Far Transfer Effects of Trainings on Executive Functions in Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Systematic Review and Metanalysis.

Executive Functions are a set of interrelated, top-down processes essential for adaptive goal-directed behaviour, frequently impaired across different neurodevelopmental disorders with variable degrees of severity. Many executive-function-training studies in children with neurodevelopmental disorders have focused on near effects, investigating post-treatment improvements on directly trained processes, while enhancements of skills not directly trained, defined as far effects, are less considered, albeit these could be extremely relevant for reducing the negative impact of a disorder's core symptomatology. This systematic review and metanalysis aims to investigate the far effect outcomes after EF training in children with different types of neurodevelopmental disorders. 17 studies met the inclusion criteria for the systematic review, while 15 studies were selected in the metanalysis. An overall statistically significant effect size was found in the majority of far effect outcome measures considered in the studies. In particular, trainings on executive functions determine significant far effects on daily life functioning (0.46, 95% CI: [0.05-0.87]) and clinical symptoms (0.33, 95% CI: [0.15-0.51]). Despite a high variability of the results, intensity, frequency and the laboratory/life contexts dimension seem to be the most influential variables in determining far effects. This systematic review and metanalysis highlights the need to measure far effects of executive function training in neurodevelopmental disorders, selecting treatments not only on directly targeted processes, but also according to far impacts on the functional weakness of the disorder.

Training RAN or reading? A telerehabilitation study on developmental dyslexia.

Rehabilitation procedures recommended for developmental dyslexia (DD) are still not fully defined, and only few studies directly compare different types of training. This study compared a training (Reading Trainer) working on the reading impairment with one (Run the RAN) working on the rapid automatized naming (RAN) impairment, one of the main cognitive deficits associated with DD. Two groups of DD children (N = 45) equivalent for age, sex, full IQ, and reading speed were trained either by Reading Trainer (n = 21) or by Run the RAN (n = 24); both trainings required an intensive home exercise, lasting 3 months. Both trainings showed significant improvements in reading speed and accuracy of passages and words. Bypassing the use of alphanumeric stimuli, but empowering the cognitive processes underlying reading, training RAN may be a valid tool in children with reading difficulties opening new perspectives for children with severe impairments or, even, at risk of reading difficulties.

Telerehabilitation in developmental dyslexia: methods of implementation and expected results.

BACKGROUND: Developmental Dyslexia is a disorder, highly frequent in the school population, for which the recommended rehabilitation procedures are not well defined. This study aimed to automatize reading decoding skills by using an innovative system for rehabilitation, based on a telerehabilitation method. It requires an intensive home-exercise with the supervision, by web, of the clinician. The study had three main aims: to diffuse knowledge on new methods for rehabilitation of reading difficulties; to verify whether an intensive and simplified exercise, targeted to the automation of reading, is suitable for different subgroups of dyslexic children; to define the treatment effects on basic cognitive functions underlying reading. METHODS: Twenty-five children, grouped according to the neuropsychological and anamnestic profiles, took part to the treatment by the software Reading Trainer®. RESULTS: Both speed and accuracy of reading decoding increased significantly after treatment, independently from the functional neuropsychological profile or the history of oral language delay. These changes were specific to decoding and not associated with improvements in reading comprehension or spelling skills. However, there was a "cascade effect" of the treatment efficacy on those basic cognitive functions considered precursors of the ability to read, with significant improvements in rapid lexical access, phonological processing and visual attention. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides information on the efficacy of new tools for telerehabilitation of specific reading disorders.

Telerehabilitation of Developmental Dyslexia: Critical Considerations on Intervention Methods and Their Effectiveness.

Paper-based or IT tools can be used in telerehabilitation mode to improve the skills of children with developmental dyslexia (DD), seeking to increase reading speed and reduce errors. Telerehabilitation is the provision of remote treatments in which the patient works autonomously in a familiar environment under the remote monitoring, through telecommunication means, of an expert operator. Through telerehabilitation, children with DD can receive treatments outside the specialist clinic, at home or school, via internet connections, and through advanced technological platforms. These procedures allow adequate communication with the family, intensity of treatment, self-adaptivity of exercises, and child engagement; these factors are crucial for a high intervention efficacy. Recent studies have supported the effectiveness of the telerehabilitation of reading in children with DD, with some studies reporting no differences in efficacy between remote and in-person methods. Nevertheless, many points remain to be clarified about the procedures and methods required by telerehabilitation, the variables linked to its effectiveness (e.g., the impact of the intensity of the training and the neuropsychological profile of the child), and the comparative validity of different tele-treatment paths. These aspects are discussed in the present paper.

