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Frontiers in Psychology 2023Different research over the years has shown how the executive processes of Working Memory are a fundamental area that allows the performance of complex cognitive tasks...
INTRODUCTION
Different research over the years has shown how the executive processes of Working Memory are a fundamental area that allows the performance of complex cognitive tasks such as language comprehension, reading, mathematical skills, learning or reasoning. Therefore, scientific evidence shows that they are altered in people with dyslexia and dyscalculia. The aim of this research was to study the relationship between semantic updating ability and reading comprehension depending on whether or not the information content had a mathematical character between the two disorders.
METHODS
A Pilot Case Study was carried out for this purpose. The sample consisted of 40 participants aged 6 to 11 years, 20 of them with a diagnosis of dyslexia and the remaining 20 with a diagnosis of dyscalculia. The results indicate that people with dyslexia show more difficulties in all those tasks that require reading.
RESULTS
People with dyscalculia obtain worse results in the tasks of stimulus integration and reading comprehension of texts with mathematical content. Furthermore, the correlation between the different areas evaluated shows that people with dyslexia and dyscalculia develop different cognitive processes.
DISCUSSION
Therefore, it is necessary to continue insisting on the importance of explicit work on working memory, since it is a determining and fundamental area in the development of written language comprehension.
PubMed: 37529304
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1191304 -
Frontiers in Neurology 2023Carriers of Fragile X premutation may have associated medical comorbidities, such as Fragile X-associated tremor and ataxia (FXTAS) and Fragile X-associated premature...
OBJECTIVE
Carriers of Fragile X premutation may have associated medical comorbidities, such as Fragile X-associated tremor and ataxia (FXTAS) and Fragile X-associated premature ovarian insufficiency (FXPOI). We examined the Fragile X premutation effect on cognition, and we assumed that there is a direct correlation between the continuous spectrum of specific learning and attention deficits to the number of CGG repeats on the gene.
METHODS
A total of 108 women were referred to our center due to a related Fragile X syndrome (FXS) patient, 79 women carried a premutation of 56-199 repeats, and 19 women carried a full mutation of more than 200 CGG repeats on gene. Genetic results of CGG repeats, demographic information, structured questionnaires for ADHD, learning disabilities of language and mathematics, and independence level were analyzed in women carrying the premutation and compared to the group carrying the full mutation. Women with FXS and FXTAS were excluded.
RESULTS
When analyzed as a continuum, there was a significant increase in the following complaints which were associated with a higher number of repeats: specific daily function skills such as driving a car, writing checks, disorientation in directions, and also specific learning difficulties such as spelling and math difficulties. Additionally, when tested as a categorical independent variable, we observe that women with the full mutation were more likely to have ADHD or other learning disability diagnoses in the past than during premutation (<200 CGG repetitions).
CONCLUSION
Specific learning and attention difficulties and resulting daily function difficulties correlate with an increased number of CGG repeats and are more likely to be associated as a common feature of premutation and full mutation in a female premutation carrier. Despite evidence of learning and attention difficulties, it is encouraging that most female carriers of the premutation and full mutation function well in most areas. Nevertheless, they face significant difficulties in specific areas of functioning such as driving, and confusion in times and schedules. Those daily function skills are mostly impacted by dyscalculia, right and left disorientation, and attention difficulties. This may aid to design specific interventions to address specific learning deficits in order to improve daily function skills and quality of life.
PubMed: 37200782
DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1135630 -
Brain Sciences Feb 2023Subitizing is the ability to enumerate small quantities efficiently and automatically. Counting is a strategy adopted for larger numerosities resulting in a near linear...
