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10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.06.015

Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews

Neurosci Biobehav Rev

Episodic and working memory function in Primary Progressive Aphasia: A meta-analysis.

The distinction between Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) variants remains challenging for clinicians, especially for the non-fluent (nfv-PPA) and the logopenic variants (lv-PPA). Previous research suggests that memory tests might aid this differentiation. This meta-analysis compares memory function among PPA variants. Effects sizes were extracted from 41 studies (N = 849). Random-effects models were used to compare performance on episodic and working memory tests among PPA patients and healthy controls, and between the PPA variants. Memory deficits were frequently observed in PPA compared to controls, with large effect sizes for lv-PPA (Hedges' g = -2.04 [-2.58 to -1.49]), nfv-PPA (Hedges' g = -1.26 ([-1.60 to -0.92], p < .001)), and the semantic variant (sv-PPA; Hedges' g = -1.23 [-1.50 to -0.97]). Sv-PPA showed primarily verbal memory deficits, whereas lv-PPA showed worse performance than nfv-PPA on both verbal and non-verbal memory tests. Memory deficits were more pronounced in lv-PPA compared to nfv-PPA. This suggests that memory tests may be helpful to distinguish between these PPA variants.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00875

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

How Does Consecutive Interpreting Training Influence Working Memory: A Longitudinal Study of Potential Links Between the Two.

With an intention to contribute to the issue of how language experience may influence working memory (WM), we focused on consecutive interpreting (CI), analyzed its potential links with WM functions and tested these links in a longitudinal experiment, trying to answer the specific question of how CI training may influence WM. Two comparable groups of Chinese learners of English received either CI or general second language (L2) training for one semester, and were tested before and after the training with the tasks of n-back (non-verbal updating), L2 listening span, and letter running span (verbal spans). CI performance was tested in the posttest. The results showed that (1) updating efficiency in both the pretest and posttest predicted CI performance, and CI training enhanced updating efficiency while general L2 training did not; (2) the relationship between verbal spans and CI performance was weaker (i.e., only pretest L2 listening span correlated with CI performance and predicted CI performance with marginal significance), and CI training did not make a unique contribution to these spans (i.e., no group differences). The results indicated an "interpreter advantage" in updating, which was probably due to that updating was more central in the CI task than WM spans. Theoretically, we believe that updating and CI are closely related because they share the same underlying mechanism, or more specifically updating and the recalling process in the CI task share the same attentional control process, a unique link between updating and the CI task. Methodological implications are discussed.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.4103/JPN.JPN_142_17

Journal of pediatric neurosciences

J Pediatr Neurosci

Neuropsychological Difficulties Associated with Dopa Responsive Dystonia.

A young girl with L-dopa responsive dystonia showed significant improvements in motor function but had ongoing complaints of neuropsychological difficulties. A neuropsychological evaluation was undertaken to understand the nature of her difficulties. Intellectual function, attention, executive function, and academic attainment were assessed using published psychometric tests. Verbal and non-verbal reasoning was found to be age appropriate. Particular difficulties were identified with working memory, visual selective attention, dual attention, and processing speed which were having a significant impact upon the child and her family. The importance of a thorough neuropsychological evaluation is discussed in helping to appropriately manage and support the child with this chronic but rare health condition.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1016/j.jsams.2018.05.020

Journal of science and medicine in sport

J Sci Med Sport

Evaluation of an intervention to reduce adolescent sitting time during the school day: The 'Stand Up for Health' randomised controlled trial.

Adolescents spend large proportions of the school day sitting; potentially increasing their health risks. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and potential efficacy of a school-based intervention to reduce adolescent sitting time during the school day. Two-arm parallel-group randomised controlled trial. Adolescents (13-16 years) were recruited from four private high schools in New South Wales, Australia. Schools were pair-matched and randomised to treatment or control. Research assistants were blinded to intervention aims and treatment allocation. Intervention initiatives included classroom and outdoor environmental measures to break up and reduce the proportion of adolescent school time spent sitting. Teacher and students surveys assessed intervention feasibility, acceptability and potential efficacy. Proportional sitting time was the primary outcome, measured by activPAL monitors, worn for one week during the school day. Secondary outcomes included body mass index, body fatness, working memory and non-verbal reasoning. Data were analysed using a general linear model for continuous variables and adjusted for clustering. While teachers and students supported the program, process evaluation results indicate aspects of the intervention were not implemented with fidelity. Eighty-eight adolescents (M=14.7±0.7, 50% male) participated in the trial. Eighty-six had valid data for all variables (43 controls, 43 intervention). There was no significant intervention effect on the primary outcome. There was a significant effect on working memory (adjusted difference ±SD=-0.42±1.37; p=0.048 (Cohen's d)=0.31). These findings contribute to limited research in this area, providing guidance for future interventions in the high school environment. The study was registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN 12614001001684).

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1007/s00426-018-1007-6

Psychological research

Psychol Res

Training and transfer effects of interference control training in children and young adults.

Many studies have examined transfer of working memory (WM) training improvements to non-trained cognitive tasks, with largely disappointing results. Interference control has been suggested to be a central feature of WM. However, studies examining transfer effects of a training program exclusively and directly targeting interference control are lacking. Forty-one 10‒12 year-old children and 47 19‒24 year-old adults were assigned to an adaptive interference control training or active control condition. Transfer of training effects to tasks measuring interference control, response inhibition, WM updating, task-switching, and non-verbal fluid intelligence were assessed during a 3-month follow-up session and/or an immediate post-training session. Substantial evidence of training improvements and a positive transfer effect to a non-trained interference control task were observed for both age groups. Marginal evidence for beneficial transfer of training effects for the trained compared to non-trained participants was found for a WM task for both age groups, and for the children for another interference control task and a response inhibition task. However, these transfer effects were absent during the 3-month follow-up measurement. These results suggest some potential for interference control training programs to enhance aspects of cognitive functioning, with some evidence for a more wide-spread, but short-lived, transfer for children compared to adults.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00426

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Rhythm and Melody Tasks for School-Aged Children With and Without Musical Training: Age-Equivalent Scores and Reliability.

Measuring musical abilities in childhood can be challenging. When music training and maturation occur simultaneously, it is difficult to separate the effects of specific experience from age-based changes in cognitive and motor abilities. The goal of this study was to develop age-equivalent scores for two measures of musical ability that could be reliably used with school-aged children (7-13) with and without musical training. The children's Rhythm Synchronization Task (c-RST) and the children's Melody Discrimination Task (c-MDT) were adapted from adult tasks developed and used in our laboratories. The c-RST is a motor task in which children listen and then try to synchronize their taps with the notes of a woodblock rhythm while it plays twice in a row. The c-MDT is a perceptual task in which the child listens to two melodies and decides if the second was the same or different. We administered these tasks to 213 children in music camps (musicians, = 130) and science camps (non-musicians, = 83). We also measured children's paced tapping, non-paced tapping, and phonemic discrimination as baseline motor and auditory abilities We estimated internal-consistency reliability for both tasks, and compared children's performance to results from studies with adults. As expected, musically trained children outperformed those without music lessons, scores decreased as difficulty increased, and older children performed the best. Using non-musicians as a reference group, we generated a set of age-based z-scores, and used them to predict task performance with additional years of training. Years of lessons significantly predicted performance on both tasks, over and above the effect of age. We also assessed the relation between musician's scores on music tasks, baseline tasks, auditory working memory, and non-verbal reasoning. Unexpectedly, musician children outperformed non-musicians in two of three baseline tasks. The c-RST and c-MDT fill an important need for researchers interested in evaluating the impact of musical training in longitudinal studies, those interested in comparing the efficacy of different training methods, and for those assessing the impact of training on non-musical cognitive abilities such as language processing.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00359

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Executive Functions and Prosodic Abilities in Children With High-Functioning Autism.

Little is known about the relationship between prosodic abilities and executive function skills. As deficits in executive functions (EFs) and prosodic impairments are characteristics of autism, we examined how EFs are related to prosodic performance in children with high-functioning autism (HFA). Fifteen children with HFA ( = 7.4 years; = 1.12), matched to 15 typically developing peers on age, gender, and non-verbal intelligence participated in the study. The Profiling Elements of Prosody in Speech-Communication (PEPS-C) was used to assess prosodic performance. The Children's Color Trails Test (CCTT-1, CCTT-2, and CCTT Interference Index) was used as an indicator of executive control abilities. Our findings suggest no relation between prosodic abilities and visual search and processing speed (assessed by CCTT-1), but a significant link between prosodic skills and divided attention, working memory/sequencing, set-switching, and inhibition (assessed by CCTT-2 and CCTT Interference Index). These findings may be of clinical relevance since difficulties in EFs and prosodic deficits are characteristic of many neurodevelopmental disorders. Future studies are needed to further investigate the nature of the relationship between impaired prosody and executive (dys)function.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1017/S1355617718000115

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS

J Int Neuropsychol Soc

Meta-analytic Review of Memory Impairment in Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia.

A meta-analysis of the extent, nature and pattern of memory performance in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). Multiple observational studies have challenged the relative sparing of memory in bvFTD as stated in the current diagnostic criteria. We performed a meta-analytic review covering the period 1967 to February 2017 of case-control studies on episodic memory in bvFTD versus control participants (16 studies, 383 patients, 603 control participants), and patients with bvFTD versus those with Alzheimer's disease (AD) (20 studies, 452 bvFTD, 874 AD). Differences between both verbal and non-verbal working memory, episodic memory learning and recall, and recognition memory were examined. Data were extracted from the papers and combined into a common metric measure of effect, Hedges' d. Patients with bvFTD show large deficits in memory performance compared to controls (Hedges' d -1.10; 95% confidence interval [CI] [-1.23, -0.95]), but perform significantly better than patients with AD (Hedges' d 0.85; 95% CI [0.69, 1.03]). Learning and recall tests differentiate best between patients with bvFTD and AD (p<.01). There is 37-62% overlap in test scores between the two groups. This study points to memory disorders in patients with bvFTD, with performance at an intermediate level between controls and patients with AD. This indicates that, instead of being an exclusion criterion for bvFTD diagnosis, memory deficits should be regarded as a potential integral part of the clinical spectrum. (JINS, 2018, 24, 593-605).

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1002/acp.3339

Applied cognitive psychology

Appl Cogn Psychol

Selective Association Between Tetris Game Play and Visuospatial Working Memory: A Preliminary Investigation.

Recent experimental and clinical research has suggested that Tetris game play can disrupt maladaptive forms of mental imagery because Tetris competes for limited cognitive resources within visuospatial working memory (WM) that contribute to imagery. Whether or not Tetris performance is selectively associated with visuospatial WM remains to be tested. In this study, young adults (N = 46) completed six standardized measures indexing verbal and non-verbal reasoning, verbal and visuospatial short-term memory, and verbal and visuospatial WM. They also played Tetris. Consistent with the hypothesis that visuospatial WM resources support Tetris game play, there was a significant moderate positive relationship between Tetris scores and visuospatial WM performance but no association with other cognitive ability measures. Findings suggest that Tetris game play involves both storage and processing resources within visuospatial WM. These preliminary results can inform interventions involving computer games to disrupt the development of maladaptive visual imagery, for example, intrusive memories of trauma. © 2017 The Authors. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1111/ejn.13897

The European journal of neuroscience

Eur J Neurosci

Working memory alpha-beta band oscillatory signatures in adolescents and young adults.

The timing of neural activity is an intriguing way of exposing behaviorally relevant neural activity, as neural populations exploit transient windows of synchronized activations to exchange dynamic communications in the service of various cognitive operations. The link between neural synchrony and working memory (WM) has been supported at the theoretical and empirical level. However, findings have also shown that WM encoding is also related to significant alpha-beta desynchronization. These findings have been primarily recorded during subsequent memory effect paradigms that compare correct with incorrect encoding trials. The dissociable contribution imparted by various processes to WM performance suggests that incorrect performance may not be directly translatable to unsuccessful encoding. Here, we address the relationship between alpha-beta desynchronization and encoding through the use of an alternative paradigm design by contrasting frontal and parietal human scalp electroencephalography activity during the encoding interval of a delayed matching-to-sample task with that recorded during a control task. The additional use of non-verbal/semantic visual stimulation and recruitment of typically developing adolescent subjects has led us to the conclusion that encoding-relevant alpha-beta decrements can be replicated via a non-verbal/semantic delayed matching-to-sample task and these are also evident in typically developing adolescents, in addition to adults, as has been previously demonstrated. The identification of encoding-related alpha-beta decrements in adolescent subjects performing such WM tasks may open new avenues to explore whether such a rhythmic signature may explain WM and electrophysiological deficits that emerge in various adolescent neuropsychiatric disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02327

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Computer-Based Training in Math and Working Memory Improves Cognitive Skills and Academic Achievement in Primary School Children: Behavioral Results.

Student academic achievement has been positively related to further development outcomes, such as the attainment of higher educational, employment, and socioeconomic aspirations. Among all the academic competences, mathematics has been identified as an essential skill in the field of international leadership as well as for those seeking positions in disciplines related to science, technology, and engineering. Given its positive consequences, studies have designed trainings to enhance children's mathematical skills. Additionally, the ability to regulate and control actions and cognitions, i.e., executive functions (EF), has been associated with school success, which has resulted in a strong effort to develop EF training programs to improve students' EF and academic achievement. The present study examined the efficacy of a school computer-based training composed of two components, namely, working memory and mathematics tasks. Among the advantages of using a computer-based training program is the ease with which it can be implemented in school settings and the ease by which the difficulty of the tasks can be adapted to fit the child's ability level. To test the effects of the training, children's cognitive skills (EF and IQ) and their school achievement (math and language grades and abilities) were evaluated. The results revealed a significant improvement in cognitive skills, such as non-verbal IQ and inhibition, and better school performance in math and reading among the children who participated in the training compared to those children who did not. Most of the improvements were related to training on WM tasks. These findings confirmed the efficacy of a computer-based training that combined WM and mathematics activities as part of the school routines based on the training's impact on children's academic competences and cognitive skills.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.5935/0946-5448.20170018

The international tinnitus journal

Int Tinnitus J

Association of Chronic Subjective Tinnitus with Neuro- Cognitive Performance.

Chronic subjective tinnitus is associated with cognitive disruptions affecting perception, thinking, language, reasoning, problem solving, memory, visual tasks (reading) and attention. To evaluate existence of any association between tinnitus parameters and neuropsychological performance to explain cognitive processing. Study design was prospective, consisting 25 patients with idiopathic chronic subjective tinnitus and gave informed consent before planning their treatment. Neuropsychological profile included (i) performance on verbal information, comprehension, arithmetic and digit span; (ii) non-verbal performance for visual pattern completion analogies; (iii) memory performance for long-term, recent, delayed-recall, immediate-recall, verbal-retention, visualretention, visual recognition; (iv) reception, interpretation and execution for visual motor gestalt. Correlation between tinnitus onset duration/ loudness perception with neuropsychological profile was assessed by calculating Spearman's coefficient. Findings suggest that tinnitus may interfere with cognitive processing especially performance on digit span, verbal comprehension, mental balance, attention & concentration, immediate recall, visual recognition and visual-motor gestalt subtests. Negative correlation between neurocognitive tasks with tinnitus loudness and onset duration indicated their association. Positive correlation between tinnitus and visual-motor gestalt performance indicated the brain dysfunction. Tinnitus association with non-auditory processing of verbal, visual and visuo-spatial information suggested neuroplastic changes that need to be targeted in cognitive rehabilitation.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02263

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

TEMA and Dot Enumeration Profiles Predict Mental Addition Problem Solving Speed Longitudinally.

Different math indices can be used to assess math potential at school entry. We evaluated whether standardized math achievement (TEMA-2 performance), core number abilities (dot enumeration, symbolic magnitude comparison), non-verbal intelligence (NVIQ) and visuo-spatial working memory (VSWM), in combination or separately, predicted mental addition problem solving speed over time. We assessed 267 children's TEMA-2, magnitude comparison, dot enumeration, and VSWM abilities at school entry (5 years) and NVIQ at 8 years. Mental addition problem solving speed was assessed at 6, 8, and 10 years. Longitudinal path analysis supported a model in which dot enumeration performance ability profiles and previous mental addition speed predicted future mental addition speed on all occasions, supporting a componential account of math ability. Standardized math achievement and NVIQ predicted mental addition speed at specific time points, while VSWM and symbolic magnitude comparison did not contribute unique variance to the model. The implications of using standardized math achievement and dot enumeration ability to index math learning potential at school entry are discussed.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1016/j.cpr.2017.11.006

Clinical psychology review

Clin Psychol Rev

Cognitive deficits in bipolar disorders: Implications for emotion.

