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Objective: The ability to assess cognitive skills remotely is increasing with the widespread use and availability of smartphones. The Mobile Toolbox (MTB) is a measurement system that includes Sequences, a new measure of working memory designed specifically for smartphones. This study describes the development of Sequences and presents the studies conducted to evaluate its psychometric properties. Methods: We developed a new measure of working memory that can be self-administered remotely using an iOS or Android smartphone. In Sequences, a series of numbers and letters are shown on the screen one at a time, and the participant must first tap the letters they see in alphabetical order, followed by tapping the numbers in ascending numerical order. The Sequences measure was evaluated for usability and feasibility across two pilot studies and then assessed in this validation study (which included a total sample size of N = 1,246). Psychometric properties of the new measure were evaluated in three studies involving participants aged 18–90 years. In Study 1 (N = 92), participants completed MTB measures in a laboratory setting. They were also administered both an equivalent NIH Toolbox (NIHTB) measure along with external measures of similar constructs. In Study 2 (N = 1,007), participants were administered NIHTB measures in the laboratory and then completed MTB measures remotely on their own devices. In Study 3 (N = 147), participants completed MTB measures twice, remotely on their own devices, with a 2–week interval between sessions. Results: Sequences exhibited moderately high correlations with a comparable NIHTB test and external measures of a similar construct, while exhibiting a lower correlation with an unrelated test, as hypothesized. Internal consistency was high, but test-retest reliability was moderate. When controlling for age, phone operating system (iOS vs. Android) and sex assigned at birth did not significantly impact performance; however, there was a significant difference between individuals who completed college and those with a high school education or lower. Conclusion: The results support the validity of Sequences as a measure of working memory for remote self-administered use. The internal consistency was strong, with moderate test-retest reliability that is likely a function of the test's unproctored self-administration method. The findings suggest that Sequences is appropriate for use with adults aged 18–90 years in remote self-administered designs that focus on group results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the fabrication and characterization of heat-responsive PLA/PU/MXene shape memory polymer blend nanocomposites with varying PLA content (10, 20, 30, and 50%) and a fixed MXene content of 0.5 wt.%. The results indicate significant improvements in mechanical properties, with the 50% PLA/PU/MXene blend showing a 300% increase in ultimate tensile strength and a 90% decrease in % elongation compared to pure PU. Additionally, the 50% blend exhibited a 400% increase in flexural strength. Microstructural analysis revealed dispersed pores and sea–island morphology in pure PU and the 50% PLA/PU/MXene blend. Thermal analysis using DSC showed an increase in crystallinity from 33% (pure PU) to 45% for the 50% PLA/PU/MXene blend, indicating enhanced crystalline domains due to the semi-crystalline nature of PLA and MXene's influence on molecular ordering. TGA demonstrated a significant improvement in thermal stability, with the onset temperature rising from 185 °C (pure PU) to 212 °C and the degradation temperature increasing from 370 °C to 425 °C for the 50% blend, attributed to the rigid structure of PLA and MXene's stabilizing effect. Shape memory testing revealed that the 30% PLA/PU/MXene blend achieved the best shape fixity and recovery with optimal performance, whereas higher PLA content diminished shape memory behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To test whether targeting left and right posterior parietal cortex (PPC) with continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) in healthy adults would strengthen associative memory (AM) performance. This study consisted of two experiments (a behavioral experiment and a formal experiment during each of the two experimental sessions). In Experiment 1, 18 adults (one male, ages = 22.83 ± 3.92 years) were included in the behavioral phase and 18 adults (seven male, ages = 40.11 ± 12.27 years) in the stimulation phase. There were 120 neutral facial images paired with 120 two-character nouns and then divided into six test versions (10 male faces and 10 female faces paired with 20 different nouns were considered as one version). In the behavioral experiment, participants were tested by six-version tests to assess memory materials, and in the formal experiment, participants' face–word AM performance was measured by certified tests based on a cued recall paradigm. Furthermore, 30 adults (seven male, ages = 20.97 ± 1.85 years) and 15 adults (five male, ages = 22.27 ± 1.29 years) participated in Experiment 2, respectively. Stimuli and procedure were the same as in Experiment 1, but the AM test was based on a forced-choice paradigm. Experiment 1 did not yield anticipated outcomes; Experiment 2 showed that cTBS of left and right PPC strengthened the AM performance compared with the control condition. In conclusion, cTBS to left and right PPC improved AM in healthy adults, which provided further experimental evidence for strengthening AM by cTBS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As memories dominate the system-on-chip (SoC), their quality significantly impacts the chip manufacturing yield. There is a growing need to reduce the chip production time and cost, which mainly depends on the testing phase. Hence, a memory built-in self-test (MBIST) utilizing a low-complexity, high-fault-coverage test algorithm is essential for efficient and thorough memory testing. The March AZ1 algorithm, with 13N complexity, was created earlier to balance the test length and fault coverage. However, poor positioning of a write operation in its test sequence caused the reduction of the transition coupling fault (CFtr) detection. This paper presents the creation of the March AZ algorithm, modified from the March AZ1 algorithm, to increase CFtr coverage while preserving the same complexity. It was accomplished by analyzing the fault coverage offered by the March AZ1 algorithm and then reorganizing its test sequence to address the limitation in detecting CFtr. The newly produced March AZ1 algorithm was successfully implemented in an MBIST controller. The simulation tests validated its functionality and demonstrated that the CFtr coverage was enhanced from 62.5% to 75%, achieving an overall fault coverage of 83.3%. Therefore, with 13N complexity, it offers the best fault coverage among all the existing test algorithms with a complexity below 18N. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the grain morphology, microstructure, magnetic properties and shape memory properties of an Fe41.265Ni28.2Co17Al11Ta2.5B0.04 (at%) high-entropy alloy (HEA) cold-rolled to 98%. The EBSD results show that the texture intensities of the samples annealed at 1300 °C for 0.5 or 1 h are 2.45 and 2.82, respectively. This indicates that both samples were formed without any strong texture. The grain morphology results show that the grain size increased from 356.8 to 504.6 μm when the annealing time was increased from 0.5 to 1 h. The large grain size improved the recoverable strain due to a reduction in the grain constraint. As a result, annealing was carried out at 1300 °C/1 h for the remainder of the study. The hardness decreased at 24 h, then increased again at 48 h; this phenomenon was related to the austenite finish temperature. Thermo-magnetic analysis revealed that the austenite finish temperature increased when the samples were aged at 600 °C for between 12 and 24 h. When the aging time was prolonged to 48 h, the austenite finish temperature value decreased. X-ray diffraction (XRD) demonstrated that the peak of the precipitates emerged and intensified when the aging time was increased from 12 to 24 h at 600 °C. From the three-point bending shape memory test, the samples aged at 600 °C for 12 and 24 h had maximum recoverable strains of 2% and 3.6%, respectively. The stress–temperature slopes of the austenite finish temperature were 10.3 MPa/°C for 12 h and 6 MPa/°C for 24 h, respectively. Higher slope values correspond to lower recoverable strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractFunctionally graded shape memory alloy (FG-SMA) hold considerable promise for diverse applications in aerospace and micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) fields, owing to their elevated ceramic hardness and distinctive phase transition characteristics. To investigate the mechanical properties and phase transition behaviors of FG-SMA, an FG-SMA specimen was fabricated for the first time using the spark plasma sintering and ball-mill mixing method. Subsequently, microstructure, phase transformation, hardness, compression fracture and shape memory effect testing experiments were carried out. The results revealed a microstructure of the FG-SMA without noticeable pores in the alumina content range of 0.1% to 0.6%. Alumina particles were effectively integrated into the NiTi matrix, enhancing the FG-SMA’s compressive strength. Varied