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It is well known that working memory is one of the most vulnerable cognitive functions in elderly. However, little is known about the neuronal underpinnings and temporal dynamics of working memory mechanisms in healthy aging which are... more
It is well known that working memory is one of the most vulnerable cognitive functions in elderly. However, little is known about the neuronal underpinnings and temporal dynamics of working memory mechanisms in healthy aging which are necessary to understand the age-related changes. To this end, 36 young and 36 old healthy individuals performed a 2-back task and a 0-back control task, while the electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. Participants were instructed to press a response key whenever a target appeared and not to respond in case of nontargets. Expectedly, older participants showed considerably slower RTs and significantly higher rates of omitted targets and false alarms than young participants in the 2-back task, whereas no age-group difference in detection rate was found in the 0-back task. From the EEG event-related potentials as well as time-frequency plots were computed. The ERPs showed a general delay of the frontocentral N2, and an attenuation and delay of both the P3a and P3b in older versus younger adults. Importantly, the frontal P3a was reduced in older adults in the 2-back task. Time-frequency decomposition revealed consistently lower power in frontal theta (6 Hz) and parietal alpha (9–11 Hz) frequency range in older versus younger adults whereas no age-related differences were found in the delta frequency range. Task unspecific reduction of posterior alpha in elderly was paralleled by a reduction of the P3b. In contrast, the older adults had a strongly reduced frontal theta power in the 2-back task, which parallels the P3a reduction in the ERPs. The widespread reduction of alpha may indicate that older adults needed to recruit more attentional resources for successful task performance, whereas reduced frontal theta may indicate that older adults are less able to recruit frontal resources related to top-down control with increasing task demands. This suggests a less efficient fronto-parietal network synchronicity in older individuals that leads to deficits in identification and maintenance of task relevant stimuli.
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Research Interests: Neuroscience, Psychology, Computer Science, Auditory Perception, Cognition, and 15 moreAttention, Medicine, Humans, Cues, Female, Neuroimage, Male, Distraction, Goals, Mismatch Negativity, Aged, Reference Values, Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, and Medical and Health Sciences
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Aging is accompanied by impairments of executive functions that rely on the functional integrity of fronto-striatal networks. This integrity is modulated by the release of neurotrophins like the brain-derived-neurotrophic factor (BDNF).... more
Aging is accompanied by impairments of executive functions that rely on the functional integrity of fronto-striatal networks. This integrity is modulated by the release of neurotrophins like the brain-derived-neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Here, we investigate effects of the functional BDNF Val66Met polymorphism on interference processing in 131 healthy elderly subjects using event-related potentials (ERPs). In a Stroop task, participants had to indicate the name or the colour of colour-words while colour was either compatible or incompatible with the name. We show that susceptibility to Stroop-interference is affected by the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism: the Met-allele carriers showed better performance and enhanced N450 in interference trials. Other processes necessary to prepare and allocate cognitive resources to a particular task were not affected by BDNF Val66Met polymorphism, underlining the specificity of the observed effects. The observed performance and ERP difference is possibly due to dopamine related effects of BDNF in fronto-striatal networks, where it putatively mediates a shift in the balance of the direct and indirect pathway involved in inhibitory functions.
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The study investigated the neuronal mechanisms of age-related changes in mixing costs during memory-based task switching with two levels of working memory (WM) load. Forty-eight healthy younger and 45 healthy older participants performed... more
The study investigated the neuronal mechanisms of age-related changes in mixing costs during memory-based task switching with two levels of working memory (WM) load. Forty-eight healthy younger and 45 healthy older participants performed a memory based (high WM load) and a memory plus cue based (low WM load) switching task while event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were registered. Older adults revealed larger mixing costs in both reaction time (RT) and accuracy at higher WM loads than younger adults. The presence of explicit cues substantially reduced age differences in mixing costs for accuracy but not for RT. Similarly, no age differences regarding local switch costs were found at lower WM load. Surprisingly, larger RT local costs in younger adults than in older adults were found in the memory-based block. The CNV was reduced under high WM load and positively correlated with accuracy mixing costs in older adults. The target-locked occipital N1 and fronto-central P2 were larger in older adults relative to younger adults irrespective of WM load. The P2 latency reflected the pattern of switch costs observed in behavioral data. Moreover, P2 latency positively correlated with RT mixing costs in older adults. Elderly also showed a delayed N2 and a delayed and reduced P3b. The results suggest that age-related differences in mixing costs may be partially due to a less efficient task preparation and task set maintenance (CNV) in elderly. However, elderly attempted to compensate for these deficits by permanent activation of mechanisms relating to stimulus encoding (N1) and task-set retrieval (P2). Finally, the delayed fronto-central N2 as well as the delayed and reduced parietal P3b strongly suggest delays of response selection and working memory updating in elderly due to an increase in selection threshold or in response selection variability constituting the performance decline.
