HARP-Project 1 Cognitive Training

Emerging evidence from social neuroscience suggests that prefrontal cortex (PFC), insular and
anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) regulate social and emotional responses to acute threats to
social connectedness among young adults. Deficient neural reserve or overused neural
compensation resulting from neurodegeneration is commonly observed in these frontal regions
in old age. This aging-related "neural depletion" may have implications for how older adults
respond to social threats, potentially increasing maladaptive emotional and social behavioral
responses, such as social anxiety and social avoidance, which contribute to social
disconnectedness. The central hypothesis is that cognitive deficits and associated
aging-related 'neural depletion' in the frontal regions will contribute to maladaptive
social-emotional responses to a social stressor -- social exclusion. Ultimately, maladaptive
responses to acute social stress, such as social anxiety and avoidance, can compromise social
connectedness by increasing social strain and isolation. The investigators have recently
developed a neuroplasticity-based cognitive training program, called vision-based speed of
processing (VSOP) training, targeting multiple aspects of cognitive capacity (e.g.,
attention, working memory and inhibition) and incorporating the speed component to improve
the efficiency of these cognitive processes. VSOP training also targets several neural
networks seeded in ACC and insular (default mode network) or PFC (the frontal-striatal
network and central executive network). These networks also overlap with neural substrates of
emotion regulation. Notably, VSOP training appears to improve emotion regulation, as
depressive symptoms were reduced in older adults following VSOP training. Finally, the
autonomic nervous system (ANS), critical to stress adaptation, is regulated by these frontal
regions. The objective of the proposed pilot study is to provide proof-of-concept for the
hypothesis that improvements in older adults' cognitive capacity, frontal regions' neural
efficiency, and ANS function via the VSOP training will be associated with more adaptive
social-emotional response to social exclusion, which, in turn, should confer longer-term
protection for older adults' sense of social connectedness. Randomized Controlled Trial
Design: 30 older adults will be randomly assigned to engage in 6-week VSOP training, or to an
active control group. Differential changes from baseline to post-training in cognitive
capacity, neural efficiency, and ANS function, and sense of social connectedness, will be
compared between VSOP control groups. A social exclusion paradigm ('cyberball' task) will be
conducted post-training to evaluate VSOP training effects on social-emotional responses to
social exclusion, including anxiety and motivation for social affiliation.