Examining The Genetic, Social-Cognitive, And Neural Correlates Of Autism Spectrum Disorder Behaviors In Typically Developing Chi

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are pervasive developmental disorders that affect approximately 1 in 50 children (Blumberg et al., 2013). Due to the social nature of the deficits that characterize the disorders, many have classified them as disorders of social cognition, which is the process that individuals use in order to successfully interact with members of their own species (Frith & Frith, 2007). Previous research has typically neglected the spectrum nature of ASD in favor of a more categorical approach of ¿autistic¿ versus ¿non-autistic,¿ but the spectrum requires a more continuous approach. Thus, the present study sought to examine the genetic, social-cognitive, and neural correlates of ASD-like traits as well as the relationship between these dimensions in typically developing children. Parents and children completed several quantitative measures examining several areas of social-cognitive functioning, including theory of mind and social functioning, restricted/repetitive behaviors and interests, and adaptive/maladaptive functioning. Children were also asked to undergo an EEG and both parents and children contributed a saliva sample that was used to sequence four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the OXTR gene, rs1042778, rs53576, rs2254298, and rs237897. We successfully demonstrated a significant relationship between behavioral measures of social-cognition and differences in face perception via the N170. However, the directionality of these relationships varied based on the behavioral measure and particular N170 difference scores. We also found support for the associations between the G_G allelic combination of rs1042778 and the A_A and A_G allelic combinations of rs2254298 and increased ASD-like behavior with decreased social-cognitive functioning. In contrast, our results contradict previous findings with rs237897 and imply that individuals with the A_A and A_G genotypes are less similar to those with ASD and have higher social cognitive functioning than those with the G_G genotype. In conclusion, we have demonstrated the existence of ASD-like traits in typically developing children and have shown a link between behavioral, genetic, and neural correlates of social-cognition. These findings demonstrate the importance of considering autism as a spectrum disorder and provide support for the move to a more continuous approach to neurodevelopmental disorders.

A clinical approach to arterial ischemic childhood stroke: increasing knowledge over the last decade

Childhood stroke is increasingly being recognized as an important burden not only for affected children and families, but also for socioeconomic reasons. A primary problem is delayed diagnosis, due to the many mimics of childhood stroke, and the variety of manifesting symptoms. The most important is hemiparesis (with/without dysphasia or facial palsy), but ataxia, seizures, and many more are also possible. Suspicion of stroke has to be ascertained by neuroimaging, gold standard being (diffusion weighted) magnetic resonance. Risk factors are multiple, but their presence might help to increase the suspicion of stroke. The most important factors are infectious/parainfectious etiologies, frequently possibly manifesting by transient focal cerebral arteriopathy (FCA). Cardiological underlying problems are the second most important. Arteriopathies can be detected in about half of the children, besides FCA and dissection and MoyaMoya disease are the most important. Hereditary coagulopathies increase the risk of stroke. There is still a controversy on best treatment in children: platelet antiaggregation and heparinization are used about equally. Thrombolysis is being discussed increasingly. Severity of symptoms at manifestation and on follow-up are not less significant in children than in young adults. About two-third of the children have significant residual neurological problems and a majority cognitive and behavior problems.

ON THE MERITS OF VOXEL-BASED MORPHOMETRIC PATH-ANALYSIS FOR INVESTIGATING VOLUMETRIC MEDIATION OF A TOXICANT'S INFLUENCE ON COGNITIVE FUNCTION

We previously showed that lifetime cumulative lead dose, measured as lead concentration in the tibia bone by X-ray fluorescence, was associated with persistent and progressive declines in cognitive function and with decreases in MRI-based brain volumes in former lead workers. Moreover, larger region-specific brain volumes were associated with better cognitive function. These findings motivated us to explore a novel application of path analysis to evaluate effect mediation. Voxel-wise path analysis, at face value, represents the natural evolution of voxel-based morphometry methods to answer questions of mediation. Application of these methods to the former lead worker data demonstrated potential limitations in this approach where there was a tendency for results to be strongly biased towards the null hypothesis (lack of mediation). Moreover, a complimentary analysis using anatomically-derived regions of interest volumes yielded opposing results, suggesting evidence of mediation. Specifically, in the ROI-based approach, there was evidence that the association of tibia lead with function in three cognitive domains was mediated through the volumes of total brain, frontal gray matter, and/or possibly cingulate. A simulation study was conducted to investigate whether the voxel-wise results arose from an absence of localized mediation, or more subtle defects in the methodology. The simulation results showed the same null bias evidenced as seen in the lead workers data. Both the lead worker data results and the simulation study suggest that a null-bias in voxel-wise path analysis limits its inferential utility for producing confirmatory results.

