3 Infant-directed Vocal Communication in Sheep

Infant-directed speech (IDS) in humans, AKA motherese, is different from normal speech with a higher pitch, higher frequency range, slower pace, and more repetition. infants usually are believed to react differently to IDS compared to adult-directed speech. Studies showed that IDS facilitates infant’s speech segmentation, word memory, word learning, and communicative development. IDS is common across languages and cultures, but the evolutionary origin of IDS is a myth. The objective of this study is to find out whether the special style of vocalization namely infant-directed vocalization (IDV), which differs from adult-directed vocalization (ADV), can be also observed in non-human, even non-primate species. The ADV and IDV of ewes were recorded. The sound wave features of the recordings were analyzed by visualization and machine learning. The ADV had representative peak frequencies at 175, 720, and 860Hz, while IDV only had one peak characteristic frequency at 245Hz. The machine-learning algorithm was able to clearly identify (overall accuracy was 89.3%) the distinguishing characteristics between ADV and IDV. Then we tested if the lamb reacts differently to the ewe’s IDV and ADV. The recording was played when the pre-weaning lambs were individually kept and the behavior of the lambs was recorded. The results showed that the lambs looked towards the sound source when IDV was played more than ADV (6.1 vs 3.1 times/5 min); they moved towards the sound source of IDV 8.6 times per 5 min compared to ADV which was 2.8 times/5min), and they bleated back to the sound source when IDV was played (18.0 times/5 min) more than when ADV was played (11.3 time/5 min); within 2 min after the recording played, lambs bleated back to IDV 8 times compared to ADV 4.8 times. This indicated the ewes’ IDV and ADV show different socio-emotional and attention effects on their lambs.

Inefficient Attentional Control Explains Verbal-Memory Deficits Among Military Veterans With Posttraumatic Reexperiencing Symptoms

Among individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), verbal learning and memory are areas of weakness compared with other cognitive domains (e.g., visuospatial memory). In this study, previously deployed military veterans completed clinical assessments of word memory and vocabulary ( n = 243) and a laboratory task measuring encoding, free recall, repetition priming, and recognition of words ( n = 147). Impaired verbal memory was selectively related to reexperiencing symptoms of PTSD but was not associated with other symptom groupings or blast-induced traumatic brain injury. Implicit priming of response times following word repetition was also unrelated to clinical symptoms. Instead, slowed response times during encoding explained associations between reexperiencing and memory performance. These findings are consistent with alterations in attentional control explaining PTSD-related verbal-memory deficits. Such findings have implications for understanding trauma-focused psychotherapy and recovery, which may depend on efficient attentional processing of words to alter posttraumatic reexperiencing symptoms.

Online Tool (Brain Assessment) for the Detection of Cognitive Function Changes during Aging

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> It is well-known that cognitive function declines with age. In order to detect changes in cognitive function, cognitive tests should be performed repeatedly. Currently existing cognitive tests come in only a single version, so the subject is likely to remember the contents with repeated testing. And, under the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), in-person assessment should be avoided. This study was performed to develop a new cognitive test (brain assessment, BA) that has 5 versions and can be performed on a personal computer (PC) through the Internet. <b><i>Materials and Methods:</i></b> Five thousand subjects performed the online BA, which consisted of 5 subtests: number memory, word memory, mental rotation test, N-back test, and judgment test. We standardized the raw scores (cognitive scores, CSs) using mean and standard deviation, which were 50 and 10, respectively. Then, we calculated the mean CS for each sex and age, plotted the relationships between ages and mean CSs on figures, and calculated the formula of cognitive changes during normal aging. <b><i>Results:</i></b> The CSs of all subtests decreased with aging. The regression coefficient was from −0.31 to −0.45. It is noteworthy that in most subtests, the CSs started to increase at 85 years of age. <b><i>Discussion:</i></b> Our BA has 5 versions and can be done on a PC using the Internet. We tested the BA in a large number of subjects, and the standard values of CSs were measured in individuals up to 89 years of age. By performing this test repeatedly, subjects can evaluate the degree of their cognitive decline. If the rate of cognitive decline is greater than that predicted using the normalized formula, the subjects can undertake strategies to improve their control of lifestyle-related diseases or other habits of daily living. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> The BA can be easily taken online using a PC, and its scores linearly declined with normal aging. The BA will be useful for detecting longitudinal cognitive changes and comparing them to the pattern seen in normal aging.