Executive functions as predictors of learning prerequisites in preschool: A longitudinal study.

INTRODUCTION: This study focuses on 'learning prerequisites', cognitive and non-cognitive skills crucial for school success, often measured in preschoolers. Executive Functions (EF), like inhibition and cognitive flexibility, are vital among these prerequisites. While EF's role in early literacy and numeracy is acknowledged, some components are often overlooked. OBJECTIVE: The study aims to longitudinally explore the link between EF, assessed at the beginning of the preschool year and the learning prerequites, measured at the end of the same preschool year. METHOD AND RESULTS: Evaluating 70 preschoolers (62.30 months, SD 4.55), results showed that certain EF measures predicted performance in literacy and numeracy tasks. Specifically, response inhibition predicted rhyme and syllable recognition, series completion, and cognitive flexibility predicted rhyme recognition. Moreover, EF, particularly response inhibition, correlated with overall metaphonology and pre-math abilities. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest the importance of integrating EF enhancement in early educational interventions, aiding in selecting and optimizing EF skills crucial for later academic success.

The relationship between executive functions and writing in children: a systematic review.

Writing is a complex task that is acquired in the early primary school years and continues to develop through adolescence and beyond. Studying the cognitive processes that support writing skills during the acquisition phase may be crucial to support this complex skill especially in less-skilled writers. Executive Functions (EF) could have an important role as they are high cognitive control processes that allow individuals to control and plan thoughts and actions in order to achieve a goal. Given that EF have a crucial development during childhood, when the basic writing skills are acquired, this systematic review aims to investigate the contribution of the main EF components to the writing process in children. Search string focused on three main concepts: executive functions, writing, and children. Twenty-six studies were included following the guidelines of the PRISMA Statement. From the analyzed studies, working memory, in comparison to inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and planning, emerged as the most studied and the most related to writing skills. Nevertheless, the results also support the involvement of all EF basic components in writing, with a role that could vary depending on the considered writing process.0.

Neuromyths: Misconceptions about neurodevelopment by Italian teachers.

BACKGROUND: Neuromyths are commonly held misconceptions about the brain, often generated by a misunderstanding of scientifically established facts. To date, limited research has explored the pervalence of neuromyths about neurodevelopmental disorders in the teacher population. METHOD: The current study investigated the prevalence of teachers' general and neurodevelopmental neuromyths among 820 Italian teachers. RESULTS: Italian teachers correctly identified 73% of general neuromyths and 70% of neurodevelopmental neuromyths. The difference between general and neurodevelopmental neuromyths endorsement was significant. Frequency of accessing relevant information emerged as a protective factor. A mediation analysis showed that higher need for cognition was significantly associated with a higher frequency of accessing relevant information about the brain, which in turn led to lower endorsement of neuromyths. CONCLUSION: In line with our findings, we suggest that teachers can benefit from neuroeducation initiatives aimed to enhance neuroscience literacy in both the initial education and continuous professional development of teachers.

Which childhood predictive indices forecast reading and writing skills in school-age children: a systematic review.

Learning to read and write are essential academic skills that children develop during their early years of primary school. These skills are supported by various predictive indices that emerge in early childhood. This review has three main goals: to identify which factors are closely examined as predictors for reading and writing, specifically decoding and encoding skills, in different populations and languages (Objective 1); to assess the longitudinal relationship between these predictors and reading and writing skills (Objective 2), considering difficulties or disorders in these areas (Objective 3), during school-age. Using the PRISMA methodology, 81 articles were reviewed. As a first result, there is a significant difference in the number of studies investigating the relationship between predictors and reading (n = 75) compared to writing (n = 18). The most extensively studied predictors for both skills are phonological awareness, language skills, executive functions, rapid automatized naming, and non-verbal cognitive skills. English is the most studied language. Results indicated variability in the relationship between predictors and reading/writing, possibly due to differences in the analyzed populations, chosen outcome measures, and statistical analyses. Additionally, few studies explored the long-term connection between predictors and learning difficulties. In summary, recognizing the multifaceted nature of predictive factors for reading and writing is crucial, and early screening is important for tailored preventive interventions in case of early deficiencies. Future research should delve into writing, conduct cross-cultural studies with diverse languages, and explore the role of predictive factors in understanding reading and writing difficulties or disorders.

Semantic fluency in 3-6 years old preschoolers: which executive functions?