Prominent cognitive deficits have been documented in bipolar disorder, and multiple studies suggest that these deficits can be observed among non-affected first-degree relatives of those with bipolar disorder. Although there is variability in the degree of cognitive deficits, these deficits are robustly relevant for functional outcomes. A separate literature documents clear difficulties in emotionality, emotion regulation, and emotion-relevant impulsivity within bipolar disorder, and demonstrates that these emotion-relevant variables are also central to outcome. Although cognitive and emotion domains are typically studied independently, basic research and emergent findings in bipolar disorder suggest that there are important ties between cognitive deficits and the emotion disturbances observed in bipolar disorder. Understanding these relationships has relevance for fostering more integrative research, for clarifying relevant aspects related to functionality and vulnerability within bipolar disorder, and for the development of novel treatment interventions. Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe psychiatric illness that has been ranked as one of the 20 leading medical causes of disability (WHO, 2011). BD has been shown to be the psychiatric disorder with the highest rates of completed suicide across two major cohort studies (Ilgen et al., 2010; Nordentoft, Mortensen, & Pedersen, 2011). In a cross-national representative sample, one in four persons diagnosed with bipolar I disorder reported a suicide attempt (Merikangas et al., 2011). Rates of relapse remain high despite available treatments (Gitlin, Swendsen, Heller, & Hammen, 1995), and in the year after hospitalization for manic episode, two-thirds of patients do not return to work (Strakowski et al., 1998). Poverty, homelessness, and incarceration are all too common (Copeland et al., 2009). Despite the often poor outcomes, there is also evidence for outstanding accomplishments and creativity among those with milder forms of the disorder and their family members (Coryell et al., 1989; Jamison, 1993; Murray & Johnson, 2010). Some individuals appear to achieve more than the general population, suggesting the importance of understanding the variables that predict differential outcome within bipolar disorder. Within this paper, we focus on two key predictors of outcomes within bipolar disorder: cognition and emotionality. We review evidence that problems in cognition and emotionality are prominent among those diagnosed with the disorder, are not artifacts of symptom state, and relate substantively to poorer outcomes. Although traditionally studied separately, new work points toward the idea that cognition and emotionality are intricately linked within bipolar disorder. Drawing from research within bipolar disorder as well as outside of bipolar disorder, we build a model of how cognition and emotionality might be tied within bipolar disorder. We then provide suggestions for future research. Before considering findings, it is worth noting that there are several forms of the disorder, defined by varying degrees and duration of manic symptoms (APA, 2013; WHO, 1993). Manic episodes are defined by abnormally elevated or irritable mood, accompanied by increased activity and at least three symptoms (four if mood is only irritable) such as decreased need for sleep, increased self-confidence, racing thoughts or flight of ideas, rapid speech, distractibility, goal-directed activity, and engagement in pleasurable activities without regard to potential negative consequences. To meet criteria for mania, these symptoms must persist for at least one week or require hospitalization, and must lead to difficulties with functioning. If functional impairment is not more than mild and duration is between 4 and 6 days, the episode is considered a hypomanic episode. Bipolar I disorder (BD I) is diagnosed on the basis of at least one lifetime manic episode within the DSM-5 and by at least two episodes within the ICD, whereas bipolar II disorder is diagnosed on the basis of at least one hypomanic episode (and no manic episodes) as well as major depressive episodes. Cyclothymic disorder is defined by chronic but milder fluctuations between manic and depressive symptoms. Most research focuses on BD I. In addition to diagnosed samples, research has focused on those at high risk for bipolar disorder, including first-degree relatives of those with BD. This work draws on the evidence for extremely high heritability of BD I, with estimates from community-based twin studies of 0.85 (Kieseppä, Partonen, Haukka, Kaprio, & Lönnqvist, 2014). Other research has considered high risk for BD by virtue of lifetime subsyndromal symptoms, as measured by scales such as the Hypomanic Personality Scale (Eckblad & Chapman, 1986) or the General Behavior Inventory (Depue, Krauss, Spoont, & Arbisi, 1989). The study of high-risk individuals provides a way to decipher whether deficits are present before the onset of the disorder, of importance given models suggesting that episodes of the disorder may change brain function (Chang, Steiner, & Ketter, 2000; Strakowski, 2012) as well as individuals' perceptions of their emotion regulation. Beyond defining BD, it is worth defining some of the many different neuropsychological tasks that have been widely studied in BD. Perhaps no area has received more attention than executive function. Executive function is related to three core functions: 1) inhibition, the ability to suppress irrelevant information in working memory in order to accomplish an established goal; 2) working memory, the ability to hold and manipulate information in mind; and 3) cognitive flexibility, the ability to shift strategies in response to feedback (Diamond, 2013; Miyake et al., 2000). Attention (defined as the process of selecting information reception from internal or external cues) is implicated in all three of these aspects of executive function. Much of the literature we will discuss focuses on response inhibition, or the ability to suppress a prepotent response, which is considered a subtype of inhibition. Some tests measure multiple facets of executive function; for example the Trails B test likely requires working memory and cognitive flexibility (Sánchez-Cubillo et al., 2009). Aside from executive function, multiple other facets of cognition have been widely studied in bipolar disorder. Verbal and non-verbal memory are related to the ability to register, store and retrieve verbal or visual information (Lezak, 1995). Verbal fluency is measured as the number of verbal responses a person can generate to a given target, such as a specific semantic category (e.g., animals, furniture) or phonetic category (e.g., words that begin with letter F) (Diamond, 2013). Although cognitive tasks have been designed to evaluate these specific functions, it is important to note that most measures are highly inter-correlated and may assess multiple overlapping functions to some extent (for example, the Trails B test is often described as an "executive function" task, although this task likely involves both working memory and cognitive flexibility. Not surprisingly, then, some authors label the function of certain tests differently, and this is particularly evident in meta-analyses of cognition. As we describe findings in this paper, we will use the terms proposed by the authors but will also identify key tests used to define a cognitive construct. With this background in mind, we turn to a discussion of cognitive deficits, then of emotion-related traits. Our hope is that those concise summaries provide evidence for the importance of both domains, but also specificity regarding the facets of emotion and cognition that are most impaired in BD. This specificity then guides our consideration of models that integrate cognition and emotion.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1080/02699052.2017.1358396

Brain injury

Brain Inj

Changes in working memory performance in youth following concussion.

The purpose of this study was to compare the working memory (WM) performance pre- and post-concussion, and investigate the relationships between performance changes and characteristics such as self-reported symptom scores, number of days post-injury and age at injury in 10-14-year-old youth. Twenty-one youth (17 males) aged 10-14 years recruited from the community completed verbal and non-verbal WM tasks pre- and post-concussion. Performance was measured using accuracy and performance errors (false alarms and misses). Pre- and post-tests were compared using a Wilcoxon signed rank test, and effect size was determined using matched-pairs rank biserial correlation. Comparisons showed lower verbal WM accuracy at post-test, greater verbal and non-verbal WM false alarm errors at post-test, and greater verbal WM miss errors at post-test (all r ≥ 0.30). Correlations between performance and characteristics revealed associations between younger youth and lower non-verbal WM accuracy and more false alarms at post-test, as well as an association among non-verbal WM miss errors, higher PCS scores and fewer days since injury at post-test. The current study found lower WM performance in youth following concussion. Furthermore, the findings suggest that false alarm errors may be a useful screening measure acutely post-concussion when assessing WM performance in youth.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01907

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Linguistic and Cognitive Effects of Bilingualism with Regional Minority Languages: A Study of Sardinian-Italian Adult Speakers.

This study explores the effects of bilingualism in Sardinian as a regional minority language on the linguistic competence in Italian as the dominant language and on non-linguistic cognitive abilities. Sardinian/Italian adult speakers and monolingual Italian speakers living in the same geographical area of Sardinia were compared in two kinds of tasks: (a) verbal and non-verbal cognitive tasks targeting working memory and attentional control and (b) tasks of linguistic abilities in Italian focused on the comprehension of sentences differing in grammatical complexity. Although no difference was found between bilinguals and monolinguals in the cognitive control of attention, bilinguals performed better on working memory tasks. Bilinguals with lower formal education were found to be faster at comprehension of one type of complex sentence (center embedded object relative clauses). In contrast, bilinguals and monolinguals with higher education showed comparable slower processing of complex sentences. These results show that the effects of bilingualism are modulated by type of language experience and education background: positive effects of active bilingualism on the dominant language are visible in bilinguals with lower education, whereas the effects of higher literacy in Italian obliterate those of active bilingualism in bilinguals and monolinguals with higher education.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1016/j.schres.2017.09.027

Schizophrenia research

Schizophr Res

Influence of Venus and Mars in the cognitive sky of schizophrenia. Results from the first-step national FACE-SZ cohort.

Sex differences can yield important clues regarding illness pathophysiology and its treatment. Schizophrenia (SZ) has a lower incidence rate, and a better prognosis, in women versus men. The present study investigated the cognitive profiles of both sexes in a large multi-centre sample of community-dwelling SZ patients. 544 community-dwelling stable SZ subjects (141 women and 403 men; mean age 34.5±12.1 and 31.6±8.7years, respectively) were tested with a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests. Although community-dwelling SZ men had more risk factors for impaired cognition (including first-generation antipsychotics administration and comorbid addictive disorders), women had lower scores on a wide range of cognitive functions, including current and premorbid intellectual functioning, working memory, semantic memory, non-verbal abstract thinking and aspects of visual exploration. However, women scored higher in tests of processing speed and verbal learning, as well as having a lower verbal learning bias. No sex difference were evident for visuospatial learning abilities, cued verbal recall, sustained attention and tests of executive functions, including cognitive flexibility, verbal abstract thinking, verbal fluency and planning abilities. Sex differences are evident in the cognitive profiles of SZ patients. The impact on daily functioning and prognosis, as well as longitudinal trajectory, should be further investigated in the FACE-SZ follow-up study. Sex differences in cognition have implications for precision-medicine determined therapeutic strategies. Given the restricted age range of the sample, future research will have to determine cognitive profiles across gender in late onset SZ.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01576

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Number Line Estimation Predicts Mathematical Skills: Difference in Grades 2 and 4.

Studies have shown that number line estimation is important for learning. However, it is yet unclear if number line estimation predicts different mathematical skills in different grades after controlling for age, non-verbal cognitive ability, attention, and working memory. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of number line estimation on two mathematical skills (calculation fluency and math problem-solving) in grade 2 and grade 4. One hundred and forty-eight children from Shanghai, China were assessed on measures of number line estimation, non-verbal cognitive ability (non-verbal matrices), working memory (N-back), attention (expressive attention), and mathematical skills (calculation fluency and math problem-solving). The results showed that in grade 2, number line estimation correlated significantly with calculation fluency ( = -0.27, < 0.05) and math problem-solving ( = -0.52, < 0.01). In grade 4, number line estimation correlated significantly with math problem-solving ( = -0.38, < 0.01), but not with calculation fluency. Regression analyses indicated that in grade 2, number line estimation accounted for unique variance in math problem-solving (12.0%) and calculation fluency (4.0%) after controlling for the effects of age, non-verbal cognitive ability, attention, and working memory. In grade 4, number line estimation accounted for unique variance in math problem-solving (9.0%) but not in calculation fluency. These findings suggested that number line estimation had an important role in math problem-solving for both grades 2 and 4 children and in calculation fluency for grade 2 children. We concluded that number line estimation could be a useful indicator for teachers to identify and improve children's mathematical skills.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1044/2017_JSLHR-L-16-0422

Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR

J Speech Lang Hear Res

Children's Comprehension of Object Relative Sentences: It's Extant Language Knowledge That Matters, Not Domain-General Working Memory.

The aim of this study was to determine whether extant language (lexical) knowledge or domain-general working memory is the better predictor of comprehension of object relative sentences for children with typical development. We hypothesized that extant language knowledge, not domain-general working memory, is the better predictor. Fifty-three children (ages 9-11 years) completed a word-level verbal working-memory task, indexing extant language (lexical) knowledge; an analog nonverbal working-memory task, representing domain-general working memory; and a hybrid sentence comprehension task incorporating elements of both agent selection and cross-modal picture-priming paradigms. Images of the agent and patient were displayed at the syntactic gap in the object relative sentences, and the children were asked to select the agent of the sentence. Results of general linear modeling revealed that extant language knowledge accounted for a unique 21.3% of variance in the children's object relative sentence comprehension over and above age (8.3%). Domain-general working memory accounted for a nonsignificant 1.6% of variance. We interpret the results to suggest that extant language knowledge and not domain-general working memory is a critically important contributor to children's object relative sentence comprehension. Results support a connectionist view of the association between working memory and object relative sentence comprehension. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5404573.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.22374/1710-6222.24.3.1

Journal of population therapeutics and clinical pharmacology = Journal de la therapeutique des populations et de la pharmacologie clinique

J Popul Ther Clin Pharmacol

Intelligence and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: A Review.

Background: The studies on intelligence in individuals with fetal alcohol exposure are conflicting. Some have found a relevant impairment in this population, while others found results that were consistent with the population at large. Describe the results of studies on intelligence in individuals with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. Indexed articles of the last 10 years were selected for an integrative literature review. After inclusion and exclusion criteria were satisfied 37 articles were selected. General intelligence, both verbal and non-verbal, is impaired in people who are prenatally exposed to alcohol. There is a tendency to a greater reduction in the Freedom from Distractibility/Working Memory Index of Wechsler Scales. Reduction in intelligence seems to occur on a continuum similar to the fetal alcohol spectrum. The reduction of the Freedom from Distractibility/Working Memory Index appears to be a reflection of a greater impairment of mathematical ability.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1038/s41598-017-10104-8

Scientific reports

Sci Rep

Global associations between regional gray matter volume and diverse complex cognitive functions: evidence from a large sample study.

Correlations between regional gray matter volume (rGMV) and psychometric test scores have been measured to investigate the neural bases for individual differences in complex cognitive abilities (CCAs). However, such studies have yielded different rGMV correlates of the same CCA. Based on the available evidence, we hypothesized that diverse CCAs are all positively but only weakly associated with rGMV in widespread brain areas. To test this hypothesis, we used the data from a large sample of healthy young adults [776 males and 560 females; mean age: 20.8 years, standard deviation (SD) = 0.8] and investigated associations between rGMV and scores on multiple CCA tasks (including non-verbal reasoning, verbal working memory, Stroop interference, and complex processing speed tasks involving spatial cognition and reasoning). Better performance scores on all tasks except non-verbal reasoning were associated with greater rGMV across widespread brain areas. The effect sizes of individual associations were generally low, consistent with our previous studies. The lack of strong correlations between rGMV and specific CCAs, combined with stringent corrections for multiple comparisons, may lead to different and diverse findings in the field.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1080/09658211.2017.1369546

Memory (Hove, England)

Memory

Item-specific proactive interference in olfactory working memory.

We examine item-specific olfactory proactive interference (PI) effects and undertake comparisons with verbal and non-verbal visual stimuli. Using a sequential recent-probes task, we show no evidence for PI with hard-to-name odours (Experiment 1). However, verbalisable odours do exhibit PI effects (Experiment 2). These findings occur despite above chance performance and similar serial position functions across both tasks. Experiments 3 and 4 apply words and faces, respectively, to our modified procedure, and show that methodological differences cannot explain the null finding in Experiment 1. The extent to which odours exhibit analogous PI effects to that of other modalities is, we argue, contingent on the characteristics of the odours employed.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01336

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Visual Form Perception Can Be a Cognitive Correlate of Lower Level Math Categories for Teenagers.

