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Obesity is a health issue of both individual and global importance. Evidence from rodent literature suggests that dietary preferences for fat and sugar might influence dopaminergic signaling in the brain and thus executive cognition. These diet-related changes could provide a mechanistic basis potentially explaining obesity-promoting behaviour. However, valid evidence for this link in humans is still scarce. This thesis aimed to add to this gap by studying dopamine-related gene expression profiles in peripheral cells and executive cognition in a human sample (n = 75). The results provide indications for an association between dietary preference and alterations in dopamingeric sigaling on a peripheral gene expression level even though the group differences were not statistically significant. A link to cognition could not be established with the methods applied. Yet, several targets for future research are suggested to further explore this interplay.

Students who are diagnosed with an emotional disturbance experience the greatest levels of school failure and poor social outcomes after leaving school than any other disability group. Current diagnostic practices are subjective and often do not address the underlying cognitive processes associated with the disability. Because executive function skills are innately tied to the display of externalizing and internalizing behavior, an investigation into the pattern of executive function in children identified as emotionally disturbed may begin to determine the root of the problem and, in turn, properly address the needs of these students. Forty students diagnosed with an emotional disturbance along with a comparison group of 40 non-disabled students from inner-city public schools were selected for this quantitative investigation of teachers' reports of the executive function skills of these students with the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF; Baron, 2000). T-test, MANOVA, ANOVA, and Mann-Whitney U test analyses comparing the students with an emotional disturbance to the comparison group of non-disabled students as well as to the normative sample of students used to standardize the BRIEF, revealed that students with an emotional disturbance do exhibit elevated levels of executive function skill deficits and get progressively worse as they get older. The non-disabled students, while not to the same extent, also exhibited elevated levels of executive function deficits. In addition, female students identified as having an emotional disturbance exhibited much more severe deficits in executive function skills than male students. Recommendations with regard to intervention as well as directions for future research in the area of assessment of executive function skill deficits in students with an emotional disturbance from more diverse backgrounds are also suggested. / School Psychology

Executive function (EF) processes are crucial for meeting demands in the classroom. Because of this impact on schooling, it is important to have tools that accurately measure EF in order to facilitate the identification of student needs and the development of interventions. This project assessed the concurrent, criterion-related validity of one of these tools, the Comprehensive Executive Functioning Inventory, Self-Report (CEFI-SR; Naglieri & Goldstein, 2013). This study correlated adolescents’ reports about their own behavior to scores derived from a direct measure of executive function to determine if teens were able to accurately rate their own EF abilities, indicating that the CEFI-SR had concurrent validity. Seventy-nine seventh and eighth grade students from a suburban middle school were recruited. The average age for the sample was 13 years and 10 months old, and 62% of the sample consisted of female students. Participants completed the CEFI-SR in small groups, and then, the lead examiner returned to the school to complete direct one-on-one testing with each student. Data were analyzed using Pearson product-moment correlations and t-tests. The t-tests were used to determine if significant differences between groups were present. Results from the t-tests indicated that there were no significant differences in performance across genders or grades. Additionally, no significant correlations were found between the rating scale scores and the results of the direct testing. These findings do not support the hypotheses that the CEFI-SR subscales would have moderate correlations with the direct testing scores from the NEPSY-II, indicating that the two measures may not be measuring the same constructs. / School Psychology

The maturation and consolidation of executive functions, including cognitive flexibility, attentional control, goal-setting, and information processing, continues throughout adolescence. Cognitive vulnerabilities to depression, such as rumination on negative affect, negative cognitive style, and hopelessness, also emerge as stable risk-factors for depression during this time. Emerging evidence suggests these vulnerabilities may be associated with alterations in executive functioning, and with cognitive maturation. The current study explores the association between trajectories of executive development and cognitive vulnerabilities to depression using a person-centered characterization of latent classes of growth trajectories. Classes of adolescent cognitive development in working memory, selective attention, sustained attention, switching, and divided attention, were derived, and class associations with cognitive vulnerabilities were probed. The results showed that most executive domains have a normative majority with typical growth and low levels of cognitive vulnerability. Minority classes, representing atypical growth, were differentially related to cognitive vulnerability. Contrary to hypotheses, better cognitive development was generally associated with higher levels of cognitive vulnerability, specifically internal, stable, and self-worth dimensions of negative cognitive style. Several exceptions included classes whose trajectory suggested developmental regression; consistent with hypotheses, these classes also demonstrated higher levels of negative cognitive style. Results support a model in which cognitive development scaffolds the maturation of negative cognitive style. / Psychology