alumina gradients in the FG-SMA cross-section led to distinct phase transitions. The addition of alumina increased the hardness of the NiTi matrix, resulting in higher fracture stress and strain in the FG-SMA. The elastic recovery strain of FG-SMA augmented with increasing alumina content, although the recoverable strain associated with the shape memory effect gradually decreased. This study provides valuable insights for the preparation, optimization, and practical applications of FG-SMAs. At the same time, the research in this article can lay an experimental foundation for the application of FG-SMA in the field of aerospace and MEMS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractObjectiveMethodsResultsConclusionsAccelerated Long-term Forgetting (ALF) is a phenomenon characterized by abnormal memory forgetting over hours or days, despite normal initial acquisition. Because standardized memory assessments typically test memory retention over delays of up to 30 minutes, ALF may be undetected.The first Experiment of the present study was aimed to validate, in a sample of healthy subjects (n = 54, 20 to 79 years old), a long-term verbal and visuospatial memory procedure, using common tests but administered at extended intervals. In Experiment 2, we aimed to explore ALF pattern in a sample of patients with severe Acquired Brain Injury (sABI) who subjectively complained of memory difficulties and nevertheless obtained normal or only mildly deficient scores on traditional memory tasks (n = 10).Results of Experiment 1 showed that both the verbal and visuo-spatial memory tasks proved to be valid and effective at illustrating the phenomenon of forgetting along the time intervals considered. Moreover, a significant association was found between higher saving scores passing from the 30 min to the 24 hr interval of the verbal test and the score obtained on a questionnaire assessing the subjective feeling of memory functioning. Results of Experiment 2 showed that patients with sABI obtained reduced 30 m–24hr saving scores on the verbal test as compared to healthy controls despite comparable forgetting at earlier and later delays.These findings support the utility of extended memory assessment, thus the need for validation of specific diagnostic tools in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals are often exposed to information regarding previously witnessed events. The misinformation effect occurs when inaccurate post-event information impairs accuracy on a subsequent test of memory for the original event. The misinformation effect is increased when a test is given prior to exposure to post-event information, a phenomenon termed Retrieval Enhanced Suggestibility (RES). In two experiments, we investigated the value of general warnings prior to retrieval towards reducing RES, in situations where reconsolidation due to test related activation was likely. In both experiments, participants were exposed to an original event, and after a 24-hour retention interval either took a test about that original event or were not tested before being exposed to a narrative that included misleading details about the original event. In Experiment 1, a warning about the quality of the post-event narrative was then given followed by the final test. In Experiment 2, the warning and final test were delayed by 24 h. We found that warnings were effective in Experiment 1 in reducing RES, suggesting that even when initial testing supported learning of PEI, original details remained accessible. However, in Experiment 2, when warnings were delayed, participants were no longer able to effectively use them to reduce RES. These results suggest that warnings are most effective when given in close temporal proximity to misinformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Physical function and cognition seem to be interrelated, especially in the oldest-old. However, the temporal order in which they are related and the role of brain health remain uncertain. Methods: We included 338 participants (mean age 93.1 years) from two longitudinal cohorts: the UCI 90+ Study and EMIF-AD 90+ Study. We tested the association between physical function (Short Physical Performance Battery, gait speed, and handgrip strength) at baseline with cognitive decline (MMSE, memory tests, animal fluency, Trail Making Test (TMT-) A, and digit span backward) and the association between cognition at baseline with physical decline (mean follow-up 3.3 years). We also tested whether measures for brain health (hippocampal, white matter lesion, and gray matter volume) were related to physical function and cognition and whether brain health was a common driver of the association between physical function and cognition by adding it as confounder (if applicable). Results: Better performance on all physical tests at baseline was associated with less decline on MMSE, memory, and TMT-A. Conversely, fewer associations were significant, but better scores on memory, TMT-A, and digit span backward were associated with less physical decline. When adding measures for brain health as confounder, all associations stayed significant except for memory with gait speed decline. Conclusion: In the oldest-old, physical function and cognition are strongly related, independently of brain health. Also, the association between physical function and cognitive decline is more pronounced than the other way around, suggesting a potential for slowing cognitive decline by optimizing physical function. Introduction: Physical function and cognition seem to be interrelated, especially in the oldest-old. However, the temporal order in which they are related and the role of brain health remain uncertain. Methods: We included 338 participants (mean age 93.1 years) from two longitudinal cohorts: the UCI 90+ Study and EMIF-AD 90+ Study. We tested the association between physical function (Short Physical Performance Battery, gait speed, and handgrip strength) at baseline with cognitive decline (MMSE, memory tests, animal fluency, Trail Making Test (TMT-) A, and digit span backward) and the association between cognition at baseline with physical decline (mean follow-up 3.3 years). We also tested whether measures for brain health (hippocampal, white matter lesion, and gray matter volume) were related to physical function and cognition and whether brain health was a common driver of the association between physical function and cognition by adding it as confounder (if applicable). Results: Better performance on all physical tests at baseline was associated with less decline on MMSE, memory, and TMT-A. Conversely, fewer associations were significant, but better scores on memory, TMT-A, and digit span backward were associated with less physical decline. When adding measures for brain health as confounder, all associations stayed significant except for memory with gait speed decline. Conclusion: In the oldest-old, physical function and cognition are strongly related, independently of brain health. Also, the association between physical function and cognitive decline is more pronounced than the other way around, suggesting a potential for slowing cognitive decline by optimizing physical function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bilingual students can take notes in their first language (L1) or their second language (L2). Higher note-taking quality, which might differ between the L1 and L2, has been associated with better memory of new content. In this study, we examined how language of note taking within bilinguals affects note quality and memory of new content. One hundred bilinguals watched three videos while typing notes in L2-English, their L1, or while using their languages freely. One week later they completed a memory test. Memory test scores did not differ between the L1, L2-English, and free note-taking conditions. Note-taking quality was higher in the L2 and free language conditions than in the L1, likely because the video content was presented in the L2. However, note-taking quality was only significantly related to memory test performance in the free note-taking condition and not in the L1 or L2 conditions. Across all conditions, L2-English proficiency was positively related to both note-taking quality and test performance. Together, these results suggest that, when learning content in an L2, the note-taking language can influence note quality but does not strongly impact how well new information is remembered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Event boundaries help structure the content of episodic memories by segmenting continuous experiences into discrete events. Event boundaries may also serve to preserve meaningful information within an event, thereby actively separating important memories from interfering representations imposed by past and future events. Here, we tested the hypothesis that event boundaries organize emotional memory based on changing dynamics as events unfold. We developed a novel threat-reversal learning task whereby participants encoded trial-unique exemplars from two semantic categories across three phases: preconditioning, fear acquisition, and reversal. Shock contingencies were established for one category during acquisition (CS+) and then switched to the other during reversal (CS−). Importantly, reversal was either separated by a perceptible event boundary (Experiment 1) or occurred immediately after acquisition, with no perceptible context shift (Experiment 2). In a surprise recognition