Associations of word memory, verbal fluency, processing speed and crystallised cognitive ability with one-legged balance performance in mid and later life

Background Cognitive integration of sensory input and motor output plays an important role in balance. Despite this, it is not clear if specific cognitive processes are associated with balance and how these associations change with age. We examined longitudinal associations of word memory, verbal fluency, search speed and reading ability with repeated measures of one-legged balance performance. Methods Up to 2934 participants in the MRC National Survey of Health and Development, a British birth cohort study, were included. At age 53, word memory, verbal fluency, search speed and reading ability were assessed. One-legged balance times (eyes closed) were measured at ages 53, 60-64 and 69 years. Associations between each cognitive measure and balance time were assessed using random-effects models. Adjustments were made for sex, death, attrition, height, body mass index, health conditions, health behaviours, education, and occupational class. Results In sex-adjusted models, one SD higher scores in word memory, search speed and verbal fluency were associated with 14.1% (95%CI: 11.3,16.8), 7.2% (4.4,9.9) and 10.3% (7.5,13.0) better balance times at age 53, respectively. Higher reading scores were associated with better balance, although this association plateaued. Associations were partially attenuated in mutually-adjusted models and effect sizes were smaller at ages 60-64 and 69. In fully-adjusted models, associations were largely explained by education, although remained for word memory and search speed. Conclusions Higher cognitive performance across all measures was independently associated with better balance performance in midlife. Identification of individual cognitive mechanisms involved in balance could lead to opportunities for targeted interventions in midlife.

Indirect modulation of human visual memory

Conditions in which memories become maladaptive have inspired extensive research geared to modulate memory by targeting it directly and explicitly. Given limitations of direct memory modulation, we asked the following: can the target memories be modulated indirectly? To address this question, we uniquely targeted visual memories, and leveraged a paradigm utilizing instructions to either forget or remember newly encoded memories. We used a multi-domain approach, and applied the instructions to embedded verbal information presented during encoding (words), with the intention to indirectly modulate recognition of the target visual context memory itself (pictures). Accordingly, participants were presented with two lists of words, where each word was preceded and followed by pictures. Participants were instructed to either remember or forget the first list of words. As expected, the instruction to either remember or forget the words differentially influenced word memory strength. Importantly, the instruction regarding the words, indirectly modulated picture memory strength. Better memory for words resulted in reduced picture memory strength and vice versa, with the instruction to remember the words reducing picture memory strength. Together with a negative correlation between word and picture memory strength, the results suggest a competition for shared resources between memory for content and context. These findings may open new avenues to indirectly modulate maladaptive memories.

Overlapping and distinct neural networks supporting novel word learning in bilinguals and monolinguals

This study investigated how bilingual experience alters neural mechanisms supporting novel word learning. We hypothesised that novel words elicit increased semantic activation in the larger bilingual lexicon, potentially stimulating stronger memory integration than in monolinguals. English monolinguals and Spanish–English bilinguals were trained on two sets of written Swahili–English word pairs, one set on each of two consecutive days, and performed a recognition task in the MRI-scanner. Lexical integration was measured through visual primed lexical decision. Surprisingly, no group difference emerged in explicit word memory, and priming occurred only in the monolingual group. This difference in lexical integration may indicate an increased need for slow neocortical interleaving of old and new information in the denser bilingual lexicon. The fMRI data were consistent with increased use of cognitive control networks in monolinguals and of articulatory motor processes in bilinguals, providing further evidence for experience-induced neural changes: monolinguals and bilinguals reached largely comparable behavioural performance levels in novel word learning, but did so by recruiting partially overlapping but non-identical neural systems to acquire novel words.