Cognition and Cortical Thickness in Heavy Cannabis Users

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Miriam Wittemann ◽  
Jule Brielmaier ◽  
Mathias Rubly ◽  
Jennifer Kennel ◽  
Florian Werler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cortical Thickness ◽  
Neuropsychological Test ◽  
Verbal Learning ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Structural Mri ◽  
Cannabis Use ◽  
Learning Performance ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Domain Specific

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Acute and long-term adverse effects of heavy cannabis use (HCU) on neurocognitive function have been suggested, as much as regional changes of brain volume. However, little is known about the relationship between impaired cognition and brain structure in individuals with HCU. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> Here, we investigated associations between cognition and cortical thickness (CT) in males with HCU and male controls. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Twenty-six individuals with HCU and 20 controls were examined using a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery and high-resolution structural MRI at 3T. CT was calculated using the Computational Anatomy Toolbox (CAT12). <b><i>Results:</i></b> Individuals with HCU differed from controls with respect to verbal learning performance and verbal working memory only. Individuals with HCU showed reduced CT in medial temporal, orbitofrontal, and cingulate regions, as well as in areas of the middle temporal and fusiform cortex (peak voxel family-wise error-corrected <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001, followed by empirically determined correction for spatial extent) compared to HC. Verbal learning performance was associated with right entorhinal and left orbitofrontal CT reductions. Entorhinal CT was also significantly associated with amount and frequency of current weekly cannabis use. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> The data support the notion of domain-specific cognitive impairment in individuals with HCU and provide a neuromechanistic understanding of such deficits, particularly with respect to abnormal CT in brain areas associated with long-term memory processing.

scholarly journals Differential Cognitive Performance in Females and Males with Regular Cannabis Use

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 570-580
Author(s):  
Ashley M. Schnakenberg Martin ◽  
Deepak Cyril D’Souza ◽  
Sharlene D. Newman ◽  
William P. Hetrick ◽  
Brian F. O’Donnell
Keyword(s):  
Digit Span ◽  
Verbal Learning ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Cannabis Use ◽  
Neurocognitive Deficits ◽  
Psychomotor Speed ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Cognitive Measures ◽  
Biological Sex ◽  
Learning Test

AbstractObjectives:Preclinical and clinical studies suggest that males and females may be differentially affected by cannabis use. This study evaluated the interaction of cannabis use and biological sex on cognition, and the association between observed cognitive deficits and features of cannabis use.Methods:Cognitive measures were assessed in those with regular, ongoing, cannabis use (N = 40; 22 female) and non-using peers (N = 40; 23 female). Intelligence, psychomotor speed, and verbal working memory were measured with the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, Digit Symbol Test, and Digit Span and Hopkins Verbal Learning Test, respectively. Associations between cognitive measures and cannabis use features (e.g., lifetime cannabis use, age of initiation, time since last use of cannabis, recent high-concentration tetrahydrocannabinoid exposure) were also evaluated.Results:No main effects of group were observed across measures. Significant interactions between group and biological sex were observed on measures of intelligence, psychomotor speed, and verbal learning, with greatest group differences observed between males with and without regular cannabis use. Psychomotor performance was negatively correlated with lifetime cannabis exposure. Female and male cannabis use groups did not differ in features of cannabis use.Conclusions:Findings suggest that biological sex influences the relationship between cannabis and cognition, with males potentially being more vulnerable to the neurocognitive deficits related to cannabis use.

Multicomponent Working Memory System with Distributed Executive Control

2020 ◽  
pp. 150-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
André Vandierendonck
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Memory System ◽  
General Information ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Episodic Buffer ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Current Task

The working memory model with distributed executive control accounts for the interactions between working memory and multi-tasking performance. The working memory system supports planned actions by relying on two capacity-limited domain-general and two time-limited domain-specific modules. Domain-general modules are the episodic buffer and the executive module. The episodic buffer stores multimodal representations and uses attentional refreshment to counteract information loss and to consolidate information in episodic long-term memory. The executive module maintains domain-general information relevant for the current task. The phonological buffer and the visuospatial module are domain specific; the former uses inner speech to maintain and to rehearse phonological information, whereas the latter holds visual and spatial representations active by means of image revival. For its operation, working memory interacts with declarative and procedural long-term memory, gets input from sensory registers, and uses the motor system for output.

