High electronic name agreement of 70 pictures in normative study of 5,290 Czechs for easy multicultural replication

Effect of human probiotics on memory, psychological and biological measures in elderly: A study protocol of bi-center, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial (CleverAge Biota)

Background

Gut microbiota may influence brain functions. Therefore, we prepared a study protocol for a double-blind, crossover, randomized clinical trial to determine the complex effects of human probiotics on memory, psychological, and biological measures in the elderly.

Methods

We selected eligible participants using an effective electronic questionnaire containing the inclusion and exclusion criteria and a brief electronic cognitive test. One-third of the respondents with the worst cognitive scores on the electronic test are randomized to group A, starting with a 3-month probiotic intervention, and to group B, starting with a placebo. In a crossover design, both groups change their intervention/placebo status after 3 months for the next 3 months. Participants refusing longer personal assessments due to the COVID-19 pandemic were randomly allocated to one of two subgroups assessed online. Participants in both groups are matched in age, education, gender, and cognitive scores on electronic testing at baseline. At three time points, participants are assessed using a neuropsychological battery, self-report measures of mood, a physical fitness test, blood, urine, and stool samples, and actigraphy. A subset of participants also provided their biological samples and underwent the neuropsychological battery in an extended testing phase 3 months after study termination to find out the long-term effect of the intervention.

Discussion

This is the first trial to address the comprehensive effects of human probiotics on memory and many other measures in the elderly. We assume that the probiotic group will have better outcomes than the placebo group after the first and second trimesters. We expect that the probiotic effect will persist for the next 3 months. These study's findings will contribute to an interesting area of how to improve memory, psychological and biological and other factors naturally and will examine the importance of probiotics for overall health in the elderly.

Clinical trial registration

[clinicaltrials.gov], identifier [NCT05051501].

PicPsy: A new bank of 106 photographs and line drawings with written naming norms for Spanish-speaking children and adults

The use of pictures as experimental stimuli is a frequent practice in psychological and educational research. In addition, picture-naming task allows the study of different cognitive processes such as perception, attention, memory and language. Line drawings have been widely used in research to date but it has begun to be highlighted the need for more ecological stimuli such as photographs. However, normative data of a photographic set has not been published yet for use with children. We present PicPsy, a new standardized bank of photographs and matched line drawing. We collected written picture-naming norms for name agreement, unknown responses, alternative names, familiarity and visual complexity. A total of 118 native Spanish-speaking children in grades 3-4 participated in the study. For comparison purposes, 89 adults were also included in the study. Child and adult performance was highly correlated, but we found significant age group differences in all variables examined except for visual complexity. Researchers and teachers could benefit from using the new standardized bank reported here which is published under public domain license. The data and materials for this research are available at the Open Science Framework, https://osf.io/nyf3t/.