Semantic Fluency (SF) increases with age, along with the lexicon and the strategies to access it. Among the cognitive processes involved in controlling lexical access, Executive Functions (EF) play an essential role. Nevertheless, which EF, namely inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility, are specifically tapped by SF during preschool years, when these basic EF components are developing and differentiating, is still unknown. The study had a two-fold aim: 1. to analyze in preschoolers the role of EF basic components on SF; 2. to investigate if EF mediated the effect of age on SF. A total of 296 typically developing preschoolers (M age = 57.86; SD = 9.91; month range = 33-74) were assessed with an SF task and EF tasks measuring the main EF basic components. Results showed that during preschool, response inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility were significant predictors of SF, explaining 27% of its variance. Moreover, the effect of age on the SF task performance correlated with the improvement of these EF components. This study supports the importance of considering cognitive control processes in 3-6 year-old preschoolers as they underline important competencies for the child's development, such as the ability to quickly access vocabulary.

Body Shame in 7-12-Year-Old Girls and Boys: The Role of Parental Attention to Children's Appearance.

Guided by the Tripartite Influence Model and Objectification Theory, we examined whether parents' attention to their children's appearance was related to higher body shame in girls and boys. In Study 1 (N = 195) and 2 (N = 163), we investigated 7-12-year-old children's metaperceptions about parents' attention to their appearance and its association with children's body shame. In Study 3, we examined the link between parents' self-reported attention to their children's appearance and children's body shame among parent-child triads (N = 70). Results demonstrated that both children's metaperceptions and fathers' self-reported attention to children's appearance were associated with body shame in children. Furthermore, when mothers' and fathers' attitudes toward their children were analyzed simultaneously, only fathers' attention to their children's appearance was associated with greater body shame in girls and boys. Notably, no gender differences emerged, suggesting that parents' attention to their children's appearance was not differentially related to body shame in girls and boys. These results remained significant when controlling for other sources of influence, namely peer and media influence, both of which were found to have a strong association with body shame in children. Theoretical and practical implications of our findings are discussed.

Telerehabilitation Pathways in Specific Learning Disorders: Improving Reading and Writing.

Telerehabilitation has proved to be a useful tool for neurodevelopmental disorders in allowing timely and intensive intervention and preventing relapses; it is also widely used for specific learning disabilities (SLD), showing significant effects on reading abilities, but variables linked to its effectiveness have not been studied yet. The present study was aimed at testing the effectiveness of telerehabilitation on reading and writing in SLD children, comparing different treatment pathways, and considering the impact of training intensity and executive functions. Seventy-three children were enrolled (telerehabilitation group: 48 children, waiting list group: 25 children). The results showed significant improvements in reading fluency, text dictation, and executive functions in the training group. Children attending a combined training including reading tasks and rapid automatized naming processes improved in word reading fluency and text dictation. The number of training sessions and the change in executive functions significantly correlated with changes in reading accuracy. Here we show a new contribution to telerehabilitation research in SLD: telerehabilitation significantly enhanced learning abilities and executive functions. Training based on the learning task and the underlying processes significantly increased not only reading speed, according to previous studies, but also writing accuracy. The findings' implications in clinical research and practice are discussed.

Sleep disturbances in specific learning disorders: a qualitative and quantitative investigation.

BACKGROUND: The literature reports a significant association between sleep disorders and learning disabilities. Nevertheless, not all children with learning disorders have sleep alterations, and which sleep characteristics are associated with which learning difficulty is still unknown. The study aimed at acquiring new information on the relation between sleep disturbances or habits and the learning profiles of children with a specific learning disorder (SLD). METHODS: The Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) and an actigraph (the FitBit-Flex, FB-F) were used in 26 and 16 SLD children respectively; all children were also assessed for learning skills. RESULTS: Although parents' reports at the SDSC did not differentiate SLD from typical readers, the awakening, respiratory and arousal disturbances at the SDSC correlated with sleep duration at the FB-F. Sleep alterations at the FB-F actigraph characterize SLD with literacy difficulties: children with reading decoding difficulties showed shorter minimum amount of sleep than typical children, and severe SLDs showed shorter maximum sleep duration and a higher number of awakenings in comparison to SLDs with mild learning deficits. CONCLUSIONS: Mild alterations in the amount, duration and quality of sleep may characterize children with learning disorders and actigraphy proves to be a useful tool in starting the individual monitoring of sleep in these populations.

Why Might Women Justify Dating Violence? The Role of Men's Sexual Objectification of Their Romantic Partners Within Heterosexual Relationships.

