No abstract

UFOVt enhances connections needed for visual attention. Together with prior work, this study provides evidence that improvement of the brain's visual attention efficiency is one mechanism underlying UFOVt.

Poor inhibitory control is a well-established cognitive correlate of adults with ADHD. However, the simple reaction time (RT) task used in a majority of studies records performance errors only via the presence or absence of a single key press. This all-or-nothing response makes it impossible to capture subtle differences in underlying processes that shape performance. Subsequently, all-or-nothing tasks may underestimate the prevalence of executive function deficits in ADHD. The current study measured inhibitory control using a standard Go/No-Go RT task and a more sensitive continuous grip force task among adults with (N = 51, 22 female) and without (N = 51, 29 female) ADHD. Compared to adults without ADHD, adults with ADHD made more failed inhibits in the classic Go/No-Go paradigm and produced greater and more variable force during motor inhibition. The amount of force produced on failed inhibits was a stronger predictor of ADHD-related symptoms than the number of commissions in the standard RT task. Adults with ADHD did not differ from those without ADHD on the mean force and variability of force produced in Go trials. These findings suggest that the use of a precise and continuous motor task, such as the force task used here, provides additional information about the nature of inhibitory motor control in adults with ADHD.

This review examines longitudinal studies of changes in attentional control following mindfulness training. A total of 56 retreat studies, feasibility studies, and randomized controlled trials were identified. Outcome measures were broadly categorized based on whether they operated primarily via top-down mechanisms, involving goal-directed modulation of attention via endogenous information, or bottom-up mechanisms, involving attentional capture via exogenous cues. Although many feasibility and retreat studies provide promising evidence supporting gains in both top-down and bottom-up attention following mindfulness training, evidence from randomized controlled trials, especially those involving active control comparison groups, is more mixed. This review calls attention to the urgent need in our field of contemplative sciences for adopting the methodological rigor necessary for establishing the efficacy of mindfulness meditation as a cognitive rehabilitation tool. Although studies including wait-list control comparisons were fruitful in providing initial feasibility data and pre-post effect sizes, there is a pressing need to employ standards that have been heavily advocated in the broader cognitive and physical training literatures. Critically, inclusion of active comparison groups and explicit attention to reduction of demand characteristics are needed to disentangle the effects of placebo from treatment. Further, detailed protocols for mindfulness and control groups and examination of theoretically guided outcome variables with established metrics for reliability and validity are key ingredients in the systematic study of mindfulness meditation. Adoption of such methodological rigor will allow for causal claims supporting mindfulness training as an efficacious treatment modality for cognitive rehabilitation and enhancement.

Objective: The aim of this preregistered, secondary analysis of a pilot randomized controlled trial (NCT02717429) was to compare the impact of 4-week mindfulness-based training and adaptive cognitive training, with a waitlist control condition, on processing speed and working memory in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). Method: Sixty-one PwMS were randomized to mindfulness-based training (MBT), adaptive computerized cognitive training (aCT), or a waitlist (WL) control group and completed the Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Tests at pre- and posttraining. Training-related changes on the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) and the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) were the primary outcomes of interest. Baseline cognitive status was examined as a moderator of treatment gains. Practice time, change in aCT game difficulty, and rate of change in state awareness across MBT were assessed as correlates of cognitive gains. Findings: Compared with aCT and WL, mindfulness training significantly improved processing speed (ηp2 = .14). Baseline cognitive status did not moderate change in processing speed (ηp2 = .005) or working memory (ηp2 = .014). Practice time and change in game difficulty were not significantly correlated with cognitive gains (all ps > .49). In the MBT group, rate of change in awareness was significantly associated with improvement in working memory (ρ = .52, p = .04). Conclusions: In PwMS, 4 weeks of mindfulness meditation training improved processing speed above and beyond aCT and WL. More rapid change in awareness during mindfulness training may be associated with greater gains in working memory.