Applied Neuropsychology: Child最新文献

Objectives: The aim was to investigate the impact of repeated read-aloud teaching strategy on executive function and basic early literacy skills of preschool children.

Methods: The study sample consisted of 60 children. All participants were preschoolers. There are four classes a week, each lasting 30 minutes, for a total of 36 classes. The same picture book was read aloud three times, and the reading time was scheduled on three different school days: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

Results: Differences existed between the mean scores of the experimental and control groups in the pretest and post-test. Children in experimental group outperformed those in the control group in all dimensions of executive function tasks (inhibitory control, working memory, dimensional change card sorting task) and all dimensions of dynamic indicators of basic early literacy skills (the letter naming fluency, phonemic segmentation fluency, nonsense word fluency, word reading fluency, and oral reading fluency.

Conclusions: In order to analyze the impact of integrated executive function language teaching on children's executive function and oral comprehension ability, after adopting a quasi-experimental teaching design, it was found that integrated executive function teaching is helpful to improve children's basic early literacy skills and executive function performance.

Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI) is associated with a wide range of visual deficits that can be difficult to identify in young children. Parental observations are essential for the early screening and diagnostic assessment of CVI. However, most existing CVI (screening) questionnaires are designed for children aged 6 years and older. This study aimed to (1) explore how CVI manifests in the daily lives of preschool children and (2) develop a preschool CVI screening list. In total, 118 parents of children aged 2-5 years with CVI (n = 30), at risk of CVI (n = 22), and neurotypical children (n = 66) completed two questionnaires: the Parental Questionnaire for Cerebral Visual Impairment (PQCVI) and a new Preschool version of the Visio-CVI-Inventory (V-CVI-I). Parent-reported difficulties were compared across groups at questionnaire, category, and item level. Items were evaluated on three criteria: (1) Discriminability (A' ≥ .75, CVI vs. neurotypical), (2) Relevance (≥ 25% of the CVI-group showing difficulties), (3) Exclusivity (≤10% the neurotypical group showing difficulties). Parents of children with CVI reported significantly more daily visual difficulties, particularly in global and local visual selective attention and visuomotor processing. The Preschool V-CVI-I showed excellent internal consistency (a = .91) and stronger discriminative ability than the PQCVI. Our results indicate that daily visual deficits are already observable in preschool children with CVI and resemble the difficulties previously reported in older children with CVI. A new 10-item Preschool CVI Screening List is proposed to support early recognition and referral for further diagnostics.

This systematic review addresses the following research question: What is the impact of cognitively engaging physical activity on developing executive function of children with disabilities and typically developing children? According to the classification system and framework of the International classification of functioning, disability and health: children & youth version (ICF-CY), the intervention strategies and functional outcomes of cognitively engaging physical activity (CEPA) on the executive functions of children with disabilities and typically developing children under 13 years old were analyzed and coded to explore the intervention effect of CEPA on the executive functions of children with disabilities and typically developing children. The PEDro scale was used to evaluate the methodological quality of the included literature. Fourteen studies demonstrated positive effects of CEPA intervention on at least 1 component of executive function. Presented studies examined the intervention effect of CEPA on inhibitory control, but the results were inconsistent. The PEDro scale scores of the included literature ranged from 7 to 10 points, with an average of 8.3 points, and the overall quality was good. The results of some of the studies showed that CEPA intervention had a positive effect on cognitive flexibility. Only one study found a decrease in cognitive flexibility after a single CEPA intervention.

Executive functions are fundamental to the success of students in higher education. Our objective was to develop an explanatory model based on the interaction of executive functions. This study used a cross-sectional design with a sample of 1,233 Cuban university students. The Cuban adaptation of the University Executive Function Scale, which assesses seven executive function dimensions, was employed. In the first phase, descriptive statistics were used to analyze the scores of these functions in the studied population, identifying those with the lowest performance. The second phase applied a decision tree analysis using the CHAID method, considering risk and accuracy estimators, to determine the main predictors of executive functions. Finally, in the third phase, a structural equation model was developed to examine the relationships between variables and the predictors of the least developed executive functions, assessing model fit using the CFI, TLI, RMSEA, and SRMR indices. The results indicate that the majority of scores in the executive functions of Cuban university students fall within the average range, although below-average scores were observed in Conscious Regulation of Behavior and Conscious Monitoring of Responsibilities. The decision tree analysis identified that the Supervisory Attention System is the main predictor of Conscious Monitoring of Responsibilities, while Conscious Regulation of Emotions emerged as the strongest predictor of Conscious Regulation of Behavior. Structural equation models reveal that the Supervisory Attention System and Verification of Behavior for Learning are key predictors of Conscious Monitoring of Responsibilities, and that the latter also positively influences Emotional and Behavioral Regulation.

