Preliminary investigation of the influence of dopamine regulating genes on social working memory

Prior research in working memory (WM) has been hampered by measurement variability and a lack of integration of neural and clinical markers. This study sought to examine whether a multi-level composite of WM with neural, cognitive, and behavioral levels could predict childhood affective symptomatology in seventeen children and adolescents receiving outpatient mental health services. WM-related theta/gamma oscillations at the F3 electrode were measured via electroencephalography (EEG) recording during a spatial WM task. Other measures included a neuropsychological measure of WM, parent questionnaire assessing WM, and self-reported affective symptoms. Gamma power and theta-gamma coupling, but not theta power, predicted high WM demands performance (i.e., 16-19% of variance). Two composite scores were created consisting of gamma power or theta-gamma coupling, clinical WM measure performance, and parent-reported WM symptoms. These multi-level composite score predicted self-reported depressive (22-32% of variance) symptoms, while only the gamma-version of the composite predicted anxious symptoms (39% of variance compared to 12% of variance). A WM composite score consisting of neural, cognitive, and behavioral levels predicted the severity of childhood affective symptomatology. WM, like other EFs, is highly complex and may be most appropriately measured in clinical and research settings with a combination of neural, cognitive, and behavioral measures.

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Prenatal tobacco exposure predicts differential brain function during working memory in early adolescence: a preliminary investigation

Brain Imaging and Behavior ◽

10.1007/s11682-012-9192-1 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 49-59 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

David S. Bennett ◽

Feroze B. Mohamed ◽

Dennis P. Carmody ◽

Muhammed Malik ◽

Scott H. Faro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Early Adolescence ◽

Brain Function ◽

Preliminary Investigation ◽

Tobacco Exposure

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Cognitive and Linguistic Sources of Variance in 2-Year-Olds' Speech-Sound Discrimination: A Preliminary Investigation

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/1092-4388(2013/12-0227) ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 57 (1) ◽

pp. 308-326 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Kaylah Lalonde ◽

Rachael Frush Holt

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Preliminary Investigation ◽

Speech Sound ◽

Discrimination Performance ◽

Parent Report ◽

Receptive Vocabulary ◽

Speech Discrimination ◽

Current Experiment ◽

Perceptual Representations ◽

Sound Discrimination

Purpose This preliminary investigation explored potential cognitive and linguistic sources of variance in 2-year-olds' speech-sound discrimination by using the toddler change/no-change procedure and examined whether modifications would result in a procedure that can be used consistently with younger 2-year-olds. Method Twenty typically developing 2-year-olds completed the newly modified toddler change/no-change procedure. Behavioral tests and parent report questionnaires were used to measure several cognitive and linguistic constructs. Stepwise linear regression was used to relate discrimination sensitivity to the cognitive and linguistic measures. In addition, discrimination results from the current experiment were compared with those from 2-year-old children tested in a previous experiment. Results Receptive vocabulary and working memory explained 56.6% of variance in discrimination performance. Performance was not different on the modified toddler change/no-change procedure used in the current experiment from in a previous investigation, which used the original version of the procedure. Conclusions The relationship between speech discrimination and receptive vocabulary and working memory provides further evidence that the procedure is sensitive to the strength of perceptual representations. The role for working memory might also suggest that there are specific subject-related, nonsensory factors limiting the applicability of the procedure to children who have not reached the necessary levels of cognitive and linguistic development.

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