A relação com o saber nas atividades lúdicas escolares / The relationship with knowledge in school recreational activities / La relación con el saber en las actividades lúdicas escolares

O brincar é uma atividade importante para o desenvolvimento infantil, porque melhora aspectos cognitivos, emocionais e físicos. Além disso, jogos e brincadeiras podem ser explorados como recurso educacional. Partindo do entendimento da ludicidade enquanto um processo subjetivo, este trabalho investigou a relação com o saber estabelecida durante as brincadeiras, buscando compreendê-las em suas dimensões epistêmica, social e identitária. Dezesseis estudantes do 5º ano do ensino fundamental foram entrevistados a partir de um roteiro baseado no instrumento "balanço do saber", proposto por Bernard Charlot. As questões foram adaptadas para possibilitar apreender o que as crianças dizem aprender durante as brincadeiras em que participam, com ênfase naquelas realizadas em sala de aula. Os resultados da análise de conteúdo realizada mostraram que, apesar de existirem conflitos sobre como se estabelecem as funções lúdica e educativa, quando a brincadeira infantil é utilizada como recurso pedagógico, os sujeitos podem identificar benefícios no processo de aprendizagem por meio dela. Aponta-se, também, a necessidade de considerar a condição social da criança no ambiente escolar para o sucesso ao utilizar essas atividades como práticas pedagógicas.(AU)

Child's play is an important activity for child development since it improves cognition, emotional, and physical aspects. Games can also be explored as an educational resource. Starting from the understanding that playfulness is a subjective process, this work has investigated the relationship to the knowledge stablished during games, aiming to understand it in its epistemic, social, and identitary dimensions. A group of 16 5th grade students were interviewed from a script based on the instrument "balance of knowledge," as proposed by Bernard Charlot. The questions were adapted to enable the apprehension of what children say they learn on the games they play, emphasizing those which are played in classrooms. The results of the content analysis performed have showed that, despite the conflicts on how both playful and educative functions are stablished when child's play is used as a pedagogic resource, the subjects can identify benefits on the process of learning with it. The need to consider the child's social condition in the school environment to reach success when using these activities as pedagogical practices is also pointed out.(AU)

Jugar es una actividad importante para el desarrollo de los niños, porque mejora aspectos cognitivos, emocionales y físicos. Por tanto, los juegos son explorados como recurso educativo. Partiendo de la comprensión de que lo lúdico es un proceso subjetivo, este trabajo analizó la relación con el saber que se establece durante el juego, con el objetivo de comprenderlo en sus dimensiones epistémica, social e identitaria. Se entrevistó a dieciséis estudiantes de quinto grado a partir de un guion basado en el instrumento "balance del saber" propuesto por Bernard Charlot. Las preguntas fueron adaptadas para permitir la aprehensión de lo que los niños dicen que aprenden en sus juegos, enfatizando los que se juegan en las aulas. Los resultados del análisis de contenido realizado mostraron que, a pesar de que existen conflictos sobre cómo se establecen ambas funciones lúdica y educativa cuando se utiliza el juego infantil como recurso pedagógico, los niños pueden identificar beneficios en el proceso de aprendizaje a través del juego. Se señala la necesidad de considerar la condición social del niño en el entorno escolar para alcanzar el éxito al utilizar estas actividades como prácticas pedagógicas.(AU)

"Run to the hills": Specific contributions of anticipated energy expenditure during active spatial learning.