Numerous studies have assessed the cognitive correlates of performance in mathematics, but little research has been conducted to systematically examine the relations between visual perception as the starting point of visuospatial processing and typical mathematical performance. In the current study, we recruited 223 seventh graders to perform a visual form perception task (figure matching), numerosity comparison, digit comparison, exact computation, approximate computation, and curriculum-based mathematical achievement tests. Results showed that, after controlling for gender, age, and five general cognitive processes (choice reaction time, visual tracing, mental rotation, spatial working memory, and non-verbal matrices reasoning), visual form perception had unique contributions to numerosity comparison, digit comparison, and exact computation, but had no significant relation with approximate computation or curriculum-based mathematical achievement. These results suggest that visual form perception is an important independent cognitive correlate of lower level math categories, including the approximate number system, digit comparison, and exact computation.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1044/2017_JSLHR-H-16-0086

Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR

J Speech Lang Hear Res

Vocabulary Facilitates Speech Perception in Children With Hearing Aids.

We examined the effects of vocabulary, lexical characteristics (age of acquisition and phonotactic probability), and auditory access (aided audibility and daily hearing aid [HA] use) on speech perception skills in children with HAs. Participants included 24 children with HAs and 25 children with normal hearing (NH), ages 5-12 years. Groups were matched on age, expressive and receptive vocabulary, articulation, and nonverbal working memory. Participants repeated monosyllabic words and nonwords in noise. Stimuli varied on age of acquisition, lexical frequency, and phonotactic probability. Performance in each condition was measured by the signal-to-noise ratio at which the child could accurately repeat 50% of the stimuli. Children from both groups with larger vocabularies showed better performance than children with smaller vocabularies on nonwords and late-acquired words but not early-acquired words. Overall, children with HAs showed poorer performance than children with NH. Auditory access was not associated with speech perception for the children with HAs. Children with HAs show deficits in sensitivity to phonological structure but appear to take advantage of vocabulary skills to support speech perception in the same way as children with NH. Further investigation is needed to understand the causes of the gap that exists between the overall speech perception abilities of children with HAs and children with NH.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1111/coa.12937

Clinical otolaryngology : official journal of ENT-UK ; official journal of Netherlands Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology & Cervico-Facial Surgery

Clin Otolaryngol

A novel study on association between untreated hearing loss and cognitive functions of older adults: Baseline non-verbal cognitive assessment results.

Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) is highly prevalent in older adults, and more than two-thirds above age of 70 years suffer from ARHL. Recent studies have established a link between ARHL and cognitive impairment; however, most of the studies have used verbally loaded cognitive measures to investigate the association between ARHL and cognition. It is possible that due to hearing impairment, the elderly may experience difficulty in following verbal instructions or completing tasks that heavily rely on hearing during cognitive assessments. This may result in overestimation of cognitive impairment in such individuals. This baseline cross-sectional study investigated the associations between untreated hearing loss and a number of cognitive functions using a battery of non-verbal cognitive tests. Further, association between hearing loss and psychological status of older adults was examined. Prospective case-controlled study. A total of 119 participants (54 males, M=66.33±10.50 years; 65 females M=61.51±11.46 years) were recruited. All participants completed a hearing assessment, a computerised test battery of non-verbal cognitive functions and the depression, anxiety and stress scale. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis results revealed that hearing thresholds significantly associated with the working memory (P<0.05), paired associative learning scores (P<0.05), depression (P<0.001), and anxiety (P<0.001) and stress (P<0.001) scores. Analysis of covariance results revealed that participants with moderately-severe hearing loss performed significantly poorer in paired associative learning and working memory tasks and psychological function tests compared to those with normal hearing. Results of the current study suggest a significant relationship between ARHL and both cognition and psychological status. Our results also have some implications for using non-verbal cognitive tests to evaluate cognitive functions in post-lingually hearing impaired ageing adults, at least for those with more than moderately-severe levels of hearing loss.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1186/s11689-017-9209-6

Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders

J Neurodev Disord

The role of nonverbal working memory in morphosyntactic processing by children with specific language impairment and autism spectrum disorders.

Both children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and children with specific language impairment (SLI) have been shown to have difficulties with grammatical processing. A comparison of these two populations with neurodevelopmental disorders was undertaken to examine similarities and differences in the mechanisms that may underlie grammatical processing. Research has shown that working memory (WM) is recruited during grammatical processing. The goal of this study was to examine morphosyntactic processing on a grammatical judgment task in children who varied in clinical diagnosis and language abilities and to assess the extent to which performance is predicted by working memory (WM). Two theoretical perspectives were evaluated relative to performance on the grammatical judgment task-the "working memory" account and the "wrap-up" account. These accounts make contrasting predictions about the detection of grammatical errors occurring early versus late in the sentence. Participants were 84 school-age children with SLI ( = 21), ASD ( = 27), and typical development (TD,  = 36). Performance was analyzed based on diagnostic group as well as language status (normal language, NL,  = 54, and language impairment, LI,  = 30). A grammatical judgment task was used in which the position of the error in the sentence (early versus late) was manipulated. A visual WM task (N-back) was administered and the ability of WM to predict morphosyntactic processing was assessed. Groups differed significantly in their sensitivity to grammatical errors (TD > SLI and NL > LI) but did not differ in nonverbal WM. Overall, children in all groups were more sensitive and quicker at detecting errors occurring late in the sentence than early in the sentence. Nonverbal WM predicted morphosyntactic processing across groups, but the specific profile of association between WM and early versus late error detection was reversed for children with and without language impairment. Findings primarily support a "wrap up" account whereby the accumulating sentence context for errors positioned late in the sentence (rather than early) appeared to facilitate morphosyntactic processing. Although none of the groups displayed deficits in visual WM, individual differences in these nonverbal WM resources predicted proficiency in morphosyntactic processing.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1016/j.cognition.2017.05.016

Cognition

Cognition

Distinct influences of affective and cognitive factors on children's non-verbal and verbal mathematical abilities.

Individual differences in children's math performance have been associated with math anxiety, attention problems, working memory (WM), and reading skills, but the mechanisms by which these factors jointly contribute to children's math achievement are unknown. Here, we use structural equation modeling to characterize the relation between these factors and their influence on non-verbal Numerical Operations (NO) and verbal Math Reasoning (MR) in 330 children (M=8.34years). Our findings indicate that WM plays a central role in both non-verbal NO and verbal MR, whereas math anxiety and reading comprehension have unique and more pronounced influences on MR, compared to NO. Our study elucidates how affective and cognitive factors distinctly influence non-verbal and verbal mathematical problem solving.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00653

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Challenging Cognitive Control by Mirrored Stimuli in Working Memory Matching.

Cognitive conflict has often been investigated by placing automatic processing originating from learned associations in competition with instructed task demands. Here we explore whether mirror generalization as a congenital mechanism can be employed to create cognitive conflict. Past research suggests that the visual system automatically generates an invariant representation of visual objects and their mirrored counterparts (i.e., mirror generalization), and especially so for lateral reversals (e.g., a cup seen from the left side vs. right side). Prior work suggests that mirror generalization can be reduced or even overcome by learning (i.e., for those visual objects for which it is not appropriate, such as letters d and b). We, therefore, minimized prior practice on resolving conflicts involving mirror generalization by using kanji stimuli as non-verbal and unfamiliar material. In a 1-back task, participants had to check a stream of kanji stimuli for identical repetitions and avoid miss-categorizing mirror reversed stimuli as exact repetitions. Consistent with previous work, lateral reversals led to profound slowing of reaction times and lower accuracy in Experiment 1. Yet, different from previous reports suggesting that lateral reversals lead to stronger conflict, similar slowing for vertical and horizontal mirror transformations was observed in Experiment 2. Taken together, the results suggest that transformations of visual stimuli can be employed to challenge cognitive control in the 1-back task.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1002/dys.1557

Dyslexia (Chichester, England)

Dyslexia

Short-term Memory in Childhood Dyslexia: Deficient Serial Order in Multiple Modalities.

In children with dyslexia, deficits in working memory have not been well-specified. We assessed second-grade children with dyslexia, with and without concomitant specific language impairment, and children with typical development. Immediate serial recall of lists of phonological (non-word), lexical (digit), spatial (location) and visual (shape) items were included. For the latter three modalities, we used not only standard span but also running span tasks, in which the list length was unpredictable to limit mnemonic strategies. Non-word repetition tests indicated a phonological memory deficit in children with dyslexia alone compared with those with typical development, but this difference vanished when these groups were matched for non-verbal intelligence and language. Theoretically important deficits in serial order memory in dyslexic children, however, persisted relative to matched typically developing children. The deficits were in recall of (1) spoken digits in both standard and running span tasks and (2) spatial locations, in running span only. Children with dyslexia with versus without language impairment, when matched on non-verbal intelligence, had comparable serial order memory, but differed in phonology. Because serial orderings of verbal and spatial elements occur in reading, the careful examination of order memory may allow a deeper understanding of dyslexia and its relation to language impairment. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1016/j.bandc.2017.03.009

Brain and cognition

Brain Cogn

Painful engrams: Oscillatory correlates of working memory for phasic nociceptive laser stimuli.

Research suggests that working memory (WM) is impaired in chronic pain. Yet, information on how potentially noxious stimuli are maintained in memory is limited in patients as well as in healthy people. We recorded electroencephalography (EEG) in healthy volunteers during a modified delayed match-to-sample task where maintenance in memory of relevant attributes of nociceptive laser stimuli was essential for subsequent cued-discrimination. Participants performed in high and low load conditions (i.e. three vs. two stimuli to keep in WM). Modulation of EEG oscillations in the beta band during the retention interval and in the alpha band during the pre-retention interval reflected performance in the WM task. Importantly, both a non-verbal and a verbal neuropsychological WM test predicted oscillatory modulations. Moreover, these two neuropsychological tests and self-reported personality measures predicted the performance in the nociceptive WM task. Results demonstrate (i) that beta and alpha EEG oscillations can represent WM for nociceptive stimuli; (ii) the association between neuropsychological measures of WM and the brain representation of phasic nociceptive painful stimuli; and (iii) that personality factors can predict memory for nociceptive stimuli at the behavioural level. Altogether, our findings offer a promising approach for investigating cortical correlates of nociceptive memory in clinical pain conditions.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1002/pchj.160

PsyCh journal

Psych J

Cognitive self-regulation and social functioning among French children: A longitudinal study from kindergarten to first grade.

This study adds to the body of research examining the links between two components of cognitive self-regulation (inhibitory control and verbal working memory) and social functioning (social integration, social problem solving, and prosocial skills) and focuses on children's sex as a moderator of the association between cognitive self-regulation and social functioning. The participants (N = 131) were French schoolchildren followed from kindergarten (Mage = 68.36 months, SD = 3.33 months) through Grade 1. Using hierarchical regression analyses, three major findings were revealed: (1) inhibitory control was a better predictor than verbal working memory of prosocial skills assessed by peers using the sociometric technique as well as by teachers using questionnaires, after controlling for sex, mother's education, and verbal and non-verbal IQ; (2) the prosocial skills assessed by teachers in kindergarten contributed more to explaining the prosocial skills and peer acceptance assessed in Grade 1 than cognitive self-regulation; and (3) sex did not moderate the relationship between cognitive self-regulation and social functioning. These results suggest that developing strong cognitive self-regulation, especially inhibitory control and prosocial skills, in young children schooled in France could be beneficial for their social development.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1080/10749357.2017.1305654

Topics in stroke rehabilitation

Top Stroke Rehabil

Motor recovery in post-stroke patients with aphasia: the role of specific linguistic abilities.

Aphasia is a serious consequence of stroke but aphasics patients have been routinely excluded from participation in some areas of stroke research. To assess the role of specific linguistic and non-verbal cognitive abilities on the short-term motor recovery of patients with aphasia due to first-ever stroke to the left hemisphere after an intensive rehabilitation treatment. 48 post-acute aphasic patients, who underwent physiotherapy and speech language therapy, were enrolled for this retrospective cohort-study. Four types of possible predictive factors were taken into account: clinical variables, functional status, language and non-verbal cognitive abilities. The motor FIM at discharge was used as the main dependent variable. Patients were classified as follows: 6 amnestic, 9 Broca's, 7 Wernicke's, and 26 global aphasics. Motor FIM at admission (p = 0.003) and at discharge (p = 0.042), all linguistic subtests of Aachener AphasieTest (p = 0.001), and non-verbal reasoning abilities (Raven's CPM, p = 0.006) resulted significantly different across different types of aphasia. Post-hoc analyses showed differences only between global aphasia and the other groups. A Multiple Linear Regression shows that admission motor FIM (p = 0.001) and Token test (p = 0.040), adjusted for clinical, language, and non-verbal reasoning variables, resulted as independent predictors of motor FIM scores at discharge, while Raven's CPM resulted close to statistical significance. Motor function at admission resulted as the variable that most affects the motor recovery of post-stroke patients with aphasia after rehabilitation. A linguistic test requiring also non-linguistic abilities, including attention and working memory (i.e. Token test) is an independent predictor as well.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1080/09297049.2017.1296122

Child neuropsychology : a journal on normal and abnormal development in childhood and adolescence

Child Neuropsychol

Time knowledge difficulties following treatment for malignant cerebellar tumors.

In children treated for malignant cerebellar tumors, there are only a few studies investigating temporal skills, despite the role of the cerebellum in time processing being generally acknowledged. Children's time knowledge has been defined as the correct representation and use of familiar time units. The present study compares time knowledge in 38 children treated for malignant cerebellar tumors (mean age 11.6 years) with 105 typically-developing (TD) children. The performances on all time knowledge subtests were significantly lower in the tumor group. The results also confirm a lower mean IQ in the children treated for cerebellar tumors, related to slower processing speed and poorer performance on working memory and non-verbal tasks. However, the lower IQ does not explain the considerable difficulties in the acquisition of time knowledge. These results are discussed in the light of the role of the cerebellum in time processing and in the context of two different models of temporal processing: the internal clock model and the neural network state model.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1080/09297049.2017.1284776

Child neuropsychology : a journal on normal and abnormal development in childhood and adolescence

Child Neuropsychol

Delineation of a spatial working memory profile using a non-verbal eye-tracking paradigm in young children with autism and Williams syndrome.

Working memory deficits profoundly inhibit children's ability to learn. While deficits have been identified in disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Williams syndrome (WS), findings are equivocal, and very little is known about the nature of these deficits early in development. A major barrier to advances in this area is the availability of tasks suitable for young children with neurodevelopmental disorders who experience difficulties with following verbal instructions or who are distressed by formal testing demands. To address these issues, a novel eye-tracking paradigm was designed based on an adaptation of the classic A not B paradigm in order to examine the early foundations of spatial working memory capabilities in 26 developmentally delayed preschool children with ASD, 18 age- and IQ-matched children with WS, and 19 age-matched typically-developing (TD) children. The results revealed evidence that foundational spatial working memory performance in ASD and WS was comparable with that of TD children. Performance was associated with intellectual ability in the ASD and TD groups, but not in the WS group. Performance was not associated with adaptive behavior in any group. These findings are discussed in the context of previous research that has been largely limited to older and substantially less developmentally delayed children with these neurodevelopmental disorders.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1080/09297049.2017.1282450

Child neuropsychology : a journal on normal and abnormal development in childhood and adolescence

Child Neuropsychol

Sequenced neurocognitive and behavioral parent training for the treatment of ADHD in school-age children.

The present study examines the potential of sequencing a neurocognitive intervention with behavioral parent training (BPT) to improve executive functions (EFs), psychiatric symptoms, and multiple indices of functional impairment in school-age children aged 7 to 11 years who have been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Specifically, in a randomized controlled trial design, 85 children were assigned to either Cogmed Working Memory Training (CWMT) followed by an empirically supported, manualized BPT intervention, or to a placebo version of CWMT followed by the same BPT intervention. Working memory maintenance (i.e., attention control/short-term memory), working memory processing and manipulation, ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms, impairment in parent-child dynamics, familial impairment, and overall functional compromise were evaluated as outcomes. The results suggest specific effects of the combined CWMT and BPT program on verbal and nonverbal working memory storage and nonverbal working memory processing and manipulation but no incremental benefits in regard to ADHD symptoms, ODD symptoms, and functional outcomes. The present findings do not support the hypothesis regarding the complementary and augmentative benefits of sequenced neurocognitive and BPT interventions for the treatment of ADHD. These results, the study's limitations, and future directions for research are further discussed.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1016/j.bandl.2017.01.007

Brain and language

Brain Lang

Communicative-pragmatic disorders in traumatic brain injury: The role of theory of mind and executive functions.

