Speech, Language and Cognitive Profile of Mild Cognitive Impairment: A single Case Study

Heterogeneity of symptoms within and among mild cognitive impairment individuals often makes it challenging to document case reports clinically. Additionally, data on the Indian population is also limited. Therefore, our study includes a case study of a 56-year-old male with mild cognitive impairment from our Institute. A patient had symptoms of mild cognitive impairment following a stroke that occurred 23 years back (vascular in origin). Both formal and informal assessments were carried out. Formal testing was done using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. On assessment of memory, mild deficits in working memory, episodic memory, and procedural memory were noticed. Attention span and Word-finding difficulties with reduced use of words were observed in language assessment. Problems in reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, indicating deficits in executive functioning were evident. Linguistic deficits presenting secondary to cognitive deficits in our client could have led to communication breakdowns in speech, affecting his overall quality of life.

A Storytelling Robot Managing Persuasive and Ethical Stances via ACT-R: An Exploratory Study

We present a storytelling robot, controlled via the ACT-R cognitive architecture, able to adopt different persuasive techniques and ethical stances while conversing about some topics concerning COVID-19. The main contribution of the paper consists in the proposal of a needs-driven model that guides and evaluates, during the dialogue, the use (if any) of persuasive techniques available in the agent procedural memory. The portfolio of persuasive techniques tested in such a model ranges from the use of storytelling to framing techniques and rhetorical-based arguments. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the first attempt of building a persuasive agent able to integrate a mix of explicitly grounded cognitive assumptions about dialogue management, storytelling and persuasive techniques as well as ethical attitudes. The paper presents the results of an exploratory evaluation of the system on 63 participants.

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.

Long-term memory predictors of adult language learning at the interface between syntactic form and meaning

Recent neurocognitive models of second language learning have posited specific roles for declarative and procedural memory in the processing of novel linguistic stimuli. Pursuing this line of investigation, the present study examined the role of declarative and procedural memory abilities in the early stages of adult comprehension of sentences in a miniature language with natural language characteristics (BrocantoJ). Thirty-six native Italian young adults were aurally exposed to BrocantoJ in the context of a computer game over three sessions on consecutive days. Following vocabulary training and passive exposure, participants were asked to perform game moves described by aural sentences in the language. Game trials differed with respect to the information the visual context offered. In part of the trials processing of relationships between grammatical properties of the language (word order and morphological case marking) and noun semantics (thematic role) was necessary in order reach an accurate outcome, whereas in others nongrammatical contextual cues were sufficient. Declarative and procedural learning abilities were respectively indexed by visual and verbal declarative memory measures and by a measure of visual implicit sequence learning. Overall, the results indicated a substantial role of declarative learning ability in the early stages of sentence comprehension, thus confirming theoretical predictions and the findings of previous similar studies in miniature artificial language paradigms. However, for trials that specifically probed the learning of relationships between morphosyntax and semantics, a positive interaction between declarative and procedural learning ability also emerged, indicating the cooperative engagement of both types of learning abilities in the processing of relationships between ruled-based grammar and interpretation in the early stages of exposure to a new language in adults.

Effect of high-endurance exercise intervention on sleep-dependent procedural memory consolidation in individuals with schizophrenia: a randomized controlled trial

Background Little is known about the effects of physical exercise on sleep-dependent consolidation of procedural memory in individuals with schizophrenia. We conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to assess the effectiveness of physical exercise in improving this cognitive function in schizophrenia. Methods A three-arm parallel open-labeled RCT took place in a university hospital. Participants were randomized and allocated into either the high-intensity-interval-training group (HIIT), aerobic-endurance exercise group (AE), or psychoeducation group for 12 weeks, with three sessions per week. Seventy-nine individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorder were contacted and screened for their eligibility. A total of 51 were successfully recruited in the study. The primary outcome was sleep-dependent procedural memory consolidation performance as measured by the finger-tapping motor sequence task (MST). Assessments were conducted during baseline and follow-up on week 12. Results The MST performance scored significantly higher in the HIIT (n = 17) compared to the psychoeducation group (n = 18) after the week 12 intervention (p < 0.001). The performance differences between the AE (n = 16) and the psychoeducation (p = 0.057), and between the AE and the HIIT (p = 0.999) were not significant. Yet, both HIIT (p < 0.0001) and AE (p < 0.05) showed significant within-group post-intervention improvement. Conclusions Our results show that HIIT and AE were effective at reverting the defective sleep-dependent procedural memory consolidation in individuals with schizophrenia. Moreover, HIIT had a more distinctive effect compared to the control group. These findings suggest that HIIT may be a more effective treatment to improve sleep-dependent memory functions in individuals with schizophrenia than AE alone.

