A Naturalistic Intervention to Promote Executive Functions in Primary School Children: A Pilot Study.

Executive functions are related to the control of cognition, emotion, and behavior. They are essential to lifelong outcomes, including school performance. Naturalistic interventions embedded in children's daily activities and environments have greater effects. Therefore, this pilot study aimed to develop a naturalistic program suitable for schools, based on Goal Management Training (GMT), and to analyze its effects on executive functions and behavior. The participants consisted of 35 students from 2nd to 5th grade with executive dysfunction complaints. They underwent neuropsychological assessments of working memory, inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and intellectual capacity. Teachers and parents answered questionnaires on executive functions and behavior. Students were randomly assigned to an active control group, who participated in sessions on citizenship, and an experimental group (EG), stimulated through the executive function program, both with 16 sessions conducted by psychologists. After the intervention, all participants were reevaluated. The two-way Wald-type statistic (WTS) revealed greater improvement in executive functions for the EG, including working memory and inhibition. Additionally, parents and teachers, blind to the experimental conditions, reported improvements in some measures of executive functions and behavior. The results are encouraging, but further studies should test the intervention when implemented with larger samples and by teachers.

Working memory assessment in schizophrenia and its correlation with executive functions ability.

OBJECTIVE: Working memory impairment is common in schizophrenia and is possibly a cause of multiple features of the disorder. However few studies have replicated such findings of impairment patterns in Brazilian samples. The main target of this study was to assess auditory and visual working memory in patients with schizophrenia, to assess if they work as separate systems, and to correlate working memory deficits with executive functions. METHOD: Twenty subjects with schizophrenia and twenty healthy subjects matched by gender, age, and schooling have participated. The abilities assessed were auditory and visual working memory, selective attention, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and planning. RESULTS: Patients showed declines in all measures evaluated, except for a measure reaction time of inhibitory control. Auditory working memory was correlated to selective attention, inhibition, flexibility and planning while Visual working memory to planning and flexibility. CONCLUSION: The present study suggests that working memory and executive functions deficits are present in patients with schizophrenia in the Brazilian sample evaluated. Alterations in executive functions may lead to incapacity of operation of processes of working memory. These findings may contribute to delineate and develop new strategies of schizophrenia treatment in the Brazilian population.

Working memory assessment in schizophrenia and its correlation with executive functions ability / Avaliação da memória de trabalho na esquizofrenia e sua correlação com habilidades de funções executivas

OBJECTIVE: Working memory impairment is common in schizophrenia and is possibly a cause of multiple features of the disorder. However few studies have replicated such findings of impairment patterns in Brazilian samples. The main target of this study was to assess auditory and visual working memory in patients with schizophrenia, to assess if they work as separate systems, and to correlate working memory deficits with executive functions. METHOD: Twenty subjects with schizophrenia and twenty healthy subjects matched by gender, age, and schooling have participated. The abilities assessed were auditory and visual working memory, selective attention, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and planning. RESULTS: Patients showed declines in all measures evaluated, except for a measure reaction time of inhibitory control. Auditory working memory was correlated to selective attention, inhibition, flexibility and planning while Visual working memory to planning and flexibility. CONCLUSION: The present study suggests that working memory and executive functions deficits are present in patients with schizophrenia in the Brazilian sample evaluated. Alterations in executive functions may lead to incapacity of operation of processes of working memory. These findings may contribute to delineate and develop new strategies of schizophrenia treatment in the Brazilian population.

OBJETIVO: Prejuízos em memória de trabalho são comuns na esquizofrenia e possíveis causas de múltiplas características do transtorno. Entretanto, poucos estudos reproduziram achados de padrões específicos de déficits em amostras brasileiras de pacientes com esquizofrenia. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi avaliar a memória de trabalho auditiva e visual na esquizofrenia, verificar se estas habilidades operam como dois sistemas separados, e relacionar possíveis déficits de memória de trabalho com habilidades de funções executivas. MÉTODO: Foram incluídos 20 indivíduos com esquizofrenia e 20 indivíduos saudáveis pareados quanto a sexo, idade e escolaridade. As habilidades avaliadas foram memória de trabalho auditiva e visual, atenção seletiva, controle inibitório, flexibilidade cognitiva e planejamento. RESULTADOS: Os pacientes demonstraram prejuízos em todas as medidas dos testes, exceto em tempo de reação de controle inibitório. Pacientes apresentaram significante correlação entre MT auditiva com medidas de atenção seletiva, controle inibitório, flexibilidade e planejamento. Memória de trabalho visual apresentou correlações com planejamento e flexibilidade. CONCLUSÃO: Este estudo sugere que déficits em memória de trabalho e funções executivas estão presentes em pacientes esquizofrênicos na amostra brasileira avaliada. Alterações nas funções executivas podem levar a incapacidade de adequadas operações de memória de trabalho. Esses achados podem contribuir no delineamento de novos procedimentos de intervenção na esquizofrenia em populações brasileiras.