Previous research has shown that communicative-pragmatic ability, as well as executive functions (EF) and Theory of Mind (ToM), may be impaired in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, the role of such cognitive deficits in explaining communicative-pragmatic difficulty in TBI has still not been fully investigated. The study examined the relationship between EF (working memory, planning and flexibility) and ToM and communicative-pragmatic impairment in patients with TBI. 30 individuals with TBI and 30 healthy controls were assessed using the Assessment Battery of Communication (ABaCo), and a set of cognitive, EF and ToM, tasks. The results showed that TBI participants performed poorly in comprehension and production tasks in the ABaCo, using both linguistic and extralinguistic means of expression, and that they were impaired in EF and ToM abilities. Cognitive difficulties were able to predict the pragmatic performance of TBI individuals, with both executive functions and ToM contributing to explaining patients' scores on the ABaCo.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1080/15622975.2017.1282173

The world journal of biological psychiatry : the official journal of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry

World J Biol Psychiatry

Neurocognitive function in paediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The small body of neuropsychological research in paediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) yields inconsistent results. A recent meta-analysis found small effect sizes, concluding that paediatric OCD may not be associated with cognitive impairments, stressing the need for more research. We investigated neuropsychological performance in a large sample of youths with OCD, while assessing potential moderators. Participants with OCD (n = 102) and matched controls (n = 161) were thoroughly screened and blindly evaluated for comorbidities, and completed a neuropsychological battery assessing processing speed, visuospatial abilities (VSA), working memory (WM), non-verbal memory (NVM), and executive functions (EF). Compared to controls, youths with OCD exhibited underperformance on tasks assessing processing speed. On tests of VSA and WM, underperformance was found only on timed tasks. There were no differences on NVM and EF tasks. Notably, the OCD group's standardised scores were in the normative range. Test performance was not associated with demographic or clinical variables. Youths with OCD exhibited intact performance on memory and EF tests, but slower processing speed, and underperformance only on timed VSA and WM tasks. While the OCD group performed in the normative range, these findings reveal relative weaknesses that may be overlooked. Such an oversight may be of particular importance in clinical and school settings.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyt.2016.00204

Frontiers in psychiatry

Front Psychiatry

The Contributions of Memory and Vocabulary to Non-Verbal Ability Scores in Adolescents with Intellectual Disability.

It is usually assumed that performance on non-verbal intelligence tests reflects visual cognitive processing and that aspects of working memory (WM) will be involved. However, the unique contribution of memory to non-verbal scores is not clear, nor is the unique contribution of vocabulary. Thus, we aimed to investigate these contributions. Non-verbal test scores for 17 individuals with intellectual disability (ID) and 39 children with typical development (TD) of similar mental age were compared to determine the unique contribution of visual and verbal short-term memory (STM) and WM and the additional variance contributed by vocabulary scores. No significant group differences were found in the non-verbal test scores or receptive vocabulary scores, but there was a significant difference in expressive vocabulary. Regression analyses indicate that for the TD group STM and WM (both visual and verbal) contributed similar variance to the non-verbal scores. For the ID group, visual STM and verbal WM contributed most of the variance to the non-verbal test scores. The addition of vocabulary scores to the model contributed greater variance for both groups. More unique variance was contributed by vocabulary than memory for the TD group, whereas for the ID group memory contributed more than vocabulary. Visual and auditory memory and vocabulary contributed significantly to solving visual non-verbal problems for both the TD group and the ID group. However, for each group, there were different weightings of these variables. Our findings indicate that for individuals with TD, vocabulary is the major factor in solving non-verbal problems, not memory, whereas for adolescents with ID, visual STM, and verbal WM are more influential than vocabulary, suggesting different pathways to achieve solutions to non-verbal problems.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01902

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Executive Function Mediates the Relations between Parental Behaviors and Children's Early Academic Ability.

The past decade has witnessed a growth of interest in parental influences on individual differences in children's executive function (EF) on the one hand and in the academic consequences of variation in children's EF on the other hand. The primary aim of this longitudinal study was to examine whether children's EF mediated the relation between three distinct aspects of parental behavior (i.e., parental scaffolding, negative parent-child interactions, and the provision of informal learning opportunities) and children's academic ability (as measured by standard tests of literacy and numeracy skills). Data were collected from 117 parent-child dyads (60 boys) at two time points ~1 year apart (M Age at Time 1 = 3.94 years, = 0.53; M Age at Time 2 = 5.11 years, = 0.54). At both time points children completed a battery of tasks designed to measure general cognitive ability (e.g., non-verbal reasoning) and EF (e.g., inhibition, cognitive flexibility, working memory). Our models revealed that children's EF (but not general cognitive ability) mediated the relations between parental scaffolding and negative parent-child interactions and children's early academic ability. In contrast, parental provision of opportunities for learning in the home environment was directly related to children's academic abilities. These results suggest that parental scaffolding and negative parent-child interactions influence children's academic ability by shaping children's emerging EF.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01892

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Have We Forgotten Auditory Sensory Memory? Retention Intervals in Studies of Nonverbal Auditory Working Memory.

Researchers have shown increased interest in mechanisms of working memory for nonverbal sounds such as music and environmental sounds. These studies often have used two-stimulus comparison tasks: two sounds separated by a brief retention interval (often 3-5 s) are compared, and a "same" or "different" judgment is recorded. Researchers seem to have assumed that sensory memory has a negligible impact on performance in auditory two-stimulus comparison tasks. This assumption is examined in detail in this comment. According to seminal texts and recent research reports, sensory memory persists in parallel with working memory for a period of time following hearing a stimulus and can influence behavioral responses on memory tasks. Unlike verbal working memory studies that use serial recall tasks, research paradigms for exploring nonverbal working memory-especially two-stimulus comparison tasks-may not be differentiating working memory from sensory memory processes in analyses of behavioral responses, because retention interval durations have not excluded the possibility that the sensory memory trace drives task performance. This conflation of different constructs may be one contributor to discrepant research findings and the resulting proliferation of theoretical conjectures regarding mechanisms of working memory for nonverbal sounds.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1111/desc.12511

Developmental science

Dev Sci

Training and transfer effects of response inhibition training in children and adults.

Response inhibition is crucial for mental and physical health but studies assessing the trainability of this type of inhibition are rare. Thirty-nine children aged 10-12 years and 46 adults aged 18-24 years were assigned to an adaptive go/no-go inhibition training condition or an active control condition. Transfer of training effects to performance on tasks assessing response inhibition, interference control, working memory updating, task-switching, and non-verbal fluid intelligence were assessed during 3- and 6-month follow-up sessions and/or an immediate post-training session. Significant training improvements and positive transfer effects to a similar response inhibition task with other stimuli were observed for both children and adults. Reliable albeit short-lived transfer effects were only found for the children, specifically to working memory updating and task switching. These results suggest some potential for response-inhibition training programs to enhance aspects of cognitive functioning in children but not adults.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1093/cercor/bhw367

Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)

Cereb Cortex

A Neural Mechanism for Surprise-related Interruptions of Visuospatial Working Memory.

Surprising perceptual events recruit a fronto-basal ganglia mechanism for inhibition, which suppresses motor activity following surprise. A recent study found that this inhibitory mechanism also disrupts the maintenance of verbal working memory (WM) after surprising tones. However, it is unclear whether this same mechanism also relates to surprise-related interruptions of non-verbal WM. We tested this hypothesis using a change-detection task, in which surprising tones impaired visuospatial WM. Participants also performed a stop-signal task (SST). We used independent component analysis and single-trial scalp-electroencephalogram to test whether the same inhibitory mechanism that reflects motor inhibition in the SST relates to surprise-related visuospatial WM decrements, as was the case for verbal WM. As expected, surprising tones elicited activity of the inhibitory mechanism, and this activity correlated strongly with the trial-by-trial level of surprise. However, unlike for verbal WM, the activity of this mechanism was unrelated to visuospatial WM accuracy. Instead, inhibition-independent activity that immediately succeeded the inhibitory mechanism was increased when visuospatial WM was disrupted. This shows that surprise-related interruptions of visuospatial WM are not effected by the same inhibitory mechanism that interrupts verbal WM, and instead provides evidence for a 2-stage model of distraction.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1111/bjep.12138

The British journal of educational psychology

Br J Educ Psychol

What are standardized literacy and numeracy tests testing? Evidence of the domain-general contributions to students' standardized educational test performance.

A fundamental aim of standardized educational assessment is to achieve reliable discrimination between students differing in the knowledge, skills and abilities assessed. However, questions of the purity with which these tests index students' genuine abilities have arisen. Specifically, literacy and numeracy assessments may also engage unintentionally assessed capacities. The current study investigated the extent to which domain-general processes - working memory (WM) and non-verbal reasoning - contribute to students' standardized test performance and the pathway(s) through which they exert this influence. Participants were 91 Grade 2 students recruited from five regional and metropolitan primary schools in Australia. Participants completed measures of WM and non-verbal reasoning, as well as literacy and numeracy subtests of a national standardized educational assessment. Path analysis of Rasch-derived ability estimates and residuals with domain-general cognitive abilities indicated: (1) a consistent indirect pathway from WM to literacy and numeracy ability, through non-verbal reasoning; (2) direct paths from phonological WM and literacy ability to numeracy ability estimates; and (3) a direct path from WM to spelling test residuals. Results suggest that the constitution of this nationwide standardized assessment confounded non-targeted abilities with those that were the target of assessment. This appears to extend beyond the effect of WM on learning more generally, to the demands of different assessment types and methods. This has implications for students' abilities to demonstrate genuine competency in assessed areas and the educational supports and provisions they are provided on the basis of these results.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1007/s10339-016-0784-3

Cognitive processing

Cogn Process

Effects of proactive interference on non-verbal working memory.

Working memory (WM) is a cognitive system responsible for actively maintaining and processing relevant information and is central to successful cognition. A process critical to WM is the resolution of proactive interference (PI), which involves suppressing memory intrusions from prior memories that are no longer relevant. Most studies that have examined resistance to PI in a process-pure fashion used verbal material. By contrast, studies using non-verbal material are scarce, and it remains unclear whether the effect of PI is domain-general or whether it applies solely to the verbal domain. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of PI in visual WM using both objects with high and low nameability. Using a Directed-Forgetting paradigm, we varied discriminability between WM items on two dimensions, one verbal (high-nameability vs. low-nameability objects) and one perceptual (colored vs. gray objects). As in previous studies using verbal material, effects of PI were found with object stimuli, even after controlling for verbal labels being used (i.e., low-nameability condition). We also found that the addition of distinctive features (color, verbal label) increased performance in rejecting intrusion probes, most likely through an increase in discriminability between content-context bindings in WM.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1111/jir.12313

Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR

J Intellect Disabil Res

Executive function and academic achievement in primary - grade students with Down syndrome.

Executive function (EF) plays a critical role in academic outcomes in typically developing children, but the contribution of EF to academic performance in Down syndrome (DS) is less well understood. This study evaluated differences in early academic foundations between primary school aged children with DS and non-verbal mental-age matched typically developing (TD) children. Additionally, the contribution of EF domains to academic outcomes was evaluated in each group. Participants with DS (n = 29) and mental-age matched TD participants (n = 23) were administered the Woodcock Johnson- III NU Tests of Academic Achievement, as well as a laboratory-based EF battery, including measures of working memory, shifting, inhibition and object-planning. Findings indicated a difference in early academic foundations profile between children with DS and mental-age matched TD children. Patterns of EF contributions towards academic outcomes were also observed across groups. Aspects of EF are critical to academic achievement in DS but differentially so relative to typical development. Implications for educational instruction are discussed.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1080/09297049.2016.1216091

Child neuropsychology : a journal on normal and abnormal development in childhood and adolescence

Child Neuropsychol

Impaired prospective memory but intact episodic memory in intellectually average 7- to 9-year-olds born very preterm and/or very low birth weight.

Relatively little is known about episodic memory (EM: memory for personally-experienced events) and prospective memory (PM: memory for intended actions) in children born very preterm (VP) or with very low birth weight (VLBW). This study evaluates EM and PM in mainstream-schooled 7- to 9-year-olds born VP (≤ 32 weeks) and/or VLBW (< 1500 g) and matches full-term children for comparison (n = 35 and n = 37, respectively). Additionally, participants were assessed for verbal and non-verbal ability, executive function (EF), and theory of mind (ToM). The results show that the VP/VLBW children were outperformed by the full-term children on the memory tests overall, with a significant univariate group difference in PM. Moreover, within the VP/VLBW group, the measures of PM, verbal ability and working memory all displayed reliable negative correlations with severity of neonatal illness. PM was found to be independent of EM and cognitive functioning, suggesting that this form of memory might constitute a domain of specific vulnerability for VP/VLBW children.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1016/j.envint.2016.06.033

Environment international

Environ Int

The influence of maternal dietary exposure to dioxins and PCBs during pregnancy on ADHD symptoms and cognitive functions in Norwegian preschool children.

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzofurans (dioxins) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) with potentially adverse impact on child neurodevelopment. Whether the potential detrimental effects of dioxins and PCBs on neurodevelopment are of specific or unspecific character is not clear. The purpose of the current study was to examine the influence of maternal dietary exposure to dioxins and PCBs on ADHD symptoms and cognitive functioning in preschoolers. We aimed to investigate a range of functions, in particular IQ, expressive language, and executive functions. This study includes n=1024 children enrolled in a longitudinal prospective study of ADHD (the ADHD Study), with participants recruited from The Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). Boys and girls aged 3.5years participated in extensive clinical assessments using well-validated tools; The Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment interview (PAPA), Stanford-Binet 5th revision (SB-5), Child Development Inventory (CDI), and Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, Preschool version (BRIEF-P). Maternal dietary exposure to dioxins and PCBs was estimated based on a validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) answered mid-pregnancy and a database of dioxin and PCB concentrations in Norwegian foods. Exposure to dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs (dl-compounds) was expressed in total toxic equivalents (TEQ), and PCB-153 was used as marker for non-dioxin-like PCBs (ndl-PCBs). Generalized linear and additive models adjusted for confounders were used to examine exposure-outcome associations. Exposure to PCB-153 or dl-compound was not significantly associated with any of the outcome measures when analyses were performed for boys and girls together. After stratifying by sex, adjusted analyses indicated a small inverse association with language in girls. An increase in the exposure variables of 1 SD was associated with a reduction in language score of -0.2 [CI -0.4, -0.1] for PCB-153 and -0.2 [CI -0.5, -0.1] for dl-compounds in girls. For boys, exposure to PCB-153 or dl-compounds was not associated with language skills. The difference between sex-specific associations was not statistically significant (p-value=0.13). No sex-specific effects were observed for ADHD-symptoms, IQ scores, or executive functions. We found no indications that variation in current low-level exposure to PCB-153 or dl-compounds in Norway is associated with variation ADHD-symptoms, verbal/non-verbal IQ, or executive functions including working memory in preschoolers. However, our findings indicated that maternal dietary exposure to PCB-153 or dl-compounds during pregnancy was significantly associated with poorer expressive language skills in preschool girls, although the sex-specific associations were not significantly different.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1016/j.jecp.2016.05.016

Journal of experimental child psychology

J Exp Child Psychol

The roles of feedback and working memory in children's reference production.

Children's communicative perspective-taking ability was investigated in a sample of 62 5- and 6-year-olds using a spoken production referential communication task in which speakers identify target objects for listeners. We assessed whether children would make use of non-verbal negative feedback to improve their future production of referring expressions, which involve words or phrases that function in discourse to identify individual objects. We also examined whether the use of such feedback is related to cognitive resources. Results indicated that children who were given feedback from addressees produced more informative referring expressions than those who received no feedback. Furthermore, this tendency to effectively make use of feedback was greatest among children with higher working memory. These findings demonstrate that feedback can facilitate learning about referential communication and suggest that one limitation in using such feedback is the ability to hold it in mind so that it can be used to guide the production of referring expressions.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.5964/ejop.v11i4.950

Europe's journal of psychology

Eur J Psychol

Better Movers and Thinkers (BMT): An Exploratory Study of an Innovative Approach to Physical Education.

