Metabolic syndrome is a constellation of vascular and metabolic risk factors that frequently occur in combination, including obesity, raised triglycerides, reduced HDL cholesterol, raised blood pressure, and raised fasting plasma glucose, with the presence of 3 out of 5 risk factors constituting a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is associated with increased rates of mortality and increased risk for developing dementia. Changes in brain structure and cognitive functioning have been reported within the literature. However, research examining cognitive performance in individuals with metabolic syndrome is limited, inconclusive and focuses primarily on older cohorts. As such, the effect of metabolic syndrome on cognitive functioning earlier in the lifespan is unclear. This study aimed to investigate cognitive performance in young, middle-aged, and older adults with multiple metabolic and vascular risk factors in a sample of 91 community dwelling participants. The following tests were administered: Dementia Rating Scale, Mini-Mental State Exam, reading subtest from the Wide Ranged Achievement Test-4, Digit Span from the Wechsler Memory Scale-III, Boston Naming Test-2 (BNT), Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMT -R), California Verbal Learning Test-II (CLVT-II), and several tests from the D-KEFS (Trail Making Test, Verbal Fluency, Design Fluency, and Color-Word Interference Test). As expected, older adults performed more poorly than young and middle-aged adults on measures of information processing speed, attention, memory, and executive functioning. Individuals with metabolic syndrome self-report greater disinhibited eating relative to normal controls. Additionally, individuals with metabolic syndrome performed more poorly on figural memory and figural fluency. These findings suggest that aspects of higher-order, executive functions of visuospatial processing are impaired in metabolic syndrome. Given that individuals with metabolic syndrome had significantly greater self-reported disinihibited eating and performed more poorly on higher-order measures of visuospatial processing (e.g., memory, initiation, planning, multitasking, inhibition), future studies aimed at investigating potential causal relationships between metabolic syndrome, disinhibited eating, and executive dysfunction may provide insight into effective intervention targets to delay or prevent metabolic syndrome. Last, results indicated that incorporating measures of visuospatial abilities in future studies would improve the characterization of cognitive declines in individuals with metabolic syndrome

The ability to pay close attention to the present moment can be a crucial factor for performing well in a competitive situation. Training mindfulness is one approach to potentially improve elite athletes' ability to focus their attention on the present moment. However, virtually nothing is known about whether these types of interventions alter neural systems that are important for optimal performance. This pilot study examined whether an intervention aimed at improving mindfulness [Mindful Performance Enhancement, Awareness and Knowledge (mPEAK)] changes neural activation patterns during an interoceptive challenge. Participants completed a task involving anticipation and experience of loaded breathing during functional magnetic resonance imaging recording. There were five main results following mPEAK training: (1) elite athletes self-reported higher levels of interoceptive awareness and mindfulness and lower levels of alexithymia; (2) greater insula and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) activation during anticipation and post-breathing load conditions; (3) increased ACC activation during the anticipation condition was associated with increased scores on the describing subscale of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire; (4) increased insula activation during the post-load condition was associated with decreases in the Toronto Alexithymia Scale identifying feelings subscale; (5) decreased resting state functional connectivity between the PCC and the right medial frontal cortex and the ACC. Taken together, this pilot study suggests that mPEAK training may lead to increased attention to bodily signals and greater neural processing during the anticipation and recovery from interoceptive perturbations. This association between attention to and processing of interoceptive afferents may result in greater adaptation during stressful situations in elite athletes.

This study examined neural processes of resilience during aversive interoceptive processing. Forty-six individuals were divided into three groups of resilience Low (LowRes), high (HighRes), and normal (NormRes), based on the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (2003). Participants then completed a task involving anticipation and experience of loaded breathing during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) recording. Compared to HighRes and NormRes groups, LowRes self-reported lower levels of interoceptive awareness and demonstrated higher insular and thalamic activation across anticipation and breathing load conditions. Thus, individuals with lower resilience show reduced attention to bodily signals but greater neural processing to aversive bodily perturbations. In low resilient individuals, this mismatch between attention to and processing of interoceptive afferents may result in poor adaptation in stressful situations.