The development of executive function in young children is currently a central topic in developmental science. Despite great interest in this area, empirical research examining the influence of social interaction on children's executive functioning is still scarce. The present study aims to fill this gap by addressing how aspects of current and preceding social interactions affect preschool children's executive function performance. In the first phase of the experiment four- and five-year-old children completed an activity either individually or in collaboration with an experimenter. Following this manipulation, children completed a series of executive function tasks. The first task was a motor contagion task in which children moved a stylus on a graphics tablet while viewing a background video of another person producing congruent or incongruent movements. Children also completed a go/no-go task, a two-choice spatial compatibility task (i.e., a Simon task), and two joint go/no-go tasks in which they essentially shared a Simon task with an experimenter. The main finding from the motor contagion task was that children who collaborated with an experimenter in the first part of the study were more susceptible to interference from observing incongruent movements produced by their partner from the collaborative activity compared to observing the same movements produced by an experimenter who merely observed the collaboration. In addition, for children in both conditions, the results of the go/no-go and Simon tasks indicated the presence of a joint Simon effect. Specifically, a significant spatial compatibility effect was observed in the Simon task and the first time children completed the joint go/no-go task with an experimenter. Importantly, there was no spatial compatibility effect when children completed an individual go/no-go task. No differences were found for the joint Simon effect related to the social manipulation. The findings are discussed in relation to their implications for our understanding of social influences on children's developing executive abilities. / Psychology

Background: Given the growing aging population, it is crucial to better understand the neurobiological underpinnings of healthy aging and how changes in structure relate to changes in function. The current study derived diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics of white matter microstructure in younger and older adults to simulate the healthy aging process. Methods: The DTI metrics of fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) as well as the cognitive domains of memory and executive function were examined in 34 healthy participants divided into older adults (17; Mean = 70.9, SD = 5.4) and younger adults (17; Mean = 28.1, SD = 2.8). Cognitive performance on the California Verbal Learning Test 2nd Edition (CVLT-II) and the trails making test (Trails-A & Trails-B) were used to evaluate memory and executive function, respectively. The differences in white matter microstructure between older and younger adults were analyzed using tract based spatial statistics (TBSS; p < 0.05, corrected for multiple comparisons) in FSL. Associations between the DTI metrics and cognition were then evaluated for each group. Results: Older adults had lower FA and higher MD in diffuse brain regions, including major tracts such as the corticospinal tract, corpus callosum and superior and inferior longitudinal fasciculi. There was a significant negative correlation between executive function and MD in the right superior and anterior corona radiata and the body of the corpus callosum of older adults. No significant relationship was detected between memory performance and DTI metrics in older adults. Furthermore, no significant relationships were detected between memory or executive function performance and FA or MD in younger adults. Conclusions: The differences in DTI metrics between groups as well as the association between MD and executive function support further examinations into the healthy aging process. Future studies should use longitudinal designs with large sample sizes to better understand changes and trajectories during healthy aging. / Graduate / 2023-08-19

