Search results for "Executive functions"
showing 10 items of 182 documents
From two to many: The role of executive functions in young children's generalization of novel object names in a comparison design
2020
In this study, 4-year-old children were tested in an object name generalization task with a stimulus comparison design. Performance in the generalization task was correlated with performance in a vocabulary test and three executive function tasks assessing inhibition, flexibility, and working memory. Correlational analyses revealed a significant association with flexibility but not with inhibition, working memory or vocabulary test. We interpret the results in terms of a capacity to flexibly generate novel dimensions rather than inhibiting irrelevant dimensions. Individual differences in working memory and inhibition did not significantly influence performance in the word extension task. Mo…
Addiction Research Unit: Affective and cognitive mechanisms of specific Internet‐use disorders
2021
In the eleventh International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) of the World Health Organization, gambling disorder and gaming disorder are included in the category 'disorders due to addictive behaviours', which can be specified further as occurring either predominantly offline or predominantly online. Other specific problematic behaviours may be considered for the category 'other specified disorders due to addictive behaviours'. The Research Unit FOR 2974, funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG), focuses on the most prominent online addictive behaviours: gaming, pornography use, buying-shopping and social-networks use. The main goal of the Research…
Parental Distress and Perception of Children’s Executive Functioning after the First COVID‐19 Lockdown in Italy
2021
The spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), and the consequential first italian lockdown to minimize viral transmission, have resulted in many significant changes in the every-day lives of families, with an increased risk of parental burnout. This study explores the impact of the first COVID-19 lockdown in Italy on parental distress and parental perceptions of children’s executive functions (EFs). Participants were 308 Italian parents with children between 4 and 17 years of age; they were recruited through online advertisements on websites and social media, and they were given an online survey. The measures were: the balance between risks and resources (BR2) and the executive functionin…
Modulation of Irisin and Physical Activity on Executive Functions in Obesity and Morbid obesity
2016
Whether the executive profile is different between obesity (OB) and morbid obesity (MO) remains unclear. Recent evidence suggests that physical activity (PA) can act as a cognitive enhancer. Irisin is a recently discovered hormone associated with some of the positive effects of PA. The objective of the study was to investigate the executive profile in OB and MO, and to explore the role of PA and irisin. 114 participants were included (21 OB, 44 MO and 49 healthy controls-HC) in the study and assessed with the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Stroop Color and Word Test, and Iowa Gambling Task. All participants were female, aged between 18 and 60 years. Results showed a similar dysfunctional prof…
Physical fitness and motor coordination monitoring during enriched sport activities in a sample of children living in Europe. The Esa Program
2018
Enriched Sport Activities Program (ESA) is an Evidence-based Practice Exercise Program cofounded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union (Key action:Sport - 579661-EPP1-2016-2-IT-SPO-SCP). It aims to enhance social inclusion, equal opportunities and psycho-physical well being in school-age children with typical development and special needs trough sport activities enriched by cognitive tasks. A multidisciplinary approach has been employed; in detail, health - and skills-related physical fitness components, as well as developmental psychology and neuroscience research are the theoretical basis to implement an evidence-based program suitable to increase sport compliance in 7 different…
Fronto-parietal homotopy in resting-state functional connectivity predicts task-switching performance
2021
Homotopic functional connectivity reflects the degree of synchrony in spontaneous activity between homologous voxels in the two hemispheres. Previous studies have associated increased brain homotopy and decreased white matter integrity with performance decrements on different cognitive tasks across the life-span. Here, we correlated functional homotopy, both at the whole-brain level and specifically in fronto-parietal network nodes, with task-switching performance in young adults. Cue-to-target intervals (CTI: 300 vs. 1200 ms) were manipulated on a trial-by-trial basis to modulate cognitive demands and strategic control. We found that mixing costs, a measure of task-set maintenance and moni…
On the importance of being flexible: early interrelations between affective flexibility, executive functions and anxiety symptoms in preschoolers
2020
When children are confronted with an emotional problem, affective flexibility mobilizes their cognitive and emotional resources to optimally address it. We investigated the contribution of executiv...
The cerebral localization of executive functions
2018
Executive Functions (EFs) are a complex neuropsychological tool that can lead all action of daily-life indipendently from age. The attempt to associate specific regions of the central nervous system (CNS) with specific sensory functions, motor and cognitive skills is one of the most recurring themes in the history of neuroscience. The concept of cerebral localization of mental activities started from the formulations of beginning phrenologists in Nineteenth century, passing through the holistic conceptions and antilocalization that marked some periods of the Twentieth century, until the beginning of the new millennium, characterized by the enormous popularity of the techniques of functional…
Bērnu vadības funkcijas vecāku novērtējumā
2022
Pētījuma mērķis ietver atbildes rašanu uz pētījumā izvirzīto jautājumu: Vai pastāv atšķirības starp mammas novērtējumu un tēta novērtējumu par bērna vadības funkcijām, kā arī uz pētījumā izvirzīto hipotēzi: Pastāv saistība starp vecāku izglītības līmeni un vadības funkciju novērtējumu. Pētījuma izlasi sastādīja vecāki, ar priekšnoteikumu, ka viņiem ir bērns 2-6 gadu vecumā. Kopā pētījumā piedalījās 36 respondenti. Vidējais izglītības līmenis izlasē bija bakalaura grāds. Pētījumā tika izmantota CHEXI (Childhood Executive Functioning Inventory for parents and teachers) (Thorell & Nyberg, 2008) - bērnu vadības funkciju novērtējuma aptauja, kuru latviski šobrīd adaptē Mag. Psych. Edmunds Vanags…
A categorization and executive functions approach of food rejection in young children
2021
Food neophobia and pickiness are two strong psychological obstacles to young children’s consumption of fruits and vegetables, which are necessary components of a diet that facilitates normal and healthy development. It is therefore of critical importance to investigate the cognitive underpinnings of these two kinds of food rejection to promote the adoption of healthy eating behaviors. Food acceptance and rejection appear to be partly conditioned by children’s knowledge of the food domain. Knowledge allows children to recognize a given food, categorize it, and make inference-based decisions on its properties and possible consequences of consumption. Underdeveloped knowledge may cause food st…