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Bochud-Fragnière E, Lonchampt G, Bittolo P, Ehrensperger G, Circelli AR, Antonicelli N, Costanzo F, Menghini D, Vicari S, Banta Lavenex P, Lavenex P. Why do individuals with Williams syndrome or Down syndrome fail the Weather Prediction Task? Dev Psychobiol 2024; 66:e22503. [PMID: 38807263 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2023] [Revised: 04/16/2024] [Accepted: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 05/30/2024]
Abstract
Williams syndrome (WS) and Down syndrome (DS) are two neurodevelopmental disorders with distinct genetic origins characterized by mild to moderate intellectual disability. Individuals with WS or DS exhibit impaired hippocampus-dependent place learning and enhanced striatum-dependent spatial response learning. Here, we used the Weather Prediction Task (WPT), which can be solved using hippocampus- or striatum-dependent learning strategies, to determine whether individuals with WS or DS exhibit similar profiles outside the spatial domain. Only 10% of individuals with WS or DS solved the WPT. We further assessed whether a concurrent memory task could promote reliance on procedural learning to solve the WPT in individuals with WS but found that the concurrent task did not improve performance. To understand how the probabilistic cue-outcome associations influences WPT performance, and whether individuals with WS or DS can ignore distractors, we assessed performance using a visual learning task with differing reward contingencies, and a modified WPT with unpredictive cues. Both probabilistic feedback and distractors negatively impacted the performance of individuals with WS or DS. These findings are consistent with deficits in hippocampus-dependent learning and executive functions, and reveal the importance of congruent feedback and the minimization of distractors to optimize learning in these two populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emilie Bochud-Fragnière
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Development, Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Gianni Lonchampt
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Development, Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Paola Bittolo
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Development, Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Giada Ehrensperger
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Development, Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | | | - Nicole Antonicelli
- Department of Neuroscience, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy
| | - Floriana Costanzo
- Department of Neuroscience, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy
| | - Deny Menghini
- Department of Neuroscience, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy
| | - Stefano Vicari
- Department of Neuroscience, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy
- Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Catholic University, Rome, Italy
| | - Pamela Banta Lavenex
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Development, Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Faculty of Psychology, UniDistance Suisse, Brig, Switzerland
| | - Pierre Lavenex
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Development, Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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2
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Brkić D, Ng-Cordell E, O'Brien S, Martin J, Scerif G, Astle D, Baker K. [Formula: see text]FarmApp: a new assessment of cognitive control and memory for children and young people with neurodevelopmental difficulties. Child Neuropsychol 2022; 28:1097-1115. [PMID: 35332845 DOI: 10.1080/09297049.2022.2054968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
We introduce a new touchscreen-based method measuring aspects of cognitive control and memory, in children and young people with neurodevelopmental difficulties, including intellectual disability (ID). FarmApp is a gamified, tablet-based assessment tool measuring go/no-go response speed, response inhibition, visuospatial short-term memory span, and long-term memory. Here, we assessed the feasibility, validity, and utility of the method, including the benefits of measuring change in performance over two weeks. We observed that: 1) a higher proportion of participants completed FarmApp than traditional psychometric tests; 2) this proportion increased when participants had opportunity for two weeks of self-paced testing at home; 3) ADHD-relevant behavioral difficulties were associated with average go/no-go performance across all attempts, and change in go/no-go performance over time, indicating sensitivity of the method to cognitive differences with real-world relevance. We also addressed the potential utility of the FarmApp for exploring links between ID etiology and cognitive processes. We observed differences in go/no-go task between two groups of ID participants stratified by the physiological functions of associated genetic variants (chromatin-related and synaptic-related). Moreover, the synaptic group demonstrated higher degree of improvement in go/no-go performance over time. This outcome is potentially informative of dynamic mechanisms contributing to cognitive difficulties within this group. In sum, FarmApp is a feasible, valid, and useful tool increasing access to cognitive assessment for individuals with neurodevelopmental difficulties of variable severity, with an added opportunity to monitor variation in performance over time and determine capacity to acquire task competence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diandra Brkić
