112 research outputs found
Investigation of Breath Counting, Abdominal Breathing and Physiological Responses in Relation to Cognitive Load with University Students
No full textComputers and mobile electronic devices in college and university learning environments present opportunity and risk. Paradoxically, such devices can add unprecedented value to the learning process while simultaneously presenting the risk of causing or exacerbating stress. College and university student populations have historically displayed high stress levels. Given this confluence of technology and stress with college and university students, understanding and mitigating stress related to computer and mobile device use is a worthwhile endeavor. Breathing activities are potential means of mitigating stress, including stress related to activities performed on computers and electronic devices. Some breathing activities have long histories of being used for self-regulation, and such activities might be useful to college students for stress management. The author used a within-subject, repeated measures, quasi-experimental interrupted time-series design to investigate this topic. Ninety-six students from a state university completed an activity sequence comprised of periods of quiet sitting, computer-mediated Stroop color-word activities and breathing activities. The author randomly assigned participants to three groups: (a) breath counting, (b) abdominal breathing and (c) combined: both breath counting and abdominal breathing. Participants also completed surveys designed to gather information regarding their impressions of the breathing activities, the perceived subjective norms related to the importance of breathing activities to their peers, family and culture, as well as their stage of change for stress management, breath attention and abdominal breathing. Evidence from this study suggests all three breathing activities are equally effective in enabling students to manage stress caused by a computer-mediated task. This study builds upon a previously published work in progress (Brumback, 2017) and pilot study (Brumback, 2018).Ph.D.Ph.D. Thesis. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 201
Defining semantic space and degree of association using brainwaves: An ERP investigation of alcohol expectancies
No full textThe current study investigated the cognitive organization of alcohol expectancies using event-related potentials (ERPs). Building on previous behavioral and ERP paradigms, the goal of the current study was to quantify the relationship among alcohol expectancies using ERP indices of salience, congruence, and cognitive distance. The ERP components being evaluated fit perfectly into the alcohol expectancy theory and research; however, implementing specific paradigms to reliably measure individual differences in alcohol expectancies using ERPs has proven to be more elusive than originally thought. This study utilized established cognitive modeling techniques coupled with ERP responses to linguistic stimuli. In essence, this study provides an implicit measure of how particular types of words, in the context of alcohol, are categorized and integrated into individuals\u27 expectancy frameworks.
The study looked at two specific ERP components, the P300 and the N400, that have been shown to be sensitive to expectancy violations. In a sentence processing task the P300 was predicted to be related to individuals\u27 alcohol expectancies and in a word pair task the N400 was predicted to index these expectancies. Results indicated that the P300 and N400 were both related to alcohol expectancies in the sentence task and the N400 was related to alcohol expectancies in the word pair task. While the results supported parts of the hypotheses, they were not unequivocal endorsements of the hypothesized relationships, perhaps highlighting the countervailing forces of salience and expectancy congruence. Furthermore, there were unexpected differences between males and females in the sample that interacted with the effect of expectancy on ERPs. In sum, prior research has highlighted individuals\u27 expectations about alcohol as a mediator of biopsychosocial risk for alcohol use disorders (Goldman, 2002), and the results of this study provide a model for how ERP measures of expectancy could capture an aspect of individuals\u27 risk based on reactions to expectancy related stimul
The Burden of Binge and Heavy Drinking on the Brain: Effects on Adolescent and Young Adult Neural Structure and Function
No full textIntroduction: Adolescence and young adulthood are periods of continued biological and psychosocial maturation. Thus, there may be deleterious effects of consuming large quantities of alcohol on neural development and associated cognition during this time. The purpose of this mini review is to highlight neuroimaging research that has specifically examined the effects of binge and heavy drinking on adolescent and young adult brain structure and function.Methods: We review cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of young binge and heavy drinkers that have examined brain structure (e.g., gray and white matter volume, cortical thickness, white matter microstructure) and investigated brain response using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).Results: Binge and heavy-drinking adolescents and young adults have systematically thinner and lower volume in prefrontal cortex and cerebellar regions, and attenuated white matter development. They also show elevated brain activity in fronto-parietal regions during working memory, verbal learning, and inhibitory control tasks. In response to alcohol cues, relative to controls or light-drinking individuals, binge and heavy drinkers show increased neural response mainly in mesocorticolimbic regions, including the striatum, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), hippocampus, and amygdala. Mixed findings are present in risky decision-making tasks, which could be due to large variation in task design and analysis.Conclusions: These findings suggest altered neural structure and activity in binge and heavy-drinking youth may be related to the neurotoxic effects of consuming alcohol in large quantities during a highly plastic neurodevelopmental period, which could result in neural reorganization, and increased risk for developing an alcohol use disorder (AUD)
The Burden of Binge and Heavy Drinking on the Brain: Effects on Adolescent and Young Adult Neural Structure and Function
No full textThe Burden of Binge and Heavy Drinking on the Brain: Effects on Adolescent and Young Adult Neural Structure and Function
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