Grounded views of cognition consider that space perception is shaped by the body and its potential for action. These views are substantiated by observations such as the distance-on-hill effect, described as the overestimation of visually perceived uphill distances. An interpretation of this phenomenon is that slanted distances are overestimated because of the integration of energy expenditure cues. The visual perceptual processes involved are, however, usually tackled through explicit estimation tasks in passive situations. The goal of this study was to consider instead more ecological active spatial processing. Using immersive virtual reality and an omnidirectional treadmill, we investigated the effect of anticipated implicit physical locomotion cost by comparing spatial learning for uphill and downhill routes, while maintaining actual physical cost and walking speed constant. In the first experiment, participants learnt city layouts by exploring uphill or downhill routes. They were then tested using a landmark positioning task on a map. In the second experiment, the same protocol was used with participants who wore loaded ankle weights. The results from the first experiment showed that walking uphill routes led to a global underestimation of distances compared with downhill routes. This inverted distance-of-hill effect was not observed in the second experiment, where an additional effort was applied. These results suggest that the underestimation of distances observed in Experiment 1 emerged from recalibration processes whose function was to solve the transgression of proprioceptive predictions linked with uphill energy expenditure. The results are discussed in relation to constructivist approaches on spatial representations and predictive coding theories.

Assessment of Probiotics Mixture on Memory Function, Inflammation Markers, and Oxidative Stress in an Alzheimer's Disease Model of Rats.

Background: The most important cause of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with inflammation and oxidative stress. Probiotics are microorganisms that are believed to be beneficial to human and animals. Probiotics reduce oxidative stress and inflammation in some cases. Therefore, this study determined the effects of probiotics mixture on the biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation in an AD model of rats. Methods: In this study, 50 rats were allocated to five groups, namely control, sham, and AD groups with Aß1-40 intra-hippocampal injection, as well as AD + rivastigmine and AD + probiotics groups with Aß1-40 intra-hippocampal injection and 2 ml (1010 CFU) of probiotics (Lactobacillus reuteri, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and Bifidobacterium infantis) orally once a day for 10 weeks. MWM was used to assess memory and learning. To detect Aß plaque, Congo red staining was used. Oxidative stress was monitored by measuring the MDA level and SOD activity, and to assess inflammation markers (IL-1ß and TNF-α) in the hippocampus, ELISA method was employed.. Results: Spatial memory improved significantly in treatment group as measured by MWM. Probiotics administration reduced Aß plaques in AD rats. MDA decreased and SOD increased in the treatment group. Besides, probiotics reduced IL-1ß and TNF-α as inflammation markers in the AD model of rats. Conclusion: Our data revealed that probiotics are helpful in attenuating inflammation and oxidative stress in AD.

Análisis de tareas para las funciones espaciales en niños escolares con diagnóstico de TDAH / Analysis of Tasks Used for Assessment of Spatial Function in Schoolchildren with ADHD / Análise de tarefas para as funções espaciais em crianças escolares com diagnóstico de TDAH

Resumen Objetivo. Identificar y precisar las dificultades en funciones espaciales que presentan los niños con TDAH en edad escolar. Método. Se evaluaron 24 niños, entre los 6 y los 12 años de edad, con diagnóstico de TDAH. Todos los niños fueron evaluados con tareas gráficas, tareas verbales y tareas constructivas, incluidas en las pruebas Evaluación Neuropsicológica Infantil, Evaluación Neuropsicológica de la Integración Espacial y Evaluación Neuropsicológica del Éxito Escolar. Resultados. El análisis clínico realizado al desempeño de los niños mostró dificultades no solo en el manejo de la proporción, la integración y al dibujar ángulos, sino en el uso adecuado del espacio e inversión. Las dificultades espaciales estuvieron acompañadas de otras de índole regulatorio, tono de activación, motoras y cinestésicas. Los participantes con mayor número de errores fueron aquellos de menor edad. Conclusión. Los niños con diagnóstico de TDAH pueden presentar dificultades en el desarrollo de las funciones espaciales, por lo cual se hace necesario que la evaluación neuropsicológica incluya un análisis profundo de esta dimensión cognitiva, que permita indagar la naturaleza de estas dificultades y su posible relación con el desarrollo de otras funciones.

