Biomedical subjects

Ritske de Jong

Publications and source records attributed to Ritske de Jong.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Movement-related EEG indices of preparation in task switching and motor control.

Lateralized readiness potential (LRP) and time-frequency domain LRP-type measures, called motor-related amplitude asymmetries (MRAA), in the mu band (9-13 Hz; mu-MRAA) and the beta band (18-26 Hz; beta-MRAA) were used to study the time course of preparation in a task-switching task and a response precuing task. Several dissociations between LRP and mu-MRAA and beta-MRAA were found. Mu-MRAA and beta-MRAA, but not LRP, exhibited an early and strong reversal in cortical lateralization when advance preparation for a switch of response hand was required. LRP, but not mu-MRAA or beta-MRAA, was sensitive to manipulation of the probability that advance preparation of response hand would be useful in a response precuing task. These dissociations replicate earlier findings and suggest that movement-related cortical rhythms and cortical potentials are associated with distinct preparatory component processes that differ in terms of level of abstraction and effort, in line with similar functional distinctions between component processes underlying executive control in task switching. This suggests that a fine-grained analysis of subprocesses involved in motor control may provide important guiding principles for the study and understanding of levels and mechanisms of cognitive control.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

EEG coherence obtained from an auditory oddball task increases with age.

Changes in coherence with aging during cognitive tasks have, until now, not been investigated. However, several fMRI and positron emission tomography studies of cognitive tasks have found increased bilateral activity in elderly subjects. Changes in coherence with aging during a cognitive task were investigated to see if EEG coherence was present in older adults. An auditory oddball task, which is a widely used test for cognitive function, was used. Eleven young adults (27.8 +/- 4.8 years, six females) and 10 older adults (61.3 +/- 4.6 years, six females) were studied, and both interhemispheric and long- and short-range intrahemispheric coherence were considered. Higher interhemispheric coherence was found in the older subjects in the delta band. Short intrahemispheric coherence was also increased in the theta, delta, and alpha bands. Higher coherence, although not significantly different, was also found for all other coherence types and bands, except for long intrahemispheric coherence in the low gamma band. The results presented here provide the first evidence that aging is associated with increased EEG coherence during a relatively easy cognitive task.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed2006

Posing for success: clenching a fist facilitates approach.

A clenched fist is a gesture often seen both within and outside sports that seems to communicate success or to function in self-encouragement or the encouragement of others. This "encouragement gesture" involves the contraction of forearm flexors, similar to the grasping action that is part of acquisitive approach actions. This gesture may be part of a physiological feedback mechanism that functions to increase or sustain levels of approach in challenging situations by signaling the sufficiency of resources (muscle strength). Here we show that for pleasant but not unpleasant words, subjects were faster in categorizing words while contracting their forearm flexors rather than their forearm tensors. This effect dissipated during the first minute of performance, which may reflect habituation of interoceptive feedback. The data further suggest that the effect is larger when experimenter and subject are of opposite sexes. The facilitated responding to pleasant stimuli suggests that contraction of the forearm flexors promotes approach.

Achievement↗

PubMed2005

Pre-stimulus EEG effects related to response speed, task switching and upcoming response hand.

