Repository logo

Browsing by Author "Paiva, Tiago"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Effects of working memory training on depressive symptoms and frontal alpha asymmetry: a pilot study
    Publication . Campos, Carlos; Paiva, Tiago; Ribeiro, Luís; Tripologos, Sofia; Barbosa, Fernando; Tavares, Diana; Rocha, Nuno
    To assess the effects of working memory training (WMT) on depressive symptoms and frontal alpha asymmetry of young adults with moderate-severe depression. : 30 participants were randomly allocated to the WMT or control groups. Two subjects dropped out and one participant was excluded from EEG analysis.The WMT group completed 5 sessions of automatically adjusted n-back training (starting from 2-back) and the control group only performed 1-back trials. Main outcome measures were self reported depressive symptoms and frontal alpha asymmetry (pre- and post-training). There was a significant time*group interaction for self-reported depression (p = .047, ηp² = .144) and F4-F3 alpha asymmetry (p = .043, ηp² = .153). Post-hoc analysis revealed significant improvements in depression on the WMT group (p < .001) and non-significant findings regarding F4-F3 alpha asymmetry. There was no significant interaction for F8-F7 alpha asymmetry (p = .115, ηp² = .096). WMT may be an effective tool to reduce depressive symptoms. Frontal alpha asymmetry should be explored as a neurophysiological outcome measure of cognitive training efficacy.
    2019-05Conference object Open access Show more
  • Exposure to traumatic events and the electroencephalographic response to aversive conditioning paradigms
    Publication . Mendes, Priscila; Dores, Artemisa R.; Paiva, Tiago; Geraldo, Andreia,; Barbosa, Fernando
    Exposure to traumatic experiences can lead to significant behavioral and emotional changes, namely to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The Late Positive Potential (LPP) is the event-related potential most consensually referred as a neural correlate of this phenomena. Despite that, a lack of scientific evidence is still noticeable regarding the contribution of the Contingent Negative Variation (CNV) to its comprehension. We intended to explore the relation between the occurrence of traumatic events and the amplitude of the CNV and the LPP event-related potentials. Thirty-four university students participated in the study. All participants completed the Life Experience Survey (LES) and participated in an experiment with EEG recording. In this experiment, the participants were exposed to two aversive conditioning protocols: one with auditory stimuli and the other with facial expressions of anger, both as aversive stimuli. Significant results were found for the conditioning effect of the aversive conditioning protocol with the auditory stimuli, and also to its extinction. The results show a greater sensitivity of the LPP when compared to the CNV for the discrimination between conditioned and unconditioned stimuli. This highlights a stronger association of the LPP with aversive anticipation, which can influence the methodological design of future studies.
    2019-05Conference object Open access Show more