{"title":"Speech connectedness predicts reading performance three months in advance: a longitudinal experiment","authors":"Bárbara Malcorra, Marina Ribeiro, Luísa Jensen, Giovana Gomes, Tamara Meletti, Natália Bezerra Mota","doi":"10.1038/s41539-024-00248-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-024-00248-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Aiming to verify the predictive value of oral narrative structure on reading acquisition, we followed 253 children (first and second graders) during an entire school year, assessing oral narratives and reading performances in five sessions. Transcriptions of oral narratives were represented as word-recurrence graphs to measure connectedness attributes. Connectedness predicted performance in phonological awareness, reading comprehension, and word reading accuracy 3–4 months in advance.</p>","PeriodicalId":48503,"journal":{"name":"npj Science of Learning","volume":"40 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140835427","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yoshiki Matsumura, Neil W. Roach, James Heron, Makoto Miyazaki
{"title":"Body-part specificity for learning of multiple prior distributions in human coincidence timing","authors":"Yoshiki Matsumura, Neil W. Roach, James Heron, Makoto Miyazaki","doi":"10.1038/s41539-024-00241-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-024-00241-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p>During timing tasks, the brain learns the statistical distribution of target intervals and integrates this prior knowledge with sensory inputs to optimise task performance. Daily events can have different temporal statistics (e.g., fastball/slowball in baseball batting), making it important to learn and retain multiple priors. However, the rules governing this process are not yet understood. Here, we demonstrate that the learning of multiple prior distributions in a coincidence timing task is characterised by body-part specificity. In our experiments, two prior distributions (short and long intervals) were imposed on participants. When using only one body part for timing responses, regardless of the priors, participants learned a single prior by generalising over the two distributions. However, when the two priors were assigned to different body parts, participants concurrently learned the two independent priors. Moreover, body-part specific prior acquisition was faster when the priors were assigned to anatomically distant body parts (e.g., hand/foot) than when they were assigned to close body parts (e.g., index/middle fingers). This suggests that the body-part specific learning of priors is organised according to somatotopy.</p>","PeriodicalId":48503,"journal":{"name":"npj Science of Learning","volume":"60 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140835221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Alpha neurofeedback training improves visual working memory in healthy individuals","authors":"Wenbin Zhou, Wenya Nan, Kaiwen Xiong, Yixuan Ku","doi":"10.1038/s41539-024-00242-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-024-00242-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Neurofeedback (NF) training is a closed-loop brain training in which participants learn to regulate their neural activation. NF training of alpha (8–12 Hz) activity has been reported to enhance working memory capacity, but whether it affects the precision in working memory has not yet been explored. Moreover, whether NF training distinctively influences performance in different types of working memory tasks remains unclear. Therefore, the present study conducted a randomized, single-blind, sham-controlled experiment to investigate how alpha NF training affected the capacity and precision of working memory, as well as the related neural change. Forty participants were randomly and equally assigned to the NF group and the sham control group. Both groups received NF training (about 30 min daily) for five consecutive days. The NF group received alpha (8–12 Hz) training, while the sham control group received sham NF training. We found a significant alpha increase within sessions but no significant difference across sessions. However, the behavioral performance and neural activity in the modified Sternberg task did not show significant change after alpha NF training. On the contrary, the alpha NF training group significantly increased visual working memory capacity measured by the Corsi-block tapping task and improved visual working memory precision in the interference condition in a color-recall task. These results suggest that alpha NF training influences performance in working memory tasks involved in the visuospatial sketchpad. Notably, we demonstrated that alpha NF training improves the quantity and quality of visual working memory.</p>","PeriodicalId":48503,"journal":{"name":"npj Science of Learning","volume":"58 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140614537","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An update on recent advances in targeted memory reactivation during sleep","authors":"Julia Carbone, Susanne Diekelmann","doi":"10.1038/s41539-024-00244-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-024-00244-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Targeted Memory Reactivation (TMR) is a noninvasive tool to manipulate memory consolidation during sleep. TMR builds on the brain’s natural processes of memory reactivation during sleep and aims to facilitate or bias these processes in a certain direction. The basis of this technique is the association of learning content with sensory cues, such as odors or sounds, that are presented during subsequent sleep to promote memory reactivation. Research on TMR has drastically increased over the last decade with rapid developments. The aim of the present review is to highlight the most recent advances of this research. We focus on effects of TMR on the strengthening of memories in the declarative, procedural and emotional memory domain as well as on ways in which TMR can be used to promote forgetting. We then discuss advanced technical approaches to determine the optimal timing of TMR within the ongoing oscillatory activity of the sleeping brain as well as the specificity of TMR for certain memory contents. We further highlight the specific effects of TMR during REM sleep and in influencing dream content. Finally, we discuss recent evidence for potential applications of TMR for mental health, educational purposes and in the home setting. In conclusion, the last years of research have provided substantial advances in TMR that can guide future endeavors in research and application.</p>","PeriodicalId":48503,"journal":{"name":"npj Science of Learning","volume":"42 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140601097","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Felipe Pedraza, Bence C. Farkas, Teodóra Vékony, Frederic Haesebaert, Romane Phelipon, Imola Mihalecz, Karolina Janacsek, Royce Anders, Barbara Tillmann, Gaën Plancher, Dezső Németh
