irritable bowel syndrome (ibs) is one of the most common causes of abdominal pain, diarrhea, and constipation. this disorder results in numerous clinic visits. ibs is a health problem with a high social and economic burden due to the lack of an effective treatment. its etiology consists of biological, psychological and social factors. there is increasing evidence that psychotherapy, in particul...

Although stroke affects cognitive functioning as well as motor functioning, research on cognitive consequences has lagged behind that focused on motor function. The evidence that is accruing suggests that cognitive function is importantly related to successful rehabilitation. The present study examined two aspects of attentional functioning (divided attention and switching attention) in older a...

The attentional blink (AB) refers to the impairment in consciously perceiving the second of two targets presented in close temporal proximity (200 – 500ms) in a rapid serial visual presentation paradigm. The present paper is a preliminary report describing a conceptual and partially computational model of the AB based on the LIDA (Learning Intelligent Distribution Agent) cognitive architecture....

The present study examined everyday attentional disengagements in educational contexts. Undergraduate students completed various cognitive ability measures in the laboratory and recorded everyday mind-wandering and distraction in a diary over the course of a week. Participants reported mind-wandering and being distracted both in class and while studying and there were a number of different subt...

Earlier studies have demonstrated that emotional stimulation modulates attentional processing during goal-directed behavior and related activity of a brain network including the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the caudate nucleus. However, it is not clear how emotional interference modulates behavior and brain physiology during variation in attentional control, a relevant question for everyday...

Interference effects on threat words in anxious subjects on the emotional Stroop task have generally been interpreted as evidence for mood-congruent attentional bias in anxiety states. However, several recent studies have yielded results that run contrary to this attentional bias explanation. The most important of these conflicting findings show that: (1) panic disorder patients displayed inter...

More than one-third of all people are estimated to experience mild to severe cognitive impairment as they age. Acetylcholine (ACh) levels in the brain diminish with aging, and nicotinic ACh receptor (nAChR) stimulation is known to enhance cognitive performance. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is involved in a range of cognitive functions and is thought to mediate attentional focus. We found that mi...

Auditory training (AT) is a set of strategies applied to develop or improve auditory abilities. Two mechanisms are involved in auditory processing: neurocognitive mechanisms of the acoustic signal itself, which are responsible for the discrimination and recognition of a specific function (‘‘bottom-up’’ processes), and attentional processes involving phenomena such as attention and memory (‘‘top...

This paper describes a 17-year-old boy who was diagnosed with Klinefelter syndrome (KS) (XXY) at the age of 16 years. Although cognitive level was absolutely normal, he showed attentional difficulties that negatively affected school adjustment. He was successfully treated with methylphenidate. A significant improvement was observed in the ADHD Rating Scale IV and in the inattention subscale sco...

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), although considered a childhood-onset neurodevelopmental condition, is nevertheless a frequent and disabling condition in adults. A proportion of such patients are not diagnosed during childhood or adolescence, as diagnosis of the syndrome is rather complex, especially when other psychiatric, neurological or other neurodevelopmental conditions ar...