memory test the next day, memory performance tracked the learning contingencies from encoding in Experiment 1, such that participants selectively recognized more threat-associated CS+ exemplars from before (retroactive) and during acquisition, but this pattern reversed toward CS− exemplars encoded during reversal. By contrast, participants with continuous encoding—without a boundary between conditioning and reversal—exhibited undifferentiated memory for exemplars from both categories encoded before acquisition and after reversal. Further analyses highlight nuanced effects of event boundaries on reversing conditioned fear, updating mnemonic generalization, and emotional biasing of temporal source memory. These findings suggest that event boundaries provide anchor points to organize memory for distinctly meaningful information, thereby adaptively structuring memory based on the content of our experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language assessment is increasingly computermediated. This development presents opportunities with new task formats and equally a need for renewed scrutiny of established conventions. Recent recommendations to increase integrated skills assessment in lecture comprehension tests is premised on empirical research that demonstrates enhanced construct coverage over conventional selected response formats such as multiple-choice. However, the comparison between response formats is underexplored in computer-mediated assessment and does not consider test item presentation methods that this technology affords. To this end, the present study investigates performance in a computer-mediated lecture comprehension task by examining test taker accounts of task completion involving multiple-choice questions without question preview and integrated response formats. Findings demonstrate overlap between the formats in terms of several core processes but also point to important differences regarding the prioritization of aspects of the lecture, memory and test anxiety. In many respects, participant comments indicate the multiple-choice format measured a more comprehensive construct than the integrated format. The research will be relevant to individuals with interests in computer-mediated assessment and specifically with a responsibility for developing and validating lecture comprehension assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the association between pre-COVID-19 memory function and (a) receipt of a COVID-19 test and (b) incidence of COVID-19 using the COVID-19 Questionnaire Study (CQS) of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). The CQS included 28,565 middle-aged and older adults. We regressed receipt of a COVID-19 test on participants' immediate and delayed recall memory scores and re-ran the regression models with COVID-19 incidence as the outcome. All regression models were adjusted for sociodemographic, lifestyle, and health covariates. In the analytical sample (n = 21,930), higher delayed recall memory (better memory) was significantly associated with lower COVID-19 incidence. However, this association was not significant for immediate recall memory. Immediate and delayed recall memory were not associated with receipt of a COVID-19 test. Health policymakers and practitioners may viewmemory status as a potential risk for COVID-19. Memory status may not be a barrier to COVID-19 testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anxiety can have adverse effects on cognition such as impairing test performance or restricting working memory. One way of reducing anxiety is through humor, and the present research investigated if the perception of laughter, which is often seen as a reaction to humor, could impact self-reported anxiety. Participants completed the STAI battery containing subscales for both state and trait anxiety before and after one of three manipulations: a laughter sounds rating task, a neutral sounds rating task, or a working memory span task. Results showed that perceiving laughter decreased both state and trait anxiety, taking a working memory test increased state anxiety, and perceiving neutral sounds had no effect on either type of anxiety. These findings are interpreted as evidence that the positive emotions induced by hearing laughter help to regulate anxiety by undoing arousal, even when negative emotions are not present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the independent contribution of morphological awareness and orthographic awareness in reading comprehension, controlling for working memory and reading fluency in Arabic-speaking children. Participants (N = 244) from grades four and five, were classified into typical comprehenders (n = 207) and poor comprehenders (n = 37). All the participants underwent reading comprehension tasks (sentence comprehension and reading maze), orthographic awareness tasks (word choice and parsing), morphological awareness test (root morpheme awareness), working memory test (listening sentence span), word reading fluency, and word reading accuracy and fluency (reading in one minute). The results indicated that morphological awareness and orthographic awareness contributed significantly to reading comprehension (composite scores) only in the typical comprehenders group. Although morphological awareness showed significant predictive relation with reading comprehension, orthographic awareness was a stronger predictor of reading comprehension while controlling for working memory and reading fluency. The findings are discussed, and future directions for research are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has variably indicated the role of working memory in error detection by which working memory played a role in rhythmic error detection but not melodic error detection. Here, we devised a longer melodic error detection task for college musicians in an auditory, rather than visual, condition using classical excerpts, which we compared to briefer visual and auditory control conditions. These tests were compared to performance on a test of verbal working memory (forward digit span test) and an experimenter-created tonal working memory test. The tonal working memory test was positively related to the forward digit span test, the melodic error detection, and the visual control but not to the auditory control. Performance on the error detection test was not significantly related to year in school, level of aural skills class, years of private piano, or level of group piano class. Our participants performed similarly on the aurally presented melodic error detection of classical excerpts and the briefer visual control but not on the briefer aural control. Among other variables, years of experience on a second instrument was a significant predictor of error detection skill. High familiarity ratings with a classical excerpt did not yield a relationship to error detection performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Despite its superior blood–gas partition coefficient compared to sevoflurane, use of desflurane in neurosurgery is limited due to concerns about cerebral vasodilation and potential adverse haemodynamic effects. This study aims to systematically evaluate the comparative efficacy and safety of desflurane and sevoflurane in neurosurgical procedures. Methods: A search was performed in the Cochrane Library, Scopus, Europe PMC and Medline databases for articles published until 5 November 2024 using a combination of pertinent keywords. This review includes randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that analyse the comparison between desflurane and sevoflurane in neurosurgery. The risk of bias from each RCT was assessed using the Risk of Bias version 2 tool from Cochrane Collaboration. We utilised random-effects models to evaluate the mean difference (MD) and odds ratio (OR) for the outcomes presented. Results: Fourteen trials, encompassing 904 patients, were included in the analysis. Our analysis revealed significantly faster recovery profiles with desflurane, including reduced emergence time [MD -2.26; 95% confidence interval (CI): -2.99, -1.52, P < 0.00001, I 2 = 71%], extubation time (MD -3.02; 95% CI: -3.89, -2.15, P < 0.00001, I 2 = 79%) and overall recovery time (MD -3.26; 95% CI: -5.01, -1.51, P = 0.0003, I 2 = 83%), compared to sevoflurane. Desflurane was associated with better postoperative cognitive function, as evidenced by higher short orientation memory concentration test scores – a measure of attention and memory – at 15 min (MD: 2.26; 95% CI: 0.13, 4.39, P = 0.04, I 2 = 91%) and 60 min (MD: 0.29; 95% CI: 0.09, 0.50, P = 0.005, I 2 = 0%) after extubation. We did not find any significant difference in the intra- and/or postoperative events, such as emergence agitation, nausea and vomiting, shivering, hypertension, hypotension, tachycardia, bradycardia, pain and convulsions, between the two groups of intervention. Conclusion: This study suggests that desflurane anaesthesia offers faster recovery with a similar safety profile to sevoflurane for neurosurgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Extensive behavioral research on adults has shown that retrieval practice is highly beneficial for long-term memory retention. However, limited evidence exists on the developmental course of this benefit. Here, we present data from a behavioral study involving 7–14-year-old children who had to encode a total of 60 weakly semantically related cue-target word pairs using either repeated