Input to Verbal Working Memory

2004 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 231-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Jacobsen ◽  
Erich Schröger
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Auditory Sensory Memory ◽  
Complex Tones ◽  
Informational Basis

Abstract. Working memory uses central sound representations as an informational basis. The central sound representation is the temporally and feature-integrated mental representation that corresponds to phenomenal perception. It is used in (higher-order) mental operations and stored in long-term memory. In the bottom-up processing path, the central sound representation can be probed at the level of auditory sensory memory with the mismatch negativity (MMN) of the event-related potential. The present paper reviews a newly developed MMN paradigm to tap into the processing of speech sound representations. Preattentive vowel categorization based on F1-F2 formant information occurs in speech sounds and complex tones even under conditions of high variability of the auditory input. However, an additional experiment demonstrated the limits of the preattentive categorization of language-relevant information. It tested whether the system categorizes complex tones containing the F1 and F2 formant components of the vowel /a/ differently than six sounds with nonlanguage-like F1-F2 combinations. From the absence of an MMN in this experiment, it is concluded that no adequate vowel representation was constructed. This shows limitations of the capability of preattentive vowel categorization.

Song and infant-directed speech facilitate word learning

2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (7) ◽  
pp. 1036-1054
Author(s):  
Weiyi Ma ◽  
Anna Fiveash ◽  
Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis ◽  
Douglas Behrend ◽  
William Forde Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Learning Performance ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Relationship

Two separate lines of research have examined the influence of song and infant-directed speech (IDS—a speech register that includes some melodic features) on language learning, suggesting that the use of musical attributes in speech input can enhance language learning. However, the benefits of these two types of stimuli have never been directly compared. In this investigation, we compared the effects of song and IDS for immediate word learning and long-term memory of the learned words. This study examines whether the highly musical stimuli (i.e., song) would facilitate language learning more than the less musical stimuli (i.e., IDS). English-speaking adults were administered a word learning task, with Mandarin Chinese words presented in adult-directed speech (ADS), IDS, or song. Participants’ word learning performance was assessed immediately after the word learning task (immediate word learning) and then 1 day later (long-term memory). Results showed that both song and IDS facilitated immediate word learning and long-term memory of the words; however, this facilitative effect did not differ between IDS and song, suggesting that the relationship between the degree of musicality and language learning performance is not linear. In addition, song and IDS were found to facilitate the word association process (mapping a label to its referent) rather than the word recognition process. Finally, participants’ confidence in their answers might not differ among ADS, IDS, and sung words.

scholarly journals Active math and grammar learning engages overlapping brain networks

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (46) ◽  
pp. e2106520118
Author(s):  
Sara Stillesjö ◽  
Linnea Karlsson Wirebring ◽  
Micael Andersson ◽  
Carina Granberg ◽  
Johan Lithner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Learning Performance ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Passive Learning ◽  
Term Retention ◽  
Learning Conditions ◽  
Long Term Retention ◽  
Broad Interest

We here demonstrate common neurocognitive long-term memory effects of active learning that generalize over course subjects (mathematics and vocabulary) by the use of fMRI. One week after active learning, relative to more passive learning, performance and fronto-parietal brain activity was significantly higher during retesting, possibly related to the formation and reactivation of semantic representations. These observations indicate that active learning conditions stimulate common processes that become part of the representations and can be reactivated during retrieval to support performance. Our findings are of broad interest and educational significance related to the emerging consensus of active learning as critical in promoting good long-term retention.

scholarly journals Within-session verbal learning slope is predictive of lifespan delayed recall, hippocampal volume, and memory training benefit, and is heritable

