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PloS One 2013Learning- and memory-related processes are thought to result from dynamic interactions in large-scale brain networks that include lateral and mesial structures of the...
Learning- and memory-related processes are thought to result from dynamic interactions in large-scale brain networks that include lateral and mesial structures of the temporal lobes. We investigate the impact of incidental and intentional learning of verbal episodic material on functional brain networks that we derive from scalp-EEG recorded continuously from 33 subjects during a neuropsychological test schedule. Analyzing the networks' global statistical properties we observe that intentional but not incidental learning leads to a significantly increased clustering coefficient, and the average shortest path length remains unaffected. Moreover, network modifications correlate with subsequent recall performance: the more pronounced the modifications of the clustering coefficient, the higher the recall performance. Our findings provide novel insights into the relationship between topological aspects of functional brain networks and higher cognitive functions.
Topics: Adult; Brain; Brain Mapping; Cognition; Electroencephalography; Female; Humans; Male; Memory; Mental Recall; Nerve Net; Neuropsychological Tests; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 24260362
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0080273 -
Proceedings of the National Academy of... Feb 1998The effects of practice on the functional anatomy observed in two different tasks, a verbal and a motor task, are reviewed in this paper. In the first, people practiced... (Review)
Review
The effects of practice on the functional anatomy observed in two different tasks, a verbal and a motor task, are reviewed in this paper. In the first, people practiced a verbal production task, generating an appropriate verb in response to a visually presented noun. Both practiced and unpracticed conditions utilized common regions such as visual and motor cortex. However, there was a set of regions that was affected by practice. Practice produced a shift in activity from left frontal, anterior cingulate, and right cerebellar hemisphere to activity in Sylvian-insular cortex. Similar changes were also observed in the second task, a task in a very different domain, namely the tracing of a maze. Some areas were significantly more activated during initial unskilled performance (right premotor and parietal cortex and left cerebellar hemisphere); a different region (medial frontal cortex, "supplementary motor area") showed greater activity during skilled performance conditions. Activations were also found in regions that most likely control movement execution irrespective of skill level (e.g., primary motor cortex was related to velocity of movement). One way of interpreting these results is in a "scaffolding-storage" framework. For unskilled, effortful performance, a scaffolding set of regions is used to cope with novel task demands. Following practice, a different set of regions is used, possibly representing storage of particular associations or capabilities that allow for skilled performance. The specific regions used for scaffolding and storage appear to be task dependent.
Topics: Brain; Brain Mapping; Concept Formation; Humans; Maze Learning; Psychomotor Performance; Task Performance and Analysis; Tomography, Emission-Computed; Verbal Learning; Visual Perception
PubMed: 9448251
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.95.3.853 -
Developmental Science Mar 2018Semantically rich learning contexts facilitate semantic, phonological, and articulatory aspects of word learning in children with typical development (TD). However,...
Semantically rich learning contexts facilitate semantic, phonological, and articulatory aspects of word learning in children with typical development (TD). However, because children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show differences at each of these processing levels, it is unclear whether they will benefit from semantic cues in the same manner as their typical peers. The goal of this study was to track how the inclusion of rich, sparse, or no semantic cues influences semantic, phonological, and articulatory aspects of word learning in children with ASD and TD over time. Twenty-four school-aged children (12 in each group), matched on expressive vocabulary, participated in an extended word learning paradigm. Performance on five measures of learning (referent identification, confrontation naming, defining, phonetic accuracy, and speech motor stability) were tracked across three sessions approximately one week apart to assess the influence of semantic richness on extended learning. Results indicate that children with ASD benefit from semantically rich learning contexts similarly to their peers with TD; however, one key difference between the two groups emerged - the children with ASD showed heightened shifts in speech motor stability. These findings offer insights into common learning mechanisms in children with ASD and TD, as well as pointing to a potentially distinct speech motor learning trajectory in children with ASD, providing a window into the emergence of stereotypic vocalizations in these children.
