O esquecimento intencional pode cumprir uma função estratégica no sistema cognitivo, que permite aos indivíduos não pensar sobre acontecimentos indesejados do passado, tais como eventos traumáticos, dolorosos e violentos, dos quais se prefere não recordar. Enquanto esquecer involuntariamente é uma falha da lembrança, por outro lado, esquecer intencionalmente parece ser uma função estratégica da memória. A presente dissertação teve por objetivo investigar os mecanismos neurocognitivos que contribuem para o esquecimento de memórias. A dissertação se organizou em dois estudos. O primeiro estudo consiste em uma revisão sistemática de artigos empíricos publicados nos últimos dez anos sobre a supressão de memórias indesejadas. O segundo estudo é um ensaio empírico, no qual foi executado um experimento adaptado do paradigma Think/No-Think com a utilização de marcadores eletrofisiológicos de eletroencefalograma. Participaram do experimento 22 sujeitos, alocados aleatoriamente em dois grupos com estratégias distintas de esquecimento: Supressão de memória e substituição de pensamentos. Durante toda a tarefa experimental, os participantes tiveram dados de EEG continuamente gravados. Os resultados decorrentes do ensaio empírico estão de acordo com os achados da literatura, indicando que a positividade parietal em torno de 400-800ms após a apresentação do estímulo é um marcador de lembrança consciente durante a recuperação de memória. Apenas na estratégia de supressão de memória houve uma redução da positividade centro-parietal durante o esquecimento, entre 450 e 700ms após apresentação do estímulo. Além disso, uma maior deflexão no componente N2 durante a supressão é um preditor de esquecimento induzido. Os achados indicam que é possível mapear o sistema neurocognitivo subjacente à supressão de memórias. / Intentional forgetting can be characterized as a strategic function of the cognitive system that allows us not to think about unwanted memories from our past, as for example emotional events or traumatic experiences that we would prefer not to remember. While forgetting involuntarily is a failure of recollection, on the other hand, forgetting intentionally seems to be a strategic function of memory. The aim of this dissertation was to investigate the neurocognitive mechanisms that contribute to forgetting memories. The dissertation was organized in two studies. The first study consists of a systematic review of empirical articles published in the last ten years on the suppression of unwanted memories. The second study is an empirical essay, in which an experiment adapted from the Think/No-Think paradigm was performed, with the use of electrophysiological markers of electroencephalogram. Twenty-two subjects participated in the experiment, randomly assigned to two groups with distinct strategies of forgetting: Memory suppression and thought substitution. Throughout the experimental task, participants had continuously recorded EEG data. The results of the empirical essay are in agreement with the literature findings, indicating that the parietal positivity around 400-800 ms after the presentation of the stimulus is a marker of conscious memory during memory recovery. Only direct memory suppression reduced centro-parietal positivity during forgetting, between 450 and 700 ms post-stimulus. Also, a greater deflection in the N2 component during suppression is an induced forgetting predictor. The findings indicate that it is possible to map the neurocognitive system underlying memory suppression.

The smartphone has quickly become the most used device to access the internet. Academic and public concern has been raised if overuse of smartphone technology can have detrimental effects on brain and behavior. Preliminary results suggest that excessive smartphone usage may be linked to impaired inhibitory control. The present study investigates whether such a relationship is present in a sample of healthy individuals with varying degrees of usage. To investigate the proposed relationship, the Stroop color and word task and the stop-signal task was utilized to measure inhibitory control, while screen time was utilized to measure duration of smartphone usage. A Pearson‘s correlation analysis and an independent t-test/Mann Whitney-U test analyzed the results, which did not yield statistical significance.

Background: Generally, older adults perform worse than younger adults in complex working memory span tasks. So far, it is unclear which processes mainly contribute to age-related differences in working memory span. Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate age effects and the roles of proactive and coactive interference in a recognition-based version of the operation span task. Methods: Younger and older adults performed standard versions and distracter versions of the operation span task. At retrieval, participants had to recognize target words in word lists containing targets as well as proactive and/or coactive interference-related lures. Results: Results show that, overall, younger adults outperformed older adults in the recognition of target words. Furthermore, analyses of error types indicate that, while younger adults were only affected by simultaneously presented distracter words, older adults had difficulties with both proactive and coactive interference. Conclusion: Results suggest that age effects in complex span tasks may not be mainly due to retrieval deficits in old age. / Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.