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Healthy aging is associated with changes in sensory, motor, cognitive, and emotional functions. Such changes depend on various factors. In particular, physical activity not only improves physical and motor but also cognitive and emotional... more
Healthy aging is associated with changes in sensory, motor, cognitive, and emotional functions. Such changes depend on various factors. In particular, physical activity not only improves physical and motor but also cognitive and emotional functions. Observational (i.e., associations) and cross-sectional studies generally show a positive effect of regular physical exercise on cognition in older adults. Most longitudinal randomized controlled intervention studies also show positive effects, but the results are inconsistent due to large heterogeneity of methodological setups. Positive changes accompanying physical activity mainly impact executive functions, memory functions, and processing speed. Several factors influence the impact of physical activity on cognition, mainly the type and format of the activity. Strength training and aerobic training yield comparable but also differential benefits, and all should be used in physical activities. Also, a combination of physical activity with cognitive activity appears to enhance its effect on cognition in older age. Hence, such combined training approaches are preferable to homogeneous trainings. Studies of brain physiology changes due to physical activity show general as well as specific effects on certain brain structures and functions, particularly in the frontal cortex and the hippocampus, which are those areas most affected by advanced age. Physical activity also appears to improve cognition in patients with mild cognitive dysfunction and dementia and often ameliorates the disease symptoms. This makes physical training an important intervention for those groups of older people. Apart from cognition, physical activity leads to improvement of emotional functions. Exercise can lead to improvement of psychological well-being in older adults. Most importantly, exercise appears to reduce symptoms of depression in seniors. In future intervention studies it should be clarified who profits most from physical activity. Further, the conditions that influence the cognitive and emotional benefits older people derive from physical activity should be investigated in more detail. Finally, measures of brain activity that can be easily applied should be included as far as possible.
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Research on the commonly known phenomenon of perceived accelerated time passage with increasing age has provided inconsistent results. This could be due to a mediating time-slowing effect of depressive symptoms as the prevalence of... more
Research on the commonly known phenomenon of perceived accelerated time passage with increasing age has provided inconsistent results. This could be due to a mediating time-slowing effect of depressive symptoms as the prevalence of depression does also alter with age. Based on a large sample of 380 subjects covering a continuous range of age between 20 and 70 years, we tested whether the assumed age-related effect on time perception is being mediated by symptoms of depression. Cross-sectional differences indicate a weak, but significant nonlinear acceleration of the perceived passage of time especially during mid-adulthood, whereas no further alteration was observed above the age of 60. In contrast to our hypothesis, symptoms of depression did clearly not mediate the effects of age on perceived time passage. Moreover, neither time passage ratings nor age were significantly related to the severity of depressive symptoms. Our results are partly compatible with (and extend) several previous reports, indicating that subjective time passage changes over the life span in a nonlinear fashion; they do not provide evidence for a mediating time-slowing effect of depressive symptoms in nonclinical samples.
