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Cognition Jun 2019Our ability to learn unfamiliar routes declines in typical and atypical ageing. The reasons for this decline, however, are not well understood. Here we used eye-tracking...
Our ability to learn unfamiliar routes declines in typical and atypical ageing. The reasons for this decline, however, are not well understood. Here we used eye-tracking to investigate how ageing affects people's ability to attend to navigationally relevant information and to select unique objects as landmarks. We created short routes through a virtual environment, each comprised of four intersections with two objects each, and we systematically manipulated the saliency and uniqueness of these objects. While salient objects might be easier to memorise than non-salient objects, they cannot be used as reliable landmarks if they appear more than once along the route. As cognitive ageing affects executive functions and control of attention, we hypothesised that the process of selecting navigationally relevant objects as landmarks might be affected as well. The behavioural data showed that younger participants outperformed the older participants and the eye-movement data revealed some systematic differences between age groups. Specifically, older adults spent less time looking at the unique, and therefore navigationally relevant, landmark objects. Both young and older participants, however, effectively directed gaze towards the unique and away from the non-unique objects, even if these were more salient. These findings highlight specific age-related differences in the control of attention that could contribute to declining route learning abilities in older age. Interestingly, route-learning performance in the older age group was more variable than in the young age group with some older adults showing performance similar to the young group. These individual differences in route learning performance were strongly associated with verbal and episodic memory abilities.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Attention; Eye Movement Measurements; Female; Humans; Male; Memory, Episodic; Spatial Learning; Spatial Navigation; Verbal Learning; Young Adult
PubMed: 30826535
DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2019.02.012 -
Cognitive Psychology Aug 2020To acquire language, infants must learn how to identify words and linguistic structure in speech. Statistical learning has been suggested to assist both of these tasks....
To acquire language, infants must learn how to identify words and linguistic structure in speech. Statistical learning has been suggested to assist both of these tasks. However, infants' capacity to use statistics to discover words and structure together remains unclear. Further, it is not yet known how infants' statistical learning ability relates to their language development. We trained 17-month-old infants on an artificial language comprising non-adjacent dependencies, and examined their looking times on tasks assessing sensitivity to words and structure using an eye-tracked head-turn-preference paradigm. We measured infants' vocabulary size using a Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) concurrently and at 19, 21, 24, 25, 27, and 30 months to relate performance to language development. Infants could segment the words from speech, demonstrated by a significant difference in looking times to words versus part-words. Infants' segmentation performance was significantly related to their vocabulary size (receptive and expressive) both currently, and over time (receptive until 24 months, expressive until 30 months), but was not related to the rate of vocabulary growth. The data also suggest infants may have developed sensitivity to generalised structure, indicating similar statistical learning mechanisms may contribute to the discovery of words and structure in speech, but this was not related to vocabulary size.
Topics: Female; Humans; Infant; Language Development; Male; Phonetics; Speech; Speech Perception; Verbal Learning; Vocabulary
PubMed: 32197131
DOI: 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2020.101291 -
Applied Neuropsychology. Adult 2019This study examined score and classification differences between the Buschke Selective Reminding Test (SRT) and the California Verbal Learning Test - Second Edition... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
Comparison of the Buschke Selective Reminding Test and the California Verbal Learning Test - Second Edition in a heterogeneous sample of people with traumatic brain injury.
This study examined score and classification differences between the Buschke Selective Reminding Test (SRT) and the California Verbal Learning Test - Second Edition (CVLT-II) in a TBI sample. Seventy-nine participants with traumatic brain injury (TBI) were included and were comprised of 49 mild TBI, 11 moderate TBI, and 14 severe TBI. The majority of participants with mild TBI were involved in litigation. Scores were compared between the CVLT-II and SRT on the total sample and after segregating TBI severity. Correlations between the SRT and CVLT-II were variable (r = .23 to .72). Total List score was lower on the SRT across all levels of TBI severity (p < .006). Learning score was lower on the SRT in mild and severe TBI groups (p < .006). Long delay free recall score was lower on the SRT in mild TBI group only (p < .006). Across TBI severity, lower scores were found on the CVLT-II between severe and mild TBI (p = .04). Scores on the SRT did not differ between TBI severities. The two tests appear to provide different clinical interpretations in a TBI sample. Results may be due to features of the normative data, test procedures, and/or word lists. Clinical implications and limitations are discussed.
Topics: Adult; Brain Injuries, Traumatic; Cognitive Dysfunction; Female; Humans; Male; Memory and Learning Tests; Mental Recall; Middle Aged; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 28925733
DOI: 10.1080/23279095.2017.1362561 -
Psychiatria Danubina Jun 2019Depressive mood, anxiety, delusions, hallucinations and behavioral disturbances have been traditionally recognized as leading symptoms of mental disorders. However,...
