Findings from our group in ARA Balears

Enric Culat, scientific correspondent for ARA Balears and presenter of IB3 Radio's weekly science program "Balears fa ciència", publishes a great summary of some of our group's work for the general public in ARA Balears. The summary covers the results of work by Pacheco-Unguetti and Parmentier (2014) on the impact of sadness on auditory distraction, and work by Mayas, Parmentier, Andrés and Ballesteros (2014) showing that the practice of mental stimulation video games can improve concentration in healthy elderly adults.

Read the article (in Catalan) from the University of the Balearic Islands' press archive.

References:

Mayas, J., Parmentier, F.B.R., Andrés, P., & Ballesteros, S. (2014). Plasticity of Attentional Functions in Older Adults after Non-Action Video Game Training: A Randomized Controlled Trial. PLoS ONE 9(3): e92269. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0092269

Pacheco-Unguetti, A. P., & Parmentier, F. B. R. (2014). Sadness increases distraction by auditory deviant stimuli. Emotion, 14(1), 203-213.

Aging increases distraction by auditory oddballs in visual but not auditory tasks

Congratulations to Alicia for the first publication from her doctoral research!

Reference Leiva, A., Parmentier, F. B. R., & Andrés, P. (2014). Aging increases distraction by auditory oddballs in visual, but not auditory tasks. Manuscript in press in Psychological Research.

Abstract: Aging is typically considered to bring a reduction of the ability to resist distraction by task-irrelevant stimuli. Yet recent work suggests that this conclusion must be qualified and that the effect of aging is mitigated by whether irrelevant and target stimuli emanate from the same modalities or from distinct ones. Some studies suggest that aging is especially sensitive to distraction within-modality while others suggest it is greater across modalities. Here we report the first study to measure the effect of aging on deviance distraction in cross-modal (auditory-visual) and uni-modal (auditory-auditory) oddball tasks. Young and older adults were asked to judge the parity of target digits (auditory or visual in distinct blocks of trials), each preceded by a task-irrelevant sound (the same tone on most trials - the standard sound – or, on rare and unpredictable trials, a burst of white noise - the deviant sound). Deviant sounds yielded distraction (longer response times relative to standard sounds) in both tasks and age groups. However, an age-related increase in distraction was observed in the cross-modal task and not the uni-modal task. We argue that aging might affect processes involved in the switching of attention across modalities and speculate that this may due to the slowing of this type of attentional shift or a reduction in cognitive control required to re-orient attention toward the target’s modality.

We're in SINC

The study by Pacheco-Unguetti and Parmentier's (2014) on distraction and sadness is relayed nationally by SINC, Spain's public agency in charge of the dissemination of scientific and technological findings.

Link: http://www.agenciasinc.es/Noticias/Un-experimento-confirma-que-la-tristeza-hace-perder-la-concentracion

Reference: Pacheco-Unguetti, A.P., & Parmentier, F. B. R. (2014). Sadness increases distraction by auditory deviant stimuli. Emotion, Vol. 14(1), 203-213. doi: 10.1037/a0034289.

We're in Frontiers' top 10 neuroscience papers for March 2014

Chronic exercise keeps working memory and inhibitory capacities fit

The study by Padilla, Pérez and Andrés published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience this 11th March 2014 is among the 10 most viewed neurosience papers in Frontiers in March 2014.

Congratulations Conchy, Laura and Pilar!

Reference: Padilla, C., Pérez, L., & Andrés, P. (2014). Chronic exercise keeps working memory and inhibitory capacities fit. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 11 March 2014 | doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00049

Abstract: Padilla et al. (2013) recently showed that chronic aerobic exercise in young adults is associated with better inhibitory control as measured by the strategic Stop Signal Task (SST). The aim of the current study was to explore whether better inhibitory abilities, associated with high levels of physical fitness, were also associated with higher working memory capacity (WMC) in young healthy adults. Participants aged between 18 and 30 years and showing different levels of fitness confirmed by the Rockport 1-mile walking fitness test took part in this study. Active and passive participants were administered the SST to measure inhibitory control, and the Automatic Operation Span (AOSPAN) to measure verbal WMC. We first replicated Padilla et al.'s results showing that exercise specifically modulates strategic inhibitory processes. Our results also showed that active participants presented with better WMC than sedentary ones, showing a better capacity to manage simultaneously two verbal tasks and to inhibit interference. The results point to an association between chronic exercise, inhibitory abilities, and WMC. The theoretical relationship between these variables will be discussed.

Can video games decrease distraction and improve alertness?

Together with colleagues from the UNED, we found that older adults practicing a brain-training package (Luminosity) for 20 1-hour sessions show a reduction of deviance distraction in a cross-modal oddball task and an improvement of alterness. The results have just come out in PlosONE.

Abstract: A major goal of recent research in aging has been to examine cognitive plasticity in older adults and its capacity to counteract cognitive decline. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether older adults could benefit from brain training with video games in a cross-modal oddball task designed to assess distraction and alertness. Twenty-seven healthy older adults participated in the study (15 in the experimental group, 12 in the control group. The experimental group received 20 1-hr video game training sessions using a commercially available brain-training package (Lumosity) involving problem solving, mental calculation, working memory and attention tasks.  The control group did not practice this package and, instead, attended meetings with the other members of the study several times along the course of the study.  Both groups were evaluated before and after the intervention using a cross-modal oddball task measuring alertness and distraction. The results showed a significant reduction of distraction and an increase of alertness in the experimental group and no variation in the control group. These results suggest neurocognitive plasticity in the old human brain as training enhanced cognitive performance on attentional functions.

Reference: Mayas, J., Parmentier, F.B.R., Andrés, P., & Ballesteros, S. (2014). Plasticity of Attentional Functions in Older Adults after Non-Action Video Game Training: A Randomized Controlled Trial. PLoS ONE 9(3): e92269. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0092269