Cognitive function disorders have an enormous impact on the life quality of a patient, his or her family and close people. It influences the patient's job, social interaction and independence. This diploma thesis focuses on the possibility of improving cognitive functions concerning multiple sclerosis with the help of facilitation physiotherapy. Twelve disordered volunteers participated a two-month physiotherapeutic programme (motor programs activating therapy), for 1 hour, twice per week. Before the beginning and after the end of the therapeutic programme an examination by a clinic test PASAT and the monitoring of functional magnetic resonance was done. The results of functional magnetic resonance were further compared with the results of group of healthy volunteers. Concerning clinic test, the results of the disordered patients have improved after the therapy. In functional magnetic resonance statistics the earlier start and change of a curve progress of brain activation was discovered, which portrays improving speed of processing information at multiple sclerosis disordered.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / A doenÃa de Parkinson (DP) à caracterizada por acinesia, rigidez e tremor de repouso. FlutuaÃÃes clÃnicas sÃo comumente observadas nessa afecÃÃo e nÃo sÃo bem compreendidas. Tais flutuaÃÃes, provavelmente, guardam relaÃÃo com o estado de neurotransmissÃo dopaminÃrgica e com influÃncias de outros sistemas de neurotransmissores. Casos de jogo compulsivo foram descritos na DP e tem sido associados ao uso de agonistas dopaminÃrgicos. Sabe-se que a via dopaminÃrgica desempenha um papel fundamental no sistema de recompensa e tem sido implicada no reforÃo positivo apÃs o jogo. A prÃtica de jogos tem tambÃm sido associada à melhora da cogniÃÃo em pessoas idosas. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar a influÃncia aguda do jogo de dominà sobre a atividade motora e a memÃria na DP. NÃs avaliamos as caracterÃsticas sÃcio-demogrÃficas da populaÃÃo, o estado da funÃÃo motora atravÃs da Unified Parkinsonâs Disease Rating Scale parte III, a presenÃa de sintomas depressivos atravÃs do InventÃrio de DepressÃo de Beck (IDB), a memÃria de trabalho atravÃs do Teste de Stroop parte III e o desempenho motor atravÃs do teste de caminhada e de digitaÃÃo rÃpida. O experimento consistiu na realizaÃÃo de um jogo de dominÃ, entre 8 e 9 horas da manhÃ. Os testes de memÃria e desempenho motor foram realizados antes e apÃs o jogo. ApÃs a realizaÃÃo ou nÃo do jogo os pacientes foram classificados entre os grupos perdedor, vencedor e controle respectivamente. O estudo foi realizado no AmbulatÃrio de DistÃrbios do Movimento do HU da Faculdade de Medicina da UFC. Quarenta pacientes consecutivos, sendo 27 homens (67,5%) com idade entre 48 e 84 anos (63,2Â8,5), com Hoehn &Yahr entre I e III foram avaliados. Na amostra estudada, 28 casos (70%) apresentavam sintomas depressivos (IDB>10). O grupo controle consistiu de 13 indivÃduos que permaneceram sentados sem jogar. Quatorze pacientes foram vencedores e 13 foram perdedores. NÃo houve diferenÃa estatisticamente significante entre os grupos quanto à idade, duraÃÃo da doenÃa, Ãndice de massa corpÃrea, dose de levodopa, uso de Ãlcool, fumo, histÃrico familiar de DP, presenÃa de sintomas depressivos e hÃbitos de jogar jogos de azar. Uma paciente em uso de agonista dopaminÃrgico referiu compulsÃo por jogos de azar. Os pacientes vencedores apresentaram melhor desempenho no teste de memÃria de trabalho (p=0,002) e digitaÃÃo rÃpida (p= 0,01). Os perdedores apresentaram uma tendÃncia de melhora da caminhada apÃs o experimento. Em conclusÃo, nosso estudo mostra que a prÃtica de um jogo de dominà se associa a melhora da memÃria de trabalho e da atividade motora (avaliada pelo teste de digitaÃÃo rÃpida) em indivÃduos com DP. Tais achados podem ser explicados pela liberaÃÃo de dopamina que ocorre apÃs o jogo atravÃs do sistema de recompensa. / Parkinsonâs disease (PD) is a chronic illness characterized by the presence of akinesia, rigidity and resting tremor. Clinical fluctuation is a common finding and is probably related to the oscillation of dopaminergic neurotransmission and also to the influence of other neurotransmitters. Obsessive gambling has been described over the years and it has been associated in many cases with the use of dopaminergic agonists. The explanation for these findings might be that dopamine is involved in a reward system at the central nervous system. Games has also been associated with improvement of cognition in the elderly. The aim of this study was to evaluate the acute effect of playing dominoe on working memory, as evaluated by the Stroop test, and motor activity as evaluated by the 14-meter walk and the finger-tap test, on a population with PD. Besides socio-demographic data, patients were evaluated with the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale Part III and with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Experiment consisted on performing a game of dominoe, between 8 and 9 hours A.M. Patients were tested before and after experiment. Control group remained kept without specific activity for the same amount of time as the others. Patients were classified in winners, non-winners and control respectively, after experiment. The study was performed at the University Hospital of Federal University of CearÃ. All cases were out patients from a movement disorders clinic. Forty consecutive patients, 27 male (67,5%), age