Computerized testing in Parkinson’s disease: Performance deficits in relation to standard clinical measures

Abstract

The presence of performance deficits for all of the computerized tasks in the PD group compared to controls, but not for the MoCA at initial testing, indicates that the computerized battery was better able to detect deficits. However, in contrast to the MoCA, the current results call into question the suitability of the computerized battery as measured here for tracking decline.

Reconceptualizing mind wandering from a switching perspective

“…Furthermore, using the SART, Gyurkovics et al ( 2018 ) found that individuals with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease reported experiencing fewer task - unrelated thoughts and more task - related thoughts than healthy age - matched controls, again indicating reduced incidence of mind wandering despite individuals with Alzheimer's disease showing declines in executive functioning (Guarino et al, 2018 ). Similar results have been reported in studies involving individuals with Parkinson’s disease (Walpola et al, 2020 ), who are also known to suffer from executive dysfunction (Flannery et al, 2018 ; McKinlay et al, 2010 ; Ramos & Machado, 2021 ), and individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (Niedzwienska & Kvavilashvili, 2018 ).…”

“…Although the resource-control account of sustained attention (Thomson et al, 2015 ), which suggests that the occurrence of mind wandering is associated with decreases in motivation and/or effort to keep attention on the task at hand over time, could explain why older adults tend to report fewer instances of mind wandering than young adults during cognitive task performance—either because they are more motivated to perform the primary task (Frank et al, 2015 ; Jackson & Balota, 2012 ; Seli et al, 2021 ; Seli, Maillet, et al, 2017 ; Seli, Ralph, et al, 2017 ) or because they have spent a larger proportion of their executive resources on the primary task (Craik & Byrd, 1982 ) and thus have fewer resources left over to exhibit mind wandering (Giambra, 1989 ; Krawietz et al, 2012 ; Maillet & Rajah, 2013 )—this theory is not without its limitations. In particular, if executive control, which wanes over time on task, is required to prevent task-unrelated thoughts (i.e., the default mental state) from consuming executive resources needed for the task at hand, then given that healthy and cognitively impaired older adults generally have poorer executive control (e.g., Flannery et al, 2018 ; Guarino et al, 2018 ; McKinlay et al, 2010 ; Ramos & Machado, 2021 ), one might reasonably expect that as time-on-task increases, these older populations would report higher incidences of mind wandering and show more pronounced performance decrements. However, this prediction was not supported by Arnicane et al, ( 2021 ), who found that in comparison to the first block (i.e., the first 15 min) of a visual working memory task, in the sixth block healthy older adults reported similar levels of attentional lapses and demonstrated improved performance.…”

Chronic exercise and neuropsychological function in healthy young adults: a randomised controlled trial investigating a running intervention

“…We assessed affect via the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), as per Stroth et al ( 2009 , 2010 ), and cognitive performance using a computerised battery that included tests (assessing basic visuomotor function, inhibition, and mental flexibility) previously shown to be sensitive to PA in healthy young adults (Cameron et al 2015 ; Guiney et al 2015 ; Shoemaker et al 2020 , 2019 ; Stenling et al 2019 ) and also commonly used tests of spatial and verbal short-term memory storage capacity (Forward Spatial and Forward Digit) and manipulation (Backward Spatial and Backward Digit). The chosen cognitive tests have previously been demonstrated to show sensitivity to both brain disease and individual differences in healthy adults (Barbey et al 2013 ; Brett and Machado 2017 ; Flannery et al 2018 ; Kouwenhoven and Machado 2023 ; Ramos et al 2022 ; Shoemaker et al 2021 ). Sex was included as a covariate based on previous research showing that it can influence effects of exercise on cognitive performance (Lennox et al 2019 ; Ludyga et al 2020 ; Stenling et al 2019 ).…”