Neurocognitive deficits in children with brain tumors at diagnosis

Survivors of brain tumors are faced with a high risk for a wide range of cognitive problems and learning difficulties. These problems are caused by the lesion itself and its surgical removal as well as by the treatments to follow (chemo- and/or radiation therapy). A few recent studies have indicated that children with brain tumors (BT) might exhibit cognitive problems already at diagnosis, i.e. before the start of any medical treatment. The aim of the present study was to investigate the "baseline" neuropsychological profile in children with BT in comparison to children with an oncological diagnosis not involving the central nervous system (CNS). 20 children with BT and 27 children with an oncological disease without involvement of the CNS (age range: 6.1 to 16.9 years) were evaluated with an extensive battery of neuropsychological tests tailored to the patient's age. Furthermore, the child and its parents completed self-report questionnaires about emotional functioning and quality of life. In both groups, tests were administered before any therapeutic intervention such as surgery, chemotherapy or irradiation. Groups were comparable regarding age, gender and social economic status. Compared to the CG, patients with BTs performed significantly worse in tests of working memory, verbal memory and attention. In contrast the areas of perceptual reasoning, processing speed and verbal comprehension were preserved at this time. Younger children with BT were especially disadvantaged. Compared to aged matched children with malignancies not involving the CNS and older BT patients the young BT patients showed deficits in attention, working memory and verbal memory measures. Our results highlight the need for cognitive assessments and interventions early in the treatment process in order to minimize or even prevent academic difficulties as patients return to school.

Physical education enhances your concentration

There is growing evidence that physical education has not only positive effects on the physical health of children and adolescents, but also contributes positively to personality development and to performance in cognitive tasks. Existing studies indicate chronic as well as acute effects of physical education on cognitive performance. However, underlying mechanisms, required content of the physical intervention and duration of the effects are still unclear. In order to shed light on some of these open questions, the present study investigated the acute effects of a special form of physical education, integrating cardiac-stimulating tasks with executive demands, on the concentration of 11-year olds. Concentration was assessed three times using the d2-R Test. Intervention (n=38) and control group (n=35) did not differ in their d2-R performance in pre- nor in post-test, which took place after either a physical intervention or a normal core subject lesson respectively. In the follow-up test however, which was completed after two more core subject lessons for both groups, the intervention group improved more in their d2-R performance than the control group F(1, 71)=4.95, p=.03, indicating that physical education can positively influence children’s concentration, not immediately after the activity, but later on during the following school lessons.

Zur Lage des akademischen Mittelbaus

Befragungsstudie an den kantonalen Universitäten und ETH. Schlussbericht zuhanden des Staatsekretariats für Bildung und Forschung. Actionuni - Die Schweizer Vereinigung der Forschenden und Mittelbauvereinigungen

Impacts of a word-picture training on literacy skills in elementary school children and youths with intellectual disabilities

Objective: There is convincing evidence that phonological, orthographic and semantic processes influence children’s ability to learn to read and spell words. So far only a few studies investigated the influence of implicit learning in literacy skills. Children are sensitive to the statistics of their learning environment. By frequent reading they acquire implicit knowledge about the frequency of letter patterns in written words, and they use this knowledge during reading and spelling. Additionally, semantic connections facilitate to storing of words in memory. Thus, the aim of the intervention study was to implement a word-picture training which is based on statistical and semantic learning. Furthermore, we aimed at examining the training effects in reading and spelling in comparison to an auditory-visual matching training and a working memory training program. Participants and Methods: One hundred and thirty-two children aged between 8 and 11 years participated in training in three weekly session of 12 minutes over 8 weeks, and completed other assessments of reading, spelling, working memory and intelligence before and after training. Results: Results revealed in general that the word-picture training and the auditory-visual matching training led to substantial gains in reading and spelling performance in comparison to the working-memory training. Although both children with and without learning difficulties profited in their reading and spelling after the word-picture training, the training program led to differential effects for the two groups. After the word-picture training on the one hand, children with learning difficulties profited more in spelling as children without learning difficulties, on the other hand, children without learning difficulties benefit more in word comprehension. Conclusions: These findings highlight the need for frequent reading trainings with semantic connections in order to support the acquisition of literacy skills.