Topics: Autism Spectrum Disorder; Case-Control Studies; Child; Cues; Female; Humans; Learning; Male; Phonetics; Semantics; Verbal Learning; Vocabulary
PubMed: 28470820
DOI: 10.1111/desc.12543 -
Quarterly Journal of Experimental... Jun 2018We studied the initial acquisition and overnight consolidation of new spoken words that resemble words in the native language (L1) or in an unfamiliar, non-native...
We studied the initial acquisition and overnight consolidation of new spoken words that resemble words in the native language (L1) or in an unfamiliar, non-native language (L2). Spanish-speaking participants learned the spoken forms of novel words in their native language (Spanish) or in a different language (Hungarian), which were paired with pictures of familiar or unfamiliar objects, or no picture. We thereby assessed, in a factorial way, the impact of existing knowledge (schema) on word learning by manipulating both semantic (familiar vs unfamiliar objects) and phonological (L1- vs L2-like novel words) familiarity. Participants were trained and tested with a 12-hr intervening period that included overnight sleep or daytime awake. Our results showed (1) benefits of sleep to recognition memory that were greater for words with L2-like phonology and (2) that learned associations with familiar but not unfamiliar pictures enhanced recognition memory for novel words. Implications for complementary systems accounts of word learning are discussed.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Analysis of Variance; Association Learning; Choice Behavior; Female; Humans; Male; Memory; Phonetics; Reaction Time; Recognition, Psychology; Semantics; Sleep; Verbal Learning; Young Adult
PubMed: 28856956
DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2017.1329325 -
Schizophrenia Research Mar 2016The construct, convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity of Learning Potential (LP) was evaluated in a trial of cognitive remediation for adults with...
BACKGROUND
The construct, convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity of Learning Potential (LP) was evaluated in a trial of cognitive remediation for adults with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. LP utilizes a dynamic assessment approach to prospectively estimate an individual's learning capacity if provided the opportunity for specific related learning.
METHODS
LP was assessed in 75 participants at study entry, of whom 41 completed an eight-week cognitive remediation (CR) intervention, and 22 received treatment-as-usual (TAU). LP was assessed in a "test-train-test" verbal learning paradigm. Incremental predictive validity was assessed as the degree to which LP predicted memory skill acquisition above and beyond prediction by static verbal learning ability.
RESULTS
Examination of construct validity confirmed that LP scores reflected use of trained semantic clustering strategy. LP scores correlated with executive functioning and education history, but not other demographics or symptom severity. Following the eight-week active phase, TAU evidenced little substantial change in skill acquisition outcomes, which related to static baseline verbal learning ability but not LP. For the CR group, LP significantly predicted skill acquisition in domains of verbal and visuospatial memory, but not auditory working memory. Furthermore, LP predicted skill acquisition incrementally beyond relevant background characteristics, symptoms, and neurocognitive abilities.
CONCLUSIONS
Results suggest that LP assessment can significantly improve prediction of specific skill acquisition with cognitive training, particularly for the domain assessed, and thereby may prove useful in individualization of treatment.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Attention; Cognition Disorders; Cognitive Remediation; Executive Function; Female; Hospitals, Veterans; Humans; Male; Memory; Middle Aged; Neuropsychological Tests; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Reproducibility of Results; Schizophrenia; Schizophrenic Psychology; Treatment Outcome; Verbal Learning; Young Adult
PubMed: 26833267
DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2016.01.044 -
Nihon Ronen Igakkai Zasshi. Japanese... 2018Typical neuropsychological methods for measuring the verbal memory function include the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) and the California Verbal Learning Test...
AIM
Typical neuropsychological methods for measuring the verbal memory function include the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) and the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT). The stimulus words of the CVLT are structured according to their semantic categories, and many researchers have claimed that the CVLT can also evaluate subjects' memory strategy. However, the stimulus words of these tests do not have equal difficulty, which is necessary when comparing their performances directly, and there are no standard word lists for them in Japanese. In this study, we developed two word lists with the same number and difficulty of stimulus words in order to examine the effects of aging on the comprehension of structured word lists.