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Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Personality, Audiology, Aging, and 15 morePhysical Activity, Electroencephalography, Medicine, Executive Function, Brain, Evoked Potentials, Humans, Male, Reaction Time, Executive Functions, Aged, Neuropsychologia, Neurosciences, Motor activity, and Neuropsychological Tests
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N-Acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) genotype is associated with age-related declines in basic sensory hearing functions. However, the possible modulatory role of NAT2 for higher cognitive functions has not yet been studied. We tested auditory... more
N-Acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) genotype is associated with age-related declines in basic sensory hearing functions. However, the possible modulatory role of NAT2 for higher cognitive functions has not yet been studied. We tested auditory goal-directed behavior and attentional control in 120 NAT2 genotyped subjects (63-88 years), using an auditory distraction paradigm in which participants responded to the duration of long and short tone stimuli. We studied involuntary shifts in attention to task-irrelevant deviant stimuli and applied event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine which cognitive subprocesses are affected by NAT2 status on a neurophysiological level. Relative to the standard stimuli, deviant stimuli decreased performance in the recently described ultra-slow acetylators (NAT2*6A and *7B): The increase in error-corrected reaction times (a combined measure of response speed and accuracy) in ultra-slow acetylators (254 ms increase) was more than twice as high as in the rapid acetylator reference group (111 ms increase; p < 0.01). The increase was still higher than in the other slow acetylators (149 ms increase, p < 0.05). In addition, clear differences were found in the ERP results: Ultra-slow acetylators showed deficits specifically in the automatic detection of changes in the acoustic environment as evidenced by reduced mismatch negativity (MMN, p < 0.005 compared to rapid acetylators). Refocussing of attention after a distracting event was also impaired in the ultra-slow acetylators as evidenced by a reduced re-orienting negativity (RON, p < 0.01 compared to rapid acetylators). In conclusion, the ultra-slow acetylation status was associated with reduced higher cognitive functions.
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BACKGROUND Previous research revealed a number of biological and environmental factors modulating cognitive functioning over a human’s lifespan. However, the relationships and interactions between biological factors, such as genetic... more
BACKGROUND Previous research revealed a number of biological and environmental factors modulating cognitive functioning over a human’s lifespan. However, the relationships and interactions between biological factors, such as genetic polymorphisms, immunological parameters, metabolic products or infectious diseases, and environmental factors, like lifestyle, physical activity, nutrition, work type or stress at work, as well as their impact on cognitive functions across the lifespan are still poorly understood with respect to their complexity. OBJECTIVE The goal of the Dortmund Vital Study is to validate previous hypotheses and to generate and validate new hypotheses about the relationship of ageing, working conditions, genetic makeup, stress, metabolic functions, cardiovascular system, immune system, and mental performance over the lifespan with a focus on healthy working adults. The Dortmund Vital Study is a multidisciplinary study involving the Departments of Ergonomics, Immunology, Psychology and Neurosciences, and Toxicology of the Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors at the TU Dortmund (IfADo) in Dortmund, Germany, as well as several national and international cooperation partners. METHODS The Dortmund Vital Study is designed as a combined cross-sectional and longitudinal study. About 600 subjects aged between 20 and 70 years will participate. A wide range of demographic, psychological, behavioral, sensory, cardiovascular, biochemical, immunological and biochemical data, a comprehensive EEG-based cognitive test battery as well as structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been included in the study. RESULTS The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of IfADo in October 2015. The initial testing has been conducted between 2016 and 2021 and will be repeated every five years (three follow-up measures until 2035). As of March 2020 (until breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic) 593 participants have been enrolled. Results of a cross-sectional part will be published earliest 2021. Longitudinal data will be analyzed and published earliest 2025. CONCLUSIONS We anticipate that the study will shed light on sources of large inter-individual differences in cognitive functioning with increasing age and reveal biological and lifestyle markers contributing to work ability, longevity and healthy aging on the one hand, and on risk factors for cognitive decline, mild cognitive impairment or even dementia on the other.
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Switching among cognitive tasks results in switch costs which are only partly reduced even after sufficient task preparation. These residual switch costs are frequently explained in terms of interference of simultaneously active task... more
Switching among cognitive tasks results in switch costs which are only partly reduced even after sufficient task preparation. These residual switch costs are frequently explained in terms of interference of simultaneously active task representations that delays selection of a correct response. Recent studies showed that the benefit of a task- and response-set repetition can also explain residual costs. We aimed to extend the findings by clarifying the mechanisms underlying task- and response-mode repetition benefit as well as costs arising by switch of one or both dimensions. To this end we used a combination of task-switching and go/no-go paradigm during an electrophysiological recording. Particularly, we focused on the frontocentral N2, which has been usually related to conflict, but also to response selection. The behavioral results replicate previous findings of lack of residual switch costs due to slower responses in task repetitions (TRs) following no-go relative to go trials. This indicates elimination of TR benefit when in a previous trial no response was selected and prepared. In other words, task sets clearly benefits from repetition of response mode whereas interference seems to occur whenever the task-set, the response mode or both were switched. Trial incongruity increased reaction times. The event-related potentials (ERPs) revealed a frontocentral N2 in all conditions which followed the same pattern as the reaction times (RTs), showing smaller amplitude and peaking earlier when both the task and response mode were repeated relative to the three switching conditions. Similar to the behavioral data, the N2 increased as a function of incongruity. Finally, both the N2 amplitude and latency correspond closely to the residual switch costs. This finding suggests that task-set or response mode switching intensify and delay response selection, relative to the repetition of both dimensions.