This study aims to investigate the mediation model in order to provide a theoretical basis for improving the core symptoms and executive function of children with ADHD. A total of 160 participants aged 4-6 years (mean = 5.01 and SD = 3.22) were included in the analyses. Normally distributed quantitative data were described using (M ± SD). Multivariate hierarchical regression analysis was used to further verify the mediating effect of different dimensions of executive function between motor coordination ability and core symptoms of children with ADHD. The bias-corrected nonparametric percentile Bootstrap method was used to test the multiple mediation model. This study found that the balance ability of children with ADHD significantly and negatively predicts the severity of core symptoms of attention deficit. the manual dexterity score of children with ADHD was negatively correlated with the attention deficit score, the aiming and catching score was negatively correlated with the working memory factor score, the balance score was negatively correlated with the attention deficit score. In terms of executive function, the inhibition, and working memory factor scores of children with ADHD were positively correlated with the attention deficit score, and the inhibition factor score was positively correlated with the hyperactivity/impulsivity score. The results show that the total mediating effect of the four factors of executive function is significant, accounting for 57.37% of the total effect.

In aphasia, damage to brain regions responsible for language processing disrupts access to words previously learned and consolidated in the mental lexicon, causing people with aphasia (PWA) to experience word finding difficulties that negatively impact their everyday communication. This study seeks to investigate the effects of a psycholinguistic training based on phonology and semantics on sentence production in a aphasic child with cerebral palsy. The study used a single-subject multiple- baseline research design across behaviors. A 13-year-old boy, named AE with expressive aphasia, admitted to Speech and Swallowing Disorders Clinic, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University was recruited to participate in this study. The aphasic child with cerebral palsy was found to be successful at the end of the training sessions, compared to the baseline. In other words, there was a positive difference between the data obtained in the first and last training sessions for each child.

Background: Methamphetamine is a substance that causes neurotoxicity and its use is increasing in recent years. Literature highlights cognitive impairment resulting from Methamphetamine use. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the relationship between cognitive impairment and inflammatory processes in adolescents with Methamphetamine use disorder.

Methods: The study included 69 adolescents aged 15-19 years, comprising 37 participants with Methamphetamine Use Disorder and 32 healthy controls. Central Nervous System Vital Signs was used to detect cognitive impairment. Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-33 and The Children's Depression Inventory scales were used. In addition, venous blood was collected from the volunteers. Biochemical parameters (IL-1beta, IL-6, TNF-a, BDNF, FAM19A5, TAS, TOS) were analyzed.

Results: Our study showed that (I) IL-6 and TNF-a levels of Methamphetamine users were lower than the healthy group; (II) BDNF levels of Methamphetamine users were higher than the healthy group; (III) mean Neurocognitive Index in cognitive tests of Methamphetamine using adolescents was negatively correlated with duration of Methamphetamine use and BDNF levels.

Conclusions: Our study suggests that Methamphetamine use may have a negative effect on cognitive functions.

This study examines functional brain network changes in children with frontal lobe tumors (FLT). Ten pediatric FLT patients from Beijing Tiantan Hospital and 20 healthy children were compared in terms of cognitive performance and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) connectivity. The FLT group showed lower cognitive performance, particularly in visual and working memory domains, but had comparable attention abilities to the healthy controls. There were notable differences in connectivity between the default mode network (DMN) and sensorimotor network (SMN) in both groups. The FLT group also displayed a significant reduction in local efficiency in the left lateral parietal area within the DMN. Importantly, reduced DMN-SMN connections and increased DMN-lateral prefrontal cortex connectivity may facilitate maintaining attention and memory tasks in FLT children. This study sheds light on how the brains of children with FLT adapt, preserving "normal" attention functions despite frontal lobe damage.

The neurodevelopmental disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), frequently affecting youngsters, is characterized by persistent patterns of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, the etiology of which may involve a variety of genetic, environmental, and neurological factors. Electroencephalography (EEG) measures the electrical activity in the brain through neuronal activity, which is a function of cognitive processes. In this study, a previously recorded sample set of 121 children containing unbiased data from both ADHD and control group classes and EEG signals were analyzed to classify the ADHD patients. The samples were tested under different cognitive conditions, and multiple features were extracted using Euclidean distance. Many machine learning algorithms use Euclidean distance as their default distance metric to compare two recorded data points. The extracted features were trained using four supervised machine learning algorithms (linear regression, random forest, extreme gradient boosting, and K nearest neighbor (KNN)) based on the results of various frequency bands. The results suggest that the KNN algorithm produces the highest accuracy over other machine learning approaches, and results can be further improved with the application of hyperparameter tuning and used for classifying sub-groups of ADHD to identify the severity of the disorder.

The present study aimed to investigate the improvement of reading ability and cognitive performance of children with reading difficulties through a Web application named "Poke the Reading Ability" (PtRA). PtRA is designed to assist the intervention of reading difficulties in Greek, a language that is more transparent than English. Sixty (60) children between nine (9) to twelve (12) years old (mean age 10.18 years). The baseline assessment consisted of two batteries of reading and cognitive abilities tests. Test-A, a Greek standardized psychometric tool and Askisi, a newly developed neuropsychological battery of tests are adopted to assess reading and cognitive performance. Both tools, were used in order to screen children's reading and cognitive performance before and after implementing the PtRA. The PtRA Web intervention consists of (a) tasks that focus on improving visual and auditory working memory, (b) tasks that improve phonological awareness and decoding, (c) tasks that are adopted to strengthen visual discrimination ability and (d) tasks that improve reading comprehension ability. Following the Web delivered intervention program the results revealed that the reading and cognitive abilities of children with reading difficulties were statistically significant improved in all 9 reading and all 3 cognitive abilities tasks.