-
Alzheimer's Research & Therapy May 2024Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) increases risk for cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease (AD). While the underlying mechanisms remain unclear, hypoxemia during OSA has...
BACKGROUND
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) increases risk for cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease (AD). While the underlying mechanisms remain unclear, hypoxemia during OSA has been implicated in cognitive impairment. OSA during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is usually more severe than in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, but the relative effect of oxyhemoglobin desaturation during REM versus NREM sleep on memory is not completely characterized. Here, we examined the impact of OSA, as well as the moderating effects of AD risk factors, on verbal memory in a sample of middle-aged and older adults with heightened AD risk.
METHODS
Eighty-one adults (mean age:61.7 ± 6.0 years, 62% females, 32% apolipoprotein E ε4 allele (APOE4) carriers, and 70% with parental history of AD) underwent clinical polysomnography including assessment of OSA. OSA features were derived in total, NREM, and REM sleep. REM-NREM ratios of OSA features were also calculated. Verbal memory was assessed with the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). Multiple regression models evaluated the relationships between OSA features and RAVLT scores while adjusting for sex, age, time between assessments, education years, body mass index (BMI), and APOE4 status or parental history of AD. The significant main effects of OSA features on RAVLT performance and the moderating effects of AD risk factors (i.e., sex, age, APOE4 status, and parental history of AD) were examined.
RESULTS
Apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), respiratory disturbance index (RDI), and oxyhemoglobin desaturation index (ODI) during REM sleep were negatively associated with RAVLT total learning and long-delay recall. Further, greater REM-NREM ratios of AHI, RDI, and ODI (i.e., more events in REM than NREM) were related to worse total learning and recall. We found specifically that the negative association between REM ODI and total learning was driven by adults 60 + years old. In addition, the negative relationships between REM-NREM ODI ratio and total learning, and REM-NREM RDI ratio and long-delay recall were driven by APOE4 carriers.
CONCLUSION
Greater OSA severity, particularly during REM sleep, negatively affects verbal memory, especially for people with greater AD risk. These findings underscore the potential importance of proactive screening and treatment of REM OSA even if overall AHI appears low.
Topics: Humans; Female; Male; Alzheimer Disease; Middle Aged; Sleep, REM; Aged; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive; Polysomnography; Risk Factors; Verbal Learning; Apolipoprotein E4; Memory; Severity of Illness Index; Sleep Apnea Syndromes
PubMed: 38725033
DOI: 10.1186/s13195-024-01446-3 -
Addictive Behaviors Sep 2024Work has identified that metacognitive thought results in desire-based thinking and perpetuates the magnitude and severity of maladaptive behaviour including problematic...
Work has identified that metacognitive thought results in desire-based thinking and perpetuates the magnitude and severity of maladaptive behaviour including problematic social media use, and also that one's ingroup identity is related to increasing problematic behaviour. No evidence has ascertained the relative contribution of these as related differential factors in the experience of problematic social media use. The current study explored the comparative importance of components of desire thinking, positive and negative metacognitions and dimensions of ingroup identity on degree of problematic use among 147 current Instagram users. Results showed that for predicting general problematic Instagram use negative metacognitive beliefs and the verbal perseverance component of desire-based thinking were significant. Importantly, however, different factors appeared to be important for predicting distinct aspects of problematic Instagram. For compulsivity indicators, negative metacognitions and verbal perseveration were essential, whereas for the withdrawal component identity centrality (and no other dimensions of identity) and imaginal prefiguration emerge as the sole independent predictors.
Topics: Humans; Metacognition; Male; Female; Adult; Compulsive Behavior; Young Adult; Thinking; Internet Addiction Disorder; Social Media; Social Identification; Adolescent; Middle Aged
PubMed: 38718739
DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2024.108043 -
Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) May 2024Behavioral and brain-related changes in word production have been claimed to predominantly occur after 70 years of age. Most studies investigating age-related changes...
Behavioral and brain-related changes in word production have been claimed to predominantly occur after 70 years of age. Most studies investigating age-related changes in adulthood only compared young to older adults, failing to determine whether neural processes underlying word production change at an earlier age than observed in behavior. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating whether changes in neurophysiological processes underlying word production are aligned with behavioral changes. Behavior and the electrophysiological event-related potential patterns of word production were assessed during a picture naming task in 95 participants across five adult lifespan age groups (ranging from 16 to 80 years old). While behavioral performance decreased starting from 70 years of age, significant neurophysiological changes were present at the age of 40 years old, in a time window (between 150 and 220 ms) likely associated with lexical-semantic processes underlying referential word production. These results show that neurophysiological modifications precede the behavioral changes in language production; they can be interpreted in line with the suggestion that the lexical-semantic reorganization in mid-adulthood influences the maintenance of language skills longer than for other cognitive functions.