Abstract Objective. Identify and detail the difficulties in children with attention deficit disorder in spatial function tasks. Method. 24 school children between 6 and 12 years old with diagnosis of attention deficit disorder were included in the study. Neuropsychological tasks used in the study were divided in graphic tasks, verbal tasks and a constructive task, all of them included in the Neuropsychological Evaluation for Children, Neuropsychological Evaluation of the Spatial Integration and Neuropsychological Evaluation of School Success assessments. Results. Analysis of the results has pointed out specific errors in graphic tasks such as disproportion, disintegration, difficulties with angles, problems with usage of space and inversions. Younger participants with complex neuropsychological syndromes committed more mistakes. The spatial difficulties were accompanied by regulatory, activation, motor and kinesthetic difficulties. The participants with higher frequencies of error were those of lower age. Conclusion. The results show that children with attention deficit disorder diagnosis may have difficulties in the development of spatial function; therefore, it is necessary to include a more profound neuropsychological analysis of the domain that allows the investigation of the nature of the difficulties and its plausible relation to the development of other functions.

Resumo Escopo. Identificar e reconhecer as dificuldades em funções espaciais que apresentam as crianças com TDAH em idade escolar. Metodologia. Foram avaliadas 20 crianças masculinas e 4 femininas, com idades compreendidas entre os 6 e 12 anos de idade, com diagnóstico de TDAH. Todas as crianças foram avaliadas com tarefas gráficas, tarefas verbais e tarefas construtivas, incluídas nas provas Avaliação Neuropsicológica da Integração espacial e Avaliação Neuropsicológica do Sucesso Escolar. Resultados. A análise clínica realizada aos desempenhos das crianças, mostraram dificuldades de desproporção, desintegração, dificuldade para desenhar ângulos, uso inadequado do espaço e inversão. As dificuldades espaciais estiveram acompanhadas de outras de natureza regulatória, tono de ativação, motoras e cinestésicas. Os participantes com maior número de erros foram aqueles de menor idade. Conclusão. As crianças com diagnóstico de déficit de atenção podem apresentar dificuldades no desenvolvimento das funções espaciais, pelo qual é preciso que a avaliação neuropsicológica possa incluir uma análise profunda de esta dimensão cognitiva, que permita indagar a natureza de estas dificuldades e sua possível relação com o desenvolvimento de outras funções.

Novel Object Recognition and Object Location Behavioral Testing in Mice on a Budget.

Ethologically relevant behavioral testing is a critical component of any study that uses mouse models to study the cognitive effects of various physiological or pathological changes. The object location task (OLT) and the novel object recognition task (NORT) are two effective behavioral tasks commonly used to reveal the function and relative health of specific brain regions involved in memory. While both of these tests exploit the inherent preference of mice for the novelty to reveal memory for previously encountered objects, the OLT primarily evaluates spatial learning, which relies heavily on hippocampal activity. The NORT, in contrast, evaluates non-spatial learning of object identity, which relies on multiple brain regions. Both tasks require an open-field-testing arena, objects with equivalent intrinsic value to mice, appropriate environmental cues, and video recording equipment and the software. Commercially available systems, while convenient, can be costly. This manuscript details a simple, cost-effective method for building the arenas and setting up the equipment necessary to perform the OLT and NORT. Furthermore, the manuscript describes an efficient testing protocol that incorporates both OLT and NORT and provides typical methods for data acquisition and analysis, as well as representative results. Successful completion of these tests can provide valuable insight into the memory function of various mouse model systems and appraise the underlying neural regions that support these functions.

Methods for Assessment of Memory Reactivation.

It has been suggested that reactivation of previously acquired experiences or stored information in declarative memories in the hippocampus and neocortex contributes to memory consolidation and learning. Understanding memory consolidation depends crucially on the development of robust statistical methods for assessing memory reactivation. To date, several statistical methods have seen established for assessing memory reactivation based on bursts of ensemble neural spike activity during offline states. Using population-decoding methods, we propose a new statistical metric, the weighted distance correlation, to assess hippocampal memory reactivation (i.e., spatial memory replay) during quiet wakefulness and slow-wave sleep. The new metric can be combined with an unsupervised population decoding analysis, which is invariant to latent state labeling and allows us to detect statistical dependency beyond linearity in memory traces. We validate the new metric using two rat hippocampal recordings in spatial navigation tasks. Our proposed analysis framework may have a broader impact on assessing memory reactivations in other brain regions under different behavioral tasks.