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Elise Ng-Cordell
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.,Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Sinéad O'Brien
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Jessica Martin
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.,Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Gaia Scerif
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Duncan Astle
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Kate Baker
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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3
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Evaluación neuropsicológica en niños con trastornos del neurodesarrollo. REVISTA MÉDICA CLÍNICA LAS CONDES 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.rmclc.2022.07.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
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4
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Chua B, Neoh M, Jeon M, Joyce A, Iandolo G, Hayton J, Esposito G, Dimitriou D. Impact of sleep on attention in primary school-aged autistic children: Exploratory cross-cultural comparison between Singapore and UK children. RESEARCH IN DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2022; 128:104271. [PMID: 35759855 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2022.104271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2022] [Revised: 05/17/2022] [Accepted: 05/28/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND There is a growing body of research studying the impact sleep has on attention among typically developing (TD) children, but research is lacking among autistic children. AIMS The present study aimed to explore, for the first time, differences in (1) attention, (2) sleep parameters among primary school-aged Singaporean autistic children (N = 26) and Singaporean TD children (N = 20), and with UK autistic (N = 11) and UK TD children (N = 16), and (3) the impact of sleep on attention. METHODS AND PROCEDURES Actigraphy was used to objectively assess sleep, and a Continuous Performance Task was used to measure attentional domains. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS There were inconclusive findings indicating that autistic children had poorer sustained attention than TD children. Although autistic children did not display more sleep difficulties than TD children, they showed shorter actual sleep duration (Singapore ASD = 7:00 h, UK ASD = 7:35 h, p < .01) and longer sleep latency (Singapore ASD = 30:15 min, UK ASD = 60:00 min, p < .01) than clinical recommendations. Sleep difficulties were also present among Singaporean and UK TD children. Both TD groups had less actual sleep duration than recommended (Singapore TD = 6:32 h, UK TD = 8:07 h). Singaporean TD children had sleep efficiency below recommended criterion (78.15%). Sleep impacted attention across all groups, but effects were different for autistic and TD groups. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS The study highlighted the importance for practitioners and carers to adopt a child-centred approach to assessing sleep and attentional difficulties, especially among autistic children due to the high variability in performance within the group. The impact of cultural and school-setting differences on sleep was also raised.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beatrice Chua
- Sleep Education and Research Laboratory, UCL Institute of Education, London, UK
| | - Michelle Neoh
- Psychology Program, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Mina Jeon
- Sleep Education and Research Laboratory, UCL Institute of Education, London, UK
| | - Anna Joyce
- Sleep Education and Research Laboratory, UCL Institute of Education, London, UK; Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Coventry University, UK
| | - Giuseppe Iandolo
- Department of Psychology, School of Biomedical Sciences, European University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain; Observation and Functional Diagnosis Division, PSISE Clinical and Developmental Psychological Service, Madrid, Spain
| | - Jessica Hayton
- Sleep Education and Research Laboratory, UCL Institute of Education, London, UK
| | - Gianluca Esposito
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Dagmara Dimitriou
- Sleep Education and Research Laboratory, UCL Institute of Education, London, UK.
