scholarly journals Executive functioning in prenatally alcohol exposed children in a South African population: Baseline findings from an RCT of a computer-based cognitive training program (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacobus Louw ◽  
Alastair van Heerden ◽  
Leana Olivier ◽  
Tersius Lambrechts ◽  
Mandi Broodryk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Training Program ◽  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Alcohol Exposure ◽  
Exposed Group ◽  
Low Ses ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND Alcohol is a teratogen and its consumption during pregnancy can lead to negative birth outcomes collectively referred to as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). Neurodevelopmental delays in higher order cognitive functions are a common feature that affect development of executive functions. Studies of executive function in children have focused on children diagnosed with FASD and there is a lack of information on the impact on children not diagnosed but still exposed to alcohol. OBJECTIVE This paper compares development of executive functions between alcohol exposed and non-exposed children between 4 and 6 years of age. METHODS Children were recruited as part of a feasibility RCT evaluating a computer-based cognitive training program aimed at improving development of executive functions. The study was conducted in a low-SES community in South Africa with a high prevalence of FASD. Both exposed and non-exposed children were assessed using the NEPSY-II. Standardized scores for the executive function domains were compared using a MANOVA with group membership as predictor variable. RESULTS The alcohol exposed group (n=76) and the non-exposed group (n=40) showed no significant differences in executive functions assessments. Both groups showed moderate to severe delays in the domains measured. In all but one of the subtests the average score for both groups was below the 25th percentile of the expected norms. CONCLUSIONS It was expected that alcohol exposure would have a measurable impact on executive function development. The lack of differences highlights the prevalence of developmental delays in low-SES communities in South Africa and suggests that children are exposed to various threats to cognitive development. CLINICALTRIAL ISRCTN17244156 INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT RR2-10.2196/14489

scholarly journals Effects of Combined Aerobic Exercise and Cognitive Training on Verbal Fluency in Older Adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 233372141989688 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joe R. Nocera ◽  
Kevin Mammino ◽  
Yash Kommula ◽  
Whitney Wharton ◽  
Bruce Crosson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Aerobic Exercise ◽  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Exercise Program ◽  
Cardiovascular Fitness ◽  
Cognitive Assessments ◽  
Computer Based

We have previously shown that aerobic exercise improves measures of verbal fluency in older adults, and such an improvement is correlated with improved cardiovascular reserve (i.e., estimates of VO2). Due to increasing popularity in computer-based cognitive training, we explored whether the addition of cognitive training to aerobic exercise would further enhance the beneficial cognitive impact of exercise. Therefore, this study sought to test the hypothesis that a cognitive training regimen alone would directly improve executive function and that this effect would be potentiated with the addition of aerobic exercise. The interventions lasted 12 weeks, and cognitive assessments were taken immediately prior to and after the interventions. We found that only the groups employing aerobic exercise showed improvements in verbal fluency (semantic and letter) and cardiovascular fitness with no other executive functions being significantly impacted. Cognitive training alone was associated with decreased verbal fluency. These data replicate previous findings which indicate that aerobic exercise may have a remedial or mitigating effect of cognitive decline. In addition, they provide evidence that the addition of concurrent cognitive training to an aerobic exercise program does not provide synergistic improvement in executive functions.

scholarly journals A tablet computer-based cognitive training program for young children with cognitive impairment

Medicine ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 99 (12) ◽  
pp. e19549
Author(s):  
Eun Jae Ko ◽  
In Young Sung ◽  
Jin Sook Yuk ◽  
Dae-Hyun Jang ◽  
Gijeong Yun
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Training Program ◽  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Tablet Computer ◽  
Computer Based

scholarly journals Threat-Modulation of Executive Functions—A Novel Biomarker of Depression?

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jari Peräkylä ◽  
Kaija Järventausta ◽  
Piia Haapaniemi ◽  
Joan A. Camprodon ◽  
Kaisa M. Hartikainen
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Performance Measures ◽  
Cognitive Outcome ◽  
Objective Measures ◽  
Depression Severity ◽  
The Impact