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristine B. Walhovd ◽  
Anne Cecilie Sjøli Bråthen ◽  
Matthew S. Panizzon ◽  
Athanasia M. Mowinckel ◽  
Øystein Sørensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Function ◽  
Verbal Learning ◽  
Hippocampal Volume ◽  
Memory Training ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Human Lifespan ◽  
Significant Heritability ◽  
Mri Scans

AbstractMemory performance results from plasticity, the ability to change with experience. We show that benefit from practice over a few trials, learning slope, is predictive of long-term recall and hippocampal volume across a broad age range and a long period of time, relates to memory training benefit, and is heritable. First, in a healthy lifespan sample (n = 1825, age 4–93 years), comprising 3483 occasions of combined magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and memory tests over a period of up to 11 years, learning slope across 5 trials was uniquely related to performance on a delayed free recall test, as well as hippocampal volume, independent from first trial memory or total memory performance across the five learning trials. Second, learning slope was predictive of benefit from memory training across ten weeks in an experimental subsample of adults (n = 155). Finally, in an independent sample of male twins (n = 1240, age 51–50 years), learning slope showed significant heritability. Within-session learning slope may be a useful marker beyond performance per se, being heritable and having unique predictive value for long-term memory function, hippocampal volume and training benefit across the human lifespan.

Patterns of verbal learning and memory in traumatic brain injury

2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 574-585 ◽  
Author(s):  
GLENN CURTISS ◽  
RODNEY D. VANDERPLOEG ◽  
JAN SPENCER ◽  
ANDRES M. SALAZAR
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Brain Injury ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Verbal Learning ◽  
Central Executive ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Memory Processes

CVLT and WMS–R Digit Span variables were used to calculate indexes of seven specific short- and long-term memory processes: working memory span and central executive functions, and long-term memory encoding, consolidation, retention, retrieval, control abilities. Scores on these indexes were then cluster-analyzed to determine whether subtypes of memory performance exist that correspond to deficits in these theoretical memory constructs. Parallel analyses were conducted with two large samples (N = 150 and N = 151) of individuals who had sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Findings showed that TBI results in subgroups of memory disorders with specific deficits in consolidation, retention, and retrieval processes. Control problems (keeping track of list versus non-list items) only appeared in conjunction with retrieval deficits. Working memory span and central executive functioning (i.e., the ability to manipulate information in working memory) do not appear to be deficits characteristic of TBI as no such clusters emerged in the analyses. By using specific indexes of memory processes, and in contrast to previous studies, patterns of memory dysfunction were found that correspond to deficits in theoretically meaningful memory constructs. (JINS, 2001, 7, 574–585.)

scholarly journals Controlling Conflict from Interfering Long-term Memory Representations

2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 1173-1190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerstin Jost ◽  
Patrick H. Khader ◽  
Peter Düsel ◽  
Franziska R. Richter ◽  
Kristina B. Rohde ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Memory Retrieval ◽  
Memory Trace ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Retrieval Cues ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Specific Memory ◽  
Memory Representations ◽  
Retrieval Interference ◽  
Relevant Material

Remembering is more than an activation of a memory trace. As retrieval cues are often not uniquely related to one specific memory, cognitive control should come into play to guide selective memory retrieval by focusing on relevant while ignoring irrelevant information. Here, we investigated, by means of EEG and fMRI, how the memory system deals with retrieval interference arising when retrieval cues are associated with two material types (faces and spatial positions), but only one is task-relevant. The topography of slow EEG potentials and the fMRI BOLD signal in posterior storage areas indicated that in such situations not only the relevant but also the irrelevant material becomes activated. This results in retrieval interference that triggers control processes mediated by the medial and lateral PFC, which are presumably involved in biasing target representations by boosting the task-relevant material. Moreover, memory-based conflict was found to be dissociable from response conflict that arises when the relevant and irrelevant materials imply different responses. The two types of conflict show different activations in the medial frontal cortex, supporting the claim of domain-specific prefrontal control systems.

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