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To learn whether the N170 would be differentially affected by orientation inversion of same- and other-race faces, we recorded event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in Caucasian and locally resident Asian subjects viewing upright and... more
To learn whether the N170 would be differentially affected by orientation inversion of same- and other-race faces, we recorded event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in Caucasian and locally resident Asian subjects viewing upright and upside-down front-view photographs of African, Asian, and Caucasian faces. Results show that the time-to-peak was significantly delayed for inverted Caucasian faces in both subject groups. The same-race N170 peaked later than either other-race N170 in the Caucasian, but showed no significant difference between Caucasian and Asian faces in the Asian participants. Inversion, therefore, appears to affect the N170’s latency predominantly for faces of familiar races. This conclusion gains support from a positive correlation between the latency of the N170 evoked by both upright and inverted Caucasian faces and the amount of time that the Asian participants had lived in Europe. The N170’s race- and inversion-dependent latency increase may, thus, express an impairment of processing that emphasizes individuation of familiar-race faces, and develops during familiarization.
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Neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies suggest that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is involved in the cognitive control of response related action. A frontocentral negative ERP-component, the N2, which probably originates from... more
Neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies suggest that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is involved in the cognitive control of response related action. A frontocentral negative ERP-component, the N2, which probably originates from the ACC, is usually enhanced in conflict-trials that demand an unexpected response. We here used stepped adjustment of response expectation in a response-cueing task, and measured how the N2 varied with global and local cue validity. Results showed that, irrespective of the current cue validity, response times, error rates, and the frontocentral components P2, N2 and P3 increased in unexpected trials. Nevertheless, a N2 was also seen in expected trials, and its latency correlated positively with reaction times, indicating that this potential does not express response conflict only. In line with roles suggested for the ACC, we here propose that the N2 is related to the process of response selection which influences subsequent processing stages reflected in the P3. Unexpected revisions of response programs enhance and delay the N2.
Research Interests: Cognitive Science, Decision Making, Electrophysiology, Neuroimaging, Cognitive Control, and 15 moreCognition, Electroencephalography, Medicine, Brain, Evoked Potentials, Humans, Judgment, Cues, Female, Male, Mental processes, Bit Error Rate, Adult, Anterior cingulate cortex, and Neuropsychological Tests
We combined task switching with a change paradigm to trace the transformation of the information conveyed by task cues into a readiness to perform the cued task. The tasks were composed of two components that allowed us to determine... more
We combined task switching with a change paradigm to trace the transformation of the information conveyed by task cues into a readiness to perform the cued task. The tasks were composed of two components that allowed us to determine switch costs as a function of the number of changed task components. With a short stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA) of 200ms, switch costs grew monotonically as a function of the number of changed components. With a SOA of 400ms, the switch-cost profile exhibited a nonmonotonic characteristic that was previously observed only with switches from an already performed task. Our observations suggest that task preparation can be considered as a process by which an unstructured representation of task components is gradually transformed into an integrated task representation that comprises asymmetrical associations between the task components.