{"title":"Evidence for a competitive relationship between executive functions and statistical learning","authors":"Felipe Pedraza, Bence C. Farkas, Teodóra Vékony, Frederic Haesebaert, Romane Phelipon, Imola Mihalecz, Karolina Janacsek, Royce Anders, Barbara Tillmann, Gaën Plancher, Dezső Németh","doi":"10.1038/s41539-024-00243-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-024-00243-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The ability of the brain to extract patterns from the environment and predict future events, known as statistical learning, has been proposed to interact in a competitive manner with prefrontal lobe-related networks and their characteristic cognitive or executive functions. However, it remains unclear whether these cognitive functions also possess a competitive relationship with implicit statistical learning across individuals and at the level of latent executive function components. In order to address this currently unknown aspect, we investigated, in two independent experiments (N<sub>Study1</sub> = 186, N<sub>Study2</sub> = 157), the relationship between implicit statistical learning, measured by the Alternating Serial Reaction Time task, and executive functions, measured by multiple neuropsychological tests. In both studies, a modest, but consistent negative correlation between implicit statistical learning and most executive function measures was observed. Factor analysis further revealed that a factor representing verbal fluency and complex working memory seemed to drive these negative correlations. Thus, the antagonistic relationship between implicit statistical learning and executive functions might specifically be mediated by the updating component of executive functions or/and long-term memory access.</p>","PeriodicalId":48503,"journal":{"name":"npj Science of Learning","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140601111","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Investigating lexical categorization in reading based on joint diagnostic and training approaches for language learners","authors":"Benjamin Gagl, Klara Gregorová","doi":"10.1038/s41539-024-00237-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-024-00237-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Efficient reading is essential for societal participation, so reading proficiency is a central educational goal. Here, we use an individualized diagnostics and training framework to investigate processes in visual word recognition and evaluate its usefulness for detecting training responders. We (i) motivated a training procedure based on the Lexical Categorization Model (LCM) to introduce the framework. The LCM describes pre-lexical orthographic processing implemented in the left-ventral occipital cortex and is vital to reading. German language learners trained their lexical categorization abilities while we monitored reading speed change. In three studies, most language learners increased their reading skills. Next, we (ii) estimated, for each word, the LCM-based features and assessed each reader’s lexical categorization capabilities. Finally, we (iii) explored machine learning procedures to find the optimal feature selection and regression model to predict the benefit of the lexical categorization training for each individual. The best-performing pipeline increased reading speed from 23% in the unselected group to 43% in the machine-selected group. This selection process strongly depended on parameters associated with the LCM. Thus, training in lexical categorization can increase reading skills, and accurate computational descriptions of brain functions that allow the motivation of a training procedure combined with machine learning can be powerful for individualized reading training procedures.</p>","PeriodicalId":48503,"journal":{"name":"npj Science of Learning","volume":"50 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140601012","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Guilherme Lichand, Julien Christen, Eppie Van Egeraat
{"title":"Neglecting students’ socio-emotional skills magnified learning losses during the pandemic","authors":"Guilherme Lichand, Julien Christen, Eppie Van Egeraat","doi":"10.1038/s41539-024-00235-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-024-00235-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Did the dramatic learning losses from remote learning in the context of COVID-19 stem at least partly from schools having overlooked students’ socio-emotional skills—such as their ability to self-regulate emotions, their mental models, motivation, and grit—during the emergency transition to remote learning? We study this question using a cluster-randomized control trial with 18,256 high-school students across 87 schools in the State of Goiás, Brazil. The intervention sent behavioral nudges through text messages to students or their caregivers, targeting their socio-emotional skills during remote learning. Here we show that these messages significantly increased standardized test scores relative to the control group, preventing 7.5% of learning losses in math and 24% in Portuguese, consistent with the hypothesis that neglecting students’ socio-emotional skills magnified learning losses during the pandemic.</p>","PeriodicalId":48503,"journal":{"name":"npj Science of Learning","volume":"66 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140601119","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Eryn J. Adams, Molly E. Scott, Melina Amarante, Chanel A. Ramírez, Stephanie J. Rowley, Kimberly G. Noble, Sonya V. Troller-Renfree