from 48 to 84 years (63,2Â8,5), Hoehn &Yahr between I e III were included. Twenty-eight cases (70%) presented depressive symptoms (BDI>10). Control group was made of 13 cases, 14 were winners and 13 were non-winners. Comparison among groups did not show any differences statistics regarding age, disease duration, age at presentation of symptoms, body mass index, alcohol use, smoking habit, family history, depressive symptoms, levodopa dose, and practice of games. One female patient on use of dopaminergic agonist referred compulsion for gambling. In this study, winners presented significantly better results on working memory as evaluated by the Stroop test (p=0,002) and of motor activity as evaluated by the finger-tap test (p= 0,01). Non-winners showed a trend of better performance in the 14-meter walk test. In conclusion, our study shows that in PD, performing a simple dominoe game is associated with improvement of working memory as evaluated by the Stroop Test and of motor activity as evaluated by the finger-tap test. These findings may be explained by a liberation of dopamine that occurs with gaming through the reward system.

The attachment system is activated when a threat is perceived in the environment. Attachment style differences moderate the levels of this activation. Whereas anxiously attached people are more hypervigilant to attachment-related stress, avoidant people have an ability to suppress their attachment related thoughts under stressful conditions. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the subliminal presentation of threat and attachment figure primes interfere with the cognitive task performance of participants with different attachment styles. It was hypothesized that anxious participants would perform worse than secure and avoidant participants under both conditions of attachment-related threat and attachment figure primes. Avoidant participants were expected to perform poorly only when a threat prime is followed by an attachment figure prime. The securely attached participants were expected to perform better than the other attachment groups. University students (N = 225) filled out a questionnaire package including the measures of attachment figure names (WHOTO), attachment anxiety and avoidance (The Experiences in Close Relationships, ECR) / and they were administered computerized Signal Detection and Stroop tasks representing cognitive attentional performance in the laboratory. The results showed that attachment avoidance was a significant predictor of decreased cognitive performance, and attachment anxiety makes people vulnerable to cognitive performance decline only under certain circumstances of attachment system activation. Attachment security was identified to make individuals immune to the effects of threat or attachment figure availability priming on cognitive performance. The findings were discussed considering previous work and implications for cultural differences.

This thesis presents an eclectic mix of studies which consider laterality in the context of previous findings of increased prevalence of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in male combat veterans with non-consistent right hand preference. Two studies extend these findings not just to civilian populations and women, but to left handers and find that left, rather than mixed, handedness is associated with increased prevalence of PTSD in both general population and clinical samples, and to severity of symptoms in the former. To examine issues relevant to the fear response in healthy populations, a movie excerpt is shown to be theoretically likely to target the emotion of fear and to generate subjective and physiological (skin conductance) responses of fear. The film is used as a laboratory analogue of fear to examine possible differences in left and right handers in memory (for events of the film) and in an emotional Stroop paradigm known to produce a robust and large effect specifically in PTSD. According to predictions based on lateralisation of functions in the brain relevant to the fear response, left handers show a pattern of enhanced memory for visual items and poorer memory for verbal material compared to right handers. Immediately after viewing the film, left handers show an interference effect on the Stroop paradigm to general threat and film words and increased response latency compared to right handers, approaching performance of previously reported clinical samples with PTSD. A novel non-word Stroop task fails to show these effects, consistent both with accounts of interference as language processing effects and compromised verbal processing in PTSD. Unexpected inferior performance of females in memory for the film, contrary to previous literature, may also be amenable to explanations invoking compromised left hemisphere language functions in fear situations. In testing one theory of left handedness as due to increased levels of in utero testosterone, the 2D:4D (second to fourth digit ratio) provides mixed evidence in two samples. A possible association of more female-like digit ratios in males with PTSD is a tentative finding possibly relevant to sex differences in prevalence of PTSD. A critique of existing and inadequate theoretical accounts of handedness concludes the thesis and proposes a modification of the birth stress hypothesis to one specifically considering peri-natal trauma to account for the above findings. This hypothesis remains to be empirically tested.

