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Neurological Sciences : Official... Feb 2023The COVID-19 pandemic has forced significant changes in clinical practice. Psychologists and neuropsychologists had to modify their settings to assess patients'...
INTRODUCTION
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced significant changes in clinical practice. Psychologists and neuropsychologists had to modify their settings to assess patients' abilities, switching from an in-person modality to a remote setting by using video calling platforms. Consequently, this change brought about the need for new normative data tailored to remote settings.
AIM AND METHODS
The study aimed to develop normative data for the online assessment of neuropsychological memory tests and to compare it with the published norms obtained in standard settings. Two hundred and four healthy Italian volunteers performed three verbal memory tests through the Google Meet platform: the Digit Span (Backward and Forward), the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning, and the Verbal Paired Associated Learning Test.
RESULTS
This research provides specific norms that consider the influence of demographic characteristics. Their comparison with published norms shows a medium to high agreement between systems. The present study provides a reference for the clinical use of neuropsychological instruments to assess verbal memory in a remote setting and offers specific recommendations.
Topics: Humans; Pandemics; COVID-19; Memory; Neuropsychological Tests; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 36197578
DOI: 10.1007/s10072-022-06426-9 -
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review Oct 2018It is clear that the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) contributes in some fashion to sentence processing. While neuroimaging and neuropsychological evidence support a... (Review)
Review
It is clear that the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) contributes in some fashion to sentence processing. While neuroimaging and neuropsychological evidence support a domain-general working memory function, recent neuroimaging data show that particular subregions of the LIFG, particularly the pars triangularis (pTri), show selective activation for sentences relative to verbal working memory and cognitive control tasks. These data suggest a language-specific function rather than a domain-general one. To resolve this apparent conflict, I propose separating claims of domain-generality and specificity independently for computations and representations-a given brain region may respond to a specific representation while performing a general computation over that representation, one shared with other systems. I hypothesize that the pTri underlies a language-specific working memory system, comprised of general memory retrieval/attention operations specialized for syntactic representations. There is a parallelism of top-down retrieval function among the phonological and semantic levels, localized to the pars opercularis and pars orbitalis, respectively. I further explore the idea of how such a system emerges in the human brain through the framework of neuronal retuning: the "borrowing" of domain-general mechanisms for language, either in evolution or development. The empirical data appear to tentatively support a developmental account of language-specificity in the pTri, possibly through connections to the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), a region that is both anatomically distinct for humans and functionally essential for language. Evidence of representational response specificity obtained from neuroimaging studies is useful in understanding how cognition is implemented in the brain. However, understanding the shared computations across domains and neural systems is necessary for a fuller understanding of this problem, providing potential answers to questions of how specialized systems, such as language, are implemented in the brain.
Topics: Attention; Brain Mapping; Broca Area; Dominance, Cerebral; Humans; Imaging, Three-Dimensional; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Memory, Short-Term; Neuronal Plasticity; Phonetics; Prefrontal Cortex; Semantics; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 28940045
DOI: 10.3758/s13423-017-1377-6 -
NeuroImage Nov 2020Converging evidence from both human and animal studies has highlighted the pervasive role of the neuropeptide arginine vasopressin (AVP), which is mediated by arginine...
