Christine Lackner
Permanent URI for this community
My research combines methods of developmental psychology and neuroscience to study individual differences in self-regulation and executive functioning during adolescence and early adulthood. These are times of major development to these skills and times when extensive individual differences can be observed. I record event-related potentials (ERPs) from participants’ scalps while they perform simple computer tasks. Furthermore, I focus on how these neural measures can help explain some of the wide variation in individuals’ behavior. For example, why some adolescents consistently engage in dangerous behaviour, while others sail through adolescence without any trouble at all. This is not to say that environmental factors (e.g., family, peers, etc.) do not play a role in these individual differences; in fact, they play a large role! Recently I have been focusing on how adverse childhood experiences (e.g., abuse, death of a loved one, experiencing a natural disaster) and racial stressors (e.g., prejudice and discrimination) can have lasting impact on brain and cognition. Notably, these environmental factors can simultaneously influence both the neural factors and the behavioural outcomes. The complex relationships among all of these variables are not overlooked in my research.
Additionally, together with my colleague Noémie Bergeron-Germain and several student investigators, I am passionate about increasing diversity in EEG research by expanding our traditionally used ways of EEG data collection which end up systematically excluding folks with curly and coiled hair.
Browse
Browsing Christine Lackner by Title
Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- ItemCognitive Event-Related Potentials in Young Adults With Cerebral Palsy: A Proof-of-Concept Study(Sage, 2024) Lackner, Christine L.; Gorter, Jan Willem; Segalowitz, Sidney J.; MyStory Study GroupCerebral palsy (CP) is a movement and posture disorder often accompanied by cognitive difficulties which can be assessed using event-related potentials (ERPs), an often-overlooked tool in this population. Here we describe our assessment protocol, examine its feasibility, and validate the use of single-subject ERP analyses in adolescents and young adults with CP, an analysis approach which recognizes the heterogeneity of the clinical population. This study involved a final sample of 9 adolescents/young adults with CP participating in the “MyStory” study (age range 16-29 years, Mage = 25.0 years; 6 female; Gross Motor Function Classification System level I [n = 4], II [n = 2], III [n = 1], IV [n = 1], and V [n = 1]). ERP components were elicited over medial prefrontal and central cortex (error- and correct-related negativities [ERN/CRN], error-positivity [Pe], N100, P200, N200, P300), as well as those generated over occipital cortex (P100, N170). Group and single-subject ERP statistics were computed for ERPs recorded over both areas. Using recently developed data analysis methods (independent components analysis and robust bootstrapped single-subject statistics), we measured the number of participants demonstrating significant condition differences at the timing of each ERP component of interest. We demonstrate good validity for ERPs recorded during 2 of our 3 tasks eliciting frontal activation (eg, 4 of 6 participants with usable data showed a significant single-subject medial frontal negativity condition difference in a context-switching task) and good validity for ERPs derived from a task engaging occipital regions (eg, 8 of 9 participants each showed a significant N170 face-object condition effect).
- ItemDemographic, psychological, and experiential correlates of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination intentions in a sample of Canadian families(Elsevier, 2021) Lackner, Christine L.; Wang, Charles H.The COVID-19 pandemic has been ongoing for close to a year, with second waves occurring presently and many viewing vaccine uptake as the most likely way to curb successive waves and promote herd immunity. Reaching herd immunity status likely necessitates that children, as well as their parents, receive a vaccine targeting SARS-CoV-2. In this exploratory study, we investigated the demographic, experiential, and psychological factors associated with the anticipated likelihood and speed of having children receive a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in a sample of 455 Canadian families (858 children; parents’ mean age = 38.2 ± 6.82 years). Using linear mixed-effects and proportional odds logistic regression models, we demonstrated that older parental age, living in the Prairies (relative to Central Canada), more complete child vaccination history, and a greater tendency to prioritise the risks of the disease relative to the risks of side effects (i.e. lower omission bias) were associated with higher likelihoods of intention to vaccinate participants’ children, with trend-level associations with lower perceived danger of the vaccine and higher psychological avoidance of the pandemic. Faster speed of intended vaccination was predicted by a similar constellation of variables with an additional predictor of a child in the family having a COVID-19 related health risk being associated with slower intended speed. Results are discussed concerning public health knowledge mobilisation and the unique Canadian health landscape.
- ItemDoes Anxiety Enhance or Hinder Attentional and Impulse Control in Youth With ADHD? An ERP Analysis(Sage, 2017) Klymkiw, Deanna F.; Milligan, Karen; Lackner, Christine; Phillips, Marjory; Schmidt, Louis A.; Segalowitz, Sidney J.Objective: Youth with ADHD and comorbid anxiety (ADHD+ANX) experience increased social and academic impairment compared with youth with ADHD without anxiety (ADHD). Group differences in attentional and impulse control may underlie this increased impairment. Examination of group differences using behavioral measures of attentional and impulse control has yielded inconsistent findings. This study explored group differences using event-related potentials (ERPs), which provide neural information concerning early information processing. Method: ERPs (early frontal positivity [EFP], N2) were collected while youth aged 11 to 17 with ADHD (n = 31) and ADHD+ANX (n = 35) completed a visual and an auditory computer task. Results: Compared with the ADHD group, the ADHD+ANX group exhibited larger N2 amplitudes to no-go stimuli and larger EFP amplitudes to target auditory stimuli, with variable attention allocation to nontarget stimuli. Conclusion: The addition of anxiety to ADHD appears to alter early attentional processing, which may be an important aspect of this comorbidity.