retrieval or repeated study encoding strategies. Results revealed age-related increases in the ability to benefit from testing during encoding from early middle childhood to early adolescence. In contrast, repeated study during encoding did not lead to developmental improvements in long-term memory retention across this age range. Individual differences in vocabulary knowledge, short-term memory and working memory were positively associated with long-term memory retention only for those participants who encoded the information via repeated study. These results indicate that (1) the mechanisms determining the testing effect may not be fully in place by early middle childhood, (2) the ability to benefit from testing improves over the middle childhood years, and (3) these benefits are not associated with individual differences in memory and high-cognitive functioning. One potential interpretation of these findings is that changes in sleep-dependent consolidation processes during middle childhood may be critical for understanding the observed developmental differences in ability to enhance long-term memory via the testing effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We aimed to investigate the relationship between volumetric measurements of specific brain regions which were measured with artificial intelligence (AI) and various neuropsychological tests in patients with clinically isolated syndrome. Materials and methods: A total of 28 patients diagnosed with CIS were included in the study. The patients were administered Öktem Verbal Memory Processes Test, Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), Backward-Forward Digit Span Test, Stroop Test, Trail Making Test, Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT), Brief Visuospatial Memory Test, Judgement of Line Orientation Test, Beck Depression Scale, Beck Anxiety Scale and Fatigue Severity Scale. Artificial intelligence assisted BrainLab Elements™ Atlas-Based Automatic Segmentation program was used for calculating volumes. The measured volumes were compared with the reference database. In addition, neuropsychological test performances and volumetric measurements of the patients were compared. Results: Of the patients included in the study, 78.6% were female and 21.4% were male, with an average age of 33 years. Verbal Memory Processes Test, SDMT, Backward-Forward Digit Span, JLOT, and Stroop Test showed significant correlations with multiple anatomical regions, particularly the anterior thalamic nucleus, which was associated with the highest number of cognitive tests. The JLOT exhibited the strongest correlation with six different brain regions (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The Judgement of Line Orientation and Stroop Tests, correlated with multiple brain regions, especially the anterior thalamic nucleus, underscoring the importance of these tests in assessing cognitive function in CIS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual working memory (VWM) retains representations of past visual information for future action. Yet to date, most studies have approached VWM as just serving perception beyond the immediate. Whether and how prospective actions shape information in VWM remains largely unknown, in part because typical experimental setups limit behavior to simple button presses. In two experiments (one preregistered), using a novel interactive VWM task, we show that the similarity of the actions that we intend to perform on memory items adaptively distorts their representation. Participants memorized the orientation of two bars, after which they were informed as to which manual actions they should reproduce these orientations with in a memory recall test. We observed that perceptually similar items were remembered as more distinct when paired with different action plans versus the same action plan. A control experiment showed that this action-induced effect reflects a true change in the visual representation rather than a motor bias. These findings demonstrate that VWM representations are flexibly adapted to guide specific overt actions and provide evidence that action plans can retrospectively warp sensory feature space in VWM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Autobiographical memories have been found to be related to one's current psychological state. Biases in autobiographical memories in terms of valence, content, and specificity are thought to be related to one's well-being and mental health. Previous studies have shown that by using cognitive bias modification techniques that aim to alter one's interpretation bias, memory valence bias could also be altered. The goal of the current study was to investigate if these techniques can also alter overgenerality of autobiographical memory, a phenomenon strongly associated with different psychopathologies. We hypothesized that creating a positive interpretation would decrease overgenerality of autobiographical memories while a negative interpretation bias would increase overgenerality. Methods: Sixty participants were recruited and divided into two groups, positive vs. negative imagery Cognitive Bias Modification (i-CBM). Both groups completed an Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) before and after undergoing one i-CBM session (positive or negative). Results: positive i-CBM reduced overgenerality of autobiographical memories, while negative i-CBM increased it. Conclusions: These results suggest that changing one's cognitive interpretation bias also changes one's memory bias. Thus, the same task that reduces negative bias from autobiographical memories also reduces overgenerality of autobiographical memories. In addition, the results strengthen the suggestion that the use of imagery and the ability to generate specific autobiographical memories are related. These findings hold great potential for our understanding of the interconnection between the different cognitive memory biases that lay at the base of several psychopathologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fact that memories can be distorted by post-event misinformation has cast considerable doubt over the dependability of eyewitness evidence in legal contexts. However, despite its adverse practical implications, the misinformation effect is likely an unavoidable distortion stemming from the reconstructive nature of episodic memory. Certain cognitive abilities have been reported to offer protection against misinformation, suggesting that mechanisms aside from episodic memory may also be underpinning this type of memory distortion. The purpose of this review was to collate findings of associations between eyewitness misinformation susceptibility and individual differences in cognitive ability in adults aged 18 and over. Nine studies met the eligibility criteria for this review, including 23 distinct associations. Using a narrative synthesis, three categories of cognitive ability were identified as influencing susceptibility to misinformation: general intelligence and reasoning, perceptual abilities, and memory abilities. Across almost all categories, higher levels of ability were associated with reduced susceptibility to misinformation. While there is no indication that any one trait provides total immunity to the misinformation effect, there is a reasonable amount of evidence to suggest that several cognitive abilities create variance in individual levels of susceptibility. Future research should investigate not only if but how these cognitive abilities protect against misinformation distortions, for example, by contributing to more detailed encoding of the memory, enhancing discrepancy detection in the face of post-event misinformation, or improving source-monitoring during an eyewitness memory test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The Corsi Block Tapping Test, or Corsi Span (CS), is a widely used task to measure visuospatial short-term and working memory. The same setup can be used to administer the Corsi SupraSpan Learning (CSSL) and Recall (CSSR), tests assessing visuospatial long-term memory. While the CS has relatively recent normative data, those of the CSSL are outdated For CSSR, no normative data are available. Given this critical lack, our study aimed to provide updated norms for CS, CSSL, and specifically for the recall delayed phase (CSSR). Materials and methods: A sample of 340 healthy participants, aged between 20 and 89, took part in the study. Norms were developed using a regression approach and defined using rank equivalent scores and percentiles. Results: Age and education influenced Corsi's Span, while SupraSpan Learning and Recall were influenced by age, education, and span. The comparison with previous norms for Span and SupraSpan Learning shows a high level of agreement. Conclusions: This study provides integrated norms to evaluate visuospatial memory in all aspects of immediate recall, long-term learning and delayed recall. Its use is needed to assess specific neuropsychological deficits, dissociate visuospatial versus verbal memory deficits and allow the evaluation of memory in patients with limited verbal abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theories of visual working memory have seen significant progress through the use of continuous reproduction tasks. However, these tasks have mainly focused on studying visual features, with limited examples existing in the auditory domain. Therefore, it is unknown to what extent newly developed memory