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Background As employees age, their physical and mental abilities decline and work ability decreases, enhancing the risk for long-term sick leave or even premature retirement. However, the relative impact of biological and environmental... more
Background As employees age, their physical and mental abilities decline and work ability decreases, enhancing the risk for long-term sick leave or even premature retirement. However, the relative impact of biological and environmental determinants on work ability with increasing age is poorly understood in terms of their complexity. Objective Previous research has shown relationships between work ability and job and individual resources, as well as specific demographic and lifestyle-related variables. However, other potentially important predictors of work ability remain unexplored, such as personality traits and biological determinants, including cardiovascular, metabolic, immunological, and cognitive abilities or psychosocial factors. Our aim was to systematically evaluate a wide range of factors to extract the most crucial predictors of low and high work ability across the working life span. Methods As part of the Dortmund Vital Study, 494 participants from different occupational sectors, aged between 20 and 69 years, completed the Work Ability Index (WAI) assessing employee’s mental and physical resources. A total of 30 sociodemographic variables were grouped into 4 categories (social relationships, nutrition and stimulants, education and lifestyle, and work related), and 80 biological and environmental variables were grouped into 8 domains (anthropometric, cardiovascular, metabolic, immunologic, personality, cognitive, stress related, and quality of life) and have been related to the WAI. Results Using the analyses, we extracted important sociodemographic factors influencing work ability, such as education, social activities, or sleep quality, and identified age-dependent and age-independent determinants of work ability. Regression models explained up to 52% of the WAI variance. Negative predictors of work ability were chronological and immunological age, immunological inefficiency, BMI, neuroticism, psychosocial stress, emotional exhaustion, demands from work, daily cognitive failures, subclinical depression, and burnout symptoms. Positive predictors were maximum heart rate during ergometry, normal blood pressure, hemoglobin and monocyte concentration, weekly physical activity, commitment to the company, pressure to succeed, and good quality of life. Conclusions The identified biological and environmental risk factors allowed us to evaluate work ability in its complexity. Policy makers, employers, and occupational safety and health personnel should consider the modifiable risk factors we identified to promote healthy aging at work through focused physical, dietary, cognitive, and stress-reduced preventive programs, in addition to well-balanced working conditions. This may also increase the quality of life, commitment to the job, and motivation to succeed, which are important factors to maintain or even enhance work ability in the aging workforce and to prevent early retirement. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05155397; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05155397 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) RR2-10.2196/32352
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... Habeck presented multivariate neu-roimaging markers for AD and Fallgatter introduced changes in brain function ... In addition, Babiloni used EEG rhythms (see also Babiloni et al., 2009) for the ... to devote their efforts to one of... more
... Habeck presented multivariate neu-roimaging markers for AD and Fallgatter introduced changes in brain function ... In addition, Babiloni used EEG rhythms (see also Babiloni et al., 2009) for the ... to devote their efforts to one of the biggest present and future challenges, namely the ...
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Cognitive training (CT) has effects on performance as well as brain measures. In most CT studies measures of brain structure and perfusion have been used, while methods based on the electroencephalogram (EEG) have been almost neglected.... more
Cognitive training (CT) has effects on performance as well as brain measures. In most CT studies measures of brain structure and perfusion have been used, while methods based on the electroencephalogram (EEG) have been almost neglected. The first part of the chapter provides an overview about CT studies in older adults using EEG-based methods. The results generally reveal enhancements of specific EEG frequency bands or ERP components after CT while timing was not affected. This suggests an enhancement but no acceleration of the underlying processes due to CT. The second part presents some results of a CT study with older industrial workers who showed specific cognitive deficits. CT led to an improvement of the affected functions which was seen in an increase of performance accuracy and enhancement of specific ERP components. In the final part the advantages of brain-related, and particular EEG-based, measures for CT research are outlined, and recommendations for their use in future CT studies with older adults and particularly older workers are given.
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The N170 ERP component is larger for human faces than objects and sensitive to their orientation and race. To learn how it reflects the processing of faces of different species, we recorded event-related potentials in response to upright... more
The N170 ERP component is larger for human faces than objects and sensitive to their orientation and race. To learn how it reflects the processing of faces of different species, we recorded event-related potentials in response to upright or inverted unfamiliar faces of human beings, monkeys, and dogs of different races as well as objects. Upright and inverted faces were presented in a between-subject design and elicited a reliable N170. It decreased from human to monkey to dog faces, and inversion enhanced and delayed it for all categories. We suggest that the results favor categorical over prototypical processing.