Converging evidence from both human and animal studies has highlighted the pervasive role of the neuropeptide arginine vasopressin (AVP), which is mediated by arginine vasopressin receptor 1A (AVPR1A), in both social and nonsocial learning and memory. However, the effect of genetic variants in AVPR1A on verbal learning and memory is unknown. The hippocampus is a heterogeneous structure that consists of several anatomically and functionally distinct subfields, and it is the principal target structure for the memory-enhancing effect of AVP. We tested the hypothesis that genetic variants in the RS3 and RS1 repeat polymorphisms may influence verbal learning and memory performance evaluated by the California Verbal Learning Test-II (CVLT-II) by modulating the gray matter volume (GMV) and resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of whole hippocampus and its subfields in a large cohort of young healthy subjects (n = 1001). Using a short/long classification scheme for the repeat length of RS3 and RS1, we found that the individuals carrying more short alleles of RS3-RS1 haplotypes had poorer learning and memory performance compared to that of those carrying more long alleles. We also revealed that individuals carrying more short alleles exhibited a significantly smaller GMV in the left cornu ammonis (CA)2/3 and weaker rsFC of the left CA2/3-bilateral thalamic (primarily in medial prefrontal subfields) compared to those carrying more long alleles. Furthermore, multiple mediation analysis confirmed that these two hippocampal imaging measures jointly and fully mediated the relationship between the genetic variants in AVPR1A RS3-RS1 haplotypes and the individual differences in verbal learning and memory performance. Our results suggest that genetic variants in AVPR1A RS3-RS1 haplotypes may affect verbal learning and memory performance in part by modulating the left hippocampal CA2/3 structure and its rsFC with the thalamus.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Female; Genotype; Hippocampus; Humans; Learning; Male; Memory; Polymorphism, Genetic; Promoter Regions, Genetic; Receptors, Vasopressin; Verbal Learning; Young Adult
PubMed: 32828928
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117283 -
Cognition May 2020Successful word learning requires establishing an initial representation that is sufficiently robust to be retained in memory. Sleep has profound advantages for memory...
Successful word learning requires establishing an initial representation that is sufficiently robust to be retained in memory. Sleep has profound advantages for memory consolidation, but evidence concerning the effects of sleep in young children's word learning is slim and focuses almost exclusively on learning nouns. Verbs are representationally more complex and are often learned from non-concurrent linguistic and observational information (e.g., hearing "let's pour your milk" before the pouring event takes place). What remains unknown is whether initial representations built this way are robust enough to sustain a delay, and how these representations are affected by sleep. We presented two-year-olds with non-concurrent linguistic and observational information about novel verbs and immediately tested their knowledge of the verbs' meanings by evaluating their eye gaze as they looked at potential referents. Then, after a 4-hour delay during which half of the children napped and half remained awake, we retested them to see if they remembered the verbs' meanings. The results demonstrate differences in two-year-olds' representations of a novel verb before and after the delay; specifically, their verb representations withstood the 4-hour delay if they had napped, but decayed if they had remained awake.
Topics: Child, Preschool; Humans; Language Development; Learning; Linguistics; Sleep; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 32018123
DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104205 -
Journal of Speech, Language, and... May 2020Purpose We investigated four theoretically based latent variable models of word learning in young school-age children. Method One hundred sixty-seven English-speaking...
Purpose We investigated four theoretically based latent variable models of word learning in young school-age children. Method One hundred sixty-seven English-speaking second graders with typical development from three U.S. states participated. They completed five different tasks designed to assess children's creation, storage, retrieval, and production of the phonological and semantic representations of novel words and their ability to link those representations. The tasks encompassed the triggering and configuration stages of word learning. Results Results showed that a latent variable model with separate phonological and semantic factors and linking indicators constrained to load on the phonological factor best fit the data. Discussion The structure of word learning during triggering and configuration reflects separate but related phonological and semantic factors. We did not find evidence for a unidimensional latent variable model of word learning or for separate receptive and expressive word learning factors. In future studies, it will be interesting to determine whether the structure of word learning differs during the engagement stage of word learning when phonological and semantic representations, as well as the links between them, are sufficiently strong to affect other words in the lexicon.
Topics: Child; Humans; Phonetics; Schools; Semantics; Verbal Learning; Vocabulary
PubMed: 32343920
DOI: 10.1044/2020_JSLHR-19-00186 -
Journal of the International... Apr 2017Verbal memory (VM) impairment is prominent in bipolar disorder (BD) and is linked to functional outcomes. However, the intricacies of VM impairment have not yet been...
BACKGROUND
Verbal memory (VM) impairment is prominent in bipolar disorder (BD) and is linked to functional outcomes. However, the intricacies of VM impairment have not yet been studied in a large sample of BD patients. Moreover, some have proposed VM deficits that may be mediated by organizational strategies, such as semantic or serial clustering. Thus, the exact nature of VM break-down in BD patients is not well understood, limiting remediation efforts. We investigated the intricacies of VM deficits in BD patients versus healthy controls (HCs) and examined whether verbal learning differences were mediated by use of clustering strategies.