Neuropsychological deficits may perpetuate the risk and chronicity of psychiatric disorder. Borderline Personality Disorder, characterized by significant suicide risk, intense affect and behavioural dysregulation, is frequently associated with the executive function (EF) deficits of decision making and inhibitory control. However, the role of inhibitory control on decision making remains poorly understood. This study examined the relationships among working memory, cognitive and motor inhibitory control, and IGT decision-making performance in 41 women with BPD and 41 healthy controls. Associations among EF and suicide risk were also explored. Experimental tasks included the Iowa Gambling Task, Digit Span, Stroop and Stop Tasks, and Raven’s Matrices. Only IGT decision-making deficits distinguished BPD subjects from healthy controls. Weaker yet normal range IQ and EFs in BPD women did not explain their disadvantageous IGT performance. Contrary to expectations, IGT deficits in BPD women did not predict any suicidal risk; however, intact interference control was as sensitive to suicidal risk as was depression. Normal interference control was associated with a reduction in suicide risk. While IGT decision making may be a marker for BPD, Stroop interference control is more sensitive to suicide risk and may represent a vulnerability for suicide that exists beyond psychiatric diagnosis.

Neuropsychological deficits may perpetuate the risk and chronicity of psychiatric disorder. Borderline Personality Disorder, characterized by significant suicide risk, intense affect and behavioural dysregulation, is frequently associated with the executive function (EF) deficits of decision making and inhibitory control. However, the role of inhibitory control on decision making remains poorly understood. This study examined the relationships among working memory, cognitive and motor inhibitory control, and IGT decision-making performance in 41 women with BPD and 41 healthy controls. Associations among EF and suicide risk were also explored. Experimental tasks included the Iowa Gambling Task, Digit Span, Stroop and Stop Tasks, and Raven’s Matrices. Only IGT decision-making deficits distinguished BPD subjects from healthy controls. Weaker yet normal range IQ and EFs in BPD women did not explain their disadvantageous IGT performance. Contrary to expectations, IGT deficits in BPD women did not predict any suicidal risk; however, intact interference control was as sensitive to suicidal risk as was depression. Normal interference control was associated with a reduction in suicide risk. While IGT decision making may be a marker for BPD, Stroop interference control is more sensitive to suicide risk and may represent a vulnerability for suicide that exists beyond psychiatric diagnosis.

