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- 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).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.