Background: Alterations in executive functions, emotion regulation, and their interaction are common concomitants of depression. Executive dysfunction frequently lingers after treatment, has adverse effects on daily life, and predisposes to recurrence of depression. Yet, sensitive measures of executive function for reliable assessment of cognitive outcomes are still lacking in clinical practice. To better understand the impact of depression and its most effective treatment, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), on cognition, we assessed executive functions pre- and post-ECT and whether objective measures reflecting alterations in emotion–executive function interaction correlate with depression severity or with cognitive outcome.Methods: Executive functions were assessed in 21 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) before and after ECT using subjective measures from the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function—Adult version (BRIEF-A) and objective cognitive performance measures derived from computer-based test of executive function, Executive Reaction Time (RT) Test. In addition, we created novel indices reflecting emotional modulation of cognitive performance by subtracting different performance measures in the context of neutral distractors from those in the context of threat-related distractors. We correlated these indices with Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and BRIEF-A scores.Results: Depression was significantly alleviated, and executive functions improved post-ECT, as seen in reduced BDI scores, BRIEF-A scores, and number of errors in Executive RT Test. Pre-ECT BDI scores correlated with threat modulation of RT (tmRT) and threat modulation of working memory (tmWM). Post-ECT tmRT correlated with several Behavioral Regulation scales and tmWM with several Metacognition scales of BRIEF-A.Conclusion: While caution is warranted, results from both subjective and objective measures suggest that ECT significantly improves executive functions and emotion regulation along with alleviation of depression. Novel indices derived from threat modulation of executive function and working memory show promise as objective biomarkers of depression severity pre-ECT and cognitive outcome post-ECT with potential for guiding depression treatments.

scholarly journals Flexible social learning strategies are harder than the sum of their parts

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliet Dunstone ◽  
Mark Atkinson ◽  
Catherine Grainger ◽  
Elizabeth Renner ◽  
Christine Anna Caldwell
Keyword(s):  
Executive Function ◽  
Social Learning ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Distractor Task ◽  
Information Trial ◽  
Experience Effects ◽  
Task Experience ◽  
The Impact

The use of ‘explicitly metacognitive’ learning strategies has been proposed as an explanation for uniquely human capacities for cumulative culture. Such strategies are proposed to rely on the use of explicit, system-2 cognitive processes, and to enable advantageous selective copying. To investigate the plausibility of this theory, we investigated participants' ability to make flexible learning decisions under executive function (EF) resource load. Over two studies adult participants completed a simple win-stay lose-shift (WSLS) paradigm task, intended to model a social learning situation where vicarious information can be used to inform response choice, by copying rewarded responses and avoiding those that are unrewarded. This was completed alongside a concurrent EF distractor task. Participants were split into three copying conditions: those that needed to use a flexible copying, WSLS strategy, those that should always copy (information trial always revealed the target), and those that should always do the opposite (information trial always revealed the non-target). The first study found significant effects of EF load and copying condition; the condition demanding a flexible strategy was more challenging than those requiring the use of one rule consistently. In addition, consistently copying was less challenging than consistently avoiding stimuli selected in the information trial. However, each information condition was equally affected by competing executive function demands. The second study found some differences between selectively copying and always copying, as well as effects of memory load, suggesting the impact of EF load on selective copying may stem from working memory requirements. No impact of EF load was found on participants’ metacognitive ability.These results suggest that learning decisions are underpinned by the use of executive functions even at a very basic level, and that selective copying strategies are more challenging than a combination of their component parts. We found minimal evidence that selective copying strategies relied on executive functions any more than consistent copying or deviation. However, task experience effects suggested that ceiling effects could be masking differences between conditions which might be apparent in other contexts. The results also suggest that such contexts might include situations in which information from a social source must be retained in memory.

scholarly journals Evidence for executive function advantages in low SES bilingual children. But why do they arise? A commentary on Grote, Scott and Gilger (2021)

2021 ◽  
pp. 014272372110286
Author(s):  
Julia Hofweber
Keyword(s):  
Executive Function ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
School Children ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Low Ses ◽  
Shed Light

In a study comparing executive functions among US Spanish-English bilinguals from low socio-economic (SES) backgrounds to monolinguals of each language, Grote et al. find that bilingual advantages already manifest themselves in pre-school children. This commentary recommends building on this finding, and further investigate the causes underlying the observed executive function (EF) modulations in child bilingualism. A closer investigation of bilingual children’s dominance profiles and their bilingual practices, such as code-switching, may shed light on how bilingualism shapes the developmental trajectory of executive functions. The commentary also challenges the notion of ‘monolingualism’, and discusses whether bilingualism variables should be operationalised in a continuous or in a categorical manner.

scholarly journals The Impact of Bilingualism on Everyday Executive Functions of English-Arabic Autistic Children: Through a Parent-Teacher Lens

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shereen Sharaan ◽  
Sarah E. MacPherson ◽  
Sue Fletcher-Watson
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Parent Ratings ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Interference Control ◽  
Autistic Children ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThere is evidence that autistic children may have reduced executive function skills, contributing to day-to-day difficulties, but much remains unknown regarding the influence of bilingualism. We investigated its influence on sustained attention, interference control, flexible switching and working memory, in Arabic-English autistic (n = 27) and typically developing peers (n = 53) children, aged 5 to 12 years old. Parents and teachers completed rating measures assessing children’s daily EF abilities. Results showed generalized positive effects for bilingual autistic children relative to their monolingual peers across all EF domains, but using parent ratings only. The findings indicate that bilingualism does not negatively impact the executive function skills of autistic children, and that it might mitigate difficulties faced on a day-to-day basis.

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