METHODS
A non-structured (NS) verbal memory test to represent the AVLT and a structured (S) test to represent the CVLT were developed. The subjects were 40 healthy young adults (18-25 years of age) and 40 healthy elderly individuals (65-80 years of age).
RESULTS
The results revealed that the elderly group correctly recalled significantly fewer words than the young group. The elderly group demonstrated a significantly higher rate of word loss due to interference. The number of correctly recalled words in the elderly group was significantly more for the S test than for the NS test, which was not the case in the young group.
CONCLUSIONS
Since elderly people have a poorer verbal memory than younger people, they gain more benefit from the S test, in which the word list is structured and subjects may be able to use memory strategies more easily. This is the first study in Japan to present standardized word lists for list-learning tasks and their normative data in different age groups.
Topics: Adult; Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Humans; Memory; Verbal Learning; Young Adult
PubMed: 29503353
DOI: 10.3143/geriatrics.55.117 -
Neuropsychologia Aug 2018Studies of bilingual proficiency have largely focused on word and sentence processing, whereas the text level has received relatively little attention. We examined...
Studies of bilingual proficiency have largely focused on word and sentence processing, whereas the text level has received relatively little attention. We examined on-line second language (L2) text comprehension in relation to L2 proficiency with ERPs recorded on critical words separated across a sentence boundary from their co-referential antecedents. The integration processes on the critical words were designed to reflect different levels of text representation: word-form, word-meaning, and situational level (Kintsch, 1998). Across proficiency level, bilinguals showed biphasic N400/late positive component (LPC) effects related to word meaning integration (N400) and mental model updating (LPC) processes. More proficient bilinguals, compared with less proficient bilinguals, showed reduced amplitudes in both N400 and LPC when the integration depended on semantic and conceptual meanings. When the integration was based on word repetitions and inferences, both groups showed reduced N400 negativity while elevated LPC positivity. These effects reflect how memory mechanisms (processes and resources) support the tight coupling among word meaning, readers' memory of the text meaning and the referentially-specified meaning of the text. They further demonstrate the importance of L2 semantic and conceptual processing in modulating the L2 proficiency effect on L2 text integration processes. These results align with the assumption that word meaning processes are causal components in variations of comprehension ability for both monolinguals and bilinguals.
Topics: Adult; Brain; Brain Mapping; Comprehension; Electroencephalography; Evoked Potentials; Female; Humans; Male; Multilingualism; Photic Stimulation; Reaction Time; Semantics; Verbal Learning; Young Adult
PubMed: 29879422
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.06.001 -
Neuropsychologia Aug 2016To further investigate manifestations of episodic memory impairments in adolescents, we examined the role of encoding on recognition of stimuli in conditions designed to...
INTRODUCTION
To further investigate manifestations of episodic memory impairments in adolescents, we examined the role of encoding on recognition of stimuli in conditions designed to emphasize their item-specific versus relational characteristics in a group of 12-18 year olds with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We also examined how strategic learning and memory processes, verbal abilities, attention, and age were associated with recognition in this group.
MATERIALS AND METHOD
Twenty two high functioning adolescents with ASD (mean age=15 years; SD=1.8; range=12.2-17.9), and 26 age, gender, and IQ-matched adolescents with typical development (TYP) (mean age=14.7 years; SD=1.9; range=12.3-17.8) completed the Relational and Item-Specific Encoding task (RiSE), the California Verbal Learning Test-Children's Version (CVLT-C), the Wechsler Abbreviated Scales of Intelligence, and the Connors' Parent Rating Scale-Revised. Univariate statistical analyses were performed.
