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Gabaldón-Estevan D, Carmona-Talavera D, Catalán-Gregori B, Mañas-García E, Martin-Carbonell V, Monfort L, Martinez-Besteiro E, González-Carrasco M, Hernández-Jiménez MJ, Täht K, Talavera M, Ancheta-Arrabal A, Sáez G, Estany N, Pin-Arboledas G, Reis C. Kairos study protocol: a multidisciplinary approach to the study of school timing and its effects on health, well-being and students' performance. Front Public Health 2024; 12:1336028. [PMID: 38525330 PMCID: PMC10957785 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1336028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2023] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Recent evidence from chronobiology, chssronomedicine and chronopsychology shows that the organisation of social time (e.g., school schedules) generally does not respect biological time. This raises concerns about the impact of the constant mismatch between students' social and internal body clocks on their health, well-being and academic performance. The present paper describes a protocol used to investigate the problem of (de) synchronisation of biological times (chronotypes) in childhood and youth in relation to school times. It studies the effects of student chronotype vs. school schedule matches/mismatches on health behaviours (e.g., how many hours students sleep, when they sleep, eat, do physical activity, spend time outdoors in daylight) and learning (verbal expression, spatial structuring, operations) and whether alert-fatigue levels mediate this effect alignments/misalignments on learning (verbal expression, spatial structuring, operations) and their mediation by alert-fatigue levels. The novelty of our protocol lies in its multidisciplinary and mixed methodology approach to a relevant and complex issue. It draws on up-to-date knowledge from the areas of biology, medicine, psychology, pedagogy and sociology. The methods employed include a varied repertoire of techniques from hormonal analysis (cortisol and melatonin), continuous activity and light monitoring, self-registration of food intake, sleep timings, exercise and exposure to screens, alongside with systematic application of cognitive performance tests (e.g., memory, reasoning, calculation, attention) and self-reported well-being. This comprehensive and interdisciplinary protocol should support evidence-based education policy measures related to school time organisation. Appropriate and healthier school timetables will contribute to social change, healthier students and with more efficient learning. The results of studies using a similar methodology in other countries would ensure replication and comparability of results and contribute to knowledge to support policy making.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Elena Mañas-García
- Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | | | - Lucía Monfort
- Department of Pediatrics, Clinical University Hospital, Valencia, Spain
| | - Elvira Martinez-Besteiro
- Department of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatments, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | | | | | - Kadri Täht
- Institute of International Social Studies, School of Governance, Law and Society, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia
| | - Marta Talavera
- Department of Experimental and Social Sciences Teaching, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | - Ana Ancheta-Arrabal
- Department of Comparative Education and History of Education, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | - Guillermo Sáez
- Service of Clinical Analysis, University Hospital Dr. Peset, Valencia, Spain
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | - Nuria Estany
- Service of Clinical Analysis, University Hospital Dr. Peset, Valencia, Spain
| | - Gonzalo Pin-Arboledas
- Grupo de Sueño y Cronobiologia de la Asociación Española de Pediatría, Valencia, Spain
| | - Catia Reis
- CRC-W - Faculdade de Ciências Humanas, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Lisbon, Portugal
- Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, IMM, Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
- ISAMB - Faculdade de Medicina Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
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Grafeneder J, Fuhrmann V, Tscherny K, Niederer M, Schreiber W, Herkner H, Roth D, Kienbacher CL. COVID-19: Masks do not influence neurocognitive performance during a shift at the emergency department. World J Emerg Med 2023; 14:317-321. [PMID: 37425077 PMCID: PMC10323511 DOI: 10.5847/wjem.j.1920-8642.2023.071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2022] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 07/11/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Jürgen Grafeneder
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Wien 1090, Austria
| | - Verena Fuhrmann
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Wien 1090, Austria
| | - Katharina Tscherny
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Wien 1090, Austria
- Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Hospital Scheibbs, Scheibbs 3270, Austria
| | - Maximilian Niederer
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Wien 1090, Austria
- Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Hospital Scheibbs, Scheibbs 3270, Austria
| | - Wolfgang Schreiber
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Wien 1090, Austria
| | - Harald Herkner
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Wien 1090, Austria
| | - Dominik Roth
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Wien 1090, Austria
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Xie Y, Wang H, Chen Y, Liu F, Yao M, Zhang L, Liu P, Hong Q, Chi X, Yu D. Establishing Normative Data for the Number Cancelation Test Among Children in Kindergartens and Primary Schools in China. Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:788825. [PMID: 35479487 PMCID: PMC9035546 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.788825] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2021] [Accepted: 02/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
