scholarly journals Editorial: Towards an Understanding of the Relationship Between Spatial Processing Ability and Numerical and Mathematical Cognition

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Firat Soylu ◽  
Sharlene D. Newman
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Cognition ◽  
Spatial Processing ◽  
Processing Ability ◽  
The Relationship

scholarly journals Auditory Phenotypic Variability in Friedreich’s Ataxia Patients

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nehzat Koohi ◽  
Gilbert Thomas-Black ◽  
Paola Giunti ◽  
Doris-Eva Bamiou
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Temporal Processing ◽  
Friedreich’S Ataxia ◽  
Cognitive Status ◽  
Friedreich's Ataxia ◽  
Spatial Processing ◽  
Auditory Temporal Processing ◽  
Processing Ability ◽  
Brainstem Response ◽  
Auditory Impairment

AbstractAuditory neural impairment is a key clinical feature of Friedreich’s Ataxia (FRDA). We aimed to characterize the phenotypical spectrum of the auditory impairment in FRDA in order to facilitate early identification and timely management of auditory impairment in FRDA patients and to explore the relationship between the severity of auditory impairment with genetic variables (the expansion size of GAA trinucleotide repeats, GAA1 and GAA2), when controlled for variables such as disease duration, severity of the disease and cognitive status. Twenty-seven patients with genetically confirmed FRDA underwent baseline audiological assessment (pure-tone audiometry, otoacoustic emissions, auditory brainstem response). Twenty of these patients had additional psychophysical auditory processing evaluation including an auditory temporal processing test (gaps in noise test) and a binaural speech perception test that assesses spatial processing (Listening in Spatialized Noise-Sentences Test). Auditory spatial and auditory temporal processing ability were significantly associated with the repeat length of GAA1. Patients with GAA1 greater than 500 repeats had more severe auditory temporal and spatial processing deficits, leading to poorer speech perception. Furthermore, the spatial processing ability was strongly correlated with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score. To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate an association between genotype and auditory spatial processing phenotype in patients with FRDA. Auditory temporal processing, neural sound conduction, spatial processing and speech perception were more severely affected in patients with GAA1 greater than 500 repeats. The results of our study may indicate that auditory deprivation plays a role in the development of mild cognitive impairment in FRDA patients.

Remediation of Spatial Processing Deficits in Hearing-Impaired Children and Adults

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (06) ◽  
pp. 549-561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Glyde ◽  
Sharon Cameron ◽  
Harvey Dillon ◽  
Louise Hickson
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Sensorineural Hearing Loss ◽  
Training Program ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Sensorineural Hearing ◽  
Auditory Training ◽  
Spatial Processing ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Processing Ability ◽  
Processing Deficits

Background: The ability to use interaural cues to segregate target speech from competing signals allows people with normal hearing to understand speech at significantly poorer signal-to-noise ratios. This ability, referred to as spatial processing ability or spatial release from masking, has been shown to be deficient in people with a sensorineural hearing loss even after amplification is applied. Spatial processing deficits in a population of children with auditory processing deficits have been found to be remediable through the use of a deficit-specific auditory training program called the LiSN & Learn. Purpose: The aim of the present study was to determine whether LiSN & Learn auditory training could improve the spatial processing ability of hearing-impaired adults and children. In addition, the research investigated whether the age of the participant would affect the efficacy of the training program. Research Design: In a repeated-measures design, participants’ spatial processing ability was assessed pretraining and posttraining using the Listening in Spatialized Noise-Sentences Test (LiSN-S). Questionnaire responses were also collected from participants pretraining and posttraining to provide a subjective measure of real-life listening difficulty. Between the two assessment periods, participants were asked to train with the LiSN & Learn for 15 min per day, 5 days per week for 60 training sessions. Study Sample: Participants were five children (aged 6–11 yr) and five adults (aged 60–74 yr) with up to a moderate sensorineural hearing loss. Data Collection and Analysis: The LiSN & Learn auditory training software incorporates five computer games in which target sentences, processed with head-related transfer functions, are perceived as coming from 0° azimuth, and simultaneous distracting speech streams are perceived as coming from ±90° azimuth. Participants are tasked with identifying a word from the target sentence and selecting the corresponding picture from a selection of four images displayed on the screen. The signal-to-noise ratio is adapted based on whether the response given is correct or incorrect. Results: Despite an average improvement of 10 dB on the LiSN & Learn training program, no significant improvements were seen posttraining in either of the spatially separated conditions of the LiSN-S (p ranging 0.47–0.75). A 1.2 dB improvement was found in the baseline condition of the LiSN-S, which incorporates no spatial separation between distracter and target stimuli (p < 0.01). Age did not significantly affect training outcomes (p = 0.21). No significant improvements were found posttraining on the self-report questionnaires (p = 0.84 and p = 0.20). Conclusions: This study has demonstrated that LiSN & Learn training does not significantly improve spatial processing deficits in adults or children with a sensorineural hearing loss. As auditory training did not prove to be effective, further research should be directed toward the development of hearing aid processing schemes that will compensate for the degraded interaural time difference and interaural level difference cues which underpin spatial processing.