RESULTS
The ASD group showed poorer performance on strategic memory assessed by the CVLT-C. Surprisingly, on the RiSE, ASD showed poorer discriminability for objects encoded in item-specific versus relational encoding conditions and were more impaired in familiarity (after relational encoding) than in recollection. ASD also did not show the hypothesized association between item and associative recognition and CVLT-C performance found in TYP. Instead, in the ASD group recognition was associated with increased age.
CONCLUSIONS
Findings from the RiSE task demonstrated that adolescents with ASD do not always exhibit impaired memory for relational information as commonly believed. Instead, memory was worse when cognitive control demands were high, when encoding focused on specific item features, and when familiarity was used to retrieve relational information. Recognition also was better in older participants. This suggests that learning and memory deficits in adolescents with ASD, may not be due primarily to failed relational binding processes in the hippocampus but, rather to disrupted strategic memory and familiarity processes associated with the prefrontal and perirhinal cortices. These findings demonstrate the importance and utility of using well-validated cognitive neuroscience tasks and of considering the ages of participants when comparing the neural underpinnings of different memory processes in both typical and atypical populations.
Topics: Adolescent; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Cognition Disorders; Female; Humans; Male; Memory Disorders; Memory, Episodic; Mental Recall; Neuropsychological Tests; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 27184119
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.05.013 -
Annals of Dyslexia Apr 2013Identical and fraternal twins (N=540, age 8 to 18 years) were tested on three different measures of writing (Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement-Writing Samples...
Identical and fraternal twins (N=540, age 8 to 18 years) were tested on three different measures of writing (Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement-Writing Samples and Writing Fluency; Handwriting Copy from the Group Diagnostic Reading and Aptitude Achievement Tests), three different language skills (phonological awareness, rapid naming, and vocabulary), and three different reading skills (word recognition, spelling, and reading comprehension). Substantial genetic influence was found on two of the writing measures, writing samples and handwriting copy, and all of the language and reading measures. Shared environment influences were generally not significant, except for Vocabulary. Non-shared environment estimates, including measurement error, were significant for all variables. Genetic influences among the writing measures were significantly correlated (highest between the speeded measures writing fluency and handwriting copy), but there were also significant independent genetic influences between copy and samples and between fluency and samples. Genetic influences on writing were significantly correlated with genetic influences on all of the language and reading skills, but significant independent genetic influences were also found for copy and samples, whose genetic correlations were significantly less than 1.0 with the reading and language skills. The genetic correlations varied significantly in strength depending on the overlap between the writing, language, and reading task demands. We discuss implications of our results for education, limitations of the study, and new directions for research on writing and its relations to language and reading.
Topics: Adolescent; Child; Female; Humans; Language; Language Development; Male; Reading; Sex Characteristics; Social Environment; Twins; Verbal Learning; Writing
PubMed: 21842316
DOI: 10.1007/s11881-011-0055-z -
Applied Neuropsychology. Adult 2016Demographic variables, such as age, education, and gender, routinely affect performance on neuropsychological tests. Whereas normative data are available to correct for...
Demographic variables, such as age, education, and gender, routinely affect performance on neuropsychological tests. Whereas normative data are available to correct for these variables on many tests, data are lacking on the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised (HVLT-R) and Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMT-R), especially in the elderly. The current study examined the influence of age, education, and gender on HVLT-R and BVMT-R scores in 290 cognitively intact older adults. Age negatively correlated with nearly every score on the HVLT-R and BVMT-R, and education positively correlated with most scores on these same 2 memory tests. There were fewer gender differences on these tests. Using stepwise multiple regression, HVLT-R and BVMT-R scores were predicted from age, education, and/or gender. When observed scores are compared to these demographically adjusted predicted scores, clinicians can make assumptions about how an individual compared to his/her age-, education-, and gender-matched peers. The current conorming of these 2 memory tests also allows for direct comparison between verbal and visual memory in older patients.
Topics: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Female; Humans; Male; Memory; Neuropsychological Tests; Reference Values; Residence Characteristics; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 26496163
DOI: 10.1080/23279095.2015.1030019