Recent research has confirmed a positive relationship between levels of physical activity and academic achievement. Some of these studies have been informed by neurological models of Executive Functioning (EF). There is a general consensus within the literature that the three core EF skills are; working memory, inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility. The development of these core EF skills has been linked with learning and academic achievement and is an essential component in the delivery of PE using a new and innovative approach called 'Better Movers and Thinkers (BMT).' A mixed methods design was used to investigate the effectiveness and feasibility of a 16-week intervention programme using BMT where 46 children were tested on two separate occasions for coordination and balance control, academic skills, working memory and non-verbal reasoning skills. One school acted as the control condition (21 students, aged 9 - 10 years) and another school acted as the intervention condition (25 students, aged 9 - 10 years). Quantitative data revealed an effect between pre and post-test conditions in the areas of phonological skills (p = .042), segmentation skills (p = .014) and working memory (p = .040) in favour of the intervention condition. Further analysis identified a gender-interaction with male students in the intervention condition making significant gains in phonological skills (p = .005) segmentation skills (p = .014) and spelling (p = .007) compared to boys in the control condition. Analysis of qualitative data from a sample of students from the intervention condition and their class teacher indicated good acceptability of BMT as an alternative approach to PE.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1080/09602011.2016.1174718

Neuropsychological rehabilitation

Neuropsychol Rehabil

The use of standardised short-term and working memory tests in aphasia research: a systematic review.

Impairments of short-term and working memory (STM, WM), both verbal and non-verbal, are ubiquitous in aphasia. Increasing interest in assessing STM and WM in aphasia research and clinical practice as well as a growing evidence base of STM/WM treatments for aphasia warrant an understanding of the range of standardised STM/WM measures that have been utilised in aphasia. To date, however, no previous systematic review has focused on aphasia. Accordingly, the goals of this systematic review were: (1) to identify standardised tests of STM and WM utilised in the aphasia literature, (2) to evaluate critically the psychometric strength of these tests, and (3) to appraise critically the quality of the investigations utilising these tests. Results revealed that a very limited number of standardised tests, in the verbal and non-verbal domains, had robust psychometric properties. Standardisation samples to elicit normative data were often small, and most measures exhibited poor validity and reliability properties. Studies using these tests inconsistently documented demographic and aphasia variables essential to interpreting STM/WM test outcomes. In light of these findings, recommendations are provided to foster, in the future, consistency across aphasia studies and confidence in STM/WM tests as assessment and treatment outcome measures.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3758/s13423-016-1043-4

Psychonomic bulletin & review

Psychon Bull Rev

Visuospatial working memory influences the interaction between space and time.

How do representations of space inform our perception of time? In language, spatial vocabulary is frequently used to describe temporal concepts, and spatial information biases temporal perception even in non-verbal tasks. In contrast, temporal information typically exerts little, if any, influence on the perception of spatial extent. Here, we used spatial and temporal reproduction tasks, both with and without verbal and spatial dual tasks, to investigate the mechanism underlying the asymmetric relation between space and time. Specifically, we tested whether the asymmetric interference between spatial and temporal stimulus attributes arises from interference in verbal or visuospatial working memory. We found that loading visuospatial working memory, but not verbal working memory, eliminated the asymmetric pattern of interference. This suggests that the interference between spatial and temporal representations arises due to processing constraints in visuospatial working memory. These findings are discussed in terms of the load theory of attention and the relative automaticity with which spatial and temporal information is processed.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1111/bjep.12115

The British journal of educational psychology

Br J Educ Psychol

The relation between executive functioning, reaction time, naming speed, and single word reading in children with typical development and language impairments.

Few investigations have examined the relationship between a comprehensive range of executive functioning (EF) abilities and reading. Our investigation identified components of EF that independently predicted single word reading, and determined whether their predictive role remained when additional variables were included in the regression analyses. This provided information about the EF processes that are related to reading, and the unity and diversity of EF. This study consisted of 160 children: 88 were typically developing with no language difficulties; 72 had language impairments. The assessments involved decoding, 10 measures of EF, reaction time, naming speed, non-verbal and verbal age-equivalent scores. In the first regression analysis, which only concerned the EF variables, the following verbal forms of EF had significant relationships with decoding: working memory, fluency, planning, and inhibition. Further regression analyses included additional predictor variables: reaction time, naming speed, and age-equivalent scores. These analyses indicated that most of the EF variables continued to predict decoding even when entered with competitor variables. Furthermore, after the entry of EF variables, there were no group differences in decoding (typical vs. language difficulties). We discuss the contribution of EF and other variables to reading abilities.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00403

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Dependency Resolution Difficulty Increases with Distance in Persian Separable Complex Predicates: Evidence for Expectation and Memory-Based Accounts.

Delaying the appearance of a verb in a noun-verb dependency tends to increase processing difficulty at the verb; one explanation for this locality effect is decay and/or interference of the noun in working memory. Surprisal, an expectation-based account, predicts that delaying the appearance of a verb either renders it no more predictable or more predictable, leading respectively to a prediction of no effect of distance or a facilitation. Recently, Husain et al. (2014) suggested that when the exact identity of the upcoming verb is predictable (strong predictability), increasing argument-verb distance leads to facilitation effects, which is consistent with surprisal; but when the exact identity of the upcoming verb is not predictable (weak predictability), locality effects are seen. We investigated Husain et al.'s proposal using Persian complex predicates (CPs), which consist of a non-verbal element-a noun in the current study-and a verb. In CPs, once the noun has been read, the exact identity of the verb is highly predictable (strong predictability); this was confirmed using a sentence completion study. In two self-paced reading (SPR) and two eye-tracking (ET) experiments, we delayed the appearance of the verb by interposing a relative clause (Experiments 1 and 3) or a long PP (Experiments 2 and 4). We also included a simple Noun-Verb predicate configuration with the same distance manipulation; here, the exact identity of the verb was not predictable (weak predictability). Thus, the design crossed Predictability Strength and Distance. We found that, consistent with surprisal, the verb in the strong predictability conditions was read faster than in the weak predictability conditions. Furthermore, greater verb-argument distance led to slower reading times; strong predictability did not neutralize or attenuate the locality effects. As regards the effect of distance on dependency resolution difficulty, these four experiments present evidence in favor of working memory accounts of argument-verb dependency resolution, and against the surprisal-based expectation account of Levy (2008). However, another expectation-based measure, entropy, which was computed using the offline sentence completion data, predicts reading times in Experiment 1 but not in the other experiments. Because participants tend to produce more ungrammatical continuations in the long-distance condition in Experiment 1, we suggest that forgetting due to memory overload leads to greater entropy at the verb.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1371/journal.pone.0151819

PloS one

PLoS One

Executive Functioning and Learning Skills of Adolescent Children Born at Fewer than 26 Weeks of Gestation.

To assess the cognitive and behavioral aspects of executive functioning (EF) and learning skills in extremely preterm (EPT) children compared with term control children aged 10 to 15 years. A total of 132 of 134 (98% of all eligible survivors) EPT children born at the 2 Swedish regional tertiary care centers from 1992 to 1998 (mean age = 12 years, mean birth weight = 718 g, and mean gestational age = 24.4 weeks) and 103 matched term controls were assessed. General intelligence was assessed using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III-R), and cognitive aspects of EF were analyzed using EF-sensitive subscales of the WISC-III-R and Tower test of the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function Scale (D-KEFS). Behaviors related to EF and learning skills were assessed using the Five to Fifteen questionnaire, which is a validated parent and teacher instrument. Academic performance in school was assessed by teachers' responses on Achenbach's Teachers Report Form. Analyses performed included multivariate analyses of covariance (ANCOVA and MANCOVA) and logistic regression analyses. The EPT children displayed significant deficits in cognitive aspects of EF compared with the controls, exhibiting decreases on the order of 0.9 SD to 1.2 SD for tasks of verbal conceptual reasoning, verbal and non-verbal working memory, processing speed and planning ability (P <0.001 for all). After excluding the children with major neurosensory impairment (NSI) or a Full Scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ) of < 70, significant differences were observed on all tests. Compared with controls, parents and teachers of EPT children reported significantly more EF-related behavioral problems. MANCOVA of teacher-reported learning skills in children with FSIQ >70 and without major NSI revealed no interactions, but significant main effects were observed for the behavioral composite executive function score, group status (EPT vs control) and FSIQ, for which all effect sizes were medium to large. The corresponding findings of MANCOVA of the parent-reported learning skills were very similar. According to the teachers' ratings, the EPT children were less well adjusted to the school environment. EPT children born in the 1990s who received active perinatal care are at an increased risk of executive dysfunction, even after excluding children with significant neurodevelopmental disabilities. Even mild to moderate executive dysfunctions has a significant impact on learning skills. These findings suggest the need for timely interventions that address specific cognitive vulnerabilities and executive dysfunctions.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1016/j.brainres.2016.01.044

Brain research

Brain Res

Resource allocation models of auditory working memory.

Auditory working memory (WM) is the cognitive faculty that allows us to actively hold and manipulate sounds in mind over short periods of time. We develop here a particular perspective on WM for non-verbal, auditory objects as well as for time based on the consideration of possible parallels to visual WM. In vision, there has been a vigorous debate on whether WM capacity is limited to a fixed number of items or whether it represents a limited resource that can be allocated flexibly across items. Resource allocation models predict that the precision with which an item is represented decreases as a function of total number of items maintained in WM because a limited resource is shared among stored objects. We consider here auditory work on sequentially presented objects of different pitch as well as time intervals from the perspective of dynamic resource allocation. We consider whether the working memory resource might be determined by perceptual features such as pitch or timbre, or bound objects comprising multiple features, and we speculate on brain substrates for these behavioural models. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Auditory working memory.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1007/s11920-015-0651-4

Current psychiatry reports

Curr Psychiatry Rep

Literature Review of Cognitive Neuroscience and Anorexia Nervosa.

Studies published between the beginning of 2013 and May 2015 on the neuropsychological functioning of patients with anorexia nervosa compared with healthy participants framed in the context of the Research Domain Criteria matrix identifies evidence for functional differences in three domains: Negative Valance Systems-negative attentional biases and lack of neural responsivity to hunger; Cognitive Systems-limited congruence between clinical and cognitive performance, poorer non-verbal than verbal performance, altered attentional styles to disorder related stimuli, perceptual processing impairment in discriminating body images, weaknesses in central coherence, set shifting weaknesses at low weight status, decision-making weaknesses, and greater neural resources required for working memory; Systems for Social Processes-patients appear to have a different attentional response to faces, and perception and understanding of self and others. Hence, there is evidence to suggest that patients with anorexia nervosa have a specific neuropsychological performance style across tasks in three domains of functioning. Some current controversies and areas for future development are identified.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01523

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Impaired reasoning and problem-solving in individuals with language impairment due to aphasia or language delay.

The precise nature of the relationship between language and thought is an intriguing and challenging area of inquiry for scientists across many disciplines. In the realm of neuropsychology, research has investigated the inter-dependence of language and thought by testing individuals with compromised language abilities and observing whether performance in other cognitive domains is diminished. One group of such individuals is patients with aphasia who have an impairment in speech and language arising from a brain injury, such as a stroke. Our previous research has shown that the degree of language impairment in these individuals is strongly associated with the degree of impairment on complex reasoning tasks, such as the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) and Raven's Matrices. In the current study, we present new data from a large group of individuals with aphasia that show a dissociation in performance between putatively non-verbal tasks on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) that require differing degrees of reasoning (Picture Completion vs. Picture Arrangement tasks). We also present an update and replication of our previous findings with the WCST showing that individuals with the most profound core language deficits (i.e., impaired comprehension and disordered language output) are particularly impaired on problem-solving tasks. In the second part of the paper, we present findings from a neurologically intact individual known as "Chelsea" who was not exposed to language due to an unaddressed hearing loss that was present since birth. At the age of 32, she was fitted with hearing aids and exposed to spoken and signed language for the first time, but she was only able to acquire a limited language capacity. Chelsea was tested on a series of standardized neuropsychological measures, including reasoning and problem-solving tasks. She was able to perform well on a number of visuospatial tasks but was disproportionately impaired on tasks that required reasoning, such as Raven's Matrices and the WAIS Picture Arrangement task. Together, these findings suggest that language supports complex reasoning, possibly due to the facilitative role of verbal working memory and inner speech in higher mental processes.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1016/j.jecp.2015.09.025

Journal of experimental child psychology

J Exp Child Psychol

The role of nonverbal working memory in morphosyntactic processing by school-aged monolingual and bilingual children.

The current study examined the relationship between nonverbal working memory and morphosyntactic processing in monolingual native speakers of English and bilingual speakers of English and Spanish. We tested 42 monolingual children and 42 bilingual children between the ages of 8 and 10years matched on age and nonverbal IQ. Children were administered an auditory Grammaticality Judgment task in English to measure morphosyntactic processing and a visual N-Back task and Corsi Blocks task to measure nonverbal working memory capacity. Analyses revealed that monolinguals were more sensitive to English morphosyntactic information than bilinguals, but the groups did not differ in reaction times or response bias. Furthermore, higher nonverbal working memory capacity was associated with greater sensitivity to morphosyntactic violations in bilinguals but not in monolinguals. The findings suggest that nonverbal working memory skills link more tightly to syntactic processing in populations with lower levels of language knowledge.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1016/j.brainres.2015.10.035

Brain research

Brain Res

Impaired short-term memory for pitch in congenital amusia.

Congenital amusia is a neuro-developmental disorder of music perception and production. The hypothesis is that the musical deficits arise from altered pitch processing, with impairments in pitch discrimination (i.e., pitch change detection, pitch direction discrimination and identification) and short-term memory. The present review article focuses on the deficit of short-term memory for pitch. Overall, the data discussed here suggest impairments at each level of processing in short-term memory tasks; starting with the encoding of the pitch information and the creation of the adequate memory trace, the retention of the pitch traces over time as well as the recollection and comparison of the stored information with newly incoming information. These impairments have been related to altered brain responses in a distributed fronto-temporal network, associated with decreased connectivity between these structures, as well as in abnormalities in the connectivity between the two auditory cortices. In contrast, amusic participants׳ short-term memory abilities for verbal material are preserved. These findings show that short-term memory deficits in congenital amusia are specific to pitch, suggesting a pitch-memory system that is, at least partly, separated from verbal memory. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Auditory working memory.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01364

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Visual perception can account for the close relation between numerosity processing and computational fluency.

Studies have shown that numerosity processing (e.g., comparison of numbers of dots in two dot arrays) is significantly correlated with arithmetic performance. Researchers have attributed this association to the fact that both tasks share magnitude processing. The current investigation tested an alternative hypothesis, which states that visual perceptual ability (as measured by a figure-matching task) can account for the close relation between numerosity processing and arithmetic performance (computational fluency). Four hundred and twenty four third- to fifth-grade children (220 boys and 204 girls, 8.0-11.0 years old; 120 third graders, 146 fourth graders, and 158 fifth graders) were recruited from two schools (one urban and one suburban) in Beijing, China. Six classes were randomly selected from each school, and all students in each selected class participated in the study. All children were given a series of cognitive and mathematical tests, including numerosity comparison, figure matching, forward verbal working memory, visual tracing, non-verbal matrices reasoning, mental rotation, choice reaction time, arithmetic tests and curriculum-based mathematical achievement test. Results showed that figure-matching ability had higher correlations with numerosity processing and computational fluency than did other cognitive factors (e.g., forward verbal working memory, visual tracing, non-verbal matrix reasoning, mental rotation, and choice reaction time). More important, hierarchical multiple regression showed that figure matching ability accounted for the well-established association between numerosity processing and computational fluency. In support of the visual perception hypothesis, the results suggest that visual perceptual ability, rather than magnitude processing, may be the shared component of numerosity processing and arithmetic performance.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01331

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Improving working memory abilities in individuals with Down syndrome: a treatment case study.