A neural network model for the orbitofrontal cortex and task space acquisition during reinforcement learning.

Reinforcement learning has been widely used in explaining animal behavior. In reinforcement learning, the agent learns the value of the states in the task, collectively constituting the task state space, and uses the knowledge to choose actions and acquire desired outcomes. It has been proposed that the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) encodes the task state space during reinforcement learning. However, it is not well understood how the OFC acquires and stores task state information. Here, we propose a neural network model based on reservoir computing. Reservoir networks exhibit heterogeneous and dynamic activity patterns that are suitable to encode task states. The information can be extracted by a linear readout trained with reinforcement learning. We demonstrate how the network acquires and stores task structures. The network exhibits reinforcement learning behavior and its aspects resemble experimental findings of the OFC. Our study provides a theoretical explanation of how the OFC may contribute to reinforcement learning and a new approach to understanding the neural mechanism underlying reinforcement learning.

The Effect of Programmable Tactile Displays on Spatial Learning Skills in Children and Adolescents of Different Visual Disability.

Vision loss has severe impacts on physical, social and emotional well-being. The education of blind children poses issues as many scholar disciplines (e.g., geometry, mathematics) are normally taught by heavily relying on vision. Touch-based assistive technologies are potential tools to provide graphical contents to blind users, improving learning possibilities and social inclusion. Raised-lines drawings are still the golden standard, but stimuli cannot be reconfigured or adapted and the blind person constantly requires assistance. Although much research concerns technological development, little work concerned the assessment of programmable tactile graphics, in educative and rehabilitative contexts. Here we designed, on programmable tactile displays, tests aimed at assessing spatial memory skills and shapes recognition abilities. Tests involved a group of blind and a group of low vision children and adolescents in a four-week longitudinal schedule. After establishing subject-specific difficulty levels, we observed a significant enhancement of performance across sessions and for both groups. Learning effects were comparable to raised paper control tests: however, our setup required minimal external assistance. Overall, our results demonstrate that programmable maps are an effective way to display graphical contents in educative/rehabilitative contexts. They can be at least as effective as traditional paper tests yet providing superior flexibility and versatility.

Motor and Hippocampal Dependent Spatial Learning and Reference Memory Assessment in a Transgenic Rat Model of Alzheimer's Disease with Stroke.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a debilitating neurodegenerative disease that results in neurodegeneration and memory loss. While age is a major risk factor for AD, stroke has also been implicated as a risk factor and an exacerbating factor. The co-morbidity of stroke and AD results in worsened stroke-related motor control and AD-related cognitive deficits when compared to each condition alone. To model the combined condition of stroke and AD, a novel transgenic rat model of AD, with a mutated form of amyloid precursor protein (a key protein involved in the development of AD) incorporated into its DNA, is given a small unilateral striatal stroke. For a model with the combination of both stroke and AD, behavioral tests that assess stroke-related motor control, locomotion and AD-related cognitive function must be implemented. The cylinder task involves a cost-efficient, multipurpose apparatus that assesses spontaneous forelimb motor use. In this task, a rat is placed in a cylindrical apparatus, where the rat will spontaneously rear and contact the wall of the cylinder with its forelimbs. These contacts are considered forelimb motor use and quantified during video analysis after testing. Another cost-efficient motor task implemented is the beam-walk task, which assesses forelimb control, hindlimb control and locomotion. This task involves a rat walking across a wooden beam allowing for the assessment of limb motor control through analysis of forelimb slips, hindlimb slips and falls. Assessment of learning and memory is completed with Morris water maze for this behavioral paradigm. The protocol starts with spatial learning, whereby the rat locates a stationary hidden platform. After spatial learning, the platform is removed and both short-term and long-term spatial reference memory is assessed. All three of these tasks are sensitive to behavioral differences and completed within 28 days for this model, making this paradigm time-efficient and cost-efficient.