Mariana R. Pereira
Graduated in Clinical and Health Psychology from the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences (University of Porto) since 2014, developing some activities as a research assistant in projects regarding of face processing the Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology during the same period. In paralel, Mariana certificated in Neurofeedback training. In 2014, she integrated a research team of ICVS/3B’s (University of Minho) with a project regarding the impact of Neurofeedback training in healthy aging. Since then, Mariana is a research fellow in Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology and a PhD student funded by FCT, with special interest in the field of cognitive and affective neuroscience, especially emotional face processing in developmental samples and predictive coding model of brain function.
Alpha-Theta Neurofeedback protocol to improve working memory and executive functioning in the healthy aging
Introduction: With the growing life expectancy, the elderly population is increasing tremendously worldwide. The progressive decrease of synaptic plasticity and neuronal interconnectivity in the ageing brain, concomitant with alterations in cognitive abilities such as working memory and attention, may be delayed, stopped or reversed by neurorehabilitation. Hence, current approaches used to modify cognitive capabilities are of utmost importance to contemporary society and often divided into behavioral training procedures and techniques for direct modulation of neural mechanisms. Neurofeedback, which is based on electroencephalogram signals, is used to train individuals on learning how to influence brain function by modulating their own rhythms. However, the potential effects of rehabilitation through behavioral training, neuromodulation, and even combined methodologies are poorly understood.
Objectives: In the present study, an alpha-theta neurofeedback protocol was applied to a group of healthy elderly, as to improve performance in executive and working memory.
Methods: An experimental group was compared to a sham neurofeedback group and controls without training. Cognitive functioning was measured by a battery of traditional neuropsychological tests and a computational battery of working memory tasks, before and after the neurofeedback training period.
Results: Our findings show a significant improvement in the neurofeedback group in the attentional task, with a reduction of the number of errors between the pre- and post-evaluation. Although marginal, the neurofeedback group showed a consistent improvement or maintenance of the task performance, comparably to the remaining groups.
Conclusion: The results point out the possible benefits of neurofeedback training to improve or maintain the cognitive and executive functioning in healthy aging, conserving the cognitive performance in the daily life.
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Carina Fernandes
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Carina Fernandes has a degree in Psychology from the Faculty of Psychology (University of Lisbon). Currently, she is a PhD student in Neuroscience at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, funded by a grant of the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia. In 2012, she integrated the research team of Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology and, since then, she works as researcher in the field of cognitive and affective neuroscience. Her main research interests are on the evolution of social cognition domains in healthy and pathological aging, its implications in economic decision-making and well-being.
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The aging social brain: neural and behavioral age-related changes in social cognition and decision-making
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Introduction: Social cognition comprises four main components: emotional recognition; theory of mind; moral judgment; and economic decision-making. Age-related changes on these components and their neurophysiological correlates are scarcely studied.
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Objectives: The present project aimed to analyze age-related changes in behavioral and neurophysiological correlates of social cognition, and the role of cognitive functioning in these changes. To this purpose, we tested younger, middle-aged and older adults with a set of experimental tasks targeting each social cognition components, during an EEG recording.
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Results: Our findings showed that older adults had an unimpaired performance in the emotional recognition task, despite a worse performance in the tasks that assessed theory of mind and moral judgment. Regarding the decision-making domain, older adults showed the best economic strategy in a social economic game, and a lower risk-aversion in decisions under risk. We will present the neurophysiological correlates of these behavioral results.
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Teresa Montoliu Irles
Teresa Montoliu has a degree in Psychology (University of Valencia, 2013) and a Master in Basic and Applied Neuroscience (University of Valencia, 2014). Currently, she is a PhD student in Neuroscience at the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Valencia, funded by the grant Atracció de talent (University of Valencia). Since 2013, she works as a researcher on the Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience. Her main research has been focused on the study of cognitive function in healthy elderly, and, in particular, on the effects of stress response and the Hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, and genetic polymorphisms.
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Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, Loneliness, Cognitive reserve and Cognitive Function in Healthy Elderly
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Introduction: Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction, loneliness and low cognitive reserve are some of the factors that could play a role in cognitive impairment associated with aging. Previous studies have shown that chronic stress, and the subsequent release of the cortisol by the activation of the HPA axis, impacts negatively on cognition. In addition, loneliness has been considered as a chronic stressor that could affect the function of the HPA axis. Moreover, cognitive reserve has been proposed as a protective factor of cognitive function. Thus, the aim of the present study was to assess the association between the HPA axis activity, the feeling of loneliness, cognitive reserve, and cognitive function in healthy older people.
Methods: The sample was composed of 118 healthy elderly (57 men and 61 women) ranging in age from 50 to 80 years (mean age= 66.37). A neuropsychological battery was administered to evaluate declarative (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test and Rivermead Stories Subtest) and working memory (Digit Span and Letter-Number Sequencing Test), and executive function (Trial-Making Test and Stroop Color-Word Interference Test). In addition, loneliness (UCLA-R Loneliness Scale) and cognitive reserve (cognitive reserve questionnaire) were assessed. Moreover, participants provided saliva samples to obtain cortisol levels in the moment of the awaking and before going to sleep, during two consecutive weekdays.
Results: Our results showed that higher feelings of loneliness were associated with both higher evening cortisol and poorer performance in attention and executive function, which are cognitive functions depending on the prefrontal cortex. In addition, higher evening cortisol levels were associated with poorer performance in attention. Moreover, it was observed an association between greater cognitive reserve and better performance in all cognitive domains. Finally, greater feelings of loneliness were associated with a lower cognitive reserve.
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Authors: Montoliu, T., Hidalgo, V., Puig-Perez, S., Pulopulos, M.M., Crespo, I., Zapater, M. and Salvador, A.