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ABSTRACT Die Durchseuchung mit Toxoplasmose nimmt mit fortschreitendem Lebensalter zu. In Deutschland sind rund 50 % der Bevölkerung mit diesem Erreger infiziert. Neben der akuten Infektion des Neugeborenen ist die... more
ABSTRACT Die Durchseuchung mit Toxoplasmose nimmt mit fortschreitendem Lebensalter zu. In Deutschland sind rund 50 % der Bevölkerung mit diesem Erreger infiziert. Neben der akuten Infektion des Neugeborenen ist die Toxoplasma-gondii-bedingte Enzephalitis bei Personen mit reduziertem Immunsystem klinisch bedeutsam. In letzter Zeit fanden sich vermehrt Hinweise, dass auch die latente Toxoplasmose zu messbaren Veränderungen im Bereich des Zentralnervensystems führen kann. Abstract The prevalence rate of toxoplasmosis increases with age. Approximately 50 % of the German population are infected with this pathogen. Besides the acute infection of newborns, Toxoplasma gondii related encephalitis in persons with a reduced immune system is clinically important. In recent years there have been a considerable number of papers, which indicated that latent Toxoplasma gondii infections may also lead to measurable alterations in the central nervous system.
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The demographic change leads to an increase of older persons in all societies world-wide. Even healthy aging is accompanied by a variety of motivational, emotional, sensory, psychomotor, and cognitive changes (e.g., Grady, 2008;... more
The demographic change leads to an increase of older persons in all societies world-wide. Even healthy aging is accompanied by a variety of motivational, emotional, sensory, psychomotor, and cognitive changes (e.g., Grady, 2008; Salthouse, 1976; Schaie & Gribbin, 1975), which influence work ability and everyday life activities. Ageaccompanying cognitive changes are extremely different among the older population, resulting in very poor, equivalent, or even better performance as in younger persons. Such variability among the older population often result from compensatory mechanisms as activated by the ‘‘good’’ older performers (e.g., Getzmann, 2012). Cognitive abilities in elderly are influenced by multiple factors, such as genetics (e.g., Gajewski, Hengstler, Golka, Falkenstein, & Beste, 2013), education (Stern, 2012) lifestyle (Chan, Yan, & Payne, 2013; Getzmann, Falkenstein, & Gajewski, 2013) and work conditions (Gajewski, Wild-Wall, Schapkin, Erdmann, Freude, & Falkenstein, 2010; Marquie, Duarte, Bessi res, Dalm, Gentil, & Ruidavets, 2010). Age-related cognitive changes are not always seen in overt behavior, since older subjects very often initiate compensatory mechanisms (e.g., Zcllig & Eschen, 2009). Such mechanisms can exist on a macroscopic, usually conscious, level (e.g., in driving more slowly or avoiding difficult traffic situations) or on a microscopic, process-related and usually unconscious, level (e.g., by increasing attention or preparation). One way to elucidate age-related compensation mechanisms is the use of neuroscientific methods and techniques. Such methods can shed more light on the source(s) of age-related cognitive changes per se (e.g., Grady, 2008), or on compensation mechanisms at the process level (e.g., Alperin, Mott, Rentz, Holcomb, & Daffner, 2014; Wiegand, Tcllner, Dyrholm, M ller, Bundesen, & Finke, 2014; Wild-Wall, Hahn, & Falkenstein, 2011). In the field of human neurosciences, the main methods are electroencephalography (EEG), with the analysis of oscillatory activity in distinct frequency bands (e.g., Bornas et al., 2013; Gilmore & Fein, 2013; Knyazev, SlobodskojPlusnin, Yu, & Bocharov, 2012), coherence/correlation between locations (e.g., Blum, Lutz, & J ncke, 2007), and in particular event-related potentials (ERPs; e.g., Berti & W hr, 2012; Blom, Wiering, & Van der Lubbe, 2012; Boksem, Kostermans, Tops, & De Cremer, 2012, Sulykos, Kecsk s-Kov cs, & Czigler, 2013; Wronka & Walentowska, 2014), structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI; e.g., Eyler, Sherzai, Kaup, & Jeste, 2011; Fjell & Walhovd, 2010), and more recently near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS; e.g., Fabiani, Gordon, Maclin, Pearson, Brumback-Peltz, Low, McAuley, Sutton, Kramer, & Gratton, 2014). Finally, genetic methods are increasingly important and show the profound influence of genetic variations on cognition in elderly (Gajewski, Hengstler, Golka, Falkenstein, & Beste, 2013; Getzmann, Gajewski, Hengstler, Falkenstein, & Beste, 2013). All those methods have been used in addition to behavioral and neuropsychological methods. Because of their miniature technical equipment and minimum intrusivity, EEG/ERP methods are particularly useful in applied research, such as in exposure chambers (Juran, van