In this thesis, Stroop task performance was investigated (using behavioural, electrophysiological and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques) in late and proficient adult bilinguals currently living in the second language (L2) environment. Monolingual participants, matched for age and handedness, were recruited as controls. The Stroop colour-word task was considered an appropriate tool to test the general hypothesis that bilingualism might influence executive or cognitive control processes. In Study One, a dual-task paradigm was used for assessing the lateralisation of language functions (given the linguistic nature of the Stroop paradigm used here) in the bilinguals (Macedonian-English/M-E). Bilinguals showed a more bilateral hemispheric involvement, for both languages, compared to monolinguals. These findings also provided supporting evidence for the hypothesis of greater right-hemispheric involvement for language in bilinguals. In Study Two, two behavioural Stroop task paradigms (manual and verbal) were used in order to assess the magnitude of the Stroop effect between the groups. Bilinguals (M-E, German-English/G-E) showed a trend of smaller interference scores across both languages compared to monolinguals. In Study Three, manual Stroop task performance with concurrent electroencephalograph (EEG) recording revealed that bilinguals had temporal shifts in the N400 component (of about 30-40 ms) for the interference comparison for both languages compared to monolinguals. Also, relative to monolinguals, M-E bilinguals (for both L1 and L2) and G-E bilinguals (for L2) had fewer electrodes over frontal and central sites with a significant amplitude difference in the interference comparison (i.e., a reduced interference effect). In Study Four, the neural substrates engaged during Stroop task performance were investigated using fMRI. In general, monolinguals showed greater activation in regions such as the prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate (regions associated with good executive control). This suggested that relative to bilinguals, monolinguals require more neural resources to accomplish conflict resolution. Taken together, Stroop task performance in late and proficient bilinguals currently living in the L2 environment differed from that of monolinguals across all methods of investigation. It appears that cognitive processing changes at the executive level can be observed as a result of bilingualism. The results also provide some evidence for changes in L1 processing following late L2 acquisition, as similar results across both languages and tasks were observed for the M-E bilinguals. It is also possible that slight modifications to cerebral laterality as a result of the late learning of (and continuous exposure to) a second language could contribute to these differences in executive functioning. The language environment might therefore be a major factor in the lateralisation of language processing and executive functioning in bilinguals. These conclusions, though tentative and require further investigation, have important implications for language and executive processing in general and for theories regarding cognitive flexibility in bilinguals. / Auckland University Doctoral Scholarship

In this thesis, Stroop task performance was investigated (using behavioural, electrophysiological and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques) in late and proficient adult bilinguals currently living in the second language (L2) environment. Monolingual participants, matched for age and handedness, were recruited as controls. The Stroop colour-word task was considered an appropriate tool to test the general hypothesis that bilingualism might influence executive or cognitive control processes. In Study One, a dual-task paradigm was used for assessing the lateralisation of language functions (given the linguistic nature of the Stroop paradigm used here) in the bilinguals (Macedonian-English/M-E). Bilinguals showed a more bilateral hemispheric involvement, for both languages, compared to monolinguals. These findings also provided supporting evidence for the hypothesis of greater right-hemispheric involvement for language in bilinguals. In Study Two, two behavioural Stroop task paradigms (manual and verbal) were used in order to assess the magnitude of the Stroop effect between the groups. Bilinguals (M-E, German-English/G-E) showed a trend of smaller interference scores across both languages compared to monolinguals. In Study Three, manual Stroop task performance with concurrent electroencephalograph (EEG) recording revealed that bilinguals had temporal shifts in the N400 component (of about 30-40 ms) for the interference comparison for both languages compared to monolinguals. Also, relative to monolinguals, M-E bilinguals (for both L1 and L2) and G-E bilinguals (for L2) had fewer electrodes over frontal and central sites with a significant amplitude difference in the interference comparison (i.e., a reduced interference effect). In Study Four, the neural substrates engaged during Stroop task performance were investigated using fMRI. In general, monolinguals showed greater activation in regions such as the prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate (regions associated with good executive control). This suggested that relative to bilinguals, monolinguals require more neural resources to accomplish conflict resolution. Taken together, Stroop task performance in late and proficient bilinguals currently living in the L2 environment differed from that of monolinguals across all methods of investigation. It appears that cognitive processing changes at the executive level can be observed as a result of bilingualism. The results also provide some evidence for changes in L1 processing following late L2 acquisition, as similar results across both languages and tasks were observed for the M-E bilinguals. It is also possible that slight modifications to cerebral laterality as a result of the late learning of (and continuous exposure to) a second language could contribute to these differences in executive functioning. The language environment might therefore be a major factor in the lateralisation of language processing and executive functioning in bilinguals. These conclusions, though tentative and require further investigation, have important implications for language and executive processing in general and for theories regarding cognitive flexibility in bilinguals. / Auckland University Doctoral Scholarship