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5
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Asano R, Boeckx C, Fujita K. Moving beyond domain-specific vs. domain-general options in cognitive neuroscience. Cortex 2022; 154:259-268. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.05.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2021] [Revised: 04/07/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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6
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Santana CP, de Carvalho EA, Rodrigues ID, Bastos GS, de Souza AD, de Brito LL. rs-fMRI and machine learning for ASD diagnosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sci Rep 2022; 12:6030. [PMID: 35411059 PMCID: PMC9001715 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-09821-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2021] [Accepted: 03/23/2022] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis is still based on behavioral criteria through a lengthy and time-consuming process. Much effort is being made to identify brain imaging biomarkers and develop tools that could facilitate its diagnosis. In particular, using Machine Learning classifiers based on resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) data is promising, but there is an ongoing need for further research on their accuracy and reliability. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize the available evidence in the literature so far. A bivariate random-effects meta-analytic model was implemented to investigate the sensitivity and specificity across the 55 studies that offered sufficient information for quantitative analysis. Our results indicated overall summary sensitivity and specificity estimates of 73.8% and 74.8%, respectively. SVM stood out as the most used classifier, presenting summary estimates above 76%. Studies with bigger samples tended to obtain worse accuracies, except in the subgroup analysis for ANN classifiers. The use of other brain imaging or phenotypic data to complement rs-fMRI information seems promising, achieving higher sensitivities when compared to rs-fMRI data alone (84.7% versus 72.8%). Finally, our analysis showed AUC values between acceptable and excellent. Still, given the many limitations indicated in our study, further well-designed studies are warranted to extend the potential use of those classification algorithms to clinical settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caio Pinheiro Santana
- Institute of Systems Engineering and Information Technology, Federal University of Itajubá (UNIFEI), Itajubá, 37500-903, Brazil.
| | - Emerson Assis de Carvalho
- Institute of Systems Engineering and Information Technology, Federal University of Itajubá (UNIFEI), Itajubá, 37500-903, Brazil
- Department of Computing, Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of South of Minas Gerais (IFSULDEMINAS), Machado, 37750-000, Brazil
| | - Igor Duarte Rodrigues
- Institute of Systems Engineering and Information Technology, Federal University of Itajubá (UNIFEI), Itajubá, 37500-903, Brazil
| | - Guilherme Sousa Bastos
- Institute of Systems Engineering and Information Technology, Federal University of Itajubá (UNIFEI), Itajubá, 37500-903, Brazil
| | - Adler Diniz de Souza
- Institute of Mathematics and Computation, Federal University of Itajubá (UNIFEI), Itajubá, 37500-903, Brazil
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7
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Rinaldi P, Pasqualetti P, Volterra V, Caselli MC. Gender differences in early stages of language development. Some evidence and possible explanations. J Neurosci Res 2021; 101:643-653. [PMID: 34240751 DOI: 10.1002/jnr.24914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2020] [Revised: 05/20/2021] [Accepted: 06/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
It is a common feeling that girls speak earlier than boys; however, whether or not there are gender differences in early language acquisition remains controversial. The present paper aims to review the research on gender effects in early language acquisition and development, to determine whether, and from which age, an advantage for girls does eventually emerge. The focus is on the production of actions and communicative gestures, and early lexical comprehension and production, by girls and boys. The data from various studies that were conducted with direct and indirect tools suggest that some gender differences in actions, gesture, and lexical development depend on the interactions of different factors. Studies differ in terms of age ranges, sample sizes, and tools used, and the girl advantage is often slight and/or not evident at all ages considered. Statistical significance for gender differences appears to depend on the greater individual variability among boys, with respect to girls, which results in a greater number of boys classified as children with poor verbal ability. Biological (e.g., different maturational rates), neuropsychological (e.g., different cognitive strategies in solving tasks), and cultural (e.g., differences in the way parents relate socially to boys and girls) factors appear to interact, to create feedback loops of mutual reinforcement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pasquale Rinaldi
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, Italian National Research Council, Rome, Italy
| | - Patrizio Pasqualetti
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, Italian National Research Council, Rome, Italy.,Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Virginia Volterra
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, Italian National Research Council, Rome, Italy
| | - Maria Cristina Caselli