Men's partner-sexual objectification has been linked to increased self-objectification and diminished well-being in women. Some recent findings have also demonstrated that men's partner-sexual objectification is related to increased violence in the relationship. However, mechanisms driving this association remain unexplored. In the present research, we collected data on women and men involved in heterosexual romantic relationships and investigated the associations between men's partner-sexual objectification, women's self-objectification, and both partners' attitudes toward dating violence. Study 1 (N = 171 heterosexual couples) provided first evidence for the link between men's partner-sexual objectification and their attitudes toward dating violence. Furthermore, men's attitudes toward dating violence mediated the relationship between sexual objectification of their partners and women's attitudes toward dating violence. These results were replicated in Study 2 (N = 235 heterosexual couples). Findings of this study also revealed that, along with men's attitudes toward dating violence, women's self-objectification acted as a mediating mechanism linking experiences of being sexually objectified by the romantic partner and attitudes toward dating violence in women. Implications of our findings for the issue of dating violence are discussed.

Proxemic Behaviors During Gay/Straight Interactions: An Automated Analysis Through Kinect Depth-Sensing Camera.

Through two experimental studies (N = 150), we investigated proxemic behaviors featuring gay/straight dyadic interactions. In doing so, for the first time, we relied on an IR depth camera and considered the interpersonal volume between the interactants, a novel feature that exhaustively captures interactants' proxemic behaviors. Study 1 revealed that the straight participants' implicit sexual bias - but not the explicit prejudice - significantly predicted their volume while interacting with a study accomplice who was presented as gay (vs. straight). However, unlike previous research, mixed-model analyses revealed the higher their implicit bias was, the smaller the interpersonal volume that they maintained with the gay study accomplice, especially when the conversation focused on an intergroup-related (vs. neutral) topic. Study 2 was mainly designed to deepen this main finding. Results documented that highly implicitly biased participants who maintained a smaller interpersonal volume with a gay (vs. straight) study accomplice were more cognitively depleted after the interaction than low-biased participants, possibly suggesting that highly implicitly biased straight people can control this nonverbal behavior to appear as nonprejudiced in the gay interactant's eyes. Implications for research on sexual prejudice and intergroup nonverbal behaviors are discussed.

Executive functions in children with specific learning disorders: Shedding light on a complex profile through teleassessment.

Executive Functions (EFs) are high-order cognitive processes relevant to learning and adaptation and frequently impaired in children with specific learning disorders (SLDs). This study aimed to investigate EFs in children with SLD and explore the role of specific EF-related subprocesses, such as stimuli processing and processing speed. Fifty-seven SLD and 114 typically developing (TD) children, matched for gender and age, completed four tasks measuring response inhibition, interference control, shifting, and updating on a web-based teleassessment platform. The results show that SLD children performed lower in all EF tasks than TD children, regardless of stimulus type and condition. Mediation analyses suggested that differences between the SLD and TD groups are mediated by EF-related subprocesses, offering an interpretative model of EF deficits in children with SLD.

Specific Learning Disabilities and Emotional-Behavioral Difficulties: Phenotypes and Role of the Cognitive Profile.

Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) are often associated with emotional-behavioral problems. Many studies highlighted a greater psychopathological risk in SLD, describing both internalizing and externalizing problems. The aims of this study were to investigate the emotional-behavioral phenotype through the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), and evaluate the mediating role of background and cognitive characteristics on the relationship between CBCL profile and learning impairment in children and adolescents with SLD. One hundred and twenty-one SLD subjects (7-18 years) were recruited. Cognitive and academic skills were assessed, and parents completed the questionnaire CBCL 6-18. The results showed that about half of the subjects manifested emotional-behavioral problems with a prevalence of internalizing symptoms, such as anxiety and depression, over externalizing ones. Older children showed greater internalizing problems than younger ones. Males have greater externalizing problems compared to females. A mediation model analysis revealed that learning impairment is directly predicted by age and familiarity for neurodevelopmental disorders and indirectly via the mediation of the WISC-IV/WAIS-IV Working Memory Index (WMI) by the CBCL Rule-Breaking Behavior scale. This study stresses the need to combine the learning and neuropsychological assessment with a psychopathological evaluation of children and adolescents with SLD and provides new interpretative insights on the complex interaction between cognitive, learning, and emotional-behavioral phenotypes.

[Formula: see text] Tele-assessment of cognitive functions in children: a systematic review.

