Understanding Intelligence

Have you ever wondered why psychologists still can't agree on what intelligence is? Or felt dismayed by debates around individual differences? Criticising the pitfalls of IQ testing, this book explains the true nature of intelligent systems, and their evolution from cells to brains to culture and human minds. Understanding Intelligence debunks many of the myths and misunderstandings surrounding intelligence. It takes a new look at the nature of the environment and the development of 'talent' and achievement. This brings fresh and radical implications for promoting intelligence and creativity, and prompts readers to reconsider their own possibilities and aspirations. Providing a broad context to the subject, the author also unmasks the ideological distortions of intelligence in racism and eugenics, and the suppressed expectations across social classes and genders. This book is a must-read for anyone curious about our own intelligence.

Impact of PICU Admission on Neurocognitive Function in Children

Objective To study the impact of admission to a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) on children's neurocognitive performance. Methods A case–control observational study including 50 children & adolescents and 75 age and gender matched children and adolescents.The study subjects underwent formative IQ testing using the Stanford Binet IQ test 3 months after discharge from the PICU. Results 27 males and 23 females with a mean age of 6.98 years were included in the study. Almost two thirds of the cases were admitted to the PICU post operatively (surgical causes). More than half of the cases needed sedation, 38% needed mechanical ventilation and 12% needed inotropic support. There was no statistically significant difference between cases and controls are regard IQ scores (total, verbal and performance IQ scores), neither was there a difference between medical and surgical cases. Data from similar pediatric cohorts is conflicting. Conclusion PICU does not seem to affect cognitive outcome in pediatric survivors. Further long term studies using standard scoring systems and time points of assessment are required.

Similarities and Differences in the Learning Profiles of Adolescents with SLD and SLI in Mathematics—A Preliminary Analysis

SLI and SLD constitute two independent neurodevelopmental disorders, which frequently cause challenges in the diagnosis process, especially due to their nature. This has caused disagreement among clinicians regarding their recognition as separate or overlapping disorders. The objective of the study was to enlighten the path of valid diagnosis and intervention during adolescence when the two disorders change their manifestation and overlap. Two hundred Greek adolescents (140 boys and 60 girls), 124 already diagnosed with SLD and 76 diagnosed with SLI, 12–16 years old, participated in the study. All participants were assessed in reading, oral and written language and mathematics (mathematical operations and mathematical reasoning) along with IQ testing. In order to determine statistically significant differences, the chi-square test, independent samples t-test, odds ratios and their 95 per cent confidence intervals were implemented. The results revealed that the SLI group presented significantly greater difficulties than SLD in their overall cognitive-mental profile and in most language and mathematical measurements (number concept, executive-procedural part of solving operations and mathematical reasoning). The similarity of the two groups was mainly detected in their deficient metacognitive, metalinguistic and metamnemonic strategies. The research concludes that SLD adolescents managed to overcome their difficulties to a significant degree, while adolescents with SLI still struggle with many learning areas.

Speech Analysis Using Artificial Intelligence as a Peri-Operative Evaluation: A Case Report of a Patient with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Secondary to Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Who Underwent Epilepsy Surgery

Background: Improved conversational fluency is sometimes identified postoperatively in patients with epilepsy, but improvements can be difficult to assess using tests such as the intelligence quotient (IQ) test. Evaluation of pre- and postoperative differences might be considered subjective at present because of the lack of objective criteria. Artificial intelligence (AI) could possibly be used to make the evaluations more objective. The aim of this case report is thus to analyze the speech of a young female patient with epilepsy before and after surgery. Method: The speech of a nine-year-old girl with epilepsy secondary to tuberous sclerosis complex is recorded during interviews one month before and two months after surgery. The recorded speech is then manually transcribed and annotated, and subsequently automatically analyzed using AI software. IQ testing is also conducted on both occasions. The patient remains seizure-free for at least 13 months postoperatively. Results: There are decreases in total interview time and subjective case markers per second, whereas there are increases in morphemes and objective case markers per second. Postoperatively, IQ scores improve, except for the Perceptual Reasoning Index. Conclusions: AI analysis is able to identify differences in speech before and after epilepsy surgery upon an epilepsy patient with tuberous sclerosis complex.

Similarities and Differences in the Learning Profiles of Adolescents with SLD and SLI in Mathematics

SLI and SLD constitute two autonomous neurodevelopmental disorders, which frequently cause challenges in the diagnosis process, especially due to their nature, which has caused disagreement among clinicians regarding their recognition as separate or overlapping disorders. The objective of the study was to enlighten the path of valid diagnosis and intervention during adolescence when the two disorders change their manifestation and overlap. 200 Greek adolescents (140 boys and 60 girls), 124 already diagnosed with SLD and 76 diagnosed with SLI, 12-16 years old, participated in the study. All participants were assessed in reading, oral and written language and mathematics (mathematical operations and mathematical reasoning) along with IQ testing. In order to determine statistically significant differences, the chi-square test, independent samples t-test, odd ratios and their 95 per cent confidence intervals were implemented. The results revealed that the SLI group presented significantly greater difficulties than SLD in their overall cognitive-mental profile and in most language and mathematical measurements (number concept, executive-procedural part of solving operations and mathematical reasoning). The similarity of the two groups was mainly detected in their deficient metacognitive, metalinguistic and metamnemonic strategies. The research concludes that SLD adolescents managed to overcome their difficulties to a significant degree, while adolescents with SLI still struggle with many learning areas.