Subitizing is the ability to enumerate small quantities efficiently and automatically. Counting is a strategy adopted for larger numerosities resulting in a near linear increase in response time with each increase in quantity. Some developmental studies suggest that being able to subitize efficiently may be a predictor of later arithmetical ability. Being able to enumerate small quantities efficiently may be necessary for at least some aspects of arithmetical skill and understanding to develop. According to this view, arithmetic ability ultimately depends upon subitizing. If this were the case, when acquired brain injury results in impaired performance on subitizing tasks, mathematical performance may also be impaired. The following study tested eleven healthy control participants and nine chronic patients with acquired brain injury on tasks focused on visual enumeration, addition and multiplication to explore a potential relationship between subitizing ability and calculation performance. No overall correlations were found between subitizing and addition or multiplication speed. However, a very clear subitizing impairment was found in two patients who then demonstrated very different levels of preserved addition skills. The dissociations found and the large inter-individual variability supports a more componential view of arithmetical ability.
PubMed: 36979191
DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13030381 -
Research in Developmental Disabilities May 2023The role of domain-general cognitive abilities in the etiology of Developmental Dyscalculia (DD) is a hotly debated issue.
BACKGROUND
The role of domain-general cognitive abilities in the etiology of Developmental Dyscalculia (DD) is a hotly debated issue.
AIMS
In the present study, we tested whether WISC-IV cognitive profiles can be useful to single out DD.
METHODS AND PROCEDURES
Using a stringent 2-SD cutoff in a standardized numeracy battery, we identified children with DD (N = 43) within a clinical sample referred for assessment of learning disability and compared them in terms of WISC cognitive indexes to the remaining children without DD (N = 100) employing cross-validated logistic regression.
OUTCOMES AND RESULTS
Both groups showed higher Verbal Comprehension and Perceptual Reasoning than Working Memory and Processing Speed, and DD scores were generally lower. Predictive accuracy of WISC indexes in identifying DD individuals was low (AUC = 0.67) and it dropped to chance level in discriminating DD from selected controls (N = 43) with average math performance but matched on global IQ. The inclusion of a visuospatial memory score as an additional predictor did not improve classification accuracy.
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
These results demonstrate that cognitive profiles do not reliably discriminate DD from non-DD children, thereby weakening the appeal of domain-general accounts.
Topics: Child; Humans; Dyscalculia; Learning Disabilities; Memory, Short-Term; Wechsler Scales; Comprehension
PubMed: 36933361
DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2023.104478 -
International Journal of Environmental... Jan 2023The aim of the pilot project was to research relationships between the occurrence and level of intensity of primitive reflexes in primary school children, the ability to...
The aim of the pilot project was to research relationships between the occurrence and level of intensity of primitive reflexes in primary school children, the ability to read an analogue clock and to tell the time. A group of 28 children (14 girls and 14 boys) who attended Montessori Primary School was examined. In the first stage, participants were assessed for the presence of five primitive reflexes (PR): the asymmetrical tonic neck reflex (ATNR), symmetrical tonic neck reflex (STNR), spinal Galant reflex, tonic labyrinthine reflex (TLR) and Palmar grasp reflex. Romberg's test was employed to identify signs of difficulties with control of balance and/or proprioception. In the second stage, pupils underwent tests that challenged their ability to read a clock and calculate passing time. After summing up points obtained for all tests, a correlation coefficient was made from which the results were derived. There is a negative correlation between the ability to read an analogue clock and the continued presence of some primitive reflexes. Lower neuromotor maturity (higher points of PR) correlates with lower ability to read a clock. The highest correlations between difficulty with telling the time were found with persistence of the STNR, ATNR and Romberg's test.