On how high performers keep cool brains in situations of cognitive overload

What happens in the brain when we reach or exceed our capacity limits? Are there individual differences for performance at capacity limits? We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the impact of increases in processing demand on selected cortical areas when participants performed a parametrically varied and challenging dual task. Low-performing participants respond with large and load-dependent activation increases in many cortical areas when exposed to excessive task requirements, accompanied by decreasing performance. It seems that these participants recruit additional attentional and strategy-related resources with increasing difficulty, which are either not relevant or even detrimental to performance. In contrast, the brains of the high-performing participants "keep cool" in terms of activation changes, despite continuous correct performance, reflecting different and more efficient processing. These findings shed light on the differential implications of performance on activation patterns and underline the importance of the interindividual-differences approach in neuroimaging research.

The power of emotional valence – from cognitive to affective processes in reading

The comprehension of stories requires the reader to imagine the cognitive and affective states of the characters. The content of many stories is unpleasant, as they often deal with conflict, disturbance or crisis. Nevertheless, unpleasant stories can be liked and enjoyed. In this fMRI study, we used a parametric approach to examine (1) the capacity of increasing negative valence of story contents to activate the mentalizing network (cognitive and affective theory of mind, ToM), and (2) the neural substrate of liking negatively valenced narratives. A set of 80 short narratives was compiled, ranging from neutral to negative emotional valence. For each story mean rating values on valence and liking were obtained from a group of 32 participants in a prestudy, and later included as parametric regressors in the fMRI analysis. Another group of 24 participants passively read the narratives in a three Tesla MRI scanner. Results revealed a stronger engagement of affective ToM-related brain areas with increasingly negative story valence. Stories that were unpleasant, but simultaneously liked, engaged the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), which might reflect the moral exploration of the story content. Further analysis showed that the more the mPFC becomes engaged during the reading of negatively valenced stories, the more coactivation can be observed in other brain areas related to the neural processing of affective ToM and empathy.

Internet-Based Guided Self-Help for Several Anxiety Disorders: A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing a Tailored With a Standardized Disorder-Specific Approach

Internet-delivered self-help with minimal therapist guidance has shown promising results for a number of diagnoses. Most of the evidence comes from studies evaluating standardized disorder-specific treatments. A recent development in the field includes transdiagnostic and tailored Internet-based treatments that address comorbid symptoms and a broader range of patients. This study evaluated an Internet-based tailored guided self-help treatment, which targeted symptoms of social anxiety disorder, panic disorder with or without agoraphobia, and generalized anxiety disorder. The tailored treatment was compared both with standardized disorder-specific Internet-based treatment and with a wait-list control group. Both active treatment conditions were based on cognitive-behavioral therapy and lasted for 8 weeks. A total of 132 individuals meeting diagnostic criteria for at least one of the anxiety disorders were randomly assigned to 1 of the 3 conditions. Both treatment groups showed significant symptom reductions as compared with the wait-list control group on primary disorder-unspecific measures of anxiety, depression, and general symptomatology and on secondary anxiety disorder-specific measures. Based on the intention-to-treat sample, mean between-group effect sizes were d = 0.80 for the tailored treatment and d = 0.82 for the standardized treatment, versus wait-list controls. Treatment gains were maintained at 6-month follow-up. No differences were found between the 2 active treatment conditions on any of the measures, including a telephone-administered diagnostic interview conducted at posttreatment. The findings suggest that both Internet-based tailored guided self-help treatments and Internet-based standardized treatments are promising treatment options for several anxiety disorders

