Research shows abnormal function of the pre-frontal cortex in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This cortex is involved in the control of executive functions related to planning and execution of goal-oriented strategies, working memory, inhibitions, cognitive flexibility, and selective attention. Selective attention involves focus on the target stimulus, ignoring competing distra...

The ancient Indian yoga text, Hatha Yoga Pradipika, describes six cleansing techniques. The objective of cleansing techniques is to purify and prepare the body for the practice of yoga postures, breath regulation, and meditation. Yogic visual concentration technique (trataka) is one of these techniques. A previous study showed an increase in critical flicker fusion (CFF) following yogic visual ...

Contents related to threat and associated cognitive processes are proposed to be the central characteristic of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) according to 'threat-relatedness hypothesis'. However, evidence for attention bias toward emotionally salient stimuli using the emotional Stroop test is equivocal. This discrepancy could be due to methodological issues, mainly differences in the lexi...

BACKGROUND Impulsivity as a tendency to act quickly without considering future consequences has been proposed as a dimensional factor in bipolar disorder. It can be measured using behavioral tasks and self-report questionnaires. Previous findings revealed patients to show worse performance on at least one behavioral measure of impulsivity. Additionally, self-reported impulsivity seems to be hig...

Cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease (PD) has received little attention to date and as such, there are currently very few treatment options available. The aim of the present study was to determine whether cognitive training might alleviate these cognitive symptoms and if so, whether such changes might be correlated with altered brain patterns. The performance of 10 PD patients and 10 pai...

BACKGROUND Several studies have reported the potential value of the dual-task concept during locomotion in clinical evaluation because cognitive decline is strongly associated with gait abnormalities. However, current dual-task tests appear to be insufficient for early diagnosis of cognitive impairment. METHODS Forty-nine subjects (young, old, with or without mild cognitive impairment) underw...

This paper presents a preliminary work on a new architecture of executive control (DUCCA), aimed at integration and extension of some leading approaches to executive control. We present DUCCA assumptions and operation and use the architecture to simulate a few effects observed in Stroop-like task, a hallmark test of how control deals with interference. The focus of DUCCA is on how strategical u...