models reflect domain-general limitations or are specific to the visual domain. To address this gap, we developed a novel methodology: the Auditory Reproduction Task (ART). This task utilizes Shepard tones, which create an infinite rising or falling tone illusion by dissecting pitch chroma and height, to create a 1–360° auditory circular space. In Experiment 1, we validated the perceptual circularity and uniformity of this auditory stimulus space. In Experiment 2, we demonstrated that auditory working memory shows similar set size effects to visual working memory—report error increased at a set size of 2 relative to 1, caused by swap errors. In Experiment 3, we tested the validity of ART by correlating reproduction errors with commonly used auditory and visual working memory tasks. Analyses revealed that ART errors were significantly correlated with performance in both auditory and visual working memory tasks, albeit with a stronger correlation observed with auditory working memory. While these experiments have only scratched the surface of the theoretical and computational constraints on auditory working memory, they provide a valuable proof of concept for ART. Further research with ART has the potential to deepen our understanding of auditory working memory, as well as to explore the extent to which existing models are tapping into domain-general constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two decades, the analogue report task has become a standard method for measuring the fidelity of visual representations across research domains including perception, attention, and memory. Despite its widespread use, there has been no methodical investigation of the different task parameters that might contribute to response variability. To address this gap, we conducted two experiments manipulating components of a typical analogue report test of memory for colour hue. We found that human response errors were independently affected by changes in storage and maintenance requirements of the task, demonstrated by a strong effect of set size even in the absence of a memory delay. In contrast, response variability remained unaffected by physical size of the colour wheel, implying negligible contribution of motor noise to task performance, or by its chroma radius, highlighting non-uniformity of the standard colour space. Comparing analogue report to a matched forced-choice task, we found variation in adjustment criterion made a limited contribution to analogue report variability, becoming meaningful only with low representational noise. Our findings validate the analogue report task as a robust measure of representational fidelity for most purposes, while also quantifying non-representational sources of noise that would limit its reliability in specialized settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dexmedetomidine (DEX) is a selective alpha-2 adrenergic receptor agonist with sedative and anxiolytic properties. Increasing evidence reports that DEX has a neuroprotective effect. In this study, we investigated the potential effects of DEX on learning and memory functions in rats with experimental cognitive impairment. In the study, 21 adult male rats were used. The rats were divided into three groups, namely control, Scopolamine (SCOP) and SCOP + DEX. Cognitive impairment was induced with 1 mg/kg SCOP daily for 21 days. DEX was administered at a dose of 10 µg/kg between days 14 and 21 of the experiment. Following the injections, a spatial memory test was performed with a Morris Water Maze (MWM). At the end of the experiment, the hippocampus was dissected. The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), acetylcholine (ACh) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) levels were determined by ELISA. The tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TrkB) and Cyclic AMP-Response Element-Binding Protein (CREB) levels were measured by immunohistochemistry. DEX treatment improved the learning performance of rats compared to SCOP for 5 days. However, it did not significantly change memory performance. DEX increased the BDNF and ACh levels in the hippocampus while decreasing the AChE levels. Similarly, DEX treatment significantly increased CREB phosphorylation. No significant difference was observed between the TrkB receptor levels of the groups. This study demonstrated that the role of DEX in reducing SCOP-induced cognitive impairment is partially mediated by the increase in BDNF/TrkB/CREB signaling pathway activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experience of a reward appears to enhance memory for recent prior events, adaptively making that information more available to guide future decision-making. Here, we tested whether reward enhances memory for associative item-location information and also whether the effect of reward spreads to other categorically-related but unrewarded items. Participants earned either points (Experiment 1) or money (Experiment 2) through a time-estimation reward task, during which stimuli-location pairings around a 2D-ring were shown followed by either high-value or low-value rewards. All stimuli were then tested for location memory or recognition (yes/no), immediately and after a 24-hour delay. Across both experiments (combined analysis), there was a robust improvement in location memory following high-value rewards, even though evidence supporting this effect was reliable in Experiment 2 but not in Experiment 1. The memory-enhancing effect of reward was observed on both the immediate and delayed location-memory tests. Reward-enhanced memory for both directly rewarded stimuli and categorically related stimuli that were not directly rewarded. No reliable effect of reward value on yes/no recognition-memory performance was observed in either experiment. We hypothesise that reward enhances the consolidation of recent experience and conceptually related memories to make these more available for future decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-run covariance matrix estimation is the building block of time series inference. The corresponding difference-based estimator, which avoids detrending, has attracted considerable interest due to its robustness to both smooth and abrupt structural breaks and its competitive finite sample performance. However, existing methods mainly focus on estimators for the univariate process, while their direct and multivariate extensions for most linear models are asymptotically biased. We propose a novel difference-based and debiased long-run covariance matrix estimator for functional linear models with time-varying regression coefficients, allowing time series nonstationarity, long-range dependence, state heteroscedasticity and combinations thereof. We apply the new estimator to (i) the structural stability test, overcoming the notorious nonmonotonic power phenomena caused by piecewise smooth alternatives for regression coefficients, and (ii) the nonparametric residual-based tests for long memory, improving the performance via the residual-free formula of the proposed estimator. The effectiveness of the proposed method is justified theoretically and demonstrated by superior performance in simulation studies, while its usefulness is elaborated via real data analysis. Our method is implemented in the R package mlrv. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deepfake has emerged as an obstinate challenge in a world dominated by light. Here, the authors introduce a new deepfake detection method based on Xception architecture. The model is tested exhaustively with millions of frames and diverse video clips; accuracy levels as high as 99.65% are reported. These are the main reasons for such high efficacy: superior feature extraction capabilities and stable training mechanisms, such as early stopping, characterizing the Xception model. The methodology applied is also more advanced when it comes to data preprocessing steps, making use of state-of-the-art techniques applied to ensure constant performance. With an ever-rising threat from fake media, this piece of research puts great emphasis on stringent memory testing to keep at bay the spread of manipulated content. It also justifies better explanation methods to justify the reasoning done by the model for those decisions that build more trust and reliability. The ensemble models being more accurate have been studied and examined for establishing a possibility of combining various detection frameworks that could together produce superior results. Further, the study underlines the need for real-time detection tools that can be effective on different social media sites and digital environments. Ethics, protecting privacy, and public awareness in the fight against the proliferation of deepfakes are important considerations. By significantly contributing to the advancements made in the technology that has actually advanced detection, it strengthens the safety and integrity of the cyber world with a robust defense against ever-evolving deepfake threats in technology. Overall, the findings generally go a long way to prove themselves as the crucial step forward to ensuring information authenticity and the trustworthiness of society in this digital world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The foldable tail wing system of UAVs offers advantages such as reducing the envelope size and improving storage space utilization. However, due to the compact tail wing space, achieving multi-modal locking and