Depressive mood, anxiety, delusions, hallucinations and behavioral disturbances have been traditionally recognized as leading symptoms of mental disorders. However, cognitive symptoms went under-recognized or declined. Today there is robust evidence that cognitive dysfunction is present in the majority of mental disorders and is also related to impairments in the functioning of the persons with mental illness. It is proposed that aberrant brain neuronal network connectivity, arising from interplay of genetic, epigenetic, developmental and environmental factors, is responsible for cognitive decline. In schizophrenia, dysfunctions in working memory, attention, processing speed, visual and verbal learning with substantial deficit in reasoning, planning, abstract thinking and problem solving have been extensively documented. Social cognition - the ability to correctly process information and use it to generate appropriate response in situations, is also impaired. The correlation of cognitive impairment with functional outcome and employment, independent living and social functioning has emphasized the need for development of the treatments specific to cognition. It is considered that brain neuroplasticity allows for re-modulating and compensating the impairment process which could give opportunity to improve cognitive functions. Therefore, there is a need for comprehensive clinical assessment and follow-up of cognitive decline in mental illness. Implementation of specific treatment strategies addressing cognitive decline in mental illness, like new drugs, distinct cognitive-behavioural therapy, psychoeducation, social skills training and remediation strategies should be strongly indorsed targeting recovery and reduction of disability due to mental illness.
Topics: Cognition; Cognition Disorders; Cognitive Dysfunction; Humans; Neuropsychological Tests; Schizophrenia; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 31158113
DOI: No ID Found -
Psychological Medicine Dec 20205-HT4 receptor stimulation has pro-cognitive and antidepressant-like effects in animal experimental studies; however, this pharmacological approach has not yet been... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
BACKGROUND
5-HT4 receptor stimulation has pro-cognitive and antidepressant-like effects in animal experimental studies; however, this pharmacological approach has not yet been tested in humans. Here we used the 5-HT4 receptor partial agonist prucalopride to assess the translatability of these effects and characterise, for the first time, the consequences of 5-HT4 receptor activation on human cognition and emotion.
METHODS
Forty one healthy volunteers were randomised, double-blind, to a single dose of prucalopride (1 mg) or placebo in a parallel group design. They completed a battery of cognitive tests measuring learning and memory, emotional processing and reward sensitivity.
RESULTS
Prucalopride increased recall of words in a verbal learning task, increased the accuracy of recall and recognition of words in an incidental emotional memory task and increased the probability of choosing a symbol associated with a high likelihood of reward or absence of loss in a probabilistic instrumental learning task. Thus acute prucalopride produced pro-cognitive effects in healthy volunteers across three separate tasks.
CONCLUSIONS
These findings are a translation of the memory enhancing effects of 5-HT4 receptor agonism seen in animal studies, and lend weight to the idea that the 5-HT4 receptor could be an innovative target for the treatment of cognitive deficits associated with depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders. Contrary to the effects reported in animal models, prucalopride did not reveal an antidepressant profile in human measures of emotional processing.
Topics: Adult; Benzofurans; Double-Blind Method; Female; Healthy Volunteers; Humans; Male; Mental Recall; Serotonin 5-HT4 Receptor Agonists; Task Performance and Analysis; Verbal Learning; Young Adult
PubMed: 31615585
DOI: 10.1017/S0033291719002836 -
Journal of Speech, Language, and... Dec 2017The current meta-analysis provides a quantitative overview of published and unpublished studies on statistical learning in the auditory verbal domain in people with and... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
PURPOSE
The current meta-analysis provides a quantitative overview of published and unpublished studies on statistical learning in the auditory verbal domain in people with and without specific language impairment (SLI). The database used for the meta-analysis is accessible online and open to updates (Community-Augmented Meta-Analysis), which facilitates the accumulation and evaluation of previous and future studies on statistical learning in this domain.
METHOD
A systematic literature search identified 10 unique experiments examining auditory verbal statistical learning in 213 participants with SLI and 363 without SLI, aged between 6 and 19 years. Data from qualifying studies were extracted and converted to Hedges' g effect sizes.
RESULTS
The overall standardized mean difference between participants with SLI and participants without SLI was 0.54, which was significantly different from 0 (p < .001, 95% confidence interval [0.36, 0.71]).
CONCLUSION
Together, the results of our meta-analysis indicate a robust difference between people with SLI and people without SLI in their detection of statistical regularities in the auditory input. The detection of statistical regularities is, on average, not as effective in people with SLI compared with people without SLI. The results of this meta-analysis are congruent with a statistical learning deficit hypothesis in SLI.
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5558074.