METHODS
The California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) was administered to 113 affectively stable BD patients and 106 HCs. We compared diagnostic groups on all CVLT indices and investigated whether group differences in verbal learning were mediated by clustering strategies.
RESULTS
Although BD patients showed significantly poorer attention, learning, and memory, these indices were only mildly impaired. However, BD patients evidenced poorer use of effective learning strategies and lower recall consistency, with these indices falling in the moderately impaired range. Moreover, relative reliance on semantic clustering fully mediated the relationship between diagnostic category and verbal learning, while reliance on serial clustering partially mediated this relationship.
CONCLUSIONS
VM deficits in affectively stable bipolar patients were widespread but were generally mildly impaired. However, patients displayed inadequate use of organizational strategies with clear separation from HCs on semantic and serial clustering. Remediation efforts may benefit from education about mnemonic devices or "chunking" techniques to attenuate VM deficits in BD. (JINS, 2017, 23, 358-366).
Topics: Adult; Bipolar Disorder; Female; Humans; Male; Memory Disorders; Middle Aged; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 28382899
DOI: 10.1017/S1355617717000133 -
Central auditory processing deficits in schizophrenia: Effects of auditory-based cognitive training.Schizophrenia Research Oct 2021Sensory processing abnormalities are common in schizophrenia (SZ) and impact everyday functions, such as speech perception in noisy environments. Auditory-based targeted... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
BACKGROUND
Sensory processing abnormalities are common in schizophrenia (SZ) and impact everyday functions, such as speech perception in noisy environments. Auditory-based targeted cognitive training (TCT) is a "bottom up" cognitive remediation intervention designed to enhance the speed and accuracy of low-level auditory information processing. However, the effects of TCT on behavioral measures of central auditory processing (CAP) and the role of CAP function on verbal learning outcomes in SZ are unknown.
METHODS
SZ (n = 42) and healthy subjects (CTL; n = 18) underwent comprehensive clinical, neurocognitive, and auditory assessments, including tests of hearing sensitivity and speech recognition (Words-in-Noise (WIN), Quick Speech-in-Noise (SIN)). SZ patients were randomized to receive either treatment-as-usual (TAU); or 30-h of TCT + TAU using a stratified, parallel design. SZ patients repeated assessments ~10-12 weeks later.
RESULTS
Patients exhibited deficits in both WIN (p < 0.05, d = 0.50) and SIN (p < 0.01, d = 0.63). A treatment × time interaction on WIN (p < 0.05, d = 0.74), but not SIN discriminability, was seen in the TCT group relative to TAU. Specific enhancements in the 4-dB over background range drove gains in WIN performance. Moreover, SZ patients with greater CAP deficits experienced robust gains in verbal learning after 30-h of TCT relative to SZ patients without CAP impairment (p < 0.01, d = 1.28).
CONCLUSION
Findings demonstrate that intensive auditory training enhances the fidelity of auditory processing and perception, such that specific CAP deficits were 'normalized' and were predictive of gains in verbal learning after TCT. It is conceivable that patients with deficiencies in CAP measures may benefit most from TCT and other interventions targeting auditory dysfunction in SZ.
Topics: Auditory Perception; Cognition; Cognition Disorders; Humans; Schizophrenia; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 34500174
DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2021.07.033 -
Neuropsychologia Apr 2017Understanding the neural processes that underlie learning to read can provide a scientific foundation for literacy education but studying these processes in real-world...
Understanding the neural processes that underlie learning to read can provide a scientific foundation for literacy education but studying these processes in real-world contexts remains challenging. We present behavioural data from adult participants learning to read artificial words and name artificial objects over two days. Learning profiles and generalisation confirmed that componential learning of visual-verbal associations distinguishes reading from object naming. Functional MRI data collected on the second day allowed us to identify the neural systems that support componential reading as distinct from systems supporting holistic visual-verbal associations in object naming. Results showed increased activation in posterior ventral occipitotemporal (vOT), parietal, and frontal cortices when reading an artificial orthography compared to naming artificial objects, and the reverse profile in anterior vOT regions. However, activation differences between trained and untrained words were absent, suggesting a lack of cortical representations for whole words. Despite this, hippocampal responses provided some evidence for overnight consolidation of both words and objects learned on day 1. The comparison between neural activity for artificial words and objects showed extensive overlap with systems differentially engaged for real object naming and English word/pseudoword reading in the same participants. These findings therefore provide evidence that artificial learning paradigms offer an alternative method for studying the neural systems supporting language and literacy. Implications for literacy acquisition are discussed.