This study aimed to suggest an attention assessment tool using a Digital Pen for measuring the temporal-spatial parameters during the Number Cancelation Test (NCT), and then to establish the normative data for the NCT among children in kindergartens and primary schools in China by recruiting a total of 989 children (496 males). Four measures, i.e., selective attention (SA), speed of cognitive processing (SpC), averaged time of circlings (ATC), and averaged circumference of circled curves (ACCC), were proposed to evaluate the NCT performance. They basically have a development trend with fast speed in the beginning before Grade 1 or 2 of primary schools, and then enter an extremely slow development period (with ceiling or floor effect). SA and SpC have gender and grade main effects, while ATC and ACCC have the grade main effect, only. In particular, females have higher SA scores than males in middle class of kindergarten, and Grade 2-Grade 5 of primary school, but no gender differences in other grades; females have higher SpC scores than males in middle class of kindergarten, and Grade 3-4 of primary school, but no gender differences in other grades. More importantly, in clinical practice, if SA or SpC measure of a child is below than the 5th centile (i.e., p5 level) of his/her grade-specific normative data, then this child may be predicted to have a high-risk of learning disabilities. Findings suggest that the proposed method can be used for early screening of learning disabilities by setting appropriate cut-off values.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yachun Xie
- Women’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University (Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital), Nanjing, China
| | - Hongan Wang
- Key Laboratory of Child Development and Learning Science of Ministry of Education, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yuxin Chen
- Key Laboratory of Child Development and Learning Science of Ministry of Education, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Fulin Liu
- Key Laboratory of Child Development and Learning Science of Ministry of Education, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Mengmeng Yao
- Women’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University (Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital), Nanjing, China
| | - Lei Zhang
- Women’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University (Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital), Nanjing, China
| | - Panting Liu
- Women’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University (Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital), Nanjing, China
| | - Qin Hong
- Women’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University (Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital), Nanjing, China
| | - Xia Chi
- Women’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University (Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital), Nanjing, China
| | - Dongchuan Yu
- Key Laboratory of Child Development and Learning Science of Ministry of Education, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
- Henan Provincial Medical Key Lab of Child Developmental Behavior and Learning, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
- Henan Provincial Medical Key Lab of Language Rehabilitation for Children, Sanmenxia Center Hospital, Sanmenxia, China
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Ceroni M, Rossi S, Zerboni G, Biglia E, Soldini E, Izzo A, Morellini L, Sacco L. Attentive-executive functioning and compensatory strategies in adult ADHD: A retrospective case series study. Front Psychol 2022; 13:1015102. [PMID: 36312151 PMCID: PMC9606327 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1015102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2022] [Accepted: 09/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Adults with ADHD exhibit a neuropsychological profile that may present deficits in many cognitive domains, particularly attention and executive functions (EFs). However, some authors do not consider executive disfunction as an important part of the clinical profile of the syndrome; this could be related to the use of inappropriate neuropsychological tests, probably not adapted and not sufficiently ecological. Moreover, new data are required on specific correlation of attentive-executive symptoms with socio-demographic factors. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze the neuropsychological performance of a group of adults with ADHD, also evaluating the influence of gender, age and education level. Methods We retrospectively collected health-related personal data of 40 adult ADHD patients, clinically diagnosed and evaluated via a battery of 4 neuropsychological tests and 1 self-administered questionnaire. Gender, age and years of education differences were assessed. Results Attention and EFs deficits have been highlighted mainly on the d2-R and 5-point neuropsychological tests, which therefore seem to be more sensitive in measuring the attention-executive dysfunction in an adult ADHD population, than TAP Go/No-go and ROCFT. ADHD patients also manifested subjective behavioral impulsivity disorders on BIS-11. There were no statistically significant gender differences in cognitive performance. On the contrary, younger patients performed worse on subscales TAP Go/No-go errors and 5-points number of drawings, while participants with a higher education level performed better on subscales d2-R speed of execution and d2-R errors. This supports a reduction in the number of errors and the execution time as a function of older age and a higher level of education. Finally, patients with higher education also self-reported greater impulsivity in planning. Conclusion Our preliminary findings suggest that adult ADHD is not a lifelong stable disorder, but it may change over time. Moreover, attention-executive deficits may be influenced and partially counterbalanced by experience (i.e., advancing age) and a higher level of education. This could underlie the development of specific psycho-behavioral and cognitive compensatory strategies. The use of self-administered questionnaires is therefore recommended to highlight attentional and executive difficulties that may not result in neuropsychological tests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martino Ceroni