Emergent Features, Spatial Arithmetic, and Visual Scanning Behavior

1998 ◽  
Vol 42 (22) ◽  
pp. 1580-1584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karel M. Hurts ◽  
Theo H. van Leeuwen
Keyword(s):  
Mental Arithmetic ◽  
Relative Effectiveness ◽  
Spatial Processing ◽  
Visual Scanning ◽  
Performance Indices ◽  
Emergent Features ◽  
Separable Graph ◽  
Scanning Behavior ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Integrated Tasks

In this study the relationship between spatial arithmetic and emergent features was investigated in a study requiring subjects to perform integrated tasks (tasks that require the integration of various data values shown in a graph) with one type of configural graph and one type of non-configural (separable) graph. Among other things, the question was addressed to what extent separable graphs have emergent features (perceptual qualities arising from the way the values are plotted) that can invoke spatial arithmetic (arithmetic using visual strategies) and thereby can facilitate task performance. To this end tasks were defined that were expected to invoke either spatial or mental (non-spatial) arithmetic. The subjects' visual scanning behavior was also recorded to see if it can supplement performance indices as a means for comparing spatial and mental arithmetic and for assessing the relative effectiveness by which graphical information is processed. The results of an experiment show that, as expected, spatial arithmetic can be invoked in both configural graphs and separable graphs. In addition, spatial arithmetic and mental arithmetic could be experimentally distinguished in terms of global characteristics of the visual scanning behavior. However, configural graphs did not result in better performance than separable graphs. These findings are discussed, the focus of the discussion being on the multitude of features that are often present in both configural and separable graphs and that allow for various degrees of spatial processing.

Mathematics and TMS

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Rusconi ◽  
Carlo Umiltà
Keyword(s):  
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Parietal Lobe ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Number Line ◽  
Mathematical Cognition ◽  
Mental Number Line ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Relationship

This article introduces the relationship between mathematical cognition and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). The mental number line is located in the parietal lobe. Studies employing TMS have explored issues related to the mental number line. This article reviews the studies centered on the magnitude code. The results show that even though the parietal activation is nearly always present in both hemispheres, it is often asymmetric, being greater in the right hemisphere when quantification of nonverbal and nonsymbolic material is required. Neuropsychological studies confirm the relation between the magnitude code and the parietal lobe. The extent to which number-related processes are number specific, and the extent to which they overlap with other aspects of spatial or magnitude representation, is currently a burgeoning area of research. Current work is aimed to disrupt numerical processes and observe concomitant changes in brain activation.

scholarly journals Neurocognitive Function Is Associated With Serum Iron Status in Early Adolescents

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaopeng Ji ◽  
Naixue Cui ◽  
Jianghong Liu
Keyword(s):  
Iron Deficiency ◽  
Serum Iron ◽  
Iron Status ◽  
Venous Blood ◽  
Early Adolescents ◽  
Spatial Processing ◽  
Neurocognitive Performance ◽  
High Iron ◽  
Mental Flexibility ◽  
Processing Ability

Objective: The association between iron and neurocognition remains underexplored in adolescents, and the neurocognitive effects of low and high iron levels have yet to be established. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships of low and high iron levels with neurocognitive domains in early adolescents. Method: The sample comprised 428 adolescents (12.0 ± 0.4 years) from Jintan, China. Serum iron concentrations were analyzed from venous blood samples and classified into low, normal, and high levels according to the clinical reference range 75–175 μg/dl. Neurocognition was measured by the Penn Computerized Neurocognitive Battery and Wechsler Intelligence Scale. Generalized linear regression was used to analyze relationships. Results: Prevalence rates of iron deficiency, normal iron, and high iron were 13.8%, 76.4%, and 9.8%, respectively. Compared with normal levels, iron deficiency was associated with slower performance in tasks that measured abstraction and mental flexibility (β = 107.5, p = .03) and spatial processing ability (β = 917.2, p = .04). High serum iron was associated with less accuracy in the spatial processing ability task (β = −2.2, p = .03) and a longer reaction time in the task assessing abstraction and mental flexibility (β = 702.8, p = .046) compared to normal levels. Conclusion: Both iron deficiency and high iron levels contribute to reduced neurocognitive performance in a domain-specific manner in early adolescents. The dual burden of iron under- and overnutrition should be incorporated into future interventions for improving brain development and cognitive function in adolescents, especially in a Chinese context.

Cognitive Processing and its Relationship to Symptoms and Social Functioning in Schizophrenia

1990 ◽  
Vol 156 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Allen
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Occupational Status ◽  
Employment History ◽  
Contextual Processing ◽  
The Past ◽  
Chronic Schizophrenics ◽  
Current Symptom ◽  
Processing Ability ◽  
Symptom Status ◽  
The Relationship

This study analyses the relationship between contextual processing ability and symptom and social status in schizophrenia. The results showed that current symptom status is related to occupational status, and contextual processing is related to current symptom status and employment history. Current symptom severity in chronic schizophrenics may indicate an increased frequency and/or duration of symptom episodes in the past, and therefore an increase in the periods in which contextual processing was disturbed, which would therefore account for the observed decrease in work achievements.

Cognitive Style and Perception: The Relationship of Boundary Thinness to Visual-Spatial Processing in Dreaming and Waking Thought

1998 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross Levin ◽  
Laura Gilmartin ◽  
Laura Lamontanaro
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Style ◽  
Visual Art ◽  
Spatial Processing ◽  
Dream Recall ◽  
Visual Artists ◽  
Wall Street ◽  
Art Students ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

The present study investigated empirically whether individuals with thin boundaries as determined by high scores on the Hartmann Boundary Questionnaire (HBQ) [1] demonstrated heightened access to imagistic stimuli than thick boundary individuals. Two independent samples, visual art students and Wall Street brokers, were administered the Rorschach, a sleep and dreaming questionnaire, and a subliminal perception task which involved the presentation of both a subliminal and supraliminal stimulus. As expected, the majority of the visual artists scored thin boundaried and the majority of Wall Street brokers scored thick boundaried on the HBQ. Boundary thinness on the HBQ was positively correlated with Rorschach boundary disruption, higher dream recall, greater reported dream salience, and increased access to subliminal activation. These data are consistent with previous data [2] and support the contention that boundaries are a useful variable in conceptualizing how individuals process imagistically-based emotionally-toned information.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document