Working memory (WM) skills of individuals with Down's syndrome (DS) tend to be very poor compared to typically developing children of similar mental age. In particular, research has found that in individuals with DS visuo-spatial WM is better preserved than verbal WM. This study investigated whether it is possible to train short-term memory (STM) and WM abilities in individuals with DS. The cases of two teenage children are reported: EH, 17 years and 3 months, and AS, 15 years and 11 months. A school-based treatment targeting visuo-spatial WM was given to EH and AS for six weeks. Both prior to and after the treatment, they completed a set of assessments to measure WM abilities and their performance was compared with younger typically developing non-verbal mental age controls. The results showed that the trained participants improved their performance in some of the trained and non-trained WM tasks proposed, especially with regard to the tasks assessing visuo-spatial WM abilities. These findings are discussed on the basis of their theoretical, educational, and clinical implications.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1044/2015_AJSLP-14-0153

American journal of speech-language pathology

Am J Speech Lang Pathol

Nonverbal Working Memory as a Predictor of Anomia Treatment Success.

The purpose of the study was to determine (a) reliability of the spatial span as a nonverbal working memory (WM) task in individuals with aphasia, (b) whether participation in anomia treatment changed spatial span scores, and (c) the degree to which visuospatial WM predicted response to anomia treatment. Eight individuals with chronic aphasia were repeatedly assessed on the forward and backward conditions of the spatial span over 4 weeks while undergoing treatment for anomia. Experiment 1 assessed reliability of the spatial span conditions and determined whether span scores changed after beginning anomia treatment. Experiment 2 investigated the spatial span as a predictor of anomia treatment success. Results of Experiment 1 showed that 7 participants demonstrated stability of the forward condition of the spatial span, and 5 participants demonstrated stability of the backward condition across all sessions (p = .05). No participants showed an effect of aphasia treatment on span performance in either condition. Experiment 2 found that the backward span condition significantly predicted anomia treatment effect size, F(1, 6) = 15.202, p = .008. Visuospatial WM abilities were highly predictive of response to anomia treatment, supporting an account of WM that includes a central processing mechanism.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01233

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Benefits of extending and adjusting the level of difficulty on computerized cognitive training for children with intellectual disabilities.

Training on working memory (WM) improves attention and WM in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and memory impairments. However, for children with intellectual disabilities (ID), the results have been less encouraging. In this preliminary study it was hypothesized that children with ID would benefit from an extended amount of training and that the level of difficulty during training would affect the outcome. We included 21 children with mild or moderate ID aged 8-13 years. They went through between 37 and 50 training sessions with an adaptive computerized program on WM and non-verbal reasoning (NVR). The children were divided into two subgroups with different difficulty levels during training. The transfer to untrained cognitive tests was compared to the results of 22 children with ID training only 25 sessions, and to a control group. We found that the training group with the extended training program improved significantly on a block design task measuring NVR and on a WM task compared to the control group. There was also a significantly larger improvement on block design relative to the training group with the shorter training time. The children that received easier training tasks also improved significantly more on a verbal WM task compared to children with more demanding tasks. In conclusion, these preliminary data suggest that children with ID might benefit from cognitive training with longer training periods and less demanding tasks, compared to children without disabilities.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1016/j.ridd.2015.07.035

Research in developmental disabilities

Res Dev Disabil

Deficits in visual short-term memory binding in children at risk of non-verbal learning disabilities.

It has been hypothesized that learning disabled children meet short-term memory (STM) problems especially when they must bind different types of information, however the hypothesis has not been systematically tested. This study assessed visual STM for shapes and colors and the binding of shapes and colors, comparing a group of children (aged between 8 and 10 years) at risk of non-verbal learning disabilities (NLD) with a control group of children matched for general verbal abilities, age, gender, and socioeconomic level. Results revealed that groups did not differ in retention of either shapes or colors, but children at risk of NLD were poorer than controls in memory for shape-color bindings.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01062

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Contribution of working memory in multiplication fact network in children may shift from verbal to visuo-spatial: a longitudinal investigation.

Number facts are commonly assumed to be verbally stored in an associative multiplication fact retrieval network. Prominent evidence for this assumption comes from so-called operand-related errors (e.g., 4 × 6 = 28). However, little is known about the development of this network in children and its relation to verbal and non-verbal memories. In a longitudinal design, we explored elementary school children from grades 3 and 4 in a multiplication verification task with the operand-related and -unrelated distractors. We examined the contribution of multiplicative fact retrieval by verbal and visuo-spatial short-term and working memory (WM). Children in grade 4 showed smaller reaction times in all conditions. However, there was no significant difference in errors between grades. Contribution of verbal and visuo-spatial WM also changed with grade. Multiplication correlated with verbal WM and performance in grade 3 but with visuo-spatial WM and performance in grade 4. We suggest that the relation to verbal WM in grade 3 indicates primary linguistic learning of and access to multiplication in grade 3 which is probably based on verbal repetition of the multiplication table heavily practiced in grades 2 and 3. However, the relation to visuo-spatial semantic WM in grade 4 suggests that there is a shift from verbal to visual and semantic learning in grade 4. This shifting may be induced because later in elementary school, multiplication problems are rather carried out via more written, i.e., visual tasks, which also involve executive functions. More generally, the current data indicates that mathematical development is not generally characterized by a steady progress in performance; rather verbal and non-verbal memory contributions of performance shift over time, probably due to different learning contents.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00782

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

The relationship of speech intelligibility with hearing sensitivity, cognition, and perceived hearing difficulties varies for different speech perception tests.

Listeners vary in their ability to understand speech in noisy environments. Hearing sensitivity, as measured by pure-tone audiometry, can only partly explain these results, and cognition has emerged as another key concept. Although cognition relates to speech perception, the exact nature of the relationship remains to be fully understood. This study investigates how different aspects of cognition, particularly working memory and attention, relate to speech intelligibility for various tests. Perceptual accuracy of speech perception represents just one aspect of functioning in a listening environment. Activity and participation limits imposed by hearing loss, in addition to the demands of a listening environment, are also important and may be better captured by self-report questionnaires. Understanding how speech perception relates to self-reported aspects of listening forms the second focus of the study. Forty-four listeners aged between 50 and 74 years with mild sensorineural hearing loss were tested on speech perception tests differing in complexity from low (phoneme discrimination in quiet), to medium (digit triplet perception in speech-shaped noise) to high (sentence perception in modulated noise); cognitive tests of attention, memory, and non-verbal intelligence quotient; and self-report questionnaires of general health-related and hearing-specific quality of life. Hearing sensitivity and cognition related to intelligibility differently depending on the speech test: neither was important for phoneme discrimination, hearing sensitivity alone was important for digit triplet perception, and hearing and cognition together played a role in sentence perception. Self-reported aspects of auditory functioning were correlated with speech intelligibility to different degrees, with digit triplets in noise showing the richest pattern. The results suggest that intelligibility tests can vary in their auditory and cognitive demands and their sensitivity to the challenges that auditory environments pose on functioning.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1111/dmcn.12734

Developmental medicine and child neurology

Dev Med Child Neurol

Cognition in children with neurofibromatosis type 1: data from a population-based study.

This study aimed to investigate the core cognitive deficits in children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). The study recruited 49 children with NF1 (25 males, 24 females; mean age 11y 9mo [SD 3y 2mo]), 19 healthy siblings of children with NF1 (sibling comparisons; mean age 12y 7mo [SD 2y 7mo], 9 males, 10 females) and 29 healthy children from the community (community comparisons; mean age 11y [SD 2y 7mo], 12 males, 17 females). Participants completed a battery of cognitive tests including tests of intelligence, academic achievement, attention, visuoperceptual functioning, visual learning, executive functioning, and non-verbal working memory tests. Our study, using a population-based sample, confirmed previous findings from studies using variable sampling methods. Children with NF1 had significantly lower Full-scale IQs (p=0.04) and lower academic achievement (p=0.026-0.005) than their siblings. Compared with their siblings, they also had significantly poorer visuospatial processing (p=0.007), visual associate learning (p=0.014), non-verbal working memory (p=0.023), and executive function (p<0.001). Data from the community comparisons were not included because they were subject to significant selection bias. Population-based frequencies for cognitive deficits in children with NF1 are similar to the frequencies in non-population based samples. This study highlights the heterogeneous nature of cognitive problems in children with NF1 and the need for monitoring and support at school.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.06.009

Neuropsychologia

Neuropsychologia

EEG oscillations reflect the complexity of social interactions in a non-verbal social cognition task using animated triangles.

The ability to attribute independent mental states (e.g. opinions, perceptions, beliefs) to oneself and others is termed Theory of Mind (ToM). Previous studies investigating ToM usually employed verbal paradigms and functional neuroimaging methods. Here, we studied oscillatory responses in the electroencephalogram (EEG) in a non-verbal social cognition task. The aim of this study was twofold: First, we wanted to investigate differences in oscillatory responses to animations differing with regard to the complexity of social "interactions". Secondly, we intended to evaluate the basic cognitive processes underlying social cognition. To this end, we analyzed theta, alpha, beta and gamma task-related de-/synchronization (TRD/TRS) during presentation of six non-verbal videos differing in the complexity of (social) "interactions" between two geometric shapes. Videos were adopted from Castelli et al. (2000)and belonged to three conditions: Videos designed to evoke attributions of mental states (ToM), interaction descriptions (goal-directed, GD) and videos in which the shapes moved randomly (R). Analyses revealed that only theta activity consistently varied as a function of social "interaction" complexity. Results suggest that ToM/GD videos attract more attention and working-memory resources and may have activated related memory contents. Alpha and beta results were less consistent. While alpha effects suggest that observation of social "interactions" may benefit from inhibition of self-centered processing, oscillatory responses in the beta range could be related to action observation. In summary, the results provide insight into basic cognitive processes involved in social cognition and render the paradigm attractive for the investigation of social cognitive processes in non-verbal populations.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1080/09297049.2015.1046426

Child neuropsychology : a journal on normal and abnormal development in childhood and adolescence

Child Neuropsychol

Working memory and fine motor skills predict early numeracy performance of children with cerebral palsy.

Early numeracy is an important precursor for arithmetic performance, academic proficiency, and work success. Besides their apparent motor difficulties, children with cerebral palsy (CP) often show additional cognitive disturbances. In this study, we examine whether working memory, non-verbal intelligence, linguistic skills, counting and fine motor skills are positively related to the early numeracy performance of 6-year-old children with CP. A total of 56 children (M = 6.0, SD = 0.61, 37 boys) from Dutch special education schools participated in this cross-sectional study. Of the total group, 81% of the children have the spastic type of CP (33% unilateral and 66% bilateral), 9% have been diagnosed as having diskinetic CP, 8% have been diagnosed as having spastic and diskinetic CP and 2% have been diagnosed as having a combination of diskinetic and atactic CP. The children completed standardized tests assessing early numeracy performance, working memory, non-verbal intelligence, sentence understanding and fine motor skills. In addition, an experimental task was administered to examine their basic counting performance. Structural equation modeling showed that working memory and fine motor skills were significantly related to the early numeracy performance of the children (β = .79 and p < .001, β = .41 and p < .001, respectively). Furthermore, counting was a mediating variable between working memory and early numeracy (β = .57, p < .001). Together, these findings highlight the importance of working memory for early numeracy performance in children with CP and they warrant further research into the efficacy of intervention programs aimed at working memory training.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

Polski merkuriusz lekarski : organ Polskiego Towarzystwa Lekarskiego

Pol Merkur Lekarski

[Emotional and language prosody and working memory in patients with depression].

The aim of the study was to verify the hypothesis about the relationship between the efficiency of executive functions and emotional prosody and linguistic prosody among patients with recurrent depressive disorder (rDD). The study comprised 80 subjects, patients with rDD. Assessment of cognitive function was based on performance of the Trail Making Test (TMT), the Stroop Test, the Verbal Fluency Test (VFT), the Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT), Ruff Figural Fluency Test (RFFT) and emotional prosody and linguistic prosody. Efficiency of emotional prosody is linked to the execution of one part of the test VFT. Efficiency in the language prosody goes hand in hand with the speed of execution of both parts of the TMT, correctness of the implementation of VFT and RFFT. A negative impact of depressive symptoms only for language prosody was observed. Deficits in the recognition of emotional stimuli in depression are not necessarily limited to visual information, but may also apply to non-verbal auditory stimuli (prosody). The severity of symptoms of depression impairs efficiency of linguistic prosody. The efficiency of frontal functions (both visual-spatial and verbal-auditory) is related to the ability of patients to use non-verbal communication of emotional information.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00527

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Deaf children's non-verbal working memory is impacted by their language experience.

Several recent studies have suggested that deaf children perform more poorly on working memory tasks compared to hearing children, but these studies have not been able to determine whether this poorer performance arises directly from deafness itself or from deaf children's reduced language exposure. The issue remains unresolved because findings come mostly from (1) tasks that are verbal as opposed to non-verbal, and (2) involve deaf children who use spoken communication and therefore may have experienced impoverished input and delayed language acquisition. This is in contrast to deaf children who have been exposed to a sign language since birth from Deaf parents (and who therefore have native language-learning opportunities within a normal developmental timeframe for language acquisition). A more direct, and therefore stronger, test of the hypothesis that the type and quality of language exposure impact working memory is to use measures of non-verbal working memory (NVWM) and to compare hearing children with two groups of deaf signing children: those who have had native exposure to a sign language, and those who have experienced delayed acquisition and reduced quality of language input compared to their native-signing peers. In this study we investigated the relationship between NVWM and language in three groups aged 6-11 years: hearing children (n = 28), deaf children who were native users of British Sign Language (BSL; n = 8), and deaf children who used BSL but who were not native signers (n = 19). We administered a battery of non-verbal reasoning, NVWM, and language tasks. We examined whether the groups differed on NVWM scores, and whether scores on language tasks predicted scores on NVWM tasks. For the two executive-loaded NVWM tasks included in our battery, the non-native signers performed less accurately than the native signer and hearing groups (who did not differ from one another). Multiple regression analysis revealed that scores on the vocabulary measure predicted scores on those two executive-loaded NVWM tasks (with age and non-verbal reasoning partialled out). Our results suggest that whatever the language modality-spoken or signed-rich language experience from birth, and the good language skills that result from this early age of acquisition, play a critical role in the development of NVWM and in performance on NVWM tasks.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00519

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Improving working memory in children with low language abilities.

This study investigated whether working memory training is effective in enhancing verbal memory in children with low language abilities (LLA). Cogmed Working Memory Training was completed by a community sample of children aged 8-11 years with LLA and a comparison group with matched non-verbal abilities and age-typical language performance. Short-term memory (STM), working memory, language, and IQ were assessed before and after training. Significant and equivalent post-training gains were found in visuo-spatial short-term memory in both groups. Exploratory analyses across the sample established that low verbal IQ scores were strongly and highly specifically associated with greater gains in verbal STM, and that children with higher verbal IQs made greater gains in visuo-spatial short-term memory following training. This provides preliminary evidence that intensive working memory training may be effective for enhancing the weakest aspects of STM in children with low verbal abilities, and may also be of value in developing compensatory strategies.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00440

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

The reciprocal relationship between compounding awareness and vocabulary knowledge in Chinese: a latent growth model study.

The aim of this study is to examine the developmental relationship between compounding awareness and vocabulary knowledge from grades 1 to 2 in Chinese children. In this study, 149 Chinese children were tested on compounding awareness and vocabulary knowledge from Time 1 to Time 4, with non-verbal IQ, working memory, phonological awareness, orthographical awareness, and rapid automatized naming at Time 1 as control variables. Latent growth modeling was conducted to analyze the data. Univariate models separately calculated children's initial levels and growth rates in compounding awareness and vocabulary knowledge. Bivariate model was used to examine the direction of the developmental relationships between the two variables with other cognitive and linguistic variables and the autoregression controlled. The results demonstrated that the initial level of compounding awareness predicted the growth rate of vocabulary knowledge, and the reverse relation was also found, after controlling for other cognitive and linguistic variables and the autoregression. The results suggested a reciprocal developmental relationship between children's compounding awareness and vocabulary knowledge for Chinese children, a finding that informs current models of the relationship between morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1080/09658211.2015.1034137

Memory (Hove, England)

Memory

Cross-modal and intra-modal binding between identity and location in spatial working memory: The identity of objects does not help recalling their locations.

