Athanasia M Mowinckel | University of Oslo (original) (raw)
Papers by Athanasia M Mowinckel
Cognitive aging is accompanied by a range of structural and functional differences in the brain, ... more Cognitive aging is accompanied by a range of structural and functional differences in the brain, even in absence of neurodegenerative disease. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have reported increased bilateral activation during task performance in elderly participants compared to their younger counterparts, particularly in frontal regions. Alterations have also been observed in the functional architecture of the resting brain, suggesting that aging is associated with changes in the organization of the networks of the brain. However, previous studies have largely focused on the default mode network, and little is known about the effects of age on other resting state-networks (RSNs). The aim of the present study was to investigate age-differences in resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) using fMRI data obtained during rest from 238 healthy participants aged 21-80 years. Using independent component analysis (ICA) and dual-regression, the results revealed age-related increases in RSFC across a range of RSNs, including task-positive networks in frontal and parietal regions. In contrast, age-related reductions in the default mode network and occipital visual networks were observed. Furthermore, whereas the effects of age on the various RSNs were found independent of age-related decreases in grey matter volume, sex and subject motion, we report strong positive and widespread effects of estimated subject motion on the RSFC across RSNs. The results provide support for the notion of network-specific effects in aging, manifested as increased tonic activation of task-positive networks, supporting higher-order cognitive functions and cognitive control, along with reduced task-negative default mode network and sensory visual networks during rest. The present results also corroborate recent evidence of strong influence of subject motion on estimated functional connectivity measures and strongly suggest that studies using RSFC measures as imaging phenotypes should adjust for individual differences in in-scanner subject motion.
Journal of attention disorders, Jan 4, 2014
Deficient reward processing has gained attention as an important aspect of ADHD, but little is kn... more Deficient reward processing has gained attention as an important aspect of ADHD, but little is known about reward-based decision-making (DM) in adults with ADHD. This article summarizes research on DM in adult ADHD and contextualizes DM deficits by comparing them to attention deficits. Meta-analytic methods were used to calculate average effect sizes for different DM domains and continuous performance task (CPT) measures. None of the 59 included studies (DM: 12 studies; CPT: 43; both: 4) had indications of publication bias. DM and CPT measures showed robust, small to medium effects. Large effect sizes were found for a drift diffusion model analysis of the CPT. The results support the existence of DM deficits in adults with ADHD, which are of similar magnitude as attention deficits. These findings warrant further examination of DM in adults with ADHD to improve the understanding of underlying neurocognitive mechanisms.
Posters by Athanasia M Mowinckel
Impaired decision-making (DM) has received modest attention in adult ADHD. Tests of DM could prov... more Impaired decision-making (DM) has received modest attention in adult ADHD. Tests of DM could prove useful in diagnostics and advance the understanding of pathogenesis. To provide an overview of current DM research in adult ADHD, we conducted a meta-analysis for three DM domains (delayed reward (DR), risky DM and reinforcement learning (RL)) and for the continuous performance task (CPT) as a classical paradigm for ADHD.
Cognitive aging is accompanied by a range of structural and functional differences in the brain, ... more Cognitive aging is accompanied by a range of structural and functional differences in the brain, even in absence of neurodegenerative disease. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have reported increased bilateral activation during task performance in elderly participants compared to their younger counterparts, particularly in frontal regions. Alterations have also been observed in the functional architecture of the resting brain, suggesting that aging is associated with changes in the organization of the networks of the brain. However, previous studies have largely focused on the default mode network, and little is known about the effects of age on other resting state-networks (RSNs). The aim of the present study was to investigate age-differences in resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) using fMRI data obtained during rest from 238 healthy participants aged 21-80 years. Using independent component analysis (ICA) and dual-regression, the results revealed age-related increases in RSFC across a range of RSNs, including task-positive networks in frontal and parietal regions. In contrast, age-related reductions in the default mode network and occipital visual networks were observed. Furthermore, whereas the effects of age on the various RSNs were found independent of age-related decreases in grey matter volume, sex and subject motion, we report strong positive and widespread effects of estimated subject motion on the RSFC across RSNs. The results provide support for the notion of network-specific effects in aging, manifested as increased tonic activation of task-positive networks, supporting higher-order cognitive functions and cognitive control, along with reduced task-negative default mode network and sensory visual networks during rest. The present results also corroborate recent evidence of strong influence of subject motion on estimated functional connectivity measures and strongly suggest that studies using RSFC measures as imaging phenotypes should adjust for individual differences in in-scanner subject motion.
Journal of attention disorders, Jan 4, 2014
Deficient reward processing has gained attention as an important aspect of ADHD, but little is kn... more Deficient reward processing has gained attention as an important aspect of ADHD, but little is known about reward-based decision-making (DM) in adults with ADHD. This article summarizes research on DM in adult ADHD and contextualizes DM deficits by comparing them to attention deficits. Meta-analytic methods were used to calculate average effect sizes for different DM domains and continuous performance task (CPT) measures. None of the 59 included studies (DM: 12 studies; CPT: 43; both: 4) had indications of publication bias. DM and CPT measures showed robust, small to medium effects. Large effect sizes were found for a drift diffusion model analysis of the CPT. The results support the existence of DM deficits in adults with ADHD, which are of similar magnitude as attention deficits. These findings warrant further examination of DM in adults with ADHD to improve the understanding of underlying neurocognitive mechanisms.
Impaired decision-making (DM) has received modest attention in adult ADHD. Tests of DM could prov... more Impaired decision-making (DM) has received modest attention in adult ADHD. Tests of DM could prove useful in diagnostics and advance the understanding of pathogenesis. To provide an overview of current DM research in adult ADHD, we conducted a meta-analysis for three DM domains (delayed reward (DR), risky DM and reinforcement learning (RL)) and for the continuous performance task (CPT) as a classical paradigm for ADHD.