P030 The effects of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy in moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA): A high-density electroencephalography (EEG) study

Introduction A previous high-density EEG investigation in OSA showed regional sleep EEG deficits particularly slow wave activity (SWA) in the parietal region. It is unclear whether CPAP treatment can reverse local sleep EEG abnormalities, and whether any recovery is related to improved cognitive function. Methods Fifteen males with moderate-severe OSA (age 50.4±6.5yrs, AHI 51.7±23.5/h) underwent polysomnography with 256-channel high-density EEG at baseline and following 3 months of CPAP. Tasks assessing cognitive performance and sleep-dependent memory were administered. Topographical spectral power maps were calculated for standard frequency ranges for sleep stages. Differences in normalized power between baseline and treatment were determined by statistical nonparametric mapping. Results In 11 CPAP compliant patients (data loss: intolerant of CPAP[n=3]/high-density EEG [n=1]), total sleep time did not change after CPAP but N1 (baseline vs. treatment: 66.9 vs. 39.5 mins, p=0.008) and N2 (195.0 vs. 150.6 mins, p=0.002) sleep was lower and N3 (89.8 vs. 128.7 mins, p=0.003) was higher. Topographic high-density EEG analysis revealed a regional increase in SWA (1–4.5Hz) during N3 sleep in a cluster of 22 electrodes overlying the parietal cortex (paired t-test, t(10)=-3.9, p=0.0029). The change in N3 SWA in the parietal cluster after CPAP was correlated with improved overnight procedural memory on the motor sequence task (rho=0.79, p=0.03) and better executive functioning (Stroop accuracy, rho=0.73, p=0.01). Conclusion CPAP treatment reduces localised deficits in sleep EEG, and specific regional recovery relates to short-term improvements in memory and executive function. These data also highlight the potential for long-term therapeutic effects on cognitive outcomes.

Processing Verb Meanings and the Declarative/Procedural Model: A Developmental Study

According to the Declarative/Procedural Model, the lexicon depends on declarative memory while grammar relies on procedural memory. Furthermore, procedural memory underlies the sequential processing of language. Thus, this system is important for predicting the next item in a sentence. Verb processing represents a good candidate to test this assumption. Semantic representations of verbs include information about the protagonists in the situations they refer to. This semantic knowledge is acquired implicitly and used during verb processing, such that the processing of a verb preactivates its typical patients (e.g., the window for break). Thus, determining how the patient typicality effect appears during children’s cognitive development could provide evidence about the memory system that is dedicated to this effect. Two studies are presented in which French children aged 6–10 and adults made grammaticality judgments on 80 auditorily presented sentences. In Experiment 1, the verb was followed by a typical patient or by a less typical patient. In Experiment 2, grammatical sentences were constructed such that the verb was followed either by a typical patient or by a noun that could not be a patient of that verb. The typicality effect occurs in younger children and is interpreted in terms of developmental invariance. We suggest that this effect may depend on procedural memory, in line with studies that showed that meaning is necessary to allow procedural memory to learn the sequence of words in a sentence.

The Role of the Thalamus in Declarative and Procedural Linguistic Memory Processes

Typically, thalamic aphasias appear to be primarily lexical-semantic disorders representing difficulty using stored declarative memories for semantic information to access lexical word forms. Yet, there also is reason to believe that the thalamus might play a role in linguistic procedural memory. For more than two decades, we have known that basal ganglia dysfunction is associated with difficulties in procedural learning, and specific thalamic nuclei are the final waypoint back to the cortex in cortico-basal ganglia-cortical loops. Recent analyses of the role of the thalamus in lexical-semantic processes and of the role of the basal ganglia in linguistic processes suggest that thalamic participation is not simply a matter of declarative vs. procedural memory, but a matter of how the thalamus participates in lexical-semantic processes and in linguistic procedural memory, as well as the interaction of these processes. One role for the thalamus in accessing lexical forms for semantic concepts relates to the stabilization of a very complex semantic-lexical interface with thousands of representations on both sides of the interface. Further, the possibility is discussed that the thalamus, through its participation in basal ganglia loops, participates in two linguistic procedural memory processes: syntactic/grammatical procedures and procedures for finding words to represent semantic concepts, with the latter interacting intricately with declarative memories. These concepts are discussed in detail along with complexities that can be addressed by future research.