Search results for "Learning and memory"
showing 10 items of 46 documents
Tracking the Emergence of the Consonant Bias in Visual-Word Recognition: Evidence with Developing Readers
2014
Recent research with skilled adult readers has consistently revealed an advantage of consonants over vowels in visual-word recognition (i.e., the so-called "consonant bias"). Nevertheless, little is known about how early in development the consonant bias emerges. This work aims to address this issue by studying the relative contribution of consonants and vowels at the early stages of visual-word recognition in developing readers (2(nd) and 4(th) Grade children) and skilled adult readers (college students) using a masked priming lexical decision task. Target words starting either with a consonant or a vowel were preceded by a briefly presented masked prime (50 ms) that could be the same as t…
Loss of all three APP family members during development impairs synaptic function and plasticity, disrupts learning, and causes an autism-like phenot…
2021
The key role of APP for Alzheimer pathogenesis is well established. However, perinatal lethality of germline knockout mice lacking the entire APP family has so far precluded the analysis of its physiological functions for the developing and adult brain. Here, we generated conditional APP/APLP1/APLP2 triple KO (cTKO) mice lacking the APP family in excitatory forebrain neurons from embryonic day 11.5 onwards. NexCre cTKO mice showed altered brain morphology with agenesis of the corpus callosum and disrupted hippocampal lamination. Further, NexCre cTKOs revealed reduced basal synaptic transmission and drastically reduced long-term potentiation that was associated with reduced dendritic length …
Children show right-lateralized effects of spoken word-form learning
2017
It is commonly thought that phonological learning is different in young children compared to adults, possibly due to the speech processing system not yet having reached full native-language specialization. However, the neurocognitive mechanisms of phonological learning in children are poorly understood. We employed magnetoencephalography (MEG) to track cortical correlates of incidental learning of meaningless word forms over two days as 6±8-year-olds overtly repeated them. Native (Finnish) pseudowords were compared with words of foreign sound structure (Korean) to investigate whether the cortical learning effects would be more dependent on previous proficiency in the language rather than ma…
Beneficial effects of choir singing on cognition and well-being of older adults: Evidence from a cross-sectional study.
2021
Background and objectivesChoir singing has been associated with better mood and quality of life (QOL) in healthy older adults, but little is known about its potential cognitive benefits in aging. In this study, our aim was to compare the subjective (self-reported) and objective (test-based) cognitive functioning of senior choir singers and matched control subjects, coupled with assessment of mood, QOL, and social functioning.Research design and methodsWe performed a cross-sectional questionnaire study in 162 healthy older (age ≥ 60 years) adults (106 choir singers, 56 controls), including measures of cognition, mood, social engagement, QOL, and role of music in daily life. The choir singers…
Alcohol preference, behavioural reactivity and cognitive functioning in female rats exposed to a three-bottle choice paradigm.
2012
Alcohol abuse is a substantial and growing health problem in Western societies. In the last years in vivo and in vitro studies have suggested that males and females display a different alcohol drinking behaviour, with swingeing differences not only in the propensity for alcohol use but also in the metabolic and behavioural consequences. In this study we investigated, in adult female rats, ethanol self-administration and preference pattern using a 3-bottle paradigm with water, 10% ethanol solution, and white wine (10%, v/v), along a four-week period. The influence of alcohol free-access on explorative behaviour in the open field (OF), and on spatial learning and reference memory in the Morri…
Short-Term Long Chain Omega3 Diet Protects from Neuroinflammatory Processes and Memory Impairment in Aged Mice
2011
Regular consumption of food enriched in omega3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (oméga3 PUFAs) has been shown to reduce risk of cognitive decline in elderly, and possibly development of Alzheimer's disease. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) are the most likely active components of oméga3-rich PUFAs diets in the brain. We therefore hypothesized that exposing mice to a DHA and EPA enriched diet may reduce neuroinflammation and protect against memory impairment in aged mice. For this purpose, mice were exposed to a control diet throughout life and were further submitted to a diet enriched in EPA and DHA during 2 additional months. Cytokine expression together with a thoroug…
Psychophysiological responses of junior orienteers under competitive pressure
2018
The purpose of the study was to examine psychobiosocial states, cognitive functions, endocrine responses (i.e., salivary cortisol and chromogranin A), and performance under competitive pressure in orienteering athletes. The study was grounded in the individual zones of optimal functioning (IZOF) and biopsychosocial models. Fourteen junior orienteering athletes (7 girls and 7 boys), ranging in age from 15 to 20 years (M = 16.93, SD = 1.77) took part in a two-day competitive event. To enhance competitive pressure, emphasis was placed on the importance of the competition and race outcome. Psychophysiological and performance data were collected at several points before, during, and after the ra…
Choice of CTO scores to predict procedural success in clinical practice. A comparison of 4 different CTO PCI scores in a comprehensive national regis…
2021
Background We aimed to compare the performance of the recent CASTLE score to J-CTO, CL and PROGRESS CTO scores in a comprehensive database of percutaneous coronary intervention of chronic total occlusion procedures. Methods Scores were calculated using raw data from 1,342 chronic total occlusion procedures included in REBECO Registry that includes learning and expert operators. Calibration, discrimination and reclassification were evaluated and compared. Results Mean score values were: CASTLE 1.60±1.10, J-CTO 2.15±1.24, PROGRESS 1.68±0.94 and CL 2.52±1.52 points. The overall percutaneous coronary intervention success rate was 77.8%. Calibration was good for CASTLE and CL, but not for J-CTO…
Memory-Based Mismatch Response to Frequency Changes in Rats
2011
Any occasional changes in the acoustic environment are of potential importance for survival. In humans, the preattentive detection of such changes generates the mismatch negativity (MMN) component of event-related brain potentials. MMN is elicited to rare changes (‘deviants’) in a series of otherwise regularly repeating stimuli (‘standards’). Deviant stimuli are detected on the basis of a neural comparison process between the input from the current stimulus and the sensory memory trace of the standard stimuli. It is, however, unclear to what extent animals show a similar comparison process in response to auditory changes. To resolve this issue, epidural potentials were recorded above the pr…
Memorable Experiences with Sad Music : Reasons, Reactions and Mechanisms of Three Types of Experiences
2016
Reactions to memorable experiences of sad music were studied by means of a survey administered to a convenience (N = 1577), representative (N = 445), and quota sample (N = 414). The survey explored the reasons, mechanisms, and emotions of such experiences. Memorable experiences linked with sad music typically occurred in relation to extremely familiar music, caused intense and pleasurable experiences, which were accompanied by physiological reactions and positive mood changes in about a third of the participants. A consistent structure of reasons and emotions for these experiences was identified through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses across the samples. Three types of sadness …