Thriel, Kleinbeck, Sch per, Falkenstein, Iregren, & Johanson, 2013), in driving simulators (Kostermans, Spijkerman, Engels, Bekkering, & de Bruijn, 2013), or in clinical research (e.g., Carozzo, Martinoli, & Sannita, 2014). While all those methods have their pros and cons, electroencephalography, and event-related potentials are particularly suitable for elderly and old participants. In comparison to the heavy and somehow threatening character of the fMRI method for elderly, EEG electrodes and caps are only minimum intrusive and hence well tolerated by elderly. The disadvantage of the EEG method, its relatively poor spatial resolution, can be overcome by the use of sophisticated source analysis methods (e.g., Debener, Hine, Bleeck, & Eyles, 2008). Despite the clear advantage of the EEG/ERP method it has been less used in aging research than the fMRI method. However, there is a slowly rising world-wide tendency to recognize the potential of the method in aging research (e.g., Bender, Bluschke, Dippel, Rupp, Weisbrod, & Thomas, 2014; Getzmann, 2012; Kopp,
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Introduction:Burnout and depression both occur with chronic work-related stress, and cognitive deficits have been found when symptom severity results in work disability. Less is known about cognitive deficits associated with milder... more
Introduction:Burnout and depression both occur with chronic work-related stress, and cognitive deficits have been found when symptom severity results in work disability. Less is known about cognitive deficits associated with milder symptoms among active workers, and few studies have examined whether cognitive deficits predict persistent burnout and depression symptoms. The goal of this study was to examine the association of information processing speed and executive function performance to burnout and depression symptoms at baseline and 12-month follow-up in a sample of actively working individuals (N = 372).Method:The design was prospective with laboratory cognitive data at baseline, and burnout and depressive symptoms assessed at baseline and monthly follow-ups. Information processing speed and executive functions were assessed in a task-switching paradigm, including single-task reaction time (RT), switching costs, and mixing costs. Burnout was assessed with the Exhaustion subscale of the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory and depression with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9.Results:Slower RT was modestly associated with higher levels of burnout symptoms both cross-sectionally and prospectively, but switching costs and mixing costs were not associated with burnout symptoms. None of the cognitive measures were associated with depression symptoms cross-sectionally or prospectively.Conclusions:Despite statistically significant findings of slowed RT in acute exhaustion-related burnout, the proportion of the variance accounted for in the models was small and did not predict clinically significant levels of distress. The absence of statistically significant findings for depression symptoms suggests the cognitive profile associated with the exhaustion dimension of burnout may be distinct from that of depression, which reflects a more heterogeneous symptomatology. Our data suggest that the clinical impact of burnout symptoms on actively working individuals is marginal; nonetheless, it is important to screen and intervene on burnout and depression symptoms in the workplace because they can lead to other forms of work impairment.
Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Cognition, Medicine, Distress, and 2 moreBurnout and Neurosciences(Burnout and Neurosciences)
(Burnout and Neurosciences)
Abstract Aging is associated with a decrease of specific sensory, cognitive, and psychomotor functions, which is paralleled by alterations of brain activity and performance in laboratory and everyday situations. Several lines of evidence... more
Abstract Aging is associated with a decrease of specific sensory, cognitive, and psychomotor functions, which is paralleled by alterations of brain activity and performance in laboratory and everyday situations. Several lines of evidence show that age-related negative functional development is strongly influenced by individual genetic factors as well as lifestyle and occupational history. In addition, converging evidence points to beneficial effects of interventions that are based on lifestyle factors on cognitive functions and performance in elderly people. For example, older adults that have been dancing for their entire life are not only better in their physical state than non-dancers (which is not surprising) but also in their cognitive state. Similarly, if older people start to dance, they get better in both physical and cognitive state.