unlocking functionality presents significant challenges. This paper designs a new smart SMA actuator for the use of UAV foldable tail wings. The prototype testing demonstrated the advantages and engineering practicality of the actuator. The core content includes three main parts: thermomechanical testing of the SMA actuation performance, structural design of the actuator, and the fabrication and actuation testing of the prototype. The key parameters related to actuation performance, such as phase transformation temperature and actuation force, were determined through DSC and tensile testing. The geometric parameters of the tail wing were determined through kinetics and kinematic analyses. Through the linkage design of two kinematic pairs, the SMA actuator enables both the deployment and locking of the tail wing. The prototype testing results of the folding tail wing show that, after vibration and temperature variation tests, the SMA actuator is still able to output an actuation stroke of 2.15 mm within 20 ms. The SMA actuator integrates locking for both modes of the tail wing and unlocking during mode transitions, offering advantages such as fast response and minimal space requirements. It provides an effective solution tailored to the needs of the foldable tail wing system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intentional removal of unwanted information allows us to focus on our current goals. Previous research has shown that suppressing the maintenance of neutral images in working memory can impair access to that information in immediate and delayed memory tests. However, it remains unclear whether maintenance suppression has the same impact on emotionally valenced images. Intrusive thinking (e.g., rumination) often involves negative thoughts that persist as individuals attempt to push them out of mind. Given the emotional nature of intrusive information that can repeatedly enter working memory, it is important to understand how the valence of information affects the ability to remove it. Participants in a non-clinical sample completed a working memory removal experiment using group-normed images with positive and negative valence. Participants encoded two images of the same valence on each trial, were cued to suppress or maintain one of them during a brief delay period, and then responded to a memory probe in which they indicated whether the test image had been presented on the current trial, regardless of whether or how it was cued. Our results demonstrate that participants were faster, relative to uncued items, to endorse an item that had been cued for maintenance, and slower to endorse an item that had been cued for suppression. Importantly, this pattern held for both positive and negative items and did not differ between valences. These findings replicate those obtained using emotionally neutral stimuli. Thus, this study demonstrates that maintenance suppression reduces the accessibility of visual information in working memory, regardless of its emotional valence, and suggests that this cognitive strategy could potentially be an effective tool in reducing intrusive thoughts that occupy the focus of attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substantial research indicates that individuals with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) remember more negative information compared to neutral and positive information. This phenomenon is commonly attributed to attentional biases toward negative over neutral and positive information. A recent attentional resources model suggests that in MDD, negative cues not only capture attention, but also lead to deeper processing of subsequent information, irrespective of its content. This study aimed to replicate findings supporting this attentional resources model and go beyond it by investigating the effect of negative cues on encoding and retrieval processes. Forty-one participants with MDD and no comorbid diagnoses, and 42 healthy-controls completed the emotional recall task with negative or positive videos presented during encoding and retrieval stages of a neutral word-list memory test. During encoding, only the MDD group exhibited a difference between negative and positive videos, such that for negative videos memory recall was improved and for positive words it was reduced. Emotional videos had no effect when presented during retrieval. These results suggest that in MDD, encountering emotional cues not only biases retrieval processes toward recalling more negative content, but rather fundamentally alters the depth of information processing, while not leading to a broad-spectrum recruitment of cognitive resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People are accustomed to using mobile phones to purchase products online. Previous studies identified brain activities associated with online buying decisions but did not assess mismatch negativity (MMN), P300 (P3a and P3b), and slow waves. We applied visual animation and sound effects to test visual–auditory multisensory concepts in product promotion strategies. Event-related potential (ERP) responses from 53 participants were analyzed to help design sound effects based on MMN, P300, and slow waves. We designed five short visual–auditory animation videos: visual animation sound effect (VASE), VA sound beep (VASB), visual standard sound beep (VSSB), visual animation–no sound (VANS), and visual standard–no sound (VSNS). These five apps were used to test how matched and unmatched multisensory user experience (UX) influences online shopping decisions. We also used Arrow's impossibility theorem to design the purchasing experiment. VASE evoked MMN (cluster p = 0.0184) compared with VSSB. VASE evoked the strongest P300 (P3a and P3b) responses (cluster p = 1 × 10−5), and VASB evoked more negative slow wave amplitudes (cluster p = 1.7 × 10−4) compared with VASE. Participants buy products unconsciously via most VASE and VANS mobile apps compared with via VASB and VSNS. Our findings suggest that sensory memory from multisensory UX can promote product consumption in mobile phone shopping interfaces. This study's testing of memory and attention from MMN, P300, and slow waves makes a novel contribution to the marketing discipline. The implications can motivate researchers to apply ERP to analyze the multisensory concept in future interdisciplinary research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have shown that fixations on familiar stimuli tend to be longer than on unfamiliar stimuli, theorized to be a result of retrieval of information from memory. We hypothesize that extended fixations are due to a lesser need to explore an already familiar stimulus. Participant's gaze was tracked as they tried to encode or retrieve a familiar face displayed either alone or alongside other unfamiliar faces. Regardless of the memory task (encoding\retrieval), longer fixation durations were observed when a single familiar face was presented alone, and not when presented among unfamiliar ones. Thus, fixations were not prolonged when it was possible to explore other, unfamiliar stimuli. We conclude that prolonged fixations on familiar stimuli reflect a lesser need to explore an already familiar percept. The results underscore how memory representations influence active sensing, yielding fresh insights into efficient deployment of attention resources. We conclude that fixation durations could be used in applied memory detection tests, preferably together with other measures and when the familiar stimulus is presented alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection can be associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms like fatigue and cognitive impairment, independent of the liver status. The present study aims to assess changes in the pattern and extent of neuropsychological symptoms after successful treatment with interferon (IFN)‐based and IFN‐free therapy. HCV‐infected patients who underwent neuropsychological assessment in previous studies were invited to a follow‐up examination. Patients were grouped according to the treatment status: Sustained virological response (SVR) after IFN treatment (IFN SVR, n = 14) or after therapy with direct acting antivirals (DAA SVR, n = 28) or ongoing HCV infection (HCV RNA+, n = 11). A group of 33 healthy controls served as reference. Patients completed self‐report questionnaires addressing health‐related quality of life (HRQoL), mood and sleep quality and a neuropsychological test battery including tests of memory and attention (Luria's list of words, PSE test, cancelling “d” test, Word–Figure–Memory Test and computer‐based test battery for the assessment of attention [TAP]). At baseline, all three patient groups had worse fatigue, depression, anxiety and HRQoL scores compared to healthy controls. Longitudinal analysis revealed that fatigue and mood slightly improved in all patient groups over time, while HRQoL improved in SVR patients but not in HCV RNA+ patients. Memory test results improved significantly in all patient groups, irrespective of their virological status. In contrast, the attention test results showed no clear change from baseline to follow‐up. Our data can be considered as a hint that HCV eradication—independent of therapy regimen—does not substantially ameliorate neuropsychiatric symptoms in HCV‐afflicted patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deception is a common occurrence in daily life and has been shown to impair memory. This study investigated the memory-undermining effects of deception in a simulated daily life scenario, focusing on the potential moderating effect of the liars' role (i.e., actor vs. eyewitness). In a 2 × 2 between-subjects design, 128 participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: actors who told the truth, actors who lied, eyewitnesses who told the truth, and eyewitnesses who lied. Participants engaged in a simulated shopping task, followed by an interview where they either provided truthful or deceptive responses about the items they bought (actors) or observed (eyewitnesses). Two days later, participants completed a series of memory tests assessing item memory, source memory, destination memory, and non-believed memories. Results showed that deception impaired source memory, with a greater impairment observed for actors than eyewitnesses. Deception also led to more non-believed memories and impaired item and destination memory, regardless of the liars' role. These findings suggest that the role of liars moderates the effects of deception on memory, with self-related deception (actors) leading to greater memory impairments than other-related deception (eyewitnesses). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis study evaluated the universality of the TOMM 2 and provided a reference sample of cognitively intact adults living in Spain whose native language was Spanish. A total of 203 adults completed the TOMM 2 from June 2019 to January 2020. When using the original TOMM cutoff scores derived from English speakers, all participants scored in a range that would suggest that they passed the TOMM. When using a cut score less than 40 on Trial 1, only one participant in this study would be mistakenly classified as providing an invalid performance. Spanish-speaking adults in Spain from this study achieved a perfect score on Trial 1 at a rate more than double that of English-speaking individuals on the original TOMM. At the item level, all but one item met the minimum standard for performance validity; this item fell only marginally below the standard at 89%. This study found a very low failure rate for the TOMM 2, suggesting that the second edition has at least as high specificity as the original in Spanish adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Episodic memory involves the conscious recollection of personally experienced events and when absent, results in profound losses to the typical human conscious experience. Over the last 2.5 decades, the debate surrounding whether episodic memory is unique to humans has seen a lot of controversy and accordingly has received significant research attention. Various behavioural paradigms have been developed to test episodic-like memory; a term designed to reflect the behavioural characteristics of episodic memory in the absence of evidence for consciously experienced recall. In this review, we first outline the most influential paradigms that have been developed to assess episodic-like memory across a variety of non-human taxa (including mammals, birds and cephalopods), namely the what–where–when memory, incidental encoding and unexpected question, and source memory paradigms. Then, we examine whether various key features of human episodic memory are conceptually represented in episodic-like memory across phylogenetically and neurologically diverse taxa, identifying similarities, differences and gaps in the literature. We conclude that the evidence is mixed, and as episodic memory encompasses a variety of cognitive structures and processes, research on episodic-like memory in non-humans should follow this multifaceted approach and assess evidence across various behavioural paradigms that each target different aspects of human episodic memory. This article is part of the theme issue 'Elements of episodic memory: lessons from 40 years of research'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental time travel is the projection of the mind into the past or future, and relates to experiential aspects of episodic memory, and episodic future thinking. Framing episodic memory and future thinking in this way causes a challenge when studying memory in animals, where demonstration of this mental projection is prevented by the absence of language. However, there is good evidence that non-human animals pass tests of episodic memory that are based on behavioural criteria, meaning a better understanding needs to be had of the relationship between episodic memory and mental time travel. We argue that mental time travel and episodic memory are not synonymous, and that mental time travel is neither a requirement of, nor an irrelevance to, episodic memory. Mental time travel can allow improved behavioural choices based on episodic memory, and work in all species (including humans) should include careful consideration of the behavioural outputs being measured. This article is part of the theme issue 'Elements of episodic memory: lessons from 40 years of research'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The best-known example of episodic memory in animals came from food-storing birds. One of the beauties of the food-storing system was that inherent in the behaviour were the elements that (at the time) made up episodic memory: what, where and when. While there were then already plenty of data on animals' ability to put together what and where, the addition of the time element in animals' memory and its testing was one that was both new and experimentally challenging. It has, however, led to an increasing variety of examples showing that animals can put together all three informational components. If episodic memories can be described as those memories that make any one of us who we are, why should non-human animals have such memories? Here, we argue that episodic memories play a significant functional role in the lives of real animals, in particular, enabling them to make decisions about how they might or should act in their future. We support our argument with data from a range of examples, focussing on data from the field. This article is part of the theme issue 'Elements of episodic memory: lessons from 40 years of research'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Individuals' memories are assessed in multiple contexts; however, depending on the context, how an individual is questioned may impact the quantity and quality of the details reported. One goal of this study is to investigate how the modality of questioning (individuals talk or write about an event) impacts memory reports. Additionally, being tested on previously learned information improves memory for that information compared to re-studying it. Consequently, another goal is to examine how questioning impacts memory reports compared to a second exposure. We utilized open-ended and pointed questions (true and false). Method: Participants watched a short video and were questioned (Experiment 1: In-Person; Experiment 2: Virtual) about its contents immediately, 1 week, and 1 month later. Results: The current study found that writing leads to better quality memory reports than speaking, and the benefit is present 1 week later. Additionally, we found that writing mitigates an anticipated testing benefit, although this depended on whether a pointed or open-ended question was asked. Restudying (vs. immediate testing) led to better performance for the false pointed questions. However, the better performance operated differently depending on whether participants wrote or spoke following restudying, perhaps due to a differential criterion shift between the Restudy-Written and the Restudy-Spoken conditions. Discussion: We conclude that the impact of the modality of questioning is influenced in several ways by the types of questions asked, which bears significance for many domains because one modality (or a combination) may be more suitable for producing more accurate memory reports as a function of different domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects Black and Latino people in the United States, yet there is a lack of research on predictors of neurocognitive outcomes in these groups. We examined neurocognitive performance and its key predictors across White, Black, and Latino people with HIV (PWH). Method: Participants included 586 PWH of White, Black, and Latino (English- and Spanish-speaking) background. Neurocognition was assessed via demographically-adjusted Fluid Cognition Composite T-scores from the NIH-Toolbox cognition battery, and individual tests comprising this composite. Predictors examined included sociodemographic and HIV disease characteristics, and medical, psychiatric and substance comorbidities. Results: Compared to White PWH, English-speaking Latino PWH had lower T-scores on the Fluid Cognition Composite, as well as Flanker Inhibition and Picture Sequence Memory tests. While there were no other significant group differences on Fluid Cognition, both Latino PWH language groups performed worse than Black PWH on Flanker Inhibition, and Black PWH performed worse than White PWH on List Sorting. Separate multivariable linear regression models by ethnic/racial/language group showed that significant correlates of worse Fluid Cognition included depressive symptoms among White PWH; hepatitis C co-infection among Black PWH; hypertension among English-speaking Latino PWH; and higher estimated duration of HIV disease and depressive symptoms in Spanish-speaking Latino PWH. Conclusions: Findings suggest worse neurocognition