Cognitive Interventions with Children with Special Needs - Transfer effects and multidisciplinary perspectives

Our last study with regularly developed children demonstrated a positive effect of working memory training on cognitive abilities. Building upon these findings, the aim of this multidisciplinary study is to investigate the effects of training of core functions with children who are suffering from different learning disabilities, like AD/HD, developmental dyslexia or specific language impairment. In addition to working memory training (BrainTwister), we apply a perceptual training, which concentrates on auditory-visual matching (Audilex), as well as an implicit concept learning task. We expect differential improvements of mental capacities, specifically of executive functions (working memory, attention, auditory and visual processing), scholastic abilities (language and mathematical skills), as well as of problem solving. With that, we hope to find further directions regarding helpful and individually adapted interventions in educational settings. Interested parties are invited to discuss and comment the design, the research question, and the possibilities in recruiting the subjects.

Post-concussive symptoms and neuropsychological performance in the post-acute period following pediatric mild traumatic brain injury

Objective: There is evidence that children after mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) suffer ongoing post-concussive symptoms (PCS). However, results concerning neuropsychological outcome after mTBI are controversial. Thus, our aim was to examine group differences regarding neuropsychological outcome and PCS. Additionally, we explored the influence of current and pre-injury everyday attention problems on neuropsychological outcome in children after mTBI. Method: In a prospective short-term longitudinal study, 40 children (aged 6-16 years) after mTBI and 38 children after orthopedic injury (OI) underwent neuropsychological, socio-behavioral and PCS assessments in the acute stage and at 1 week, at 4 weeks, and 4 months after the injury. Results: Parents of children after mTBI observed significantly more PCS compared to parents of children after OI, especially in the acute stage. Our results revealed no neuropsychological or socio-behavioral differences over time between both groups. However, in children after mTBI, we found negative correlations between elevated levels of everyday attention problems and reduced neuropsychological performance. Furthermore, there was a negative influence of pre-injury everyday attention problems on neuropsychological performance in children after mTBI. Conclusion: In accordance with earlier studies, parents of children after mTBI initially observed significantly more PCS compared to parents of children after OI. There were no neuropsychological or socio-behavioral group differences between children after mTBI and OI in the post-acute period. However, our exploratory findings concerning the influence of everyday attention problems on neuropsychological outcome indicate that current and pre-injury everyday attention problems were negatively associated with neuropsychological performance in children after mTBI.

The relation between cognitive and motor performance and their relevance for children’s transition to school: A latent variable approach

Both theoretically and empirically there is a continuous interest in understanding the specific relation between cognitive and motor development in childhood. In the present longitudinal study including three measurement points, this relation was targeted. At the beginning of the study, the participating children were 5-6-year-olds. By assessing participants' fine motor skills, their executive functioning, and their non-verbal intelligence, their cross-sectional and cross-lagged interrelations were examined. Additionally, performance in these three areas was used to predict early school achievement (in terms of mathematics, reading, and spelling) at the end of participants' first grade. Correlational analyses and structural equation modeling revealed that fine motor skills, non-verbal intelligence and executive functioning were significantly interrelated. Both fine motor skills and intelligence had significant links to later school achievement. However, when executive functioning was additionally included into the prediction of early academic achievement, fine motor skills and non-verbal intelligence were no longer significantly associated with later school performance suggesting that executive functioning plays an important role for the motor-cognitive performance link.

Nominal compounds in Mapudungun

It is perhaps unsurprising that the rich agglutinative-polysynthetic verb morphology of Mapudungun has drawn most attention in linguistic studies. So far unnoticed in the literature are Mapudungun complex noun phrases, which show a puzzling distribution in terms of the internal structure they display. Some complex NPs are head-final (mapu-che ‘people of the land’). Others are head-initial, and of these a subset appears to be less lexicalized. In some cases, all three possibilities are found with the same components: mamüll-che ‘wood people’, che-mamüll ‘people made of wood’, and che mamüll ‘wood-like people’. The present paper reviews the comparatively modest literature on these phenomena, deals with them in an account based on semantic factors, and places them in a broader typological context.

Word Formation in South American Languages

This volume focuses on word formation processes in smaller and so far underrepresented indigenous languages of South America. The data for the analyses have been mainly collected in the field by the authors. The several language families described here, among them Arawakan, Takanan, and Guaycuruan, as well as language isolates, such as Yurakaré and Cholón, reflect the linguistic diversity of South America. Equally diverse are the topics addressed, relating to word formation processes like reduplication, nominal and verbal compounding, clitic compounding, and incorporation. The traditional notions of the processes are discussed critically with respect to their implementation in minor indigenous languages. The book is therefore not only of interest to readers with an Amerindian background but also to typologists and historical linguists, and it is a supplement to more theory-driven approaches to language and linguistics.