scholarly journals The Virtual City ParadigmTM for Testing Visuo-Spatial Memory, Executive Functions and Cognitive Strategies in Children With ADHD: A Feasibility Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benedetta Del Lucchese ◽  
Vittorio Belmonti ◽  
Paola Brovedani ◽  
Maria Celeste Caponi ◽  
Alexander Castilla ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Spatial Memory ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Body Movement ◽  
Cognitive Strategies ◽  
Healthy Children ◽  
Complex Activity ◽  
Children With Adhd ◽  
Memory Inhibition ◽  
Virtual City

Navigation is a complex process, requiring target localization, route planning or retrieval, and physical displacement. Executive functions (EFs) such as working memory, inhibition and planning are fundamental for succeeding in this complex activity and are often impaired in Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Our aim was to analyze the feasibility of a new ecological navigation task, the Virtual City paradigm™ (VC™) to test visuo-spatial memory and EFs in children with ADHD. Visuo-spatial short and working memory, inhibition and planning skills were tested with standardized tasks. The VC™, a new paradigm developed by our group, used the Virtual CarpetTM technology, consisting of a virtual town with houses, streets and crossroads projected on the ground. It includes a motion capture system, tracking body movement in 3D in real time. In one condition, children were required to walk through the city and reach a sequence of houses. In the other, before walking, they had to plan the shortest path to reach the houses, inhibiting the prepotent response to start walking. The results show a good feasibility of the paradigm (feasibility checklist and ad hoc questionnaire), being ecological and motivating. VC™ measures of span positively correlated with visuo-spatial short and working memory measures, suggesting that VC™ heavily relies on efficient spatial memory. Individual subject analyses suggested that children with ADHD may approach this task differently from typically developing children. Larger samples of ADHD and healthy children may further explore the specific role of EFs and memory, potentially opening new avenues for intervention.

scholarly journals Mathematics Skills and Executive Functions Following Preterm Birth: A Longitudinal Study of 5-to 7- Year Old Children

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Anna Adrian ◽  
Frank Haist ◽  
Natacha Akshoomoff
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Full Term ◽  
Healthy Children ◽  
Time Points ◽  
Mathematics Skills ◽  
Increased Risk

Early mathematics skills are an important predictor of later academic, economic and personal success. Children born preterm, about 10% of the US population, have an increased risk of deficits in mathematics. These deficits may be related to lower levels of executive functions and processing speed. We investigated the development of mathematics skills, working memory, inhibitory control and processing speed of healthy children born very preterm (between 25 and 32 weeks gestational age, n=51) and full-term (n=29). Children were tested annually from ages 5 to 7 years. We found persistent lower overall mathematics skills in the preterm group, driven by differences in more informal skills (e.g. counting) at earlier time points, and by differences in more formal skills (e.g. calculation) at later time points. We did not find significant differences between preterm and full-term born children in spatial working memory capacity or processing speed. However, these cognitive measures were significant predictors of mathematics skills in the preterm but not the full-term group, hinting towards the use of different strategies when solving problems.

scholarly journals Executive functions in children with dyslexia

2019 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 254-259
Author(s):  
Thais Barbosa ◽  
Camila Cruz Rodrigues ◽  
Claudia Berlim de Mello ◽  
Mariana Cristina de Souza e Silva ◽  
Orlando Francisco Amodeo Bueno
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Selective Attention ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Neuropsychological Tests ◽  
Memory Deficits ◽  
Typical Development ◽  
Phonological Skill ◽  
Memory Inhibition

ABSTRACT This study aimed to verify whether children with dyslexia have difficulties in executive functions (shifting, working memory, inhibition). Methods: A sample of 47 children (ages 8-13 years) participated in the study: 24 who were dyslexic and 23 controls with typical development. A battery of neuropsychological tests was used. Results: Results revealed executive function difficulties among the dyslexic children when compared with controls, encompassing selective attention modulation processes, shifting, and inhibitory control. These difficulties appeared to be affected by phonological working memory deficits, typically associated with dyslexia. Conclusion: Our findings support the consensus among scholars regarding the central involvement of phonological skill dysfunctions in dyslexia.

scholarly journals Examining the Relations among Working Memory Capacity, ADHD Symptology and Conscious Experience

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leila Beikmohamadi
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Conscious Experience ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Mind Wandering ◽  
Adhd Symptoms ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Children With Adhd