among English-speaking Latino PWH compared to Whites. Predictors of neurocognitive function among PWH differ across ethnic/racial and language groups. Consideration of these HIV disease characteristics and comorbidities may be valuable in developing targeted culturally-relevant interventions aimed at ameliorating neurocognitive dysfunction among diverse PWH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every day, we encounter far more information than we could possibly remember. Thus, our memory systems must organize and prioritize the details from an experience that can adaptively guide the storage and retrieval of specific episodic events. Prior work has shown that shifts in internal goal states can function as event boundaries, chunking experiences into distinct and memorable episodes. In addition, at short delays, memory for contextual information at boundaries has been shown to be enhanced compared with items within each event. However, it remains unclear if these memory enhancements are limited to features that signal a meaningful transition between events. To determine how changes in dynamic goal states influence the organization and content of long-term memory, we designed a 2-day experiment in which participants viewed a series of black-and-white objects surrounded by a color border on a two-by-two grid. The location of the object on the grid determined which of two tasks participants performed on a given trial. To examine if distinct types of goal shifts modulate the effects of event segmentation, we changed the border color, the task, or both after every four items in a sequence. We found that goal shifts influenced temporal memory in a manner consistent with the formation of distinct events. However, for subjective memory representations in particular, these effects differed by the type of event boundary. Furthermore, to examine if goal shifts lead to the prioritization of goal-relevant features in longer lasting memories, we tested source memory for each object's color and grid location both immediately and after a 24-hr delay. On the immediate test, boundaries enhanced the memory for all concurrent source features compared with nonboundary items, but only if those boundaries involved a goal shift. In contrast, after a delay, the source memory was selectively enhanced for the feature relevant to the goal shift. These findings suggest that goals can adaptively structure memories by prioritizing contextual features that define a unique episode in memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experimental studies of animal episodic memory test the behavioural expression of a what-where-when 'memory content'. This is to say, autobiographical memory in some species (mainly birds, rodents, and great apes) has been understood on the basis of how the subject's actions demonstrate their long-term awareness of already enacted and yet-to-be enacted scenarios. However, such behavioural focus has come at the expense of discussing the interdependent role of two equally important episodic hallmarks: 'memory structure' (mental representations), and 'memory flexibility' (adaptive choice-making). This paper provides a semiotic characterization of those less discussed hallmarks, in terms of the Peircean concept of virtual habit or the mental enactment of non-present episodes. It is argued that the behavioural expression of a 'memory content' (as object in a process of semiosis) cannot be accounted for without understanding the phenomenological or experiential support of memory structure (as a representamen), and the teleological or purposeful self-control of memory flexibility (as interpretant). Based on this, a new cognitive model of animal episodic memory is proposed, consisting of interrelated modalities called Virtualiter, Habitualiter, and Actualiter. Capitalizing on multispecies evidence, possible applications and new directions of the model are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the current study was to investigate whether response time measures on the Word Memory Test (WMT) increase predictive validity on determining noncredible neurocognitive dysfunction in a large sample of mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) litigants. Participants included 203 adults who underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological examination. Criterion groups were formed based upon their performance on stand-alone measures of cognitive performance validity (PVT). Participants failing PVTs exhibited significantly slower response times and lower accuracy on the WMT compared to participants who passed PVTs. Response time measures did not add significant incremental validity beyond that afforded by WMT accuracy measures alone. The best predictor of PVT status was the WMT Consistency Score (CNS) which was associated with an extremely large effect size (d = 16.44), followed by Immediate Recognition (IR: d = 10.68) and Delayed Recognition (DR: d = 10.10). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, an attempt was made to replicate results found about the influence of valence on prioritisation and decay in iconic memory. Hereby, the evaluative conditioning effect was used to induce valence for formerly neutral stimuli. The effect is gained by pairing neutral stimuli with either positive, negative, or neutral images in a conditioning phase. Afterwards, the conditioned stimuli acted as targets in an iconic memory test. In the iconic memory test, targets were presented together with seven other stimuli on a circular placement on the screen for a short time. A cue delayed by either 17, 68, 221, 493, or 1003 ms pointed at the target to be reported. Participants rated the targets before and after the conditioning phase. In addition, the affective and neutral images used in the pairing procedure were rated at the end of the experiment. While no significant change in rating could be observed for the conditioned targets, a significant effect of conditioned valence was still present in the response times and the accuracy of the iconic memory test. Participants reacted the quickest in response to a cue for positively conditioned targets compared to neutral or negatively conditioned targets. Accuracy was highest for positively conditioned targets and was lowest for negatively conditioned targets. Unlike in prior studies, slower decay of information in iconic memory for negative targets was not revealed. Further research should be conducted to identify reasons for this inconsistency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic facial professionals have been shown in previous studies to identify people from frontal face images more accurately than untrained participants when given 30 s per face pair. We tested whether this superiority holds in more challenging conditions. Two groups of forensic facial professionals (examiners, reviewers) and untrained participants were tested in three lab‐based tasks: other‐race face identification, disguised face identification, and face memory. For other‐race face identification, on same‐race faces, examiners were superior to controls; on different‐race identification, examiners and controls performed comparably. Examiners were superior to controls for impersonation disguise, but not consistently superior for evasion disguise. Examiners' performance on the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT+) was marginally better than reviewers and controls. We conclude that under laboratory‐style conditions, professional examiners' identification superiority does not generalize completely to other‐race and disguised faces. Future work should administer other‐race and disguise face identification tests that allow forensic professionals to follow methods and procedures they typically use in casework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to develop a simple self-administered screening tool for odor memory, which allowed users to self-test their olfactory function repeatedly even at home. Methods: One hundred and ten participants were recruited (30 men, age = 50.1 ± 9.9 years; 80 women, age = 47.1 ± 11.5 years); half of them were heathy volunteers, the other half were patients with olfactory dysfunction. Fifty-one healthy participants volunteered for a retest within an interval of a maximum of 14 days. Olfactory function was assessed using the extended Sniffin' Sticks test (SST) comprising tests for odor threshold, identification, and discrimination. All participants received the Novel Olfactory Sorting Task (NOST) which is based on the sorting of 12 matching pairs of odors involving olfactory and cognitive functions. After that, all participants rated questions related to their test performance and the practicability of the test. Results: Consistent with the previous literature, significant effects of age were found. Results showed an acceptable test-retest reliability and a satisfactory validity of the NOST. The NOST score not only had positive correlations with SST, but also was capable of differentiating severe hyposmia/anosmia from normosmia by the score of 5.5 (sensitivity of 76.2%, specificity of 77.6%). Conclusion: The present study showed the good reliability, validity, and possible clinical usefulness of the NOST. As a self-performed screening test, it can be comprehended and conducted easily, which may provide a quick and simple approach to obtaining a global estimation of olfactory and cognitive functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]