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, Italian National Research Council, Rome, Italy
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8
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Asano R. The evolution of hierarchical structure building capacity for language and music: a bottom-up perspective. Primates 2021; 63:417-428. [PMID: 33839984 PMCID: PMC9463250 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-021-00905-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2020] [Accepted: 03/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
A central property of human language is its hierarchical structure. Humans can flexibly combine elements to build a hierarchical structure expressing rich semantics. A hierarchical structure is also considered as playing a key role in many other human cognitive domains. In music, auditory-motor events are combined into hierarchical pitch and/or rhythm structure expressing affect. How did such a hierarchical structure building capacity evolve? This paper investigates this question from a bottom-up perspective based on a set of action-related components as a shared basis underlying cognitive capacities of nonhuman primates and humans. Especially, I argue that the evolution of hierarchical structure building capacity for language and music is tractable for comparative evolutionary study once we focus on the gradual elaboration of shared brain architecture: the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuits for hierarchical control of goal-directed action and the dorsal pathways for hierarchical internal models. I suggest that this gradual elaboration of the action-related brain architecture in the context of vocal control and tool-making went hand in hand with amplification of working memory, and made the brain ready for hierarchical structure building in language and music.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rie Asano
- Systematic Musicology, Institute of Musicology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
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9
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Van Herwegen J, Rundblad G. A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Study of Novel Metaphor and Metonymy Comprehension in Children, Adolescents, and Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder. Front Psychol 2018; 9:945. [PMID: 29942276 PMCID: PMC6004412 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2018] [Accepted: 05/23/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies have shown that comprehension of figurative language is impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, most studies have focused on lexicalized expressions and have only examined performance at one particular point in time, without examining how performance changes over development. The current study examined the comprehension of novel metaphor and metonymy in individuals with ASDs from a large age range, using both a cross-sectional (Experiment 1) and longitudinal design (Experiment 2). Performance in the ASD group was lower compared to typically developing (TD) controls, across all ages. Importantly, the results from Experiments 1 and 2 showed that, although chronological age was not a good predictor for performance of either novel metaphor or metonymy in the cross-sectional design, performance improved when longitudinal data was considered. Correlations between vocabulary knowledge, visuo-spatial abilities and figurative language comprehension abilities were also explored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jo Van Herwegen
- Department of Psychology, Kingston University London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Gabriella Rundblad
- School of Education, Communication and Society, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
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10
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Bostelmann M, Fragnière E, Costanzo F, Di Vara S, Menghini D, Vicari S, Lavenex P, Lavenex PB. Dissociation of spatial memory systems in Williams syndrome. Hippocampus 2017; 27:1192-1203. [PMID: 28710800 DOI: 10.1002/hipo.22764] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2017] [Revised: 07/03/2017] [Accepted: 07/10/2017] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Williams syndrome (WS), a genetic deletion syndrome, is characterized by severe visuospatial deficits affecting performance on both tabletop spatial tasks and on tasks which assess orientation and navigation. Nevertheless, previous studies of WS spatial capacities have ignored the fact that two different spatial memory systems are believed to contribute parallel spatial representations supporting navigation. The place learning system depends on the hippocampal formation and creates flexible relational representations of the environment, also known as cognitive maps. The spatial response learning system depends on the striatum and creates fixed stimulus-response representations, also known as habits. Indeed, no study assessing WS spatial competence has used tasks which selectively target these two spatial memory systems. Here, we report that individuals with WS exhibit a dissociation in their spatial abilities subserved by these two memory systems. As compared to typically developing (TD) children in the same mental age range, place learning performance was impaired in individuals with WS. In contrast, their spatial response learning performance was facilitated. Our findings in individuals with WS and TD children suggest that place learning and response learning interact competitively to control the behavioral strategies normally used to support human spatial navigation. Our findings further suggest that the neural pathways supporting place learning may be affected by the genetic deletion that characterizes WS, whereas those supporting response learning may be relatively preserved. The dissociation observed between these two spatial memory systems provides a coherent theoretical framework to characterize the spatial abilities of individuals with WS, and may lead to the development of new learning strategies based on their facilitated response learning abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathilde Bostelmann
