Exceptional Children

In addition to the children who show typical development, there are also children who show atypical development. Individuals whose development varies compared to their peers and whose differences are identified by experts are called individuals with special needs. Individuals with special needs can be children with intellectual disabilities, sight, hearing impairment, language and speech disorders, physical disability and chronic illness, specific learning difficulties, children with autism spectrum disorder and gifted children. The causes of special needs are generally prenatal causes, which can often be hereditary and can be classified as natal and postnatal. The identification of individuals with special needs from early ages and the use of appropriate intervention methods are vital for these children. Children who are happy and a future producing part of society due to early recognition and accurate education methods are directly related to the quality of the intervention performed.

A Process-Oriented View of Procedural Memory Can Help Better Understand Tourette’s Syndrome

Tourette’s syndrome (TS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by repetitive movements and vocalizations, also known as tics. The phenomenology of tics and the underlying neurobiology of the disorder have suggested that the altered functioning of the procedural memory system might contribute to its etiology. However, contrary to the robust findings of impaired procedural memory in neurodevelopmental disorders of language, results from TS have been somewhat mixed. We review the previous studies in the field and note that they have reported normal, impaired, and even enhanced procedural performance. These mixed findings may be at least partially be explained by the diversity of the samples in both age and tic severity, the vast array of tasks used, the low sample sizes, and the possible confounding effects of other cognitive functions, such as executive functions, working memory or attention. However, we propose that another often overlooked factor could also contribute to the mixed findings, namely the multiprocess nature of the procedural system itself. We propose that a process-oriented view of procedural memory functions could serve as a theoretical framework to help integrate these varied findings. We discuss evidence suggesting heterogeneity in the neural regions and their functional contributions to procedural memory. Our process-oriented framework can help to deepen our understanding of the complex profile of procedural functioning in TS and atypical development in general.

Eye-tracking study of joint attention deficits in pre-school age

The article investigates joint attention deficits in various forms of atypical development using eye movement recording. Preschoolers aged 5-7 years from different clinical groups participated in the study: typically developing (n = 20), with mental retardation (ICD-10 class F83) (n = 20), preschoolers with delayed speech development (ICD-10 class R47) (n = 20), with hearing impairment (sensorineural hearing loss, ICD-10 class H90) (n = 10) and with visual impairment (amblyopia and strabismus, IBC-10 class H53) (n = 20). Contrasting group analyses allowed us to identify both specific and universal manifestations of joint attention deficit symptoms in the different forms of atypical development. Gaze tracking was used to analyze fixation duration and frequency, fixation distribution, areas of interest, and to identify markers of joint attention deficits that interfere with the child's productive interaction with an adult. Potential mechanisms of atypical joint attention are described, including atypical direction of gaze, changes in the dynamics of the operative visual field, duration of visual concentration, and accuracy in fixing the object’s elements. It is shown that fixation time in joint attention episodes can be regarded as a prognostic marker of joint attention disorders: joint attention is associated not only with spatial characteristics of areas of interest, but also with fixation duration on the object (decrease/increase in fixation duration).

Cognitive functions and reading speed in schoolchildren with typical development and mild mental retardation

The article presents the results of an empirical study of the relationship between indicators of cognitive functioning and the success in reading in groups of schoolchildren with typical development and mild mental retardation (F70.0; ICD — 10). Information processing speed, visuospatial working memory and non-verbal intelligence were considered as indicators of cognitive development. To assess the reading speed, a check was used on the technique of reading texts in accordance with the Federal State Standard of General Education. The study involved 212 schoolchildren (39% girls) enrolled in Grades 1 — 9 of (1) a public school implementing programs of a special (correctional) school of type VIII and (2) a public school. The results revealed that age-related changes in the success of reading during compulsory schooling are characterized by a nonlinear pattern in children with typical development and a linear pattern in children with mild mental retardation. The differences between schoolchildren with typical and atypical development in reading speed increase from Grades 1 to 7, and then from Grades 7 to 9 may decrease. The regression analysis confirmed the differences in the direct effects of the influence of non-verbal intelligence, information processing speed and visuospatial working memory on the reading speed. These differences in effects depend on the type of mental development and the level of schooling. Mediation analysis showed that no more than 17% of the differences in the success of reading between schoolchildren with typical and atypical development can explain by cognitive functioning.