An innovative blended learning approach using virtual patients as preparation for skills laboratory training: perceptions of students and tutors

BACKGROUND Currently only a few reports exist on how to prepare medical students for skills laboratory training. We investigated how students and tutors perceive a blended learning approach using virtual patients (VPs) as preparation for skills training. METHODS Fifth-year medical students (N=617) were invited to voluntarily participate in a paediatric skills laboratory with four specially designed VPs as preparation. The cases focused on procedures in the laboratory using interactive questions, static and interactive images, and video clips. All students were asked to assess the VP design. After participating in the skills laboratory 310 of the 617 students were additionally asked to assess the blended learning approach through established questionnaires. Tutors' perceptions (N=9) were assessed by semi-structured interviews. RESULTS From the 617 students 1,459 VP design questionnaires were returned (59.1%). Of the 310 students 213 chose to participate in the skills laboratory; 179 blended learning questionnaires were returned (84.0%). Students provided high overall acceptance ratings of the VP design and blended learning approach. By using VPs as preparation, skills laboratory time was felt to be used more effectively. Tutors perceived students as being well prepared for the skills laboratory with efficient uses of time. CONCLUSION The overall acceptance of the blended learning approach was high among students and tutors. VPs proved to be a convenient cognitive preparation tool for skills training.

A distributed, semiotic-inductive and human-Oriented approach to web-scale knowledge retrieval

Web-scale knowledge retrieval can be enabled by distributed information retrieval, clustering Web clients to a large-scale computing infrastructure for knowledge discovery from Web documents. Based on this infrastructure, we propose to apply semiotic (i.e., sub-syntactical) and inductive (i.e., probabilistic) methods for inferring concept associations in human knowledge. These associations can be combined to form a fuzzy (i.e.,gradual) semantic net representing a map of the knowledge in the Web. Thus, we propose to provide interactive visualizations of these cognitive concept maps to end users, who can browse and search the Web in a human-oriented, visual, and associative interface.

Prospective memory, executive functions and metacognitive control: An empirical approach to their structural interrelations in young elementary school children

Introduction Prospective memory (PM), the ability to remember to perform intended activities in the future (Kliegel & Jäger, 2007), is crucial to succeed in everyday life. PM seems to improve gradually over the childhood years (Zimmermann & Meier, 2006), but yet little is known about PM competences in young school children in general, and even less is known about factors influencing its development. Currently, a number of studies suggest that executive functions (EF) are potentially influencing processes (Ford, Driscoll, Shum & Macaulay, 2012; Mahy & Moses, 2011). Additionally, metacognitive processes (MC: monitoring and control) are assumed to be involved while optimizing one’s performance (Krebs & Roebers, 2010; 2012; Roebers, Schmid, & Roderer, 2009). Yet, the relations between PM, EF and MC remain relatively unspecified. We intend to empirically examine the structural relations between these constructs. Method A cross-sectional study including 119 2nd graders (mage = 95.03, sdage = 4.82) will be presented. Participants (n = 68 girls) completed three EF tasks (stroop, updating, shifting), a computerised event-based PM task and a MC spelling task. The latent variables PM, EF and MC that were represented by manifest variables deriving from the conducted tasks, were interrelated by structural equation modelling. Results Analyses revealed clear associations between the three cognitive constructs PM, EF and MC (rpm-EF = .45, rpm-MC = .23, ref-MC = .20). A three factor model, as opposed to one or two factor models, appeared to fit excellently to the data (chi2(17, 119) = 18.86, p = .34, remsea = .030, cfi = .990, tli = .978). Discussion The results indicate that already in young elementary school children, PM, EF and MC are empirically well distinguishable, but nevertheless substantially interrelated. PM and EF seem to share a substantial amount of variance while for MC, more unique processes may be assumed.