Relationship of sleep homeostasis to seizures and cognition in children with focal epilepsy

ObjectiveSleep disruption and cognitive impairment are important co-morbidities in childhood epilepsy, yet a mechanistic link has not been substantiated. Slow wave activity during sleep and its homeostatic decrease across the night is associated with synaptic renormalisation, and shows maturational changes over the course of childhood. Here, we aimed to investigate the effect of epilepsy on sleep homeostasis in the developing brain.MethodsWe examined the relationship of sleep homeostasis as reflected in slow wave activity to seizures, cognition and behaviour, comparing 22 children (aged 6 to 16 years) with focal epilepsy to 21 age-matched healthy controls. Participants underwent overnight sleep EEG and IQ testing and performed memory consolidation tasks. Their parents completed standard behavioural questionnaires.ResultsChildren with epilepsy had lower slow wave activity at the start of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, though similar overnight decline and slow wave activity in the final hour of NREM sleep. Both groups displayed an antero-posterior shift in peak slow wave activity overnight, though individual patients showed persistent local increases at scalp locations matching those of focal interictal discharges. Patients who had seizures during their admission had lower early-night slow wave activity, the group without seizures showing similar activity to controls. We found a positive correlation between full scale IQ and early-night slow wave activity in patients but not controls.InterpretationReduced early night slow wave activity in children with focal epilepsies is correlated with lower cognitive ability and more seizures and may reflect a reduction in learning-related synaptic potentiation.

Guideline Adherence and Registry Recruitment of Congenital Primary Hypothyroidism: Data From the German Registry for Congenital Hypothyroidism (HypoDok)

Background: Neonatal screening for congenital primary hypothyroidism (CH) is mandatory in Germany but medical care thereafter remains inconsistent. Therefore, the multicentre database HypoDok was analysed to evaluate the implementation of evidence-based guidelines in the care of children with CH and to assess the number of patients in this registry of the German society of paediatric endocrinology and diabetology (DGKED).Methods: HypoDok includes the prospective documentation of 1,630 patients with CH from 50 centres in Germany and Austria. Inclusion criteria were (i) date of birth between 10/2001 and 05/2020 and (ii) increased TSH at screening and/or confirmation. Parameters regarding diagnosis, therapy and follow-up were extracted. The number of registered patients was compared to the number in the report of the German Society for Neonatal Screening (DGNS). The cohort was divided into 2 groups, before (A) and after (B) guideline publication in 02/2011, to assess guideline’s influence on medical care.Results: 659 patients (62% female) were eligible and analysed as group A (n=327) and group B (n=332) representing 17.5% and 6.7% of CH patients identified in the German and Austrian neonatal screening program during the respective time period. Treatment start and thyroxin doses were similar in both groups and consistent with recommendations. Regular follow-ups were documented in both groups including five appointments in the first and three in the second year of life. Ultrasound of the thyroid gland was performed in 92.6% (A) and 92.1% (B) of the patients. In the first three years of life, 46.4% (A) and 40.0% (B) of the patients underwent audiometry, EQ/IQ testing was performed in 49.3% (A) and 24.8% (B) (p<0.01), respectively.Summary: While documentation of care for patients with CH by paediatric endocrinologists seems to be established, only a minority of all affected patients is included in HypoDok. Thus, the care and outcome of the majority of patients with CH remains uncertain. Therefore, comprehensive documentation as an important instrument of quality assurance and evidence-based medicine should be legally enforced and officially funded in order to record, comprehend and optimize care and outcome in patients with rare diseases such as CH, irrespective of treatment provider.

Cross-Cultural Neuropsychology in Historical Perspective: Origins, Echoes, Challenges, and Future Directions

Clinical neuropsychology is cross-cultural “when there are significant cultural or language differences between the examiner, examinee, informants, tests, and/or social context” (Judd et al., 2009, p. 128). Clinical neuropsychology, therefore, has been cross-cultural from the earliest examples of cognitive and mental (IQ) testing in the early 20th century, with the translation of the Binet scales from French to English by the American psychologist H. H. Goddard and the administration of the translated battery (by non-Hispanic White psychologists, via oral interpreter) to European immigrants arriving at Ellis Island. This chapter reviews that remote history; the earliest cultural neuropsychological research by A. R. Luria and colleagues in Uzbekistan, Central Asia, in the 1930s; and the more recent decades of “modern” cross-cultural neuropsychological research and practice, from the 1990s to 2018. Unfortunately, the field has most commonly downplayed or ignored the influences of culture and language on neurocognitive testing and clinical neuropsychological assessment in favor of a quantifiable, empiricist, and “universalist” view of brain-behavior relationships. This, in turn, has been problematic for the clinical assessment of rapidly increasing populations of ethnoculturally and linguistically diverse patients. A serious paucity remains of clinical neuropsychologists who are ethnoculturally and linguistically diverse and/or who possess the cross-cultural psychometric knowledge and linguistic fluency to evaluate such patients. Although there are reasons for optimism based in recent decades of research and clinical progress, the extent to which this health care specialty will remain viable and useful to increasingly large portions of US and world populations is uncertain.

Edugenics: A race and IQ research dilemma

Most researchers agree it is socially harmful to research so-called inter-racial IQ variation. Edugenics, an emerging educational technology which builds education around DNA and IQ testing, may do social harm by racialising education: We cannot know if it will without researching so-called inter-racial IQ variation.