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Development, The Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, 1005, Switzerland
| | - Emilie Fragnière
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Development, The Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, 1005, Switzerland
| | - Floriana Costanzo
- Department of Neuroscience, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, 00165, Italy
| | - Silvia Di Vara
- Department of Neuroscience, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, 00165, Italy
| | - Deny Menghini
- Department of Neuroscience, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, 00165, Italy
| | - Stefano Vicari
- Department of Neuroscience, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, 00165, Italy
| | - Pierre Lavenex
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Development, The Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, 1005, Switzerland
| | - Pamela Banta Lavenex
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Development, The Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, 1005, Switzerland
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11
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Davies GM, Young AW. Research on face recognition: The Aberdeen influence. Br J Psychol 2017; 108:812-830. [DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2016] [Revised: 01/16/2017] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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12
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Greer JMH, Hamilton C, McMullon MEG, Riby DM, Riby LM. An event related potential study of ihibitory and attentional control in Williams syndrome adults. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0170180. [PMID: 28187205 PMCID: PMC5302371 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2016] [Accepted: 12/30/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The primary aim of the current study was to employ event-related potentials (ERPs) methodology to disentangle the mechanisms related to inhibitory control in older adults with Williams syndrome (WS). Eleven older adults with WS (mean age 42), 16 typically developing adults (mean age 42) and 13 typically developing children (mean age 12) participated in the study. ERPs were recorded during a three-stimulus visual oddball task, during which participants were required to make a response to a rare target stimulus embedded in a train of frequent non-target stimuli. A task-irrelevant infrequent stimulus was also present at randomised intervals during the session. The P3a latency data response related to task-irrelevant stimulus processing was delayed in WS. In addition, the early perceptual N2 amplitude was attenuated. These data are indicative of compromised early monitoring of perceptual input, accompanied by appropriate orientation of responses to task-irrelevant stimuli. However, the P3a delay suggests inefficient evaluation of the task-irrelevant stimuli. These data are discussed in terms of deficits in the disengagement of attentional processes, and the regulation of monitoring processes required for successful inhibition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna M. H. Greer
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Colin Hamilton
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Mhairi E. G. McMullon
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Deborah M. Riby
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Leigh M. Riby
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom
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Sehyr ZS, Petrich J, Emmorey K. Fingerspelled and Printed Words Are Recoded into a Speech-based Code in Short-term Memory. JOURNAL OF DEAF STUDIES AND DEAF EDUCATION 2017; 22:72-87. [PMID: 27789552 DOI: 10.1093/deafed/enw068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2016] [Revised: 09/28/2016] [Accepted: 10/03/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
We conducted three immediate serial recall experiments that manipulated type of stimulus presentation (printed or fingerspelled words) and word similarity (speech-based or manual). Matched deaf American Sign Language signers and hearing non-signers participated (mean reading age = 14-15 years). Speech-based similarity effects were found for both stimulus types indicating that deaf signers recoded both printed and fingerspelled words into a speech-based phonological code. A manual similarity effect was not observed for printed words indicating that print was not recoded into fingerspelling (FS). A manual similarity effect was observed for fingerspelled words when similarity was based on joint angles rather than on handshape compactness. However, a follow-up experiment suggested that the manual similarity effect was due to perceptual confusion at encoding. Overall, these findings suggest that FS is strongly linked to English phonology for deaf adult signers who are relatively skilled readers. This link between fingerspelled words and English phonology allows for the use of a more efficient speech-based code for retaining fingerspelled words in short-term memory and may strengthen the representation of English vocabulary.