Objective: Binge-eating disorder (BED) in adults is associated with alterations in executive functions (EF) and obesity. Much less is known about these relationships in adolescents, including whether poor EF are associated with eating disorder psychopathology and/or elevated body mass index. The present study examined EF in response to neutral stimuli in youth with BED. Method: Adolescents with BED and obesity (n=22), individually matched adolescents with obesity (n=22), and normal weight (n=22) completed neuropsychological tests targeting inhibition (Color-Word Interference Test), sustained attention (D2 Concentration Endurance Test), cognitive flexibility (Comprehensive Trail Making Test), and decision-making (Iowa Gambling Task). Results: Adolescents with BED and obesity displayed significantly poorer inhibitory control compared to normal-weight adolescents. This effect persisted after controlling for the level of secondary education. However, initial differences between adolescents with obesity and normal-weight controls regarding inhibitory control and sustained attention vanished after controlling for education. The three groups did not differ regarding cognitive flexibility and decision-making. Moreover, adolescents with BED and obesity did not perform worse than adolescents with obesity on any of the neuropsychological tests. Discussion: Overall, our results indicate adolescent BED is associated with only a few alterations in general EF, specifically inhibitory control, and underline BED and educational level as confounding factors in neuropsychological research on obesity. To further delineate EF profiles of adolescents with BED, future research should focus on EF in response to disorder-related stimuli and experimental settings with high ecological validity.

La créativité repose sur la capacité à générer des idées à la fois originales et adaptées aux contraintes de la tâche afin de résoudre des problèmes pour lesquels aucune solution optimale n'est connue. Toutefois, dans ce type de circonstances, les connaissances intuitives des individus ainsi que leurs stratégies habituelles de résolution de problème les conduisent à générer des solutions peu créatives aboutissant à un phénomène de fixation, alors même que d'autres classes de solutions plus originales mais moins aisément accessibles pourraient être explorées. D'après le modèle triadique de la créativité, ces effets de fixations résulteraient de l'activation rapide et spontanée d'un système 1 intuitif et heuristique, alors qu'il serait plus avantageux d'explorer d'autres solutions en utilisant les processus cognitifs d'un système 2 délibératif et analytique. Ce modèle suggère également que le processus d'inhibition cognitive appartenant à un troisième système serait la clef pour diminuer la prégnance de ces effets de fixation créée par le système 1, et augmenter l'exploration d'autres voies plus créatives appartenant au système 2. Ainsi, l'objectif général de cette thèse consistait à apporter des arguments expérimentaux en faveur de ce modèle dans une approche interdisciplinaire allant de la psychologie expérimentale du développement aux neurosciences cognitives. À travers une série de cinq études expérimentales réalisées chez les enfants, les adolescents et les adultes, nous avons démontré 1) que les effets de fixation se développent avec l'âge et sont modulables par l'introduction d'indices comme des exemples de solutions, 2) qu'il est possible de stimuler la créativité des adolescents et des adultes en changeant la représentation qu'ils ont du problème de créativité par l'intermédiaire d'un paradigme d'amorçage, 3) qu'être capable de proposer des solutions créatives en dehors de la fixation implique le processus d'inhibition cognitive et la capacité à détecter que les solutions initialement générées ne sont pas originales, 4) que cette capacité de détection de conflit se développement au cours de l'adolescence et 5) que résister aux effets de fixation implique une modulation de l'activité des réseaux cérébraux au niveau des cortex frontaux et pariétaux sous tendant le contrôle cognitif et les associations sémantiques. / Creativity defined as the ability to think of something original, and adaptive concerning task constraints is crucial during circumstances in which individuals must generate new solutions to solve an unknown problem. In such circumstances, people propose solutions that are built on the most common and accessible knowledge within a specific domain leading to a fixation effects whereas other classes of more creative solutions could be explore. According to our triple systems model of creativity, the difficulty to generate creative ideas results from a specific failure to inhibit intuitive responses leading to fixation effect generated automatically by the intuitive and heuristic System 1 and activate the deliberative and analytic system 2 to explore more creative solutions. This model posits that inhibitory control is a core process to overcoming fixation effects and generating original solutions in a creative task. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to provide empirical evidences in support of the triple system model of creativity by using an interdisciplinary approach from the field of experimental developmental psychology to the field of cognitive neuroscience. In a series of five experimental studies in children, adolescents and adults, we have demonstrated that 1) fixation effects develop with age and changes with the introduction of external cues such as examples of solutions 2) changing the individuals' representation of the creative task using a priming procedure can stimulate creative ideas generation in adolescents and adults, 3) overcoming fixation to explore creative solutions involves inhibitory control and the ability to detect that initial responses that come quickly to mind are not original, 4) this conflict detection ability develops with age during adolescence and 5) overcoming fixation is related to modulations of brain networks activations within the frontal and the parietal cortex involve in cognitive control and semantic associations respectively.