Topics: Male; Female; Humans; Child; Pilot Projects; Reflex, Abnormal; Reflex; Dyslexia
PubMed: 36767689
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20032322 -
Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) May 2023The purpose of this study is to identify consistencies across functional neuroimaging studies regarding common and unique brain regions/networks for individuals with... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
The purpose of this study is to identify consistencies across functional neuroimaging studies regarding common and unique brain regions/networks for individuals with reading difficulties (RD) and math difficulties (MD) compared to typically developing (TD) individuals. A systematic search of the literature, utilizing multiple databases, yielded 116 functional magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography studies that met the criteria. Coordinates that directly compared TD with either RD or MD were entered into GingerALE (Brainmap.org). An activation likelihood estimate (ALE) meta-analysis was conducted to examine common and unique brain regions for RD and MD. Overall, more studies examined RD (n = 96) than MD (n = 20). Across studies, overactivation for reading and math occurred in the right insula and inferior frontal gyrus for atypically developing (AD) > TD comparisons, albeit in slightly different areas of these regions; however, inherent threshold variability across imaging studies could diminish overlying regions. For TD > AD comparisons, there were no similar or overlapping brain regions. Results indicate there were domain-specific differences for RD and MD; however, there were some similarities in the ancillary recruitment of executive functioning skills. Theoretical and practical implications for researchers and educators are discussed.
Topics: Humans; Reading; Dyslexia; Likelihood Functions; Brain; Cognition; Magnetic Resonance Imaging
PubMed: 36758954
DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad013 -
Current Biology : CB Feb 2023The Venus flytrap Dionaea muscipula estimates prey nutrient content by counting trigger hair contacts initiating action potentials (APs) and calcium waves traveling all...
The Venus flytrap Dionaea muscipula estimates prey nutrient content by counting trigger hair contacts initiating action potentials (APs) and calcium waves traveling all over the trap. A first AP is associated with a subcritical rise in cytosolic calcium concentration, but when the second AP arrives in time, calcium levels pass the threshold required for fast trap closure. Consequently, memory function and decision-making are timed via a calcium clock. For higher numbers of APs elicited by the struggling prey, the Ca clock connects to the networks governed by the touch hormone jasmonic acid (JA), which initiates slow, hermetic trap sealing and mining of the animal food stock. Two distinct phases of trap closure can be distinguished within Dionaea's hunting cycle: (1) very fast trap snapping requiring two APs and crossing of a critical cytosolic Ca level and (2) JA-dependent slow trap sealing and prey processing induced by more than five APs. The Dionaea mutant DYSC is still able to fire touch-induced APs but does not snap close its traps and fails to enter the hunting cycle after prolonged mechanostimulation. Transcriptomic analyses revealed that upon trigger hair touch/AP stimulation, activation of calcium signaling is largely suppressed in DYSC traps. The observation that external JA application restored hunting cycle progression together with the DYSC phenotype and its transcriptional landscape indicates that DYSC cannot properly read, count, and decode touch/AP-induced calcium signals that are key in prey capture and processing.
Topics: Animals; Droseraceae; Action Potentials; Dyscalculia; Calcium
PubMed: 36693369
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.12.058 -
Journal of Neural Transmission (Vienna,... Mar 2023Developmental dyscalculia is a specific learning disorder that persists over lifetime and can have an enormous impact on personal, health-related, and professional...
Developmental dyscalculia is a specific learning disorder that persists over lifetime and can have an enormous impact on personal, health-related, and professional aspects of life. Despite its central importance, the origin both at the cognitive and neural level is not yet well understood. Several classification schemas of dyscalculia have been proposed, sometimes together with an associated deficit at the neural level. However, these explanations are (a) not providing an exhaustive framework that is at levels with the observed complexity of developmental dyscalculia at the behavioral level and (b) are largely mono-causal approaches focusing on gray matter deficits. We suggest that number processing is instead the result of context-dependent interaction of two anatomically largely separate, distributed but overlapping networks that function/cooperate in a closely integrated fashion. The proposed two-network framework (TNF) is the result of a series of studies in adults on the neural correlates underlying magnitude processing and arithmetic fact retrieval, which comprised neurofunctional imaging of various numerical tasks, the application of probabilistic fiber tracking to obtain well-defined connections, and the validation and modification of these results using disconnectome mapping in acute stroke patients. Emerged from data in adults, it represents the endpoint of the acquisition and use of mathematical competencies in adults. Yet, we argue that its main characteristics should already emerge earlier during development. Based on this TNF, we develop a classification schema of phenomenological subtypes and their underlying neural origin that we evaluate against existing propositions and the available empirical data.