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14
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Paterson SJ, Parish-Morris J, Hirsh-Pasek K, Golinkoff RM. Considering Development in Developmental Disorders. JOURNAL OF COGNITION AND DEVELOPMENT 2016. [DOI: 10.1080/15248372.2016.1200047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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15
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Casartelli L, Molteni M, Ronconi L. So close yet so far: Motor anomalies impacting on social functioning in autism spectrum disorder. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2016; 63:98-105. [PMID: 26855233 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2015] [Revised: 01/29/2016] [Accepted: 02/01/2016] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Difficulties in the social domain and motor anomalies have been widely investigated in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, they have been generally considered as independent, and therefore tackled separately. Recent advances in neuroscience have hypothesized that the cortical motor system can play a role not only as a controller of elementary physical features of movement, but also in a complex domain as social cognition. Here, going beyond previous studies on ASD that described difficulties in the motor and in the social domain separately, we focus on the impact of motor mechanisms anomalies on social functioning. We consider behavioral, electrophysiological and neuroimaging findings supporting the idea that motor cognition is a critical "intermediate phenotype" for ASD. Motor cognition anomalies in ASD affect the processes of extraction, codification and subsequent translation of "external" social information into the motor system. Intriguingly, this alternative "motor" approach to the social domain difficulties in ASD may be promising to bridge the gap between recent experimental findings and clinical practice, potentially leading to refined preventive approaches and successful treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Casartelli
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea Bosisio Parini, Italy; Developmental Psychopathology Unit, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Italy.
| | - Massimo Molteni
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea Bosisio Parini, Italy
| | - Luca Ronconi
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea Bosisio Parini, Italy; Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Italy.
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16
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Scerif G, Baker K. Annual research review: Rare genotypes and childhood psychopathology--uncovering diverse developmental mechanisms of ADHD risk. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2015; 56:251-73. [PMID: 25494546 DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.12374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/10/2014] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Through the increased availability and sophistication of genetic testing, it is now possible to identify causal diagnoses in a growing proportion of children with neurodevelopmental disorders. In addition to developmental delay and intellectual disability, many genetic disorders are associated with high risks of psychopathology, which curtail the wellbeing of affected individuals and their families. Beyond the identification of significant clinical needs, understanding the diverse pathways from rare genetic mutations to cognitive dysfunction and emotional-behavioural disturbance has theoretical and practical utility. METHODS We overview (based on a strategic search of the literature) the state-of-the-art on causal mechanisms leading to one of the most common childhood behavioural diagnoses - attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) - in the context of specific genetic disorders. We focus on new insights emerging from the mapping of causal pathways from identified genetic differences to neuronal biology, brain abnormalities, cognitive processing differences and ultimately behavioural symptoms of ADHD. FINDINGS First, ADHD research in the context of rare genotypes highlights the complexity of multilevel mechanisms contributing to psychopathology risk. Second, comparisons between genetic disorders associated with similar psychopathology risks can elucidate convergent or distinct mechanisms at each level of analysis, which may inform therapeutic interventions and prognosis. Third, genetic disorders provide an unparalleled opportunity to observe dynamic developmental interactions between neurocognitive risk and behavioural symptoms. Fourth, variation in expression of psychopathology risk within each genetic disorder points to putative moderating and protective factors within the genome and the environment. CONCLUSION A common imperative emerging within psychopathology research is the need to investigate mechanistically how developmental trajectories converge or diverge between and within genotype-defined groups. Crucially, as genetic predispositions modify interaction dynamics from the outset, longitudinal research is required to understand the multi-level developmental processes that mediate symptom evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gaia Scerif
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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Karmiloff-Smith A. An alternative to domain-general or domain-specific frameworks for theorizing about human evolution and ontogenesis. AIMS Neurosci 2015; 2:91-104. [PMID: 26682283 DOI: 10.3934/neuroscience.2015.2.91] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
This paper maintains that neither a domain-general nor a domain-specific framework is appropriate for furthering our understanding of human evolution and ontogenesis. Rather, as we learn increasingly more about the dynamics of gene-environment interaction and gene expression, theorists should consider a third alternative: a domain-relevant approach, which argues that the infant brain comes equipped with biases that are relevant to, but not initially specific to, processing different kinds of input. The hypothesis developed here is that domain-specific core knowledge/specialized functions do not constitute the start state; rather, functional specialization emerges progressively through neuronal competition over developmental time. Thus, the existence of category-specific deficits in brain-damaged adults cannot be used to bolster claims that category-specific or domain-specific modules underpin early development, because neural specificity in the adult brain is likely to have been the emergent property over time of a developing, self-structuring system in interaction with the environment.