{"title":"Fostering inclusion in EEG measures of pediatric brain activity","authors":"Eryn J. Adams, Molly E. Scott, Melina Amarante, Chanel A. Ramírez, Stephanie J. Rowley, Kimberly G. Noble, Sonya V. Troller-Renfree","doi":"10.1038/s41539-024-00240-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-024-00240-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The past two decades have seen a rapid increase in neuroscientific evidence being used to characterize how contextual, structural, and societal factors shape cognition and school readiness. Measures of functional brain activity are increasingly viewed as markers of child development and biomarkers that could be employed to track the impact of interventions. While electroencephalography (EEG) provides a promising tool to understand educational inequities, traditional EEG data acquisition is commonly limited in some racial and ethnic groups due to hair types and styles. This ultimately constitutes unintentional systemic racism by disproportionately excluding participants from certain racial and ethnic groups from participation and representation in neuroscience research. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of how cultural considerations surrounding hair density, texture, and styling consistently skew samples to be less representative by disproportionately excluding Black and Latinx participants. We also provide recommendations and materials to promote best practices.</p>","PeriodicalId":48503,"journal":{"name":"npj Science of Learning","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140601011","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yu-Ping Lin, Yujia Shi, Ruoyu Zhang, Xiao Xue, Shitao Rao, Liangying Yin, Kelvin Fai Hong Lui, Dora Jue Pan, Urs Maurer, Kwong-Wai Choy, Silvia Paracchini, Catherine McBride, Hon-Cheong So
{"title":"A genome-wide association study of Chinese and English language phenotypes in Hong Kong Chinese children.","authors":"Yu-Ping Lin, Yujia Shi, Ruoyu Zhang, Xiao Xue, Shitao Rao, Liangying Yin, Kelvin Fai Hong Lui, Dora Jue Pan, Urs Maurer, Kwong-Wai Choy, Silvia Paracchini, Catherine McBride, Hon-Cheong So","doi":"10.1038/s41539-024-00229-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41539-024-00229-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Dyslexia and developmental language disorders are important learning difficulties. However, their genetic basis remains poorly understood, and most genetic studies were performed on Europeans. There is a lack of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on literacy phenotypes of Chinese as a native language and English as a second language (ESL) in a Chinese population. In this study, we conducted GWAS on 34 reading/language-related phenotypes in Hong Kong Chinese bilingual children (including both twins and singletons; total N = 1046). We performed association tests at the single-variant, gene, and pathway levels. In addition, we tested genetic overlap of these phenotypes with other neuropsychiatric disorders, as well as cognitive performance (CP) and educational attainment (EA) using polygenic risk score (PRS) analysis. Totally 5 independent loci (LD-clumped at r<sup>2</sup> = 0.01; MAF > 0.05) reached genome-wide significance (p < 5e-08; filtered by imputation quality metric Rsq>0.3 and having at least 2 correlated SNPs (r<sup>2</sup> > 0.5) with p < 1e-3). The loci were associated with a range of language/literacy traits such as Chinese vocabulary, character and word reading, and rapid digit naming, as well as English lexical decision. Several SNPs from these loci mapped to genes that were reported to be associated with EA and other neuropsychiatric phenotypes, such as MANEA and PLXNC1. In PRS analysis, EA and CP showed the most consistent and significant polygenic overlap with a variety of language traits, especially English literacy skills. To summarize, this study revealed the genetic basis of Chinese and English abilities in a group of Chinese bilingual children. Further studies are warranted to replicate the findings.</p>","PeriodicalId":48503,"journal":{"name":"npj Science of Learning","volume":"9 1","pages":"26"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10973362/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140307378","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sara Bertoni, Chiara Andreola, Sara Mascheretti, Sandro Franceschini, Milena Ruffino, Vittoria Trezzi, Massimo Molteni, Maria Enrica Sali, Antonio Salandi, Ombretta Gaggi, Claudio Palazzi, Simone Gori, Andrea Facoetti
{"title":"Action video games normalise the phonemic awareness in pre-readers at risk for developmental dyslexia.","authors":"Sara Bertoni, Chiara Andreola, Sara Mascheretti, Sandro Franceschini, Milena Ruffino, Vittoria Trezzi, Massimo Molteni, Maria Enrica Sali, Antonio Salandi, Ombretta Gaggi, Claudio Palazzi, Simone Gori, Andrea Facoetti","doi":"10.1038/s41539-024-00230-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41539-024-00230-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Action video-games (AVGs) could improve reading efficiency, enhancing not only visual attention but also phonological processing. Here we tested the AVG effects upon three consolidated language-based predictors of reading development in a sample of 79 pre-readers at-risk and 41 non-at-risk for developmental dyslexia. At-risk children were impaired in either phonemic awareness (i.e., phoneme discrimination task), phonological working memory (i.e., pseudoword repetition task) or rapid automatized naming (i.e., RAN of colours task). At-risk children were assigned to different groups by using an unequal allocation randomization: (1) AVG (n = 43), (2) Serious Non-Action Video Game (n = 11), (3) treatment-as-usual (i.e., speech therapy, n = 11), and (4) waiting list (n = 14). Pre- and post-training comparisons show that only phonemic awareness has a significantly higher improvement in the AVG group compared to the waiting list, the non-AVG, and the treatment-as-usual groups, as well as the combined active groups (n = 22). This cross-modal plastic change: (i) leads to a recovery in phonemic awareness when compared to the not-at-risk pre-readers; (ii) is present in more than 80% of AVG at-risk pre-readers, and; (iii) is maintained at a 6-months follow-up. The present findings indicate that this specific multisensory attentional training positively affects how phonemic awareness develops in pre-readers at risk for developmental dyslexia, paving the way for innovative prevention programs.</p>","PeriodicalId":48503,"journal":{"name":"npj Science of Learning","volume":"9 1","pages":"25"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10957868/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140186054","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}