Topics: Acoustic Stimulation; Adolescent; Adult; Association; Brain; Brain Mapping; Female; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Mental Recall; Names; Oxygen; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Phonetics; Photic Stimulation; Reaction Time; Reading; Verbal Learning; Vocabulary; Young Adult
PubMed: 27720949
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.09.025 -
NeuroImage May 2023The cerebellum is involved in higher-order cognitive functions, e.g., learning and memory, and is susceptible to age-related atrophy. Yet, the cerebellum's role in...
The cerebellum is involved in higher-order cognitive functions, e.g., learning and memory, and is susceptible to age-related atrophy. Yet, the cerebellum's role in age-related cognitive decline remains largely unknown. We investigated cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between cerebellar volume and verbal learning and memory. Linear mixed effects models and partial correlations were used to examine the relationship between changes in cerebellum volumes (total cerebellum, cerebellum white matter [WM], cerebellum hemisphere gray matter [GM], and cerebellum vermis subregions) and changes in verbal learning and memory performance among 549 Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging participants (2,292 visits). All models were adjusted by baseline demographic characteristics (age, sex, race, education), and APOE e4 carrier status. In examining associations between change with change, we tested an additional model that included either hippocampal (HC), cuneus, or postcentral gyrus (PoCG) volumes to assess whether cerebellar volumes were uniquely associated with verbal learning and memory. Cross-sectionally, the association of baseline cerebellum GM and WM with baseline verbal learning and memory was age-dependent, with the oldest individuals showing the strongest association between volume and performance. Baseline volume was not significantly associated with change in learning and memory. However, analysis of associations between change in volumes and changes in verbal learning and memory showed that greater declines in verbal memory were associated with greater volume loss in cerebellum white matter, and preserved GM volume in cerebellum vermis lobules VI-VII. The association between decline in verbal memory and decline in cerebellar WM volume remained after adjustment for HC, cuneus, and PoCG volume. Our findings highlight that associations between cerebellum volume and verbal learning and memory are age-dependent and regionally specific.
Topics: Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Cross-Sectional Studies; Cognition; Cerebellum; Verbal Learning; Magnetic Resonance Imaging
PubMed: 36958620
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120048 -
Epilepsy & Behavior : E&B Mar 2022This research aimed to broaden understanding of learning verbal material in participants with left- and right-sided mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE). We modeled word...
This research aimed to broaden understanding of learning verbal material in participants with left- and right-sided mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE). We modeled word list-learning to determine how anterior temporal lobe resection affects verbal learning. Verbal learning (across trials) was assessed using the first five trials of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) in 128 participants with MTLE. Mixedeffects modeling was used to determine whether learning curves differed between participants with left- and right-sided MTLE pre- and post- anterior temporal lobe resection. Laterality of MTLE had a significant effect on both the model intercept and the linear slope, whereby participants with left-sided MTLE retained fewer words on both the first trial and on each subsequent trial than participants with right-sided MTLE; and this held regardless of anterior temporal lobe resection status (t(117) = -3.516, p < .001; t(120.50) = -2.049, p = .042, for intercept and linear slope, respectively). There were no significant differences in the learning curves after anterior temporal lobe resection surgery in either left- or right-sided MTLE. Our findings suggest that acquisition of verbal information may be especially impaired in patients with left-sided MTLE. Further, we show that verbal learning across trials was not affected by surgical intervention. This finding contributes to the broader understanding of the impacts of anterior temporal lobe resection on verbal memory function, and has important implications for the clinical management and surgical planning for patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.
Topics: Anterior Temporal Lobectomy; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe; Functional Laterality; Hippocampus; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Neuropsychological Tests; Temporal Lobe; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 35065396
DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2022.108561