Application of Cognitive Engineering Principles to the Redesign of a Dichotomous Identification Key for Parasitology

Dichotomous identification keys are used throughout biology for identification of plants, insects, and parasites. However, correct use of identification keys can be difficult as they are not usually intended for novice users who may not be familiar with the terminology used or with the morphology of the organism being identified. Therefore, we applied cognitive engineering principles to redesign a parasitology identification key for the Internet. We addressed issues of visual clutter and spatial distance by displaying a single question couplet at a time and by switching to the appropriate next couplet after the user made a choice. Our analysis of the original paper-based key versus the Web-based approach found that of 26 applicable cognitive engineering principles, the paper key did not meet 4 (15%) and partially met 11 (42%). In contrast, the redesigned key met 100% of 32 applicable cognitive engineering principles.

Improving the clinical prediction of psychosis by combining ultra-high risk criteria and cognitive basic symptoms

OBJECTIVE Cognitive impairments are regarded as a core component of schizophrenia. However, the cognitive dimension of psychosis is hardly considered by ultra-high risk (UHR) criteria. Therefore, we studied whether the combination of symptomatic UHR criteria and the basic symptom criterion "cognitive disturbances" (COGDIS) is superior in predicting first-episode psychosis. METHOD In a naturalistic 48-month follow-up study, the conversion rate to first-episode psychosis was studied in 246 outpatients of an early detection of psychosis service (FETZ); thereby, the association between conversion, and the combined and singular use of UHR criteria and COGDIS was compared. RESULTS Patients that met UHR criteria and COGDIS (n=127) at baseline had a significantly higher risk of conversion (hr=0.66 at month 48) and a shorter time to conversion than patients that met only UHR criteria (n=37; hr=0.28) or only COGDIS (n=30; hr=0.23). Furthermore, the risk of conversion was higher for the combined criteria than for UHR criteria (n=164; hr=0.56 at month 48) and COGDIS (n=158; hr=0.56 at month 48) when considered irrespective of each other. CONCLUSIONS Our findings support the merits of considering both COGDIS and UHR criteria in the early detection of persons who are at high risk of developing a first psychotic episode within 48months. Applying both sets of criteria improves sensitivity and individual risk estimation, and may thereby support the development of stage-targeted interventions. Moreover, since the combined approach enables the identification of considerably more homogeneous at-risk samples, it should support both preventive and basic research.

Social and cognitive predictors of fruit and vegetable intake among adolescents: The context of changes in body weight

Two studies investigated differences in the relationships between adolescents' fruit and vegetable intake (FVI) and the predictors specified in the Health Action Process Approach and Social-Cognitive Theory. Retrospective (Study 1; N = 502) and prospective (Study 2; N = 668) designs were applied. Among adolescents with overweight/obesity, intention was cross-sectionally associated with FVI (Study 1); no social or cognitive predictors explained FVI at 14-month follow-up (Study 2). The planning - FVI and self-efficacy - FVI relationships were stronger among adolescents who reduced their body weight to normal, compared to effects observed among those who maintained their body weight (Studies 1 and 2).

Individual group efficacy beliefs and performance motivation: A mediational approach