- Neuropsychological and Speech Therapy Unit, Neurocenter of Southern Switzerland, EOC, Lugano, Switzerland
| | - Stefania Rossi
- Neuropsychological and Speech Therapy Unit, Neurocenter of Southern Switzerland, EOC, Lugano, Switzerland
| | - Giorgia Zerboni
- Neuropsychological and Speech Therapy Unit, Neurocenter of Southern Switzerland, EOC, Lugano, Switzerland
| | - Elena Biglia
- Neuropsychological and Speech Therapy Unit, Neurocenter of Southern Switzerland, EOC, Lugano, Switzerland
| | - Emiliano Soldini
- Competence Centre for Healthcare Practices and Policies, Department of Business Economics, Health, and Social Care (DEASS), University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, Manno, Switzerland
| | - Alessia Izzo
- Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
| | - Lucia Morellini
- Neuropsychological and Speech Therapy Unit, Neurocenter of Southern Switzerland, EOC, Lugano, Switzerland
- Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
- *Correspondence: Lucia Morellini,
| | - Leonardo Sacco
- Neuropsychological and Speech Therapy Unit, Neurocenter of Southern Switzerland, EOC, Lugano, Switzerland
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Chronic, Mild Vestibulopathy Leads to Deficits in Spatial Tasks that Rely on Vestibular Input While Leaving Other Cognitive Functions and Brain Volumes Intact. Life (Basel) 2021; 11:life11121369. [PMID: 34947900 PMCID: PMC8707705 DOI: 10.3390/life11121369] [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: 11/02/2021] [Revised: 11/30/2021] [Accepted: 12/07/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Objectives: In this study, based on the known vestibulo-hippocampal connections, we asked whether mild chronic vestibulopathy leads only to vestibular-related deficits or whether there are effects on hippocampal function, structure, and cognition in general. In more detail, we assessed whether chronic vestibulopathy leads to (a) deficits in vestibular tasks without cognitive demand (balancing), (b) deficits in spatial cognitive tasks that require vestibular input (path integration, rotational memory), (c) deficits in spatial cognitive tasks that do not rely on vestibular input, (d) deficits in general cognitive function, and (e) atrophy in the brain. Methods: A total of 15 patients with chronic uni- or bilateral vestibulopathy (56.8 ± 10.1 years; 4 females) were included in this study and were age- and gender-matched by the control participants (57.6 ± 10.5) in a pairwise manner. Given their clinical symptoms and their deficits of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) the patients could be classified as being mildly affected. All participants of the underwent the following tests: clinical balance (CBT), triangle completion (TCT) for path integration, rotational memory (RM), the visuo-spatial subset of the Berlin intelligence structure test (BIS-4) and d2-R for attention and concentration, and a structural MRI for gray matter analysis using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Results: Compared to the healthy controls, the vestibulopathy patients performed significantly worse in terms of CBT, TCT, and RM but showed no differences in terms of the BIS-4 and d2-R. There were also no significant volumetric gray matter differences between the two groups. Conclusions: This study provides evidence that both non-cognitive and cognitive functions that rely on vestibular input (balancing, path integration, rotational memory) are impaired, even in mild chronic vestibulopathy, while other cognitive functions, which rely on visual input (visuo-spatial memory, attention), are unimpaired in this condition, together with an overall intact brain structure. These findings may reflect a segregation between vestibular- and visual-dependent processes in the medial temporal lobe on the one hand and a structure–function dissociation on the other.
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Krieger V, Amador-Campos JA. Clinical presentations of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents: comparison of neurocognitive performance. Child Neuropsychol 2021; 27:1024-1053. [PMID: 33928840 DOI: 10.1080/09297049.2021.1917530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
This study aimed to compare performance in working memory (WM), processing speed (PRS), and attention measures in children and adolescents with typical development (TD) and with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (inattentive [ADHD-I] or combined [ADHD-C]) presentations, and to determine the predictive ability of the measures mentioned to discriminate between ADHD presentations and TD. 260 children and adolescents, 138 with ADHD (70 ADHD-I and 68 ADHD-C) and 122 TD in two age cohorts (8-12 years; 13-16 years), were assessed with WM and PRS indexes of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV) and the d2 attention test. Significant differences between ADHD and TD groups in the WISC-IV GAI scores were found in children but not in adolescents. Children and adolescents with both ADHD presentations performed poorly on the PRS index, while on the WM index only children exhibited difficulties. In the attention test, children with ADHD-C showed more impulsivity and more difficulties for processing speed, concentration and accuracy than ADHD-I and TD. In addition, both ADHD presentations had higher inattention scores than TD. ADHD adolescents performed worse than TD in processing speed, concentration and accuracy. ADHD groups showed more impulsivity and inattention than TD. Digit Span and Symbol Search (WISC-IV) and processing speed and accuracy (d2) successfully classified ADHD and TD in children, but in adolescents, only coding (WISC-IV) and accuracy (d2) successfully classified ADHD presentations and TD. The WISC-IV and d2 yield neuropsychological profiles which reflect age-related cognitive changes and may allow the adaptation of more tailored early interventions for ADHD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Virginia Krieger
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Juan Antonio Amador-Campos
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Institute of Neuroscience, University of Barcelona (UBneuro), Barcelona, Spain
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