No description available.

Agtarap, Wright, Mlynski, Hammad, and Blackledge took an initial step in providing support for the predictive validity of a new conceptual analysis concerned with behavioral restraint, defined as active resistance against a behavioral impulse or urge. The current study was designed to partially replicate and extend findings from their study, employing a common film protocol and a procedure for inducing low- and high levels of fatigue. Analyses on key data indicated that the fatigue manipulation was ineffective. On the other hand, they supported the suggestion that behavioral restraint should be proportional to the strength of an urge being resisted so long as success is perceived as possible and worthwhile. Analyses also provided evidence of gender differences for this behavioral restraint task. Women showed relatively enhanced CV responses to my manipulation of urge magnitude, performed less well, rated the behavioral restraint challenge as harder, and rated success on the more difficult behavioral restraint task as more important. A broad indication is that men and women can differ in the strength of impulses they experience in response to stimulus presentations as well as in the importance they place on resisting the impulses.

The number of older adults is estimated to double from 52 million to 95 million by 2060. Approximately 80-85% of older adults are diagnosed with a chronic health condition. Many of these chronic health conditions are influenced by diet and exercise, suggesting improved diet and eating behaviors could improve health-related outcomes. One factor that might improve dietary habits in older adults is food-related inhibitory control. We tested whether food-related inhibitory control, using behavioral (response time, error rate) and scalp-recorded event-related potential (ERP; N2 and P3 components) measures of food-related inhibitory control differed between younger and older adults over age 55. Fifty-nine older adults (31 females [52.5%], Mage=64, SDage=7.5) and 114 younger adults (82 females [71.9%], Mage=20.8) completed two go/no-go tasks, one inhibiting to high-calorie stimuli and one inhibiting to low-calorie stimuli, while electroencephalogram (EEG) data were recorded. Older adults had slower overall response times than younger adults, but this was not specific to either food task. There was not a significant difference for accuracy between younger and older adults, but both groups' accuracy and response times were significantly improved during the high-calorie task than the low-calorie task. For both the N2 and P3 ERP components, younger adults had greater amplitude than older adults, but this effect was not food-specific, reflecting overall generalized lower inhibitory processing in older adults. Of note, P3 amplitude for the younger adults demonstrated a specific food-related effect (greater P3 amplitude for high-calorie no-go) that was not present for older adults. Findings support previous research demonstrating age related differences in inhibitory control though those differences may not be specific to inhibiting to high-calorie foods.

No description available.

The present study aimed to evaluate associations between sleep duration and food-related inhibitory control and food reward in adolescents aged 12-18. Potential moderating effects of physical activity and weight status on the association between sleep, inhibitory control, and food reward were also examined. To evaluate these associations, the study employed a two-phase crossover design in which participants spent either 5 hours per night (restricted sleep) or 9 hours per night (habitual sleep) in bed for 5 nights. Participants completed a food-related inhibitory control task and a questionnaire assessing for food reward on the 6th day of each study phase. Repeated measures analyses of variance examined the effect of sleep restriction on food-related inhibitory control and food reward, and explored the moderating impact of weight status and physical activity. Adolescents performed more poorly on a food-related inhibitory control task and have heightened food reward following sleep restriction. Though no differences were noted across weight status in performance of a food inhibitory control task, adolescents with overweight/obesity demonstrated heightened food reward. An interaction between sleep duration and weight status predicted food reward, indicated that normal-weight adolescents are more susceptible to heightened food reward following sleep restriction compared to overweight/obese adolescents. Conversely, overweight/obese adolescents showed consistently high food reward with no effect of sleep duration, suggesting that they consistently view food as rewarding. These study findings may suggest that shortened sleep duration increased food reward for normal weight individuals, potentially putting them at risk for development of overweight/obesity.