The task-switching paradigm provides an opportunity to study whether oscillatory relations in neuronal activity are involved in switching between and maintaining task sets. The EEG of subjects performing an alternating runs [Rogers, R.D., Monsell, S., 1995. Costs of a predictable switch between simple cognitive tasks. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 124, 207-231] task-switching task was analyzed using event-related potentials, the lateralized readiness potential, instantaneous amplitude and the phase-locking value [Lachaux, J.P., Rodriguez, E., Martinirie, J., Varela, F.J., 1999. Measuring phase synchrony in brain signals. Human Brain Mapping 8, 194-208]. The two tasks differed in the relevant modality (visual versus auditory) and the hand with which responses were to be given. The mixture model [de Jong, R., 2000. An intention driven account of residual switch costs. In: Monsell, S., Driver, J. (Eds.), Attention and Performance XVII: Cognitive Control. MIT Press, Cambridge] was used to assign pre-stimulus switch probabilities to switch trials based on reaction time; these probabilities were used to create a fast-slow distinction between trials on both switch and hold trials. Results showed both time- and time-frequency-domain effects, during the intervals preceding stimuli, of switching versus maintenance, response speed of the upcoming stimulus, and response hand. Of potential importance for task-switching theory were interactions between reaction time by switch-hold trial type that were found for a frontal slow negative potential and the lateralized readiness potential during the response-stimulus interval, indicating that effective preparation for switch trials involves different anticipatory activity than for hold trials. Theta-band oscillatory activity during the pre-stimulus period was found to be higher when subsequent reaction times were shorter, but this response speed effect did not interact with trial type. The response hand of the upcoming task was associated with lateralization of pre-stimulus mu- and beta-band amplitude and, specifically for switch trials, beta-band phase locking.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Bursts of occipital theta and alpha amplitude preceding alternation and repetition trials in a task-switching experiment.

The instantaneous amplitude of the theta and alpha bands of the electroencephalogram (EEG) was studied during preparation periods in a task-switching experiment. Subjects had to switch between tasks in which they were to respond to either the visual or the auditory component of the stimulus. 11-13 Hz occipital amplitude increased prior to auditory, relative to visual repetition trials. The effect was transient, ending well before presentation of the stimulus that was being prepared for. Alternation trials were preceded by an increase in occipital theta-band activity, relative to repetition trials, for the visual task. This effect was also transient. The effects suggest tentative hypotheses for the function of transient bursts of alpha- and theta-band oscillations and indicate the possibility of a psychophysiological resolution of theoretical questions concerning the origin of switch costs.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed2004

A goal activation approach to the study of executive function: an application to antisaccade tasks.

We argue that a general control process, responsible for the activation and maintenance of task goals, is central to the concept of executive function. Failures of this process can become manifest as goal neglect: disregard of a task requirement even though it has been understood (Duncan, 1995). We discuss the results of several published and new experiments using various versions of the antisaccade task in order to investigate the circumstances under which goal neglect is likely to occur. Potentially conflicting results in the literature on adaptive control of saccadic eye movements are argued to be attributable to the extent to which different task versions elicit goal neglect. The results suggest an increased susceptibility to goal neglect of high-functioning older adults (Experiment 1) and of first-episode schizophrenia patients (Experiment 2), but not of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (Experiment 3). However, the degree to which such differences in susceptibility become manifest in task performance, is shown to be strongly influenced by manipulations of the relative saliency of task requirements. Theoretical and methodological implications for the study of executive function are discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Age-related changes in event-related prospective memory performance: a comparison of four prospective memory tasks.

The primary purpose of the study was to identify event-based prospective-memory tasks that provide sensitive and reliable tools for assessing effects of normal aging in prospective-memory performance. Four prospective-memory tasks were selected from the literature or were newly developed, with the tasks differing on various dimensions that, for theoretical reasons or based on previous evidence, might determine task sensitivity to age effects on prospective-memory performance: perceptual saliency of prospective target events, frequency of occurrence of prospective target events, complexity of prospective-memory instructions, and provision of feedback after prospective-memory errors. Two of the four tasks yielded large and robust age effects on prospective-memory performance. Correlational analyses suggested that these age effects on prospective-memory performance were mediated, at least in part, by a reduced ability of older adults to maintain prospective intentions in a highly activated state and not by age effects on basic mental speed alone.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1990

In search of the point of no return: the control of response processes.

Control processes underlying response inhibition were examined. Six Ss performed a visual choice reaction task and were occasionally presented with a tone that told them to withhold the response. Reaction time results were in agreement with a model that assumes a race between response activation and response inhibition processes. Event-related brain potentials, electromyogram, and continuous response measures showed that responses could be interrupted at any time. Evidence was obtained for two inhibitory mechanisms: inhibition of central activation processes and inhibition of transmission of motor commands from central to peripheral structures. Results have implications for the distinction between controlled and ballistic processes.

Adult↗