Topics: Humans; Adult; Aged; Male; Middle Aged; Female; Young Adult; Adolescent; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Evoked Potentials; Electroencephalography; Brain; Speech; Semantics
PubMed: 38715409
DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae187 -
Ugeskrift For Laeger Apr 2024Ankyloglossia or tongue-tie is a condition where the anatomical variation of the sublingual frenulum can limit normal tongue function. In Denmark, as in other countries,... (Review)
Review
Ankyloglossia or tongue-tie is a condition where the anatomical variation of the sublingual frenulum can limit normal tongue function. In Denmark, as in other countries, an increase in the number of children treated for ankyloglossia has been described over the past years. Whether or not ankyloglossia and its release affect the speech has also been increasingly discussed on Danish television and social media. In this review, the possible connection between ankyloglossia, its surgical treatment, and speech development in children is discussed.
Topics: Humans; Ankyloglossia; Child; Language Development; Tongue; Lingual Frenum; Speech; Infant
PubMed: 38704717
DOI: 10.61409/V11230699 -
JAMA Network Open May 2024Resident-to-resident aggression in assisted living facilities can result in physical and psychological harm, but its prevalence is unknown. (Observational Study)
Observational Study
IMPORTANCE
Resident-to-resident aggression in assisted living facilities can result in physical and psychological harm, but its prevalence is unknown.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the prevalence of resident-to-resident aggression, including physical, verbal, and sexual, among residents in assisted living facilities.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
This study used cross-sectional, observational data from a clinical trial, in which residents of assisted living facilities were monitored for events over a 1-month period. All residents of 14 large facilities randomly selected from 2 geographic locations (N = 1067), except those receiving hospice care (n = 11), were invited to participate; 93 died or moved prior to enrollment. There were 33 family and resident refusals; 930 residents were enrolled. Data were collected between May 30, 2018, and August 11, 2022.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
The data are from a clinical trial testing the effectiveness of an intervention to reduce resident-to-resident aggression. In addition, the study was designed to assess prevalence using the Time 1 (baseline) data, using a probability sample of facilities to allow for this analysis. Resident-to-resident aggression was identified using a mixed-method, case-finding strategy involving 6 sources: (1) cognitively capable resident reports regarding 22 possible events, (2) direct care staff report, (3) staff member reports collected from event-reporting forms, (4) research assistant observation of events in real time, (5) facility accident or incident reports, and (6) resident records.
RESULTS
The prevalence of resident-to-resident aggression among the 930 participants (mean [SD] age, 88.0 [7.2] years; 738 women [79.4%]) during the past month was estimated to be 15.2% (141 of 930 residents; 95% CI, 12.1%-18.8%). The most common forms of aggression included verbal (11.2% [104 of 930 residents; 95% CI, 8.8%-14.2%]), physical (41 of 930 residents; 4.4% [95% CI, 3.1%-6.3%]), sexual (0.8% [7 of 930 residents; 95% CI, 0.4%-1.6%]), and other (70 of 930 residents; 7.5% [95% CI, 5.5%-10.2%]). These categories are not mutually exclusive as residents could be involved with more than 1 type of aggressive behavior.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
In this cross-sectional, observational prevalence study, resident-to-resident aggression in assisted living facilities was highly prevalent. Verbal aggression was the most common form, and physical aggression also occurred frequently. The effects of resident-to-resident aggression can be both morbid and mortal; therefore, intervention research is needed to prevent it and to treat it when it occurs.
Topics: Humans; Aggression; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Male; Prevalence; Assisted Living Facilities; Aged; Aged, 80 and over
PubMed: 38700860
DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.9668 -
BMC Oral Health May 2024Empathy is described as one's ability to perceive and apprehend another person's feelings, situation, emotions, and problems as their own. Empathetic behavior increases...
BACKGROUND
Empathy is described as one's ability to perceive and apprehend another person's feelings, situation, emotions, and problems as their own. Empathetic behavior increases patients' satisfaction, reduces discomfort, and helps with patient's satisfaction.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Jefferson Empathy Scale and compare the measure of invariance within genders and amongst the public and private sector dental students.
METHOD
This cross-sectional study utilized JSE-HPS version for research purpose. An exploratory factor analysis was performed to detect underlying factors. Reliability of the study tool was evaluated using Cronbach alpha test. Mann Whitney U test was used to compare the differences in scores between genders and among public and private university students while Student's t analysis compared the scores according to different domains. The level of significance was ≤ 0.05.
RESULTS
Females demonstrated higher empathy levels (88.52 ± 14.19) along with private institute students (88.46 ± 13.98). Perspective taking and compassionate care domain was also scored highest by the females (31.73 ± 6.49 & 29.31 ± 6.22) and among second year students (33.30 ± 7.11 & 30.50 ± 7.16). PCA analysis extracted 4 factors namely (i) Health-care-provider's sense of humor contributed to improved outcome (ii) Health-care provider's understanding of patients' feelings and of their families influences treatment outcomes (iii) Understanding body language is as important as verbal communication and (iv) Patients feel better when their feelings are understood, which accounted for the 59.51% of the total variance.
CONCLUSION
The findings revealed that students from private institute and females demonstrated higher empathy score. Moreover, the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) was found to be a reliable and validated tool for assessment of empathy in our sample population.
