Active math and grammar learning engages overlapping brain networks.

We here demonstrate common neurocognitive long-term memory effects of active learning that generalize over course subjects (mathematics and vocabulary) by the use of fMRI. One week after active learning, relative to more passive learning, performance and fronto-parietal brain activity was significantly higher during retesting, possibly related to the formation and reactivation of semantic representations. These observations indicate that active learning conditions stimulate common processes that become part of the representations and can be reactivated during retrieval to support performance. Our findings are of broad interest and educational significance related to the emerging consensus of active learning as critical in promoting good long-term retention.

Conceptualizing the clinical decision-making process in managing temporomandibular disorders: A qualitative study.

Management of patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD) appears to be more challenging than for other dental conditions. This study aimed to explore the decision-making process in TMD management, and thereby to conceptualize the decision-making process in dentistry. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted during 2018 and 2019 with a purposive sample of 22 general dental practitioners from the Public Dental Healthcare Services and private practices in the Region of Västerbotten, Northern Sweden. The interviews were analysed using the Grounded Theory approach of Charmaz. Data analysis resulted in the core category 'Combining own competence and others' expectations in the desire to do the right thing'. The dentists showed interest in and a desire to apply professional knowledge, but also reflected on challenges and complexity in the decision-making process for TMD. The challenges were primarily related to organisational factors and lack of self-confidence. This identifies a need for re-organisation of daily clinical management in dentistry, and a need for more postgraduate training to improve self-confidence. The complexity of the decision-making process for TMD makes the study findings applicable in other dental situations.

Decision-making in dentistry related to temporomandibular disorders: a 5-yr follow-up study.

Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) are common, but many patients with such disorders go undetected and under-treated. Our aim was to evaluate the outcome of using a screening tool (5 yr after it was first implemented), on the clinical decision-making for patients with TMDs. Adults who attended for a dental check-up at the Public Dental Health Services in Västerbotten, Sweden, answered three screening questions (3Q/TMD) on frequent jaw pain, pain on jaw function, and catching/locking of the jaw. The dental records of a random sample of 200 individuals with at least one positive response to 3Q/TMD (3Q screen-positive patients) and 200 individuals with all negative responses (3Q screen-negative patients) were reviewed for TMD-related treatment decisions. A clinical decision related to TMD was absent in 45.5% of 3Q screen-positive patients. Treatment of TMDs was associated with a positive response to the screening question on jaw pain (OR = 6.7, 95% CI: 3.2-14.0) and was more frequent among 3Q screen-positive patients (24%) than among 3Q screen-negative patients (2%; OR = 15.5, 95% CI: 5.5-43.9), just as a female examiner was associated with more frequent treatment of TMDs (OR = 3.1, 95% CI: 1.2-8.4). The results indicate under-treatment of TMD within general dental practice and that male clinicians are less likely to initiate TMD treatment.

Lesser Neural Pattern Similarity across Repeated Tests Is Associated with Better Long-Term Memory Retention.

Encoding and retrieval processes enhance long-term memory performance. The efficiency of encoding processes has recently been linked to representational consistency: the reactivation of a representation that gets more specific each time an item is further studied. Here we examined the complementary hypothesis of whether the efficiency of retrieval processes also is linked to representational consistency. Alternatively, recurrent retrieval might foster representational variability--the altering or adding of underlying memory representations. Human participants studied 60 Swahili-Swedish word pairs before being scanned with fMRI the same day and 1 week later. On Day 1, participants were tested three times on each word pair, and on Day 7 each pair was tested once. A BOLD signal change in right superior parietal cortex was associated with subsequent memory on Day 1 and with successful long-term retention on Day 7. A representational similarity analysis in this parietal region revealed that beneficial recurrent retrieval was associated with representational variability, such that the pattern similarity on Day 1 was lower for retrieved words subsequently remembered compared with those subsequently forgotten. This was mirrored by a monotonically decreased BOLD signal change in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex on Day 1 as a function of repeated successful retrieval for words subsequently remembered, but not for words subsequently forgotten. This reduction in prefrontal response could reflect reduced demands on cognitive control. Collectively, the results offer novel insights into why memory retention benefits from repeated retrieval, and they suggest fundamental differences between repeated study and repeated testing. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Repeated testing is known to produce superior long-term retention of the to-be-learned material compared with repeated encoding and other learning techniques, much because it fosters repeated memory retrieval. This study demonstrates that repeated memory retrieval might strengthen memory by inducing more differentiated or elaborated memory representations in the parietal cortex, and at the same time reducing demands on prefrontal-cortex-mediated cognitive control processes during retrieval. The findings contrast with recent demonstrations that repeated encoding induces less differentiated or elaborated memory representations. Together, this study suggests a potential neurocognitive explanation of why repeated retrieval is more beneficial for long-term retention than repeated encoding, a phenomenon known as the testing effect.

Creative Mathematical Reasoning: Does Need for Cognition Matter?

A large portion of mathematics education centers heavily around imitative reasoning and rote learning, raising concerns about students' lack of deeper and conceptual understanding of mathematics. To address these concerns, there has been a growing focus on students learning and teachers teaching methods that aim to enhance conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills. One suggestion is allowing students to construct their own solution methods using creative mathematical reasoning (CMR), a method that in previous studies has been contrasted against algorithmic reasoning (AR) with positive effects on test tasks. Although previous studies have evaluated the effects of CMR, they have ignored if and to what extent intrinsic cognitive motivation play a role. This study investigated the effects of intrinsic cognitive motivation to engage in cognitive strenuous mathematical tasks, operationalized through Need for Cognition (NFC), and working memory capacity (WMC). Two independent groups, consisting of upper secondary students (N = 137, mean age 17.13, SD = 0.62, 63 boys and 74 girls), practiced non-routine mathematical problem solving with CMR and AR tasks and were tested 1 week later. An initial t-test confirmed that the CMR group outperformed the AR group. Structural equation modeling revealed that NFC was a significant predictor of math performance for the CMR group but not for the AR group. The results also showed that WMC was a strong predictor of math performance independent of group. These results are discussed in terms of allowing for time and opportunities for struggle with constructing own solution methods using CMR, thereby enhancing students conceptual understanding.