (IC) in this group. Purpose: This study compares acute stress effects on IC in PG and healthy control (HC) populations. Methods: Twenty participants with PG and twenty HCs completed self-report measures of mood disturbance (Profile of Mood States; POMS) and impulsivity (Barratt Impulsiveness Scale); saliva samples were collected to measure cortisol. The Trier Social Stress Test was administered to induce an acute stress response, followed by the Stop-Signal Task (SST), a validated measure of IC. Results: Subjective stress responses increased over time in both groups, with the PG group demonstrating significantly higher POMS ratings (p<.05), however, no differences in cortisol levels were observed between groups (p>.05). Moreover, no group differences were observed on the SST (p>.05). Exploratory correlations revealed significant positive and negative correlations between cortisol levels and ‘go’ reaction time and ‘stop’ signal reaction time on the SST, respectively (p<.05). Conclusion: This study is the first, to our knowledge, to directly examine acute psychosocial stress effects on IC in individuals with PG. Our findings show that while both groups display similar cortisol levels, individuals with PG report increased subjective stress relative to HCs. Despite no stress-induced impairments on SST performance, significant correlations were observed between task reaction time and cortisol levels in the PG group. This study helps to better inform clinical practice by providing a comprehensive understanding of the implications of stress and IC on gambling behaviours. / Thesis / Master of Health Sciences (MSc) / Problem gambling (PG) is characterised by problems with impulsivity and inhibitory control. Stress affects inhibitory control and appears heightened in PG, but few studies examine this relationship. This study examined acute stress effects on inhibitory control task performance, which may underlie the loss of control during gambling episodes that is often experienced by those with PG. Participants with PG and healthy controls (HCs) completed questionnaires relating to impulsivity and stress, and were exposed to an acute stressor and provided saliva samples to measure physiological stress (cortisol). Later participants completed a task examining reaction time as a measure of inhibitory control. Results showed that individuals with PG reported increased stress relative to HCs, despite having similar cortisol levels. While acute stress did not impair inhibitory control on the task, significant correlations were observed between task reaction time and cortisol levels, which suggests a strong relationship between inhibitory control and physiological stress response.