In adolescence, the use of cognitive reappraisal (CR) is adaptive for general emotion regulation and for decreasing symptoms of depression. Still, with all of the literature indicating the usefulness of CR, minimal research attempts to understand the childhood processes contributing to CR in adolescence. My dissertation study examined individual factors of executive function and frontal EEG asymmetry during late childhood, and environmental factors of parenting in adolescence, as predictors of adolescent CR and depressive symptoms. Data were from 123 participants in late childhood (age 10) and adolescence (age 14.5). During the late childhood visit, executive function and frontal EEG asymmetry were assessed. The adolescent visit included questionnaires for maternal CR, maternal supportive and unsupportive responses to adolescent's negative emotions, adolescent CR and depressive symptoms. Results indicated that maternal unsupportive reactions moderated the association between maternal CR and adolescent CR, such that higher unsupportive reactions were associated with higher adolescent CR when mothers reported higher CR. Higher CR in turn was associated with lower depressive symptoms. Regarding individual factors, frontal EEG asymmetry moderated the association between inhibitory control during late childhood and adolescent CR, such that better inhibitory control during late childhood was associated with higher CR when children had right frontal asymmetry. Higher CR was associated with lower depressive symptoms in adolescence. The results suggest the potential for targeting inhibitory control and parenting as two mechanisms for improving CR among adolescents to diminish depressive symptoms. / Doctor of Philosophy / Changing the way one thinks of an emotional event is considered highly adaptive, this strategy is referred to as cognitive reappraisal (CR). 123 participants during late childhood and adolescence and their mothers participated in this study. During the late childhood visit, children completed executive function tasks and electrical brain activity was collected during rest. For the adolescent visit, mothers completed questionnaires regarding their emotion regulation strategies and parenting styles, adolescents completed questionnaires regarding their own emotion regulation strategies and depressive symptoms. Results indicated that when mothers indicated more CR and higher unsupportive reactions this was associated with higher adolescent CR. Higher CR in turn was associated with lower depressive symptoms. Late childhood electrical brain activity and a child's ability to inhibit prepotent responses (inhibitory control) were associated with higher adolescent CR. Higher CR was associated with lower depressive symptoms in adolescence. The results suggest the potential for targeting inhibitory control and parenting as two mechanisms for improving CR among adolescents to diminish depressive symptoms.

Existing literature has demonstrated an association between higher adolescent religiousness and lower risk taking via higher self-regulation. However, the present study uniquely sought to elucidate whether particular dimensions of self-regulation (i.e., emotion regulation, effortful control, and executive function) play differential roles in establishing this relation. It was hypothesized in longitudinal analyses over one year that higher religiousness would be associated with higher emotion regulation, which in turn was hypothesized to be associated with higher effortful control and executive function, and, subsequently, higher effortful control and higher executive function to be associated with higher risk taking. Participants included 157 adolescents at Time 1 (mean age = 14 years, 52% male) and 140 adolescents returned for Time 2 (mean age = 15 years, 53% male). Structural equation models, including confirmatory factor analysis and path models tested significant individual paths and mediation via bias corrected bootstrapping supported hypotheses across multiple alternative models, except for hypotheses regarding mediation analyses, which received limited empirical support. The findings highlight that higher religiousness is associated with higher emotion regulation and, in turn, higher emotion regulation is associated with higher executive function and effortful control which, subsequently, are associated with lower adolescent risk taking. In light of this, religiousness is understood as a contextual protective factor for adolescents and intervention strategies targeting emotion regulation, executive function, and effortful control may be associated with lower adolescent risk taking. / Ph. D.

Background and Aims: Executive dysfunction is pervasive in substance-dependent individuals (Verdejo-García, Bechara, Recknor, & Perez-Garcia, 2006). As many as four-fifths of individuals in treatment for substance use disorders (SUDs) have co-existing lifetime psychopathology. Executive function deficits are tied to markers of decreased quality of life including increases in negative life events (Green, Kern, Braff, & Mintz, 2000), maladaptive social functioning (Kurtz, Moberg, Ragland, Gur, & Gur, 2005) and worsened treatment outcomes (Czuchry & Dansereau, 2003). Despite evidence of executive dysfunction across several mental disorders, few studies investigate how the co-occurrence of psychopathologies in SUDs impacts executive functioning. Methods: Here, we compare measures of executive function (i.e., the Iowa Gambling Test, Letter Number Sequencing Test, Stroop Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Continuous Performance Test, Towers Test, and Delay Discounting Test) in individuals with a) substance use disorder, b) substance use disorder and co-occurring major depressive disorder, c) substance use disorder and co-occurring antisocial personality disorder, d) substance use disorder and co-occurring major depressive disorder and antisocial personality disorder and e) no substance use disorder or co-occurring psychopathology. Results: Regression models of respective executive function measure outcomes as a function of education, income, age, and group membership indicated that the Delay Discounting Test and Continuous Performance Test were the only significant overall models (F(4, 313) = 12.699, p < 0.001 and F(4, 307) = 2.659, p = 0.033, respectively). Conclusions: Overall the Delay Discounting Test and Continuous Performance Test were the most sensitive to differences between substance use and psychopathology profiles assessed. / Master of Science