Introduction: According to the theoretical model of Cranach, Ochsenbein, and Valach (1986) understanding group actions needs consideration of aspects at both the group level and the level of individual members. For example individual action units constituting group actions are motivated at the individual level while potentially being affected by characteristics of the group. Theoretically, group efficacy beliefs could be a part of this motivational process as they are an individual’s cognitive contents about group-level abilities to perform well in a specific task. Positive relations between group level efficacy-beliefs and group performance have been reported and Bandura and Locke (2003) argue that this relationship is being mediated by motivational processes and goal setting. The aims of this study were a) to examine the effects of group characteristics on individual performance motivation and b) to test if those are mediated by individual group efficacy beliefs. Methods: Forty-seven students (M=22.83 years, SD=2.83, 34% women) of the university of Berne participated in this scenario based experiment. Data were collected on two collection points. Subjects were provided information about fictive team members with whom they had to perform a group triathlon. Three values (low, medium, high) of the other team members’ abilities to perform in their parts of the triathlon (swimming and biking respectively) were combined in a 3x3 full factorial design (Anderson, 1982) yielding nine groups. Subjects were asked how confident they were that the teams would perform well in the task (individual group efficacy beliefs), and to provide information about their motivation to perform at their best in the respective group contexts (performance motivation). Multilevel modeling (Mplus) was used to estimate the effects of the factors swim and bike, and the context-varying covariate individual group efficacy beliefs on performance motivation. Further analyses were undertaken to test if the effects of group contexts on performance motivation are mediated by individual group efficacy beliefs. Results: Significant effects were reported for both the group characteristics (βswim = 7.86; βbike = 8.57; both p < .001) and the individual group efficacy beliefs (βigeb; .40, p < .001) on performance motivation. The subsequent mediation model indicated that the effects of group characteristics on performance motivation were partly mediated by the individual group efficacy beliefs of the subjects with significant mediation effects for both factors swim and bike. Discussion/Conclusion: The results of the study provide further support for the motivational character of efficacy beliefs and point out a mechanism by which team characteristics influence performance relevant factors at the level of individual team members. The study indicates that high team abilities lead to augmented performance motivation, adding a psychological advantage to teams already high on task relevant abilities. Future investigations will be aiming at possibilities to keep individual performance motivation high in groups with low task relevant abilities. One possibility could be the formulation of individual task goals. References: Anderson, N. H. (1982). Methods of information integration theory. New York: Academic Press. Bandura, A. & Locke, E. A. (2003). Negative self-efficacy and goal effects revisited. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 87-99. Cranach, M. von, Ochsenbein, G. & Valach, L. (1986). The group as a self-active system: Outline of a theory of group action. European Journal of Social Psychology, 16, 193-229.

Effectiveness of integrated cognitive remediartion therapy for schizophrenia outpatients: Early versus long-term course of illness – results from an international RCT

Background Nowadays there is extensive evidence available showing the efficacy of cognitive remediation therapies. Integrative approaches seem superior regarding the maintenance of proximal outcome at follow-up as well as generalization to other areas of functioning. To date, only limited evidence about the efficacy of CRT is available concerning elder schizophrenia patients. The Integrated Neurocognitive Therapy (INT) represents a new developed cognitive remediation approach. It is a manualized group therapy approach targeting all 11 NIMH-MATRICS dimensions within one therapy concept. In this study we compared the effects of INT on an early course group (duration of disease<5 years) to a long-term group of schizophrenia outpatients (duration of disease>15 years). Methods An international multicenter study carried out in Germany, Switzerland and Austria with a total of 90 outpatients diagnosed with Schizophrenia (DSM-IV-TR) were randomly assigned either to an INT-Therapy or to Treatment-As-Usual (TAU). 50 of the 90 Patients were an Early-Course (EC) group, suffering from schizophrenia for less than 5 years (Mean age=29 years, Mean duration of illness=3.3 years). The other 40 were a Long-term Course (LC) group, suffering from schizophrenia longer than 15 years (Mean age= 45 years, Mean duration of illness=22 years). Treatment comprised of 15 biweekly sessions. An extensive assessment battery was conducted before and after treatment and at follow up (1 year). Multivariate General Linear Models (GLM) (duration of illness x treatment x time) examined our hypothesis, if an EC group of schizophrenia outpatients differ in proximal and distal outcome from a LC group. Results Irrespective of the duration of illness, both groups (EC & LC) were able to benefit from the INT. INT was superior compared to TAU in most of the assessed domains. Dropout rate of EC group was much higher (21.4%) than LC group (8%) during therapy phase. However, interaction effects show that the LC group revealed significantly higher effects in the neurocognitive domains of speed of processing (F>3.6) and vigilance (F>2.4). In social cognition the EC group showed significantly higher effects in social schema (F>2.5) and social attribution (blame; F>6.0) compared to the LC group. Regarding more distal outcome, patients treated with INT obtained reduced general symptoms unaffected by the duration of illness during therapy phase and at follow-up (F>4.3). Discussion Results suggest that INT is a valid goal-oriented treatment to improve cognitive functions in schizophrenia outpatients. Irrespective of the duration of illness significant treatment, effects were evident. Against common expectations, long-term, more chronic patients showed higher effects in basal cognitive functions compared to younger patients and patients without any active therapy (TAU). Consequently, more integrated therapy offers are also recommended for long-term course schizophrenia patients.