Topics: Adult; Humans; Dyscalculia; Cerebral Cortex
PubMed: 36662281
DOI: 10.1007/s00702-022-02580-8 -
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2022There is ample evidence from literature and clinical practice indicating mathematical difficulties in individuals with ADHD, even when there is no concomitant diagnosis...
There is ample evidence from literature and clinical practice indicating mathematical difficulties in individuals with ADHD, even when there is no concomitant diagnosis of developmental dyscalculia. What factors underlie these difficulties is still an open question. Research on dyscalculia and neurotypical development suggests visual perception of numerosity (the number sense) as a building block for math learning. Participants with lower numerosity estimation thresholds (higher precision) are often those with higher math capabilities. Strangely, the role of numerosity perception in math skills in ADHD has been neglected, leaving open the question whether math difficulties in ADHD also originate from a deficitary visual number sense. In the current study we psychophysically measured numerosity thresholds and accuracy in a sample of children/adolescents with ADHD, but not concomitant dyscalculia ( = 20, 8-16 years). Math abilities were also measured by tasks indexing different mathematical competences. Numerosity performance and math scores were then compared to those obtained from an age-matched control group ( = 20). Bayesian statistics indicated no difference between ADHD and controls on numerosity perception, despite many of the symbolic math tasks being impaired in participants with ADHD. Moreover, the math deficits showed by the group with ADHD remained substantial even when numerosity thresholds were statistically regressed out. Overall, these results indicate that math difficulties in ADHD are unlikely to originate from an impaired visual number sense.
PubMed: 36393991
DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.949391 -
Frontiers in Psychiatry 2022The transition of teaching from in-person to Distance Learning (DL) due to the COVID-19 pandemic led to negative effects on students' psychological wellbeing and...
BACKGROUND
The transition of teaching from in-person to Distance Learning (DL) due to the COVID-19 pandemic led to negative effects on students' psychological wellbeing and academic achievement. The worst consequences have been experienced by students with so-called , as well as by their parents. However, very little emphasis has been placed on the effects of DL in students with Specific Learning Disorders (SLD). The present work aimed to evaluate the effects of DL during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italian students with SLD and in their parents.
METHODS
An online survey was administered to 92 students with SLD and their parents after the COVID-19 lockdown. The survey consisted of four sections: participants' demographic information; perceived stress related to general aspects (i.e., social and family determinants) as well as specific aspects related to DL; attitudes and feelings toward DL; and academic grades before and after DL.
RESULTS
Students with SLD perceived stress mainly from social isolation/distancing and DL ( always ≤ 0.0001), especially from online classes and oral exams ( always ≤ 0.0001). Students who did not benefit from appropriate accommodations (i.e., individualized teaching and learning methods) during DL perceived 3 times more DL-related stress than those who used them as in-person learning (OR = 3.00, CI 95%: 1.24-7.28, = 0.015). Girls perceived more stress from online lessons (OR = 0.40, CI 95%: 0.16-0.96, = 0.04) and use of devices (OR = 0.33, CI 95%: 0.14-0.80, = 0.015) than boys. Negative feelings (less motivation, reduced ability to understand lessons, interact, and stay focused) and positive feelings (less anxiety and more self-confidence with its own rate of learning) toward DL emerged. Higher academic grades also was observed after DL ( ≤ 0.0001). Lastly, strong and positive correlations emerged between students' and parents' perceived stress during DL ( always < 0.001).
IMPLICATIONS
The present study prompts special considerations for students with special educational needs not only when providing conventional instruction, but especially when it is necessary to suddenly modify teaching approaches.
PubMed: 36339862
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.995484