Search results for "Memory"

The impact of cortisol reactivity to acute stress on memory: Sex differences in middle-aged people

2010

Stress has been identified as a main factor involved in the cognitive changes that occur during the aging process. This study investigated sex differences in the relationship between the magnitude of the acute stress-induced salivary cortisol response and memory performance among middle-aged people. To this end, 16 men and 16 women (aged 54-72 years) were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test and a control condition in a crossover design. Afterwards their memory performance was measured using a standardized memory test (Rey's Auditory Verbal Learning Test). Only among women, there was an acute impact of stress on memory performance and a significant relationship between a higher cortisol …

Hair cortisol and cognitive performance in healthy older people

2013

Summary Worse cognitive performance in older people has been associated with hypothalamic—pituitary—adrenal axis dysregulation (in particular, higher cortisol levels). Analysis of hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) is a novel method to measure long-term cortisol exposure, and its relationship with cognition in healthy older people has not yet been studied. We investigated whether HCC (measured in hair scalp) and diurnal salivary cortisol levels (awakening, 30 min after awakening, and evening, across two days) were related to cognitive performance (assessed with the Trail-making Test A and B, Digit Span Forward and Backward, word list-RAVLT and Stories subtest of the Rivermead) in 57 healthy…

Two versus three doses of a meningococcal C conjugate vaccine concomitantly administered with a hexavalent DTaP-IPV-HBV/Hib vaccine in healthy infant…

2007

The immunogenicity and reactogenicity of a meningococcal serogroup C (MenC) conjugate vaccine given concomitantly with DTaP-IPV-HBV/Hib vaccine according to a two- or three-dose schedule in healthy infants was evaluated. At 1 month post-vaccination, 98% (two doses) and 100% (three doses) of subjects had serum bactericidal antibody using human complement assay (hSBA) titres > or =1:8; at 12 months of age > or =89% of subjects in each group remained seroprotected. Induction of immunological memory, as evaluated by administration of a meningococcal serogroup A/C polysaccharide vaccine challenge dose, was similar for both regimens and no interference was observed in the immune response to MenC …

Cue valence representation studied by Fos immunocytochemistry after acquisition of a discrimination learning task.

2003

The piriform cortex (PCx) and related structures such as hippocampus and frontal cortex could play an important role in olfactory memory. We investigated their involvement in learning the biological value of an odor cue, i.e. predicting reward or non-reward in a two-odor discrimination task. Rats were sacrificed after stimulation by either rewarded or non-rewarded odor and Fos immunocytochemistry was performed. The different experimental groups of rats did not show strongly differentiated Fos expression pattern in either the PCx or the hippocampus. A few differences were noted in frontal areas. In the ventro-lateral orbital cortex, rats, ramdomly rewarded during the conditionning had a high…

Working memory resources in young children with mathematical difficulties.

2009

Working memory (WM) (Baddeley, 1986, 1997) is argued to be one of the most important cognitive resources underlying mathematical competence (Geary, 2004). Research has established close links between WM deficits and mathematical difficulties. This study investigated the possible deficits in WM, language and fluid intelligence that seem to characterize 4- to 6-year-old children with poor early mathematical skills before formal mathematics education. Children with early mathematical difficulties showed poor performance in both verbal and visuospatial WM tasks as well as on language tests and a fluid intelligence test indicating a thoroughly lower cognitive base. Poor WM performance was not mo…

Protective role of nuclear factor of activated T cells 2 in CD8+ long-lived memory T cells in an allergy model

2007

Background The transcriptional regulation of cytokines released and controlled by memory T cells is not well understood. Defective IFN-γ production in allergic asthma correlates in human beings with the risk of wheezing in childhood. Objective To understand the role of the transcription factor nuclear factor of activated T cells 2 (NFATc2) in memory and effector T cells in the airways in experimental allergic asthma. Methods We used murine models of allergic asthma and adoptive cell transfer of fluorescence-activated sorted cells in a disease model. Results Mice lacking NFATc2 developed an increase in airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), remodeling, and serum IgE levels on ovalbumin sensitizat…

Assessing Reading Skills with a Computer-aided Set of Tests Based on the Dual-route Theory of Reading

1993

Basic numeracy in children with specific language impairment: heterogeneity and connections to language.

2006

Purpose This study examined basic numerical skills in children with specific language impairment (SLI) and how well linguistic factors explain the variance in these children’s number skills. Method The performance of children with SLI ( n = 29) was compared with that of typically developing children along a continuum ranging from preschool to 3rd grade ( n = 20, 47, 40, and 33). This facilitated both linguistic and educational age comparisons. To study number skills within the SLI group more closely, this group was divided into subgroups on the basis of their performance in verbal and nonverbal numerical skills. The performance of the different SLI subgroups on the linguistic and nonverbal…

Children with differing developmental trajectories of prelinguistic communication skills: language and working memory at age 5.

2014

Purpose In this article, the authors examine the developmental continuity from prelinguistic communication to kindergarten age in language and working memory capacity. Method Following work outlining 6 groups of children with different trajectories of early communication development (ECD; Määttä, Laakso, Tolvanen, Ahonen, & Aro, 2012), the authors examined their later development by psychometric assessment. Ninety-one children first assessed at ages 12–21 months completed a battery of language and working memory tests at age 5;3 (years;months). Results Two of the ECD groups previously identified as being at risk for language difficulties continued to show weaker performance at follow-u…

Perception of phonemic length and its relation to reading and spelling skills in children with family risk for dyslexia in the first three grades of …

2010

Purpose To examine the ability to discriminate phonemic length and the association of this ability with reading accuracy, reading speed, and spelling accuracy in Finnish children throughout Grades 1–3. Method Reading-disabled (RDFR, n = 35) and typically reading children (TRFR, n = 69) with family risk for dyslexia and typically reading control children (TRC, n = 80) were tested once in each grade of Grades 1–3 using a phonemic length discrimination task. Reading, spelling, IQ, verbal short-term memory, phonological memory, and naming speed were assessed. Results The RDFR group made more errors in phonemic length discrimination than the TRC group in Grades 2 and 3. After taking into accoun…