- ItemPerinatal nicotine exposure relates to stimulus-locked event-related potentials in early adolescence during an emotional go/no-go task(Elsevier, 2023) Lackner, Christine L.; Thompson, Bailey; Santesso, Diane L.; Wade, Terrance J.; Segalowitz, Sidney J.Nicotine exposure is associated with negative consequences on the developing brain, both in utero and after birth. We investigated the relationship between perinatal nicotine exposure and electroencephalographic brain activity recorded during an emotional faces Go/No-Go task among adolescents. Seventy-one adolescents aged 12–15 years completed a Go/No-Go task using fearful and happy faces. Parents completed questionnaire measures of their child's temperament and self-regulation and retrospectively reported on nicotine exposure during the perinatal period. Perinatally exposed children (n = 20) showed increased and prolonged frontal event-related potential (ERP) differentiation in stimulus-locked analyses; that is, greater emotion and condition differentiation in comparison with their non-exposed peers (n = 51). However, non-exposed children showed greater late emotion differentiation recorded over posterior sites. Response-locked ERP differences were not found. ERP effects were not related to temperamental, self-regulatory, or parental education and income-related factors. This study is the first to demonstrate a relationship between perinatal nicotine exposure and ERPs in an emotional Go/No-Go task among adolescents. Findings suggest that while conflict detection remains intact for adolescents with perinatal nicotine exposure, their attentional allocation to behaviourally relevant stimuli may be magnified to beyond optimal levels, particularly when emotion is salient in information processing. Future studies can extend these findings by isolating prenatal nicotine exposure and comparing its effects to isolated postnatal exposure and clarifying the implications of the face and performance processing differences in adolescence.
- ItemPredictors of Intention to Vaccinate or Continue to Vaccinate Children Against SARS-CoV-2 During the Fifth Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the USA(Sage, 2023) Lackner, Christine L.; Wang, Charles H.The Centre for Disease Control recommends vaccination of children against SARS-CoV-2 to reduce the severity of COVID-19 disease and reduce the likelihood of associated complications. Vaccination of children requires the consent of parents or guardians, and levels of consent may ebb and flow over the course of the pandemic. This exploratory study examines predictors of parental intentions to vaccinate their children and the speed with which they would have them vaccinated during the fifth wave of the pandemic when vaccines were just being approved for use in children using a convenience sample of 641 parents reporting on 962 children. Multi-level regression analyses demonstrated regional differences in likelihood, with those in the Northeast reporting higher likelihood than those in the West. Parents with a conservative belief system were less likely to want to have their children vaccinated. Parents were more likely to have their child vaccinated if the child had COVID-19-related health risks, their child had a more complete vaccination history, and COVID-19 was perceived to be a greater threat to oneself and one’s family. Faster intended vaccination speed was associated with regional urbanicity, liberal belief systems, more complete vaccination histories, and parental COVID-19 vaccination history. Higher levels of parental anxiety and lower levels of perceived vaccine danger were associated with increased speed. The severity of the COVID-19 pandemic within one’s county was marginally related to speed, but not likelihood. These results underscore the importance of regular assessment of parental intentions across the pandemic, for practitioners to probe parental anxiety levels when discussing vaccination, to explicitly address risk/benefit analyses when communicating with parents, and to target previously routine unvaccinated parents and those in more rural areas to increase vaccine uptake. Comparisons are made with Galanis et al.’s (2022) recent meta-analysis on the topic.
- ItemTime Spent in Canada and Ethnic Identity Moderate the Relationship Between Race-Based Traumatic Stress Symptoms and Cognitive and Emotional Processes(Healthy Populations Institute, 2024) Bergeron-Germain, Noémie; Hickens, Nicholas; Lackner, ChristineIntroduction: Racial stress is a form of race-based stress triggered by real or perceived discriminatory racial encounters experienced directly or vicariously. Racial stress symptoms resemble post-traumatic stress disorder, which is linked to significant cognitive and emotional disturbances. Objectives: This study investigated the relationship between racial stress symptoms and executive functioning. It explored the moderating effects of potentially protective factors like racial socialization processes, ethnic identity, and proportion of time spent in Canada (PTSC). Methods: Seventy-three participants (M = 29.01 years, SD = 11.10 years; 42 women, 30 men, and one non-binary) were recruited through purposive and convenience sampling and subsequently completed online measures of racial stress, executive functioning (EF), ethnic identity, and racial socialization. Demographic data were also collected. Results: About 20% of participants reported clinically significant symptoms in at least one racial stress domain. Racial stress, executive functioning, and racial socialization were significantly associated. Ethnic identity and racial socialization were significantly associated. Ethnic identity and PTSC moderated the relationship between racial stress and EF in such a way that lower levels of ethnic identity and higher PTSC, respectively, predicted a worse effect of racial stress on two domains of EF. Conclusion: Racialized individuals experience high levels of racial socialization. Although there are differences in those levels across and within minoritized communities, these high levels of racial stress likely lead to executive dysfunction akin to traditional stress. Environmental variables like minority status and high rates of discrimination likely contribute to this association. Specific aspects of the psychological impact of racial discrimination on EF are moderated by PTSC and ethnic identity.