In this study we tested incidental feature-to-location binding in a spatial task, both in unimodal and cross-modal conditions. In Experiment 1 we administered a computerised version of the Corsi Block-Tapping Task (CBTT) in three different conditions: the first one analogous to the original CBTT test; the second one in which locations were associated with unfamiliar images; the third one in which locations were associated with non-verbal sounds. Results showed no effect on performance by the addition of identity information. In Experiment 2, locations on the screen were associated with pitched sounds in two different conditions: one in which different pitches were randomly associated with locations and the other in which pitches were assigned to match the vertical position of the CBTT squares congruently with their frequencies. In Experiment 2 we found marginal evidence of a pitch facilitation effect in the spatial memory task. We ran a third experiment to test the same conditions of Experiment 2 with a within-subject design. Results of Experiment 3 did not confirm the pitch-location facilitation effect. We concluded that the identity of objects does not affect recalling their locations. We discuss our results within the framework of the debate about the mechanisms of "what" and "where" feature binding in working memory.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1186/s40345-015-0024-2

International journal of bipolar disorders

Int J Bipolar Disord

Cognitive impairment in first-episode mania: a systematic review of the evidence in the acute and remission phases of the illness.

There is evidence of cognitive impairment that persists in the remission phase of bipolar disorder; however, the extent of the deficits that occur from the first onset of the disorder remains unclear. This is the first systematic review on cognitive functioning in the early stages of bipolar I disorder. The aim of the study was to identify the patterns and degree of cognitive impairment that exists from first-episode mania. Three electronic databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO and PubMed) were systematically searched for studies published from January 1980 to June 2014. Eligible studies were separated into two groups: acute and remission. The Newcastle-Ottawa quality assessment scale was utilised to measure the quality of the included studies. A total of seven studies (three acute and four remission), including 230 first-episode mania and 345 healthy control participants, were eligible for the review. The studies in the acute phase only examined aspects of executive functioning, with impairments identified in cognitive flexibility, though not in response inhibition and verbal fluency relative to healthy controls. The most consistent finding during the remission phase was a deficit in working memory, whereas in the other domains, the findings were equivocal. Non-verbal memory and verbal fluency were not impacted in remission from first-episode mania. In conclusion, deficits are present in some but not all areas of cognitive functioning during the early stages of bipolar I disorder. Further research is warranted to understand the longitudinal trajectory of change from first-episode mania.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00297

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

A cross-cultural comparison between South African and British students on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales Third Edition (WAIS-III).

There is debate regarding the appropriate use of Western cognitive measures with individuals from very diverse backgrounds to that of the norm population. Given the dated research in this area and the considerable socio-economic changes that South Africa has witnessed over the past 20 years, this paper reports on the use of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Third Edition (WAIS-III), the most commonly used measure of intelligence, with an English second language, multilingual, low socio-economic group of black, South African university students. Their performance on the WAIS-III was compared to that of a predominantly white, British, monolingual, higher socio-economic group. A multi-group confirmatory factor analysis showed that the WAIS-III lacks measurement invariance between the two groups, suggesting that it may be tapping different constructs in each group. The UK group significantly outperformed the SA group on the knowledge-based verbal, and some non-verbal subtests, while the SA group performed significantly better on measures of Processing Speed (PS). The groups did not differ significantly on the Matrix Reasoning subtest and on those working memory subtests with minimal reliance on language, which appear to be the least culturally biased. Group differences were investigated further in a set of principal components analyses, which revealed that the WAIS-III scores loaded differently for the UK and SA groups. While the SA group appeared to treat the PS subtests differently to those measuring perceptual organization and non-verbal reasoning, the UK group seemed to approach all of these subtests similarly. These results have important implications for the cognitive assessment of individuals from culturally, linguistically, and socio-economically diverse circumstances.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1016/j.jml.2015.02.001

Journal of memory and language

J Mem Lang

Statistical learning as an individual ability: Theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence.

Although the power of statistical learning (SL) in explaining a wide range of linguistic functions is gaining increasing support, relatively little research has focused on this theoretical construct from the perspective of individual differences. However, to be able to reliably link individual differences in a given ability such as language learning to individual differences in SL, three critical theoretical questions should be posed: Is SL a componential or unified ability? Is it nested within other general cognitive abilities? Is it a stable capacity of an individual? Following an initial mapping sentence outlining the possible dimensions of SL, we employed a battery of SL tasks in the visual and auditory modalities, using verbal and non-verbal stimuli, with adjacent and non-adjacent contingencies. SL tasks were administered along with general cognitive tasks in a within-subject design at two time points to explore our theoretical questions. We found that SL, as measured by some tasks, is a stable and reliable capacity of an individual. Moreover, we found SL to be independent of general cognitive abilities such as intelligence or working memory. However, SL is not a unified capacity, so that individual sensitivity to conditional probabilities is not uniform across modalities and stimuli.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00242

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Working memory and referential communication-multimodal aspects of interaction between children with sensorineural hearing impairment and normal hearing peers.

Whereas the language development of children with sensorineural hearing impairment (SNHI) has repeatedly been shown to differ from that of peers with normal hearing (NH), few studies have used an experimental approach to investigate the consequences on everyday communicative interaction. This mini review gives an overview of a range of studies on children with SNHI and NH exploring intra- and inter-individual cognitive and linguistic systems during communication. Over the last decade, our research group has studied the conversational strategies of Swedish speaking children and adolescents with SNHI and NH using referential communication, an experimental analog to problem-solving in the classroom. We have established verbal and non-verbal control and validation mechanisms, related to working memory capacity and phonological short term memory. We present main findings and future directions relevant for the field of cognitive hearing science and for the clinical and school-based management of children and adolescents with SNHI.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fnins.2015.00013

Frontiers in neuroscience

Front Neurosci

Auditory working memory for objects vs. features.

This work considers bases for working memory for non-verbal sounds. Specifically we address whether sounds are represented as integrated objects or individual features in auditory working memory and whether the representational format influences WM capacity. The experiments used sounds in which two different stimulus features, spectral passband and temporal amplitude modulation rate, could be combined to produce different auditory objects. Participants had to memorize sequences of auditory objects of variable length (1-4 items). They either maintained sequences of whole objects or sequences of individual features until recall for one of the items was tested. Memory recall was more accurate when the objects had to be maintained as a whole compared to the individual features alone. This is due to interference between features of the same object. Additionally a feature extraction cost was associated with maintenance and recall of individual features, when extracted from bound object representations. An interpretation of our findings is that, at some stage of processing, sounds might be stored as objects in WM with features bound into coherent wholes. The results have implications for feature-integration theory in the context of WM in the auditory system.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1016/j.brainres.2015.01.032

Brain research

Brain Res

The perceptual chunking of speech: a demonstration using ERPs.

In tasks involving the learning of verbal or non-verbal sequences, groupings are spontaneously produced. These groupings are generally marked by a lengthening of final elements and have been attributed to a domain-general perceptual chunking linked to working memory. Yet, no study has shown how this domain-general chunking applies to speech processing, partly because of the traditional view that chunking involves a conceptual recoding of meaningful verbal items like words (Miller, 1956). The present study provides a demonstration of the perceptual chunking of speech by way of two experiments using evoked Positive Shifts (PSs), which capture on-line neural responses to marks of various groups. We observed listeners׳ response to utterances (Experiment 1) and meaningless series of syllables (Experiment 2) containing changing intonation and temporal marks, while also examining how these marks affect the recognition of heard items. The results show that, across conditions - and irrespective of the presence of meaningful items - PSs are specifically evoked by groups marked by lengthening. Moreover, this on-line detection of marks corresponds to characteristic grouping effects on listeners' immediate recognition of heard items, which suggests chunking effects linked to working memory. These findings bear out a perceptual chunking of speech input in terms of groups marked by lengthening, which constitute the defining marks of a domain-general chunking.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1016/j.jecp.2014.11.005

Journal of experimental child psychology

J Exp Child Psychol

The origins of children's metamemory: the role of theory of mind.

The relation between preschoolers' theory of mind (ToM) and declarative metamemory (DM) was investigated in two studies. The first study focused on 4-year-old children's (N=106) cognitive and affective ToM and their DM. The data showed a significant association between cognitive (but not affective) ToM and DM, independent of verbal ability, non-verbal ability, and working memory. The second study involved 83 children tested at 4 years 6 months of age (and 6 months later) for cognitive ToM and DM. Here, results showed that early cognitive ToM, in particular false-belief understanding, predicts later DM independent of early verbal ability. These data support a view considering cognitive ToM as a precursor of children's DM.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fnhum.2014.00753

Frontiers in human neuroscience

Front Hum Neurosci

Motor system contributions to verbal and non-verbal working memory.

Working memory (WM) involves the ability to maintain and manipulate information held in mind. Neuroimaging studies have shown that secondary motor areas activate during WM for verbal content (e.g., words or letters), in the absence of primary motor area activation. This activation pattern may reflect an inner speech mechanism supporting online phonological rehearsal. Here, we examined the causal relationship between motor system activity and WM processing by using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to manipulate motor system activity during WM rehearsal. We tested WM performance for verbalizable (words and pseudowords) and non-verbalizable (Chinese characters) visual information. We predicted that disruption of motor circuits would specifically affect WM processing of verbalizable information. We found that TMS targeting motor cortex slowed response times (RTs) on verbal WM trials with high (pseudoword) vs. low (real word) phonological load. However, non-verbal WM trials were also significantly slowed with motor TMS. WM performance was unaffected by sham stimulation or TMS over visual cortex (VC). Self-reported use of motor strategy predicted the degree of motor stimulation disruption on WM performance. These results provide evidence of the motor system's contributions to verbal and non-verbal WM processing. We speculate that the motor system supports WM by creating motor traces consistent with the type of information being rehearsed during maintenance.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1111/bjdp.12019

The British journal of developmental psychology

Br J Dev Psychol

Visuospatial working memory for locations, colours, and binding in typically developing children and in children with dyslexia and non-verbal learning disability.

This study examined forward and backward recall of locations and colours and the binding of locations and colours, comparing typically developing children - aged between 8 and 10 years - with two different groups of children of the same age with learning disabilities (dyslexia in one group, non-verbal learning disability [NLD] in the other). Results showed that groups with learning disabilities had different visuospatial working memory problems and that children with NLD had particular difficulties in the backward recall of locations. The differences between the groups disappeared, however, when locations and colours were bound together. It was concluded that specific processes may be involved in children in the binding and backward recall of different types of information, as they are not simply the resultant of combining the single processes needed to recall single features.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1080/13803395.2014.957168

Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology

J Clin Exp Neuropsychol

Utility of the N-back task in survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

The N-back task is often used in functional brain imaging studies to activate working memory networks; however, limited information is available on its association to clinical outcomes in children or cancer survivors. A total of 137 survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL; mean current age = 14.3 years, SD = 4.8; time since diagnosis = 7.6 years, SD = 1.6) completed the N-back task and comprehensive neurocognitive testing, including standardized measures of attention, processing speed, and working memory. Results indicated that females demonstrated significantly slower reaction times (0-back p = .02; 1-back p = .03) than males. Survivors <15 years old at the time of testing demonstrated a significant decrease in accuracy as working memory load increased compared to survivors ≥15 years old (p < .001). Performance on the N-back task was associated with nonverbal working memory (rs = .56, p < .001) in survivors ≥15 years of age. For younger survivors, N-back performance was more strongly associated with attention skills. Results suggest the N-back assesses different cognitive constructs at younger compared to older childhood ages. These age differences should be considered in interpreting functional brain imaging results.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1044/2014_JSLHR-L-13-0309

Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR

J Speech Lang Hear Res

Tapped out: do people with aphasia have rhythm processing deficits?

In this study, the authors tested whether people with aphasia (PWAs) show an impaired ability to process rhythm, both in terms of perception and production. Two experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, 16 PWAs and 15 age-matched control participants performed 3 rhythm tasks: tapping along to short rhythms, tapping these same rhythms from memory immediately after presentation, and making same-different judgments about pairs of tapped rhythms that they heard. Comparison tasks measured same-different judgment ability with visual stimuli and nonverbal working memory (Corsi blocks). In Experiment 2, 14 PWAs and 16 control participants made same-different judgments for pairs of auditory stimuli that differed in terms of rhythm or pitch (for comparison). In Experiment 1, PWAs performed worse than control participants across most measures of rhythm processing. In contrast, PWAs and control participants did not differ in their performance on the comparison tasks. In Experiment 2, the PWAs performed worse than control participants across all conditions but with a more marked deficit in stimulus pairs that differed in rhythm than in those that differed in pitch. The results support the hypothesis that at least some PWAs exhibit deficits of rhythm and timing. This may have implications for treatments involving tapping or other rhythmic cues.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fnhum.2014.00617

Frontiers in human neuroscience

Front Hum Neurosci

Evaluating the relationship between change in performance on training tasks and on untrained outcomes.

Training interventions for older adults are designed to remediate performance on trained tasks and to generalize, or transfer, to untrained tasks. Evidence for transfer is typically based on the trained group showing greater improvement than controls on untrained tasks, or on a correlation between gains in training and in transfer tasks. However, this ignores potential correlational relationships between trained and untrained tasks that exist before training. By accounting for crossed (trained and untrained) and lagged (pre-training and post-training) and cross-lagged relationships between trained and untrained scores in structural equation models, the training-transfer gain relationship can be independently estimated. Transfer is confirmed if only the trained but not control participants' gain correlation is significant. Modeling data from the Improvement in Memory with Plasticity-based Adaptive Cognitive Training (IMPACT) study (Smith et al., 2009), transfer from speeded auditory discrimination and syllable span to list and text memory and to working memory was demonstrated in 487 adults aged 65-93. Evaluation of age, sex, and education on pretest scores and on change did not alter this. The overlap of the training with transfer measures was also investigated to evaluate the hypothesis that performance gains in a non-verbal speeded auditory discrimination task may be associated with gains on fewer tasks than gains in a verbal working memory task. Gains in speeded processing were associated with gains on one list memory measure. Syllable span gains were associated with improvement in difficult list recall, story recall, and working memory factor scores. Findings confirmed that more overlap with task demands was associated with gains to more of the tasks assessed, suggesting that transfer effects are related to task overlap in multimodal training.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1016/j.psychres.2014.06.053

Psychiatry research

Psychiatry Res

The effect of bupropion XL and escitalopram on memory and functional outcomes in adults with major depressive disorder: results from a randomized controlled trial.

Decrements in cognitive function are a common feature of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), and whether distinct classes of antidepressants differentially affect memory in these individuals has not been sufficiently evaluated. In this study we sought to determine the effect of escitalopram and bupropion XL on memory and psychosocial function. Forty-one individuals (18-50 years) with MDD were enrolled in an 8-week, double-blind, double-dummy, randomized controlled comparative trial of bupropion XL and escitalopram. Thirty-six participants completed pre and post memory assessments. Verbal, non-verbal and working memory were evaluated with a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. Psychosocial function was assessed with the Sheehan Disability Scale and Endicott Work Productivity Scale. Escitalopram and bupropion XL significantly improved immediate as well as delayed verbal and nonverbal memory, global function (all p≤0.001), and work productivity (p=0.045), with no significant between-group differences. Improvement in immediate verbal memory exerted a direct influence on improvement in global function (p=0.006). Treatment with either escitalopram or bupropion XL was associated with improvement in memory and psychosocial function in adults with MDD.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1016/j.ijporl.2014.07.009

International journal of pediatric otorhinolaryngology

Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol

Auditory-cognitive training improves language performance in prelingually deafened cochlear implant recipients.

Phonological and working memory skills have been shown to be important for the development of spoken language. Children who use a cochlear implant (CI) show performance deficits relative to normal hearing (NH) children on all constructs: phonological skills, working memory, and spoken language. Given that phonological skills and working memory have been shown to be important for spoken language development in NH children, we hypothesized that training these foundational skills would result in improved spoken language performance in CI-using children. Nineteen prelingually deafened CI-using children aged 4- to 7-years-old participated. All children had been using their implants for at least one year and were matched on pre-implant hearing thresholds, hearing thresholds at study enrollment, and non-verbal IQ. Children were assessed on expressive vocabulary, listening language, spoken language, and composite language. Ten children received four weeks of training on phonological skills including rhyme, sound blending, and sound discrimination and auditory working memory. The remaining nine children continued with their normal classroom activities for four weeks. Language assessments were repeated following the training/control period. Children who received combined phonological-working memory training showed significant gains on expressive and composite language scores. Children who did not receive training showed no significant improvements at post-test. On average, trained children had gain scores of 6.35 points on expressive language and gain scores of 6.15 points whereas the untrained children had test-retest gain scores of 2.89 points for expressive language and 2.56 for composite language. Our results suggest that training to improve the phonological and working memory skills in CI-using children may lead to improved language performance.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1177/1087054714545536

Journal of attention disorders

J Atten Disord

Set-Shifting Deficits: A Possible Neurocognitive Endophenotype for Tourette Syndrome Without ADHD.