Topics: Adolescent; Child; Female; Humans; Language Development Disorders; Male; Probability Learning; Verbal Learning; Young Adult
PubMed: 29149241
DOI: 10.1044/2017_JSLHR-L-16-0439 -
Psychological Bulletin Apr 2018Because of enduring experience of managing two languages, bilinguals have been argued to develop superior executive functioning compared with monolinguals. Despite... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study Meta-Analysis Review
Because of enduring experience of managing two languages, bilinguals have been argued to develop superior executive functioning compared with monolinguals. Despite extensive investigation, there is, however, no consensus regarding the existence of such a bilingual advantage. Here we synthesized comparisons of bilinguals' and monolinguals' performance in six executive domains using 891 effect sizes from 152 studies on adults. We also included unpublished data, and considered the potential influence of a number of study-, task-, and participant-related variables. Before correcting estimates for observed publication bias, our analyses revealed a very small bilingual advantage for inhibition, shifting, and working memory, but not for monitoring or attention. No evidence for a bilingual advantage remained after correcting for bias. For verbal fluency, our analyses indicated a small bilingual disadvantage, possibly reflecting less exposure for each individual language when using two languages in a balanced manner. Moreover, moderator analyses did not support theoretical presuppositions concerning the bilingual advantage. We conclude that the available evidence does not provide systematic support for the widely held notion that bilingualism is associated with benefits in cognitive control functions in adults. (PsycINFO Database Record
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Attention; Cognition; Executive Function; Female; Humans; Male; Memory, Short-Term; Middle Aged; Multilingualism; Verbal Learning; Young Adult
PubMed: 29494195
DOI: 10.1037/bul0000142 -
Applied Neuropsychology. Adult 2018The Cognistat is a widely used neurobehavioral screening instrument that addresses functioning across multiple domains. Unlike many popular neuropsychological tests, the...
The Cognistat is a widely used neurobehavioral screening instrument that addresses functioning across multiple domains. Unlike many popular neuropsychological tests, the Cognistat does not currently assess learning efficiency for verbal material. The purpose of this study was to develop a screening method for assessing verbal learning efficiency with the Cognistat, investigate the effects of two demographic variables (age and gender) on performance, and to establish cutoff scores for impairment. Participants were 253 volunteers between the ages of 18 and 96 years. Participants were classified into two age groups: 18-64 years and 65 + years. The data revealed a significant age and gender performance difference. Implications for the present findings and for future research are presented.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cognition; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Neuropsychological Tests; Reference Values; Sex Factors; Verbal Learning; Young Adult
PubMed: 28388233
DOI: 10.1080/23279095.2017.1309406 -
Neurological Sciences : Official... Aug 2018In the neuropsychological assessment of several neurological conditions, recognition memory evaluation is requested. Recognition seems to be more appropriate than recall...
In the neuropsychological assessment of several neurological conditions, recognition memory evaluation is requested. Recognition seems to be more appropriate than recall to study verbal and non-verbal memory, because interferences of psychological and emotional disorders are less relevant in the recognition than they are in recall memory paradigms. In many neurological disorders, longitudinal repeated assessments are needed to monitor the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs or pharmacological treatments on the recovery of memory. In order to contain the practice effect in repeated neuropsychological evaluations, it is necessary the use of parallel forms of the tests. Having two parallel forms of the same test, that kept administration procedures and scoring constant, is a great advantage in both clinical practice, for the monitoring of memory disorder, and in experimental practice, to allow the repeated evaluation of memory on healthy and neurological subjects. First aim of the present study was to provide normative values in an Italian sample (n = 160) for a parallel form of a verbal and non-verbal recognition memory battery. Multiple regression analysis revealed significant effects of age and education on recognition memory performance, whereas sex did not reach a significant probability level. Inferential cutoffs have been determined and equivalent scores computed. Secondly, the study aimed to validate the equivalence of the two parallel forms of the Recognition Memory Test. The correlations analyses between the total scores of the two versions of the test and correlation between the three subtasks revealed that the two forms are parallel and the subtasks are equivalent for difficulty.
Topics: Adult; Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Analysis of Variance; Association Learning; Female; Humans; Italy; Male; Middle Aged; Neuropsychological Tests; Recognition, Psychology; Reproducibility of Results; Verbal Learning; Vocabulary; Young Adult
PubMed: 29728938
DOI: 10.1007/s10072-018-3433-z -
Journal of Experimental Psychology.... Sep 2023Exposure to the same information improves auditory/verbal short-term memory performance, but such improvement is not always observed in visual short-term memory. In this...
Exposure to the same information improves auditory/verbal short-term memory performance, but such improvement is not always observed in visual short-term memory. In this study, we demonstrate that sequential processing makes visuospatial repetition learning efficient in a paradigm that employs a similar design previously used for an auditory/verbal domain. When we presented sets of color patches simultaneously in Experiments 1-4, recall accuracy did not increase with repetition; however, once color patches were presented sequentially in Experiment 5, accuracy did increase rapidly with repetition, even when participants engaged in articulatory suppression. Moreover, these learning dynamics matched those in Experiment 6, which used verbal materials. These findings suggest that (a) sequential focus on each item facilitates a repetition learning effect, indicating a temporal bottleneck is involved early in this process and (b) repetition learning is mechanistically similar across sensory modalities even though these modalities differently specialize in processing spatial or temporal information. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Humans; Learning; Memory, Short-Term; Mental Recall; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 37307338
DOI: 10.1037/xge0001406