Cognitive Tele-Assessment approach (CTA) has been widely used in adults for clinical, research, and screening purposes. In the last decades, it has been considered a useful tool for evaluating child development in both clinical and educational settings and new instruments for CTA in children have been developed. In comparison to In Person Assessment (IPA), CTA can have several advantages, such as increasing accessibility, cutting waiting lists, reducing time and travel costs, and assisting with infection control by minimizing face-to-face contact in times of pandemic. Nevertheless, several issues related to the feasibility and reliability of using CTA to evaluate cognitive development are still open. The present systematic review has a twofold aim: 1. to describe the cognitive functions that are most frequently measured by CTA in children, the procedures used, and the characteristics of the samples investigated; 2. to investigate the agreement between CTA and IPA scores in children.In the present systematic review, 23 studies using CTA in children, with typical or atypical development, have been selected and analyzed. Results support the similarities in performance scores between IPA and CTA and good compliance by children and their families in participating in CTA. Nonetheless, most studies suggest that several methodological precautions must be taken to manage technical and procedural characteristics that may represent challenges for CTA of children. Suggestions for a correct use of CTA, factors affecting the validity of the results and directions for future research are discussed.

Executive Functions and Rapid Automatized Naming: A New Tele-Rehabilitation Approach in Children with Language and Learning Disorders.

Executive function deficits are documented in many neurodevelopmental disorders and may contribute to clinical complexity or rehabilitation resilience. The present research was primarily aimed at presenting and evaluating the feasibility and effectiveness of a telerehabilitation program used during the pandemic period. MemoRAN (Anastasis), a computerised cognitive training to improve executive control during visual-verbal integration tasks was used in a sample of 42 children (5-11 years old) with specific learning or language disorders. The MemoRAN training was based on exercises of inhibition, cognitive flexibility and updating in working memory for three months, with a frequency of approximately three sessions per week. Afterwards, a comparison between a subgroup of children using Memo-RAN and an active control group, using a tele-rehabilitation program directed on reading was conducted. Effect size analysis in pre-post measurements suggests an average effect of MemoRAN in measurements that require control processes, such as accuracy in dictation, reading, inhibition and working memory testing. Comparison with the active control group and the clinical utility implications of these types of treatment will be discussed.

Investigating Children's Ability to Express Internal States through Narratives and Drawings: Two Longitudinal Studies during Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic emergency has challenged children's socio-affective and cognitive development. It is essential to capture the modulation of their emotional experience through ecological and children-friendly tasks, such as written narratives and drawings. This contribution investigates the impact of pandemic experience (2020-2021 waves) on the internal states and emotions of the primary school age children, according to a longitudinal research approach through narratives (study 1 n = 21) and drawing tasks (study 2 n = 117). 138 Italian children were examined during COVID-19 three (study 1) or two waves (study 2). Children's written narratives were codified on the basis of narrative competence and psychological lexicon. Children's drawings were codified based on social/emotional, physical, and environmental elements. Results of narrative texts showed a lower psychological lexicon relating to positive emotions and a greater psychological lexicon relating to negative emotions only in the study sample group during the first lockdown compared to the previous and subsequent periods. Children's drawings of themselves showed a decrease of negative emotions during the third pandemic wave in comparison to the first pandemic wave. Results inform mental health services, school practitioners, and parents about the importance of written narratives and drawings for promoting well-being in the developmental age.

Relationship among Connectivity of the Frontal Aslant Tract, Executive Functions, and Speech and Language Impairment in Children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech.

Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a subtype of motor speech disorder usually co-occurring with language impairment. A supramodal processing difficulty, involving executive functions (EFs), might contribute to the cognitive endophenotypes and behavioral manifestations. The present study aimed to profile the EFs in CAS, investigating the relationship between EFs, speech and language severity, and the connectivity of the frontal aslant tract (FAT), a white matter tract involved in both speech and EFs. A total of 30 preschool children with CAS underwent speech, language, and EF assessments and brain MRIs. Their FAT connectivity metrics were compared to those of 30 children without other neurodevelopmental disorders (NoNDs), who also underwent brain MRIs. Alterations in some basic EF components were found. Inhibition and working memory correlated with speech and language severity. Compared to NoND children, a weak, significant reduction in fractional anisotropy (FA) in the left presupplementary motor area (preSMA) FAT component was found. Only speech severity correlated and predicted FA values along with the FAT in both of its components, and visual-spatial working memory moderated the relationship between speech severity and FA in the left SMA. Our study supports the conceptualization of a composite and complex picture of CAS, not limited to the speech core deficit, but also involving high-order cognitive skills.