Topics: Humans; Empathy; Female; Male; Students, Dental; Cross-Sectional Studies; Psychometrics; Sex Factors; Reproducibility of Results; Young Adult; Adult; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 38698357
DOI: 10.1186/s12903-024-04267-w -
NeuroImage Jun 2024Covert speech (CS) refers to speaking internally to oneself without producing any sound or movement. CS is involved in multiple cognitive functions and disorders....
Covert speech (CS) refers to speaking internally to oneself without producing any sound or movement. CS is involved in multiple cognitive functions and disorders. Reconstructing CS content by brain-computer interface (BCI) is also an emerging technique. However, it is still controversial whether CS is a truncated neural process of overt speech (OS) or involves independent patterns. Here, we performed a word-speaking experiment with simultaneous EEG-fMRI. It involved 32 participants, who generated words both overtly and covertly. By integrating spatial constraints from fMRI into EEG source localization, we precisely estimated the spatiotemporal dynamics of neural activity. During CS, EEG source activity was localized in three regions: the left precentral gyrus, the left supplementary motor area, and the left putamen. Although OS involved more brain regions with stronger activations, CS was characterized by an earlier event-locked activation in the left putamen (peak at 262 ms versus 1170 ms). The left putamen was also identified as the only hub node within the functional connectivity (FC) networks of both OS and CS, while showing weaker FC strength towards speech-related regions in the dominant hemisphere during CS. Path analysis revealed significant multivariate associations, indicating an indirect association between the earlier activation in the left putamen and CS, which was mediated by reduced FC towards speech-related regions. These findings revealed the specific spatiotemporal dynamics of CS, offering insights into CS mechanisms that are potentially relevant for future treatment of self-regulation deficits, speech disorders, and development of BCI speech applications.
Topics: Humans; Male; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Female; Speech; Adult; Electroencephalography; Young Adult; Brain; Brain Mapping
PubMed: 38697588
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120629 -
Nature Communications May 2024Over the last decades, cognitive neuroscience has identified a distributed set of brain regions that are critical for attention. Strong anatomical overlap with brain...
Over the last decades, cognitive neuroscience has identified a distributed set of brain regions that are critical for attention. Strong anatomical overlap with brain regions critical for oculomotor processes suggests a joint network for attention and eye movements. However, the role of this shared network in complex, naturalistic environments remains understudied. Here, we investigated eye movements in relation to (un)attended sentences of natural speech. Combining simultaneously recorded eye tracking and magnetoencephalographic data with temporal response functions, we show that gaze tracks attended speech, a phenomenon we termed ocular speech tracking. Ocular speech tracking even differentiates a target from a distractor in a multi-speaker context and is further related to intelligibility. Moreover, we provide evidence for its contribution to neural differences in speech processing, emphasizing the necessity to consider oculomotor activity in future research and in the interpretation of neural differences in auditory cognition.
Topics: Humans; Attention; Eye Movements; Male; Female; Magnetoencephalography; Adult; Young Adult; Speech Perception; Speech; Acoustic Stimulation; Brain; Eye-Tracking Technology
PubMed: 38693186
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48126-2 -
Brain and Language Jun 2024With age, the speech system undergoes important changes that render speech production more laborious, slower and often less intelligible. And yet, the neural mechanisms...
With age, the speech system undergoes important changes that render speech production more laborious, slower and often less intelligible. And yet, the neural mechanisms that underlie these age-related changes remain unclear. In this EEG study, we examined two important mechanisms in speech motor control: pre-speech movement-related cortical potential (MRCP), which reflects speech motor planning, and speaking-induced suppression (SIS), which indexes auditory predictions of speech motor commands, in 20 healthy young and 20 healthy older adults. Participants undertook a vowel production task which was followed by passive listening of their own recorded vowels. Our results revealed extensive differences in MRCP in older compared to younger adults. Further, while longer latencies were observed in older adults on N1 and P2, in contrast, the SIS was preserved. The observed reduced MRCP appears as a potential explanatory mechanism for the known age-related slowing of speech production, while preserved SIS suggests intact motor-to-auditory integration.
Topics: Humans; Speech; Aged; Male; Female; Adult; Electroencephalography; Aging; Young Adult; Middle Aged; Cerebral Cortex; Movement; Speech Perception; Evoked Potentials
PubMed: 38692095
DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2024.105415 -
JASA Express Letters Apr 2024This paper examines the adaptations African American English speakers make when imagining talking to a voice assistant, compared to a close friend/family member and to a...
This paper examines the adaptations African American English speakers make when imagining talking to a voice assistant, compared to a close friend/family member and to a stranger. Results show that speakers slowed their rate and produced less pitch variation in voice-assistant-"directed speech" (DS), relative to human-DS. These adjustments were not mediated by how often participants reported experiencing errors with automatic speech recognition. Overall, this paper addresses a limitation in the types of language varieties explored when examining technology-DS registers and contributes to our understanding of the dynamics of human-computer interaction.
Topics: Humans; Black or African American; Male; Female; Adult; Imagination; Speech; Language; Young Adult; Speech Acoustics
PubMed: 38687585
DOI: 10.1121/10.0025484