Endogenous Oxytocin Levels in Autism—A Meta-Analysis

Oxytocin (OT) circuitry plays a major role in the mediation of prosocial behavior. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication and have been suggested to display deficiencies in central OT mechanisms. The current preregistered meta-analysis evaluated potential group differences in endogenous OT levels between individuals with ASD and neurotypical (NT) controls. We included 18 studies comprising a total of 1422 participants. We found that endogenous OT levels are lower in children with ASD as compared to NT controls (n = 1123; g = −0.60; p = 0.006), but this effect seems to disappear in adolescent (n = 152; g = −0.20; p = 0.53) and adult populations (n = 147; g = 0.27; p = 0.45). Secondly, while no significant subgroup differences were found in regard to sex, the group difference in OT levels of individuals with versus without ASD seems to be only present in the studies with male participants (n = 814; g = −0.44; p = 0.08) and not female participants (n = 192; g = 0.11; p = 0.47). More research that employs more homogeneous methods is necessary to investigate potential developmental changes in endogenous OT levels, both in typical and atypical development, and to explore the possible use of OT level measurement as a diagnostic marker of ASD.

Understanding and Synergy: A Single Concept at Different Levels of Analysis?

Biological systems differ from the inanimate world in their behaviors ranging from simple movements to coordinated purposeful actions by large groups of muscles, to perception of the world based on signals of different modalities, to cognitive acts, and to the role of self-imposed constraints such as laws of ethics. Respectively, depending on the behavior of interest, studies of biological objects based on laws of nature (physics) have to deal with different salient sets of variables and parameters. Understanding is a high-level concept, and its analysis has been linked to other high-level concepts such as “mental model” and “meaning”. Attempts to analyze understanding based on laws of nature are an example of the top-down approach. Studies of the neural control of movements represent an opposite, bottom-up approach, which starts at the interface with classical physics of the inanimate world and operates with traditional concepts such as forces, coordinates, etc. There are common features shared by the two approaches. In particular, both assume organizations of large groups of elements into task-specific groups, which can be described with only a handful of salient variables. Both assume optimality criteria that allow the emergence of families of solutions to typical tasks. Both assume predictive processes reflected in anticipatory adjustments to actions (motor and non-motor). Both recognize the importance of generating dynamically stable solutions. The recent progress in studies of the neural control of movements has led to a theory of hierarchical control with spatial referent coordinates for the effectors. This theory, in combination with the uncontrolled manifold hypothesis, allows quantifying the stability of actions with respect to salient variables. This approach has been used in the analysis of motor learning, changes in movements with typical and atypical development and with aging, and impaired actions by patients with various neurological disorders. It has been developed to address issues of kinesthetic perception. There seems to be hope that the two counter-directional approaches will meet and result in a single theoretical scheme encompassing biological phenomena from figuring out the best next move in a chess position to activating motor units appropriate for implementing that move on the chessboard.

Understanding sensory regulation in typical and atypical development: the case of sensory seeking

Sensory regulation, the ability to select and process sensory information to plan and perform appropriate behaviours, provides a foundation for learning. From early in development, infants manifest differences in the strategies used for sensory regulation. Here, we discuss the nature and characteristics of sensory seeking, a key behavioural strategy for sensory regulation often described as atypical in children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders. We evaluate theoretical models proposed to clarify mechanisms underlying individual differences in sensory seeking and discuss evidence for/against each of these models. We conclude by arguing that the information prioritization hypothesis holds the greatest promise to illuminate the nature of individual differences in sensory seeking across participant cohorts. This proposal aligns to molecular genetic animal and human evidence, provides a coherent explanation for developmental findings and generates testable hypotheses for future research.