Tourette syndrome (TS) can be associated with cognitive dysfunction. We assessed a range of cognitive abilities in adults with TS without comorbid disorders. Participants completed tests of sustained attention, verbal and non-verbal reasoning, comprehension, verbal fluency, working memory, inhibition, and set-shifting. We compared patients' task performance with that of healthy controls, and evaluated relationships between cognitive abilities and symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), ADHD, impulse control problems, and mood disorders. Patients with TS exhibited impairments on four measures assessing response inhibition, fine motor control, set-shifting, and sustained attention. The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) discriminated best between patients and controls. Patients' deficits were not correlated with tic severity or symptoms related to OCD, ADHD, or mood disorders. Deficits on the WCST could constitute a neurocognitive endophenotype for TS, reflecting dysfunction within neural networks involving basal ganglia, pre-supplementary motor area, and inferior prefrontal regions.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1111/desc.12144

Developmental science

Dev Sci

Cognitive components of a mathematical processing network in 9-year-old children.

We determined how various cognitive abilities, including several measures of a proposed domain-specific number sense, relate to mathematical competence in nearly 100 9-year-old children with normal reading skill. Results are consistent with an extended number processing network and suggest that important processing nodes of this network are phonological processing, verbal knowledge, visuo-spatial short-term and working memory, spatial ability and general executive functioning. The model was highly specific to predicting arithmetic performance. There were no strong relations between mathematical achievement and verbal short-term and working memory, sustained attention, response inhibition, finger knowledge and symbolic number comparison performance. Non-verbal intelligence measures were also non-significant predictors when added to our model. Number sense variables were non-significant predictors in the model and they were also non-significant predictors when entered into regression analysis with only a single visuo-spatial WM measure. Number sense variables were predicted by sustained attention. Results support a network theory of mathematical competence in primary school children and falsify the importance of a proposed modular 'number sense'. We suggest an 'executive memory function centric' model of mathematical processing. Mapping a complex processing network requires that studies consider the complex predictor space of mathematics rather than just focusing on a single or a few explanatory factors.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00651

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

The influence of non-native language proficiency on speech perception performance.

The present study examined to what extent proficiency in a non-native language influences speech perception in noise. We explored how English proficiency affected native (Swedish) and non-native (English) speech perception in four speech reception threshold (SRT) conditions, including two energetic (stationary, fluctuating noise) and two informational (two-talker babble Swedish, two-talker babble English) maskers. Twenty-three normal-hearing native Swedish listeners participated, age between 28 and 64 years. The participants also performed standardized tests in English proficiency, non-verbal reasoning and working memory capacity. Our approach with focus on proficiency and the assessment of external as well as internal, listener-related factors allowed us to examine which variables explained intra- and interindividual differences in native and non-native speech perception performance. The main result was that in the non-native target, the level of English proficiency is a decisive factor for speech intelligibility in noise. High English proficiency improved performance in all four conditions when the target language was English. The informational maskers were interfering more with perception than energetic maskers, specifically in the non-native target. The study also confirmed that the SRT's were better when target language was native compared to non-native.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1017/S1355617714000551

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS

J Int Neuropsychol Soc

Early neuropsychological characteristics of progranulin mutation carriers.

Mutations in the progranulin gene (GRN) are a common cause of familial frontotemporal dementia. We used a comprehensive neuropsychological battery to investigate whether early cognitive changes could be detected in GRN mutation carriers before dementia onset. Twenty-four at-risk members from six families with known GRN mutations underwent detailed neuropsychological testing. Group differences were investigated by domains of attention, language, visuospatial function, verbal memory, non-verbal memory, working memory and executive function. There was a trend for mutation carriers (n=8) to perform more poorly than non-carriers (n=16) across neuropsychological domains, with significant between group differences for visuospatial function (p<.04; d=0.92) and working memory function (p<.02; d=1.10). Measurable cognitive differences exist before the development of frontotemporal dementia in subjects with GRN mutations. The neuropsychological profile of mutation carriers suggests early asymmetric, right hemisphere brain dysfunction that is consistent with recent functional imaging data from our research group and the broader literature.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00443

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Longitudinal and concurrent links between memory span, anxiety symptoms, and subsequent executive functioning in young children.

It has been conjectured that basic individual differences in attentional control influence higher-level executive functioning and subsequent academic performance in children. The current study sets out to complement the limited body of research on early precursors of executive functions (EFs). It provides both a cross-sectional, as well as a longitudinal exploration of the relationship between EF and more basic attentional control mechanisms, assessed via children's performance on memory storage tasks, and influenced by individual differences in anxiety. Multiple measures of verbal and visuospatial short-term memory (STM) were administered to children between 3 and 6 years old, alongside a non-verbal measure of intelligence, and a parental report of anxiety symptoms. After 9 months, children were re-tested on the same STM measures, at which time we also administered multiple measures of executive functioning: verbal and visuospatial working memory (WM), inhibition, and shifting. A cross-sectional view of STM development indicated that between 3 and 6 years the trajectory of visuospatial STM and EF underwent a gradual linear improvement. However, between 5 and 6 years progress in verbal STM performance stagnated. Hierarchical regression models revealed that trait anxiety was negatively associated with WM and shifting, while non-verbal intelligence was positively related to WM span. When age, gender, non-verbal intelligence, and anxiety were controlled for, STM (measured at the first assessment) was a very good predictor of overall executive performance. The models were most successful in predicting WM, followed by shifting, yet poorly predicted inhibition measures. Further longitudinal research is needed to directly address the contribution of attentional control mechanisms to emerging executive functioning and to the development of problematic behavior during early development.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1111/1460-6984.12090

International journal of language & communication disorders

Int J Lang Commun Disord

Role of auditory non-verbal working memory in sentence repetition for bilingual children with primary language impairment.

Sentence repetition performance is attracting increasing interest as a valuable clinical marker for primary (or specific) language impairment (LI) in both monolingual and bilingual populations. Multiple aspects of memory appear to contribute to sentence repetition performance, but non-verbal memory has not yet been considered. To explore the relationship between a measure of non-verbal auditory working memory (NVWM) and sentence repetition performance in a sample of bilingual children with LI. Forty-seven school-aged Spanish-English bilingual children with LI completed sentence repetition and non-word repetition tasks in both Spanish and English as well as an NVWM task. Hierarchical multiple linear regression was used to predict sentence repetition in each language using age, non-word repetition and NVWM. NVWM predicted unique variance in sentence repetition performance in both languages after accounting for chronological age and language-specific phonological memory, as measured by non-word repetition. Domain-general memory resources play a unique role in sentence repetition performance in children with LI. Non-verbal working memory weaknesses may contribute to the poor performance of children with LI on sentence repetition tasks.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1111/1460-6984.12091

International journal of language & communication disorders

Int J Lang Commun Disord

Theory of mind and emotion recognition skills in children with specific language impairment, autism spectrum disorder and typical development: group differences and connection to knowledge of grammatical morphology, word-finding abilities and verbal working memory.

Social perception skills, such as understanding the mind and emotions of others, affect children's communication abilities in real-life situations. In addition to autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there is increasing knowledge that children with specific language impairment (SLI) also demonstrate difficulties in their social perception abilities. To compare the performance of children with SLI, ASD and typical development (TD) in social perception tasks measuring Theory of Mind (ToM) and emotion recognition. In addition, to evaluate the association between social perception tasks and language tests measuring word-finding abilities, knowledge of grammatical morphology and verbal working memory. Children with SLI (n = 18), ASD (n = 14) and TD (n = 25) completed two NEPSY-II subtests measuring social perception abilities: (1) Affect Recognition and (2) ToM (includes Verbal and non-verbal Contextual tasks). In addition, children's word-finding abilities were measured with the TWF-2, grammatical morphology by using the Grammatical Closure subtest of ITPA, and verbal working memory by using subtests of Sentence Repetition or Word List Interference (chosen according the child's age) of the NEPSY-II. Children with ASD scored significantly lower than children with SLI or TD on the NEPSY-II Affect Recognition subtest. Both SLI and ASD groups scored significantly lower than TD children on Verbal tasks of the ToM subtest of NEPSY-II. However, there were no significant group differences on non-verbal Contextual tasks of the ToM subtest of the NEPSY-II. Verbal tasks of the ToM subtest were correlated with the Grammatical Closure subtest and TWF-2 in children with SLI. In children with ASD correlation between TWF-2 and ToM: Verbal tasks was moderate, almost achieving statistical significance, but no other correlations were found. Both SLI and ASD groups showed difficulties in tasks measuring verbal ToM but differences were not found in tasks measuring non-verbal Contextual ToM. The association between Verbal ToM tasks and language tests was stronger in children with SLI than in children with ASD. There is a need for further studies in order to understand interaction between different areas of language and cognitive development.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1186/1744-9081-10-16

Behavioral and brain functions : BBF

Behav Brain Funct

Does IQ influence associations between ADHD symptoms and other cognitive functions in young preschoolers?

Working memory, inhibition, and expressive language are often impaired in ADHD and many children with ADHD have lower IQ-scores than typically developing children. The aim of this study was to test whether IQ-score influences associations between ADHD symptoms and verbal and nonverbal working memory, inhibition, and expressive language, respectively, in a nonclinical sample of preschool children. In all, 1181 children recruited from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study were clinically assessed at the age of 36 to 46 months. IQ-score and working memory were assessed with subtasks from the Stanford Binet test battery, expressive language was reported by preschool teachers (Child Development Inventory), response inhibition was assessed with a subtask from the NEPSY test, and ADHD symptoms were assessed by parent interview (Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment). The results showed an interaction between ADHD symptoms and IQ-score on teacher-reported expressive language. In children with below median IQ-score, a larger number of ADHD symptoms were more likely to be accompanied by reports of lower expressive language skills, while the level of ADHD symptoms exerted a smaller effect on reported language skills in children with above median IQ-score. The associations between ADHD symptoms and working memory and response inhibition, respectively, were not influenced by IQ-score. Level of IQ-score affected the relation between ADHD symptoms and teacher-reported expressive language, whereas associations between ADHD symptoms and working memory and response inhibition, respectively, were significant and of similar sizes regardless of IQ-score. Thus, in preschoolers, working memory and response inhibition should be considered during an ADHD assessment regardless of IQ-score, while language skills of young children are especially important to consider when IQ-scores are average or low.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00415

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Disentangling the effects of working memory, language, parental education, and non-verbal intelligence on children's mathematical abilities.

It is assumed that children's performance in mathematical abilities is influenced by several factors such as working memory (WM), verbal ability, intelligence, and socioeconomic status. The present study explored the contribution of those factors to mathematical performance taking a componential view of both WM and mathematics. We explored the existing relationship between different WM components (verbal and spatial) with tasks that make differential recruitment of the central executive, and simple and complex mathematical skills in a sample of 102 children in grades 4-6. The main findings point to a relationship between the verbal WM component and complex word arithmetic problems, whereas language and non-verbal intelligence were associated with knowledge of quantitative concepts and arithmetic ability. The spatial WM component was associated with the subtest Series, whereas the verbal component was with the subtest Concepts. The results also suggest a positive relationship between parental educational level and children's performance on Quantitative Concepts. These findings suggest that specific cognitive skills might be trained in order to improve different aspects of mathematical ability.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

Zhonghua yi xue za zhi

Zhonghua Yi Xue Za Zhi

[Executive dysfunction in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and its correlation with P300].

To explore the changes of executive function in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and analyze its correlation with P300 event-related potentials. Fifty patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and 30 age, gender and education-matched healthy control subjects were assessed by neuropsychological tests, including Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA), working memory, verbal fluency, trail making, digit span, digit symbol and Stroop color-word interference to detect P300 event-related potentials. In temporal lobe epilepsy group, the scores in MoCA, verbal and non-verbal working memory, verbal fluency, digit span, digit symbol and Stroop test were lower than those of the normal control group. And trail making tests A and B became prolonged (P < 0.05). Comparing with normal control group, temporal lobe epilepsy patients had prolonged latency [(332 ± 33)ms] and decreased P300 amplitude [(10 ± 8)µV] (P < 0.05). Comparing epileptogenic focus group on the left and right sides, there was statistically significant difference in verbal working memory (P < 0.05). There was a negative correlation of P300 latency and MoCA, non-verbal working memory, digit span and digit symbol test scores (r = -0.29--0.45, P < 0.05). And a positive correlation of P300 amplitude and MoCA, non-verbal working memory, digit symbol conversion and Stroop scores was also found (r = 0.37-0.47, P < 0.05). P300 amplitude was more relevant to overall cognitive level and executive functions. Temporal lobe is involved in the regulation of executive functions. Besides a wide range of cognitive impairment, temporal lobe epilepsy patients have a number of executive dysfunctions, including working memory, cognitive flexibility, attention and inhibitory control ability. And an impairment of verbal working memory is evident in left-sided lesion. Their manifestations include decreased latency and amplitude of P300 on executive function tests. Therefore these two objective parameters may be employed to evaluate the cognitive impairment in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1097/01.tld.0000437939.01237.6a

Topics in language disorders

Top Lang Disord

Long-term memory: A review and meta-analysis of studies of declarative and procedural memory in specific language impairment.

This review examined the status of long-term memory systems in specific language impairment (SLI), in particular declarative memory and aspects of procedural memory. Studies included in the review were identified following a systematic search of the literature and findings combined using meta-analysis. This review showed individuals with SLI are poorer than age matched controls in the learning and retrieval of verbal information from the declarative memory. However, there is evidence to suggest that the problems with declarative learning and memory for verbal information in SLI might be due to difficulties with verbal working memory and language. The learning and retrieval of non-verbal information from declarative memory appears relatively intact. In relation to procedural learning and memory, evidence indicates poor implicit learning of verbal information. Findings pertaining to nonverbal information have been mixed. This review of the literature indicates there are now substantial grounds for suspecting that multiple memory systems may be implicated in the impairment.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory

10.1371/journal.pone.0094428

PloS one

PLoS One

Preschoolers' dot enumeration abilities are markers of their arithmetic competence.

The abilities to enumerate small sets of items (e.g., dots) and to compare magnitudes are claimed to be indexes of core numerical competences that scaffold early math development. Insofar as this is correct, these abilities may be diagnostic markers of math competence in preschoolers. However, unlike magnitude comparison abilities, little research has examined preschoolers' ability to enumerate small sets, or its significance for emerging math abilities; which is surprising since dot enumeration is a marker of school-aged children's math competence. It is nevertheless possible that general cognitive functions (working memory, response inhibition in particular) are associated with preschoolers' math abilities and underlie nascent dot enumeration abilities. We investigated whether preschoolers' dot enumeration abilities predict their non-verbal arithmetic ability, over and above the influence of working memory and response inhibition. Two measures of dot enumeration ability were examined-inverse efficiency and paradigm specific (response time profiles) measures-to determine which has the better diagnostic utility as a marker of math competence. Seventy-eight 42-to-57 month-olds completed dot enumeration, working memory, response inhibition, and non-verbal addition and subtraction tasks. Dot enumeration efficiency predicted arithmetic ability over and above the influence of general cognitive functions. While dot enumeration efficiency was a better predictor of arithmetic ability than paradigm specific response time profiles; the response time profile displaying the smallest subitizing range and steepest subitizing slope, also displayed poor addition abilities, suggesting a weak subitizing profile may have diagnostic significance in preschoolers. Overall, the findings support the claim that dot enumeration abilities and general cognitive functions are markers of preschoolers' math ability.

CognitiveConstruct

NonverbalWorkingMemory