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Functional connectivity classification of autism identifies highly predictive brain features but falls short of biomarker standards. NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL 2014; 7:359-66. [PMID: 25685703 PMCID: PMC4309950 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2014.12.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 169] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2014] [Revised: 12/12/2014] [Accepted: 12/22/2014] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
Abstract
Objectives Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are diagnosed based on early-manifesting clinical symptoms, including markedly impaired social communication. We assessed the viability of resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) connectivity measures as diagnostic biomarkers for ASD and investigated which connectivity features are predictive of a diagnosis. Methods Rs-fMRI scans from 59 high functioning males with ASD and 59 age- and IQ-matched typically developing (TD) males were used to build a series of machine learning classifiers. Classification features were obtained using 3 sets of brain regions. Another set of classifiers was built from participants' scores on behavioral metrics. An additional age and IQ-matched cohort of 178 individuals (89 ASD; 89 TD) from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE) open-access dataset (http://fcon_1000.projects.nitrc.org/indi/abide/) were included for replication. Results High classification accuracy was achieved through several rs-fMRI methods (peak accuracy 76.67%). However, classification via behavioral measures consistently surpassed rs-fMRI classifiers (peak accuracy 95.19%). The class probability estimates, P(ASD|fMRI data), from brain-based classifiers significantly correlated with scores on a measure of social functioning, the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), as did the most informative features from 2 of the 3 sets of brain-based features. The most informative connections predominantly originated from regions strongly associated with social functioning. Conclusions While individuals can be classified as having ASD with statistically significant accuracy from their rs-fMRI scans alone, this method falls short of biomarker standards. Classification methods provided further evidence that ASD functional connectivity is characterized by dysfunction of large-scale functional networks, particularly those involved in social information processing. We distinguish rs-fMRI scans from ASD and TD individuals with high accuracy. ASD versus TD classification using behavioral metrics was much more accurate. Highly predictive brain features largely originated from the canonical social brain. High performing brain features also correlated with individual symptom severity.
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A module is a module is a module: evolution of modularity in Evolutionary Psychology. DIALECTICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2014. [DOI: 10.1007/s10624-014-9355-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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Genetic insights into the functional elements of language. Hum Genet 2013; 132:959-86. [PMID: 23749164 DOI: 10.1007/s00439-013-1317-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2012] [Accepted: 05/22/2013] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Language disorders cover a wide range of conditions with heterologous and overlapping phenotypes and complex etiologies harboring both genetic and environmental influences. Genetic approaches including the identification of genes linked to speech and language phenotypes and the characterization of normal and aberrant functions of these genes have, in recent years, unraveled complex details of molecular and cognitive mechanisms and provided valuable insight into the biological foundations of language. Consistent with this approach, we have reviewed the functional aspects of allelic variants of genes which are currently known to be either causally associated with disorders of speech and language or impact upon the spectrum of normal language ability. We have also reviewed candidate genes associated with heritable speech and language disorders. In addition, we have evaluated language phenotypes and associated genetic components in developmental syndromes that, together with a spectrum of altered language abilities, manifest various phenotypes and offer details of multifactorial determinants of language function. Data from this review have revealed a predominance of regulatory networks involved in the control of differentiation and functioning of neurons, neuronal tracks and connections among brain structures associated with both cognitive and language faculties. Our findings, furthermore, have highlighted several multifactorial determinants in overlapping speech and language phenotypes. Collectively this analysis has revealed an interconnected developmental network and a close association of the language faculty with cognitive functions, a finding that has the potential to provide insight into linguistic hypotheses defining in particular, the contribution of genetic elements to and the modular nature of the language faculty.
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