In this thesis, Stroop task performance was investigated (using behavioural, electrophysiological and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques) in late and proficient adult bilinguals currently living in the second language (L2) environment. Monolingual participants, matched for age and handedness, were recruited as controls. The Stroop colour-word task was considered an appropriate tool to test the general hypothesis that bilingualism might influence executive or cognitive control processes. In Study One, a dual-task paradigm was used for assessing the lateralisation of language functions (given the linguistic nature of the Stroop paradigm used here) in the bilinguals (Macedonian-English/M-E). Bilinguals showed a more bilateral hemispheric involvement, for both languages, compared to monolinguals. These findings also provided supporting evidence for the hypothesis of greater right-hemispheric involvement for language in bilinguals. In Study Two, two behavioural Stroop task paradigms (manual and verbal) were used in order to assess the magnitude of the Stroop effect between the groups. Bilinguals (M-E, German-English/G-E) showed a trend of smaller interference scores across both languages compared to monolinguals. In Study Three, manual Stroop task performance with concurrent electroencephalograph (EEG) recording revealed that bilinguals had temporal shifts in the N400 component (of about 30-40 ms) for the interference comparison for both languages compared to monolinguals. Also, relative to monolinguals, M-E bilinguals (for both L1 and L2) and G-E bilinguals (for L2) had fewer electrodes over frontal and central sites with a significant amplitude difference in the interference comparison (i.e., a reduced interference effect). In Study Four, the neural substrates engaged during Stroop task performance were investigated using fMRI. In general, monolinguals showed greater activation in regions such as the prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate (regions associated with good executive control). This suggested that relative to bilinguals, monolinguals require more neural resources to accomplish conflict resolution. Taken together, Stroop task performance in late and proficient bilinguals currently living in the L2 environment differed from that of monolinguals across all methods of investigation. It appears that cognitive processing changes at the executive level can be observed as a result of bilingualism. The results also provide some evidence for changes in L1 processing following late L2 acquisition, as similar results across both languages and tasks were observed for the M-E bilinguals. It is also possible that slight modifications to cerebral laterality as a result of the late learning of (and continuous exposure to) a second language could contribute to these differences in executive functioning. The language environment might therefore be a major factor in the lateralisation of language processing and executive functioning in bilinguals. These conclusions, though tentative and require further investigation, have important implications for language and executive processing in general and for theories regarding cognitive flexibility in bilinguals. / Auckland University Doctoral Scholarship

In this thesis, Stroop task performance was investigated (using behavioural, electrophysiological and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques) in late and proficient adult bilinguals currently living in the second language (L2) environment. Monolingual participants, matched for age and handedness, were recruited as controls. The Stroop colour-word task was considered an appropriate tool to test the general hypothesis that bilingualism might influence executive or cognitive control processes. In Study One, a dual-task paradigm was used for assessing the lateralisation of language functions (given the linguistic nature of the Stroop paradigm used here) in the bilinguals (Macedonian-English/M-E). Bilinguals showed a more bilateral hemispheric involvement, for both languages, compared to monolinguals. These findings also provided supporting evidence for the hypothesis of greater right-hemispheric involvement for language in bilinguals. In Study Two, two behavioural Stroop task paradigms (manual and verbal) were used in order to assess the magnitude of the Stroop effect between the groups. Bilinguals (M-E, German-English/G-E) showed a trend of smaller interference scores across both languages compared to monolinguals. In Study Three, manual Stroop task performance with concurrent electroencephalograph (EEG) recording revealed that bilinguals had temporal shifts in the N400 component (of about 30-40 ms) for the interference comparison for both languages compared to monolinguals. Also, relative to monolinguals, M-E bilinguals (for both L1 and L2) and G-E bilinguals (for L2) had fewer electrodes over frontal and central sites with a significant amplitude difference in the interference comparison (i.e., a reduced interference effect). In Study Four, the neural substrates engaged during Stroop task performance were investigated using fMRI. In general, monolinguals showed greater activation in regions such as the prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate (regions associated with good executive control). This suggested that relative to bilinguals, monolinguals require more neural resources to accomplish conflict resolution. Taken together, Stroop task performance in late and proficient bilinguals currently living in the L2 environment differed from that of monolinguals across all methods of investigation. It appears that cognitive processing changes at the executive level can be observed as a result of bilingualism. The results also provide some evidence for changes in L1 processing following late L2 acquisition, as similar results across both languages and tasks were observed for the M-E bilinguals. It is also possible that slight modifications to cerebral laterality as a result of the late learning of (and continuous exposure to) a second language could contribute to these differences in executive functioning. The language environment might therefore be a major factor in the lateralisation of language processing and executive functioning in bilinguals. These conclusions, though tentative and require further investigation, have important implications for language and executive processing in general and for theories regarding cognitive flexibility in bilinguals. / Auckland University Doctoral Scholarship