An operational definition of mind wandering is when one has thoughts unrelated to the current task(s) (Smallwood & Schooler, 2015). Mind blanking can be thought of as a subtype of mind wandering where there is an inability to report the content of these task-unrelated thoughts. Van den Driessche et al. (2017) found that children and young adults with more Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms report more mind blanking than those with fewer ADHD symptoms and that non-medicated children with ADHD reported less mind wandering and more mind blanking than medicated children with ADHD. Van den Driessche et al. speculated that medication facilitated executive control and that executive resources support mind wandering (and on-task thought). These findings also bear on the theoretical debate on the role of executive functions in conscious experience. Some argue that executive functions support mind wandering (Levinson et al., 2012; Smallwood, 2010), while others argue and that mind wandering situationally results from a lack (or failure) of executive control (McVay & Kane, 2010; Meier, 2019). In this study, with a young adult sample, I tested the association between ADHD symptomology and conscious experience and if executive resources moderate the proportion of reporting mind blanking and mind wandering. The current study found evidence for Van den Driessche et al.’s finding of a positive and significant association between mind blanking and ADHD symptomology. The current study was also broadly consistent with Van den Driessche et al.’s finding of an ADHD-related trade-off involving mind blanking, but importantly differs from Van den Driessche et al. in that mind wandering was not involved in this trade-off. The current study did not find an association between working memory capacity and mind wandering. Thus, I found no evidence for executive resources supporting mind wandering, consistent with previous studies (McVay & Kane, 2009, 2012a, 2012b; Meier, 2019; Robison & Unsworth, 2018; Unsworth & McMillan, 2013, 2014).

Imaging the Networks of Executive Functions

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christen M. Holder ◽  
Nicole Shay
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Temporal Lobes ◽  
Memory Inhibition ◽  
Lesion Studies ◽  
The Right

This chapter examines the different theoretical conceptualizations of executive functions and how neuroimaging can reveal their neuroanatomical mechanisms. After briefly considering various definitions and descriptions of executive function, it discusses the results of lesion studies that look into specific executive functions; namely, attention, working memory, inhibition, decision-making, planning and organization, processing speed, and cognitive flexibility or shifting. It also evaluates measures that are used to capture the executive functions just cited, along with the advances that have been achieved with the help of neuroimaging studies. On the basis of neuroimaging evidence, the authors show that the right prefrontal cortex, as well as the parietal and temporal lobes, plays an important role in executive function.

scholarly journals Executive Functions in Children with ADHD and/or Reading Difficulty

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Estephane Enadir Lucena Duarte Pereira ◽  
Carla Alexandra da Silva Moita Minervino ◽  
Lara Fechine Piquet da Cruz ◽  
Rauni Jandé Roama-Alves ◽  
Josemberg Moura Andrade
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Reading Difficulties ◽  
Reading Difficulty ◽  
Visuospatial Working Memory ◽  
Children With Adhd ◽  
Semantic Verbal Fluency

Abstract The objective of this study was to compare the Executive Functions performance (EFs: inhibitory control, auditory and visuospatial working memory, cognitive flexibility and verbal fluency) between children with ADHD, reading difficulties (RD), comorbidity ADHD/RD and without complaints of ADHD and RD (WRD). Participated 104 children, of both sexes, aged between eight and 11 years old. The results indicated worse performance of ADHD/RD group in the majority EFs. ADHD presented better performance than DL in semantic verbal fluency. The WRD obtained better scores than the ADHD / DL and DL in practically all the evaluated EFs, but did not differ of ADHD.

scholarly journals Theory of Mind and Executive Functions in Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Specific Learning Disorder

2021 ◽  
pp. 025371762199980
Author(s):  
Jeetinder Singh ◽  
Priti Arun ◽  
Manoj Kumar Bajaj
Keyword(s):  
Executive Functions ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
Healthy Children ◽  
Learning Disorder ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Children With Adhd ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Specific Learning Disorder ◽  
And Control ◽  
Specific Learning

Background: Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and specific learning disorder (SLD) generally have difficulties in social cognition and display impairments involving emotion and face and prosody perception and reduced empathy, indicating theory of mind (ToM) impairment. The objective of this work was to assess and compare the executive functions and ToM in children with ADHD and SLD. Methods: Twenty children diagnosed with ADHD, 20 children diagnosed with SLD, and 20 normal healthy children in the age group of 7 to 15 years, IQ between 90 and 110 (average intelligence) of any gender, were recruited. All participants were assessed using neuropsychological tests of executive functions and ToM. Results: Significant differences were found on early ToM, basic ToM, advanced ToM, and mean scores on ToM inventory between ADHD and control groups (P ≤ 0.001). Similarly, significant differences were found between ADHD and SLD groups on early, basic, advanced, and mean ToM inventory scores (P < 0.001). No significant differences were found between the control and SLD groups on ToM measures. Further, in the ToM task battery, on task D and task G, significant differences were found between the SLD and control groups at P = 0.04 and P = 0.03 respectively. Differences between ADHD and control groups were also statistically significant on task D and task G at P < 0.001 and P = 0.033. Executive functions in the form of set-shifting and response inhibition were significantly poor in the ADHD group and SLD group at P < 0.001 and P < 0.05 levels, respectively, when compared to the control group. Conclusion: Children with ADHD displayed more deficits in the ToM inventory and tasks than children having SLD and healthy children of their similar age and educational background. Executive functions (set-shifting and response inhibition) were poorer in children with ADHD and children with SLD when compared to healthy children of their similar age and educational background.

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