Speech-to-text assistive technology for the written expression of students with traumatic brain injuries: A single case experimental study.

Traumatic brain injury in childhood (TBI) is a chronic health condition. As decreased memory, language, and rapid psychomotor impairments are known to accompany pediatric TBI (Babikian et al., 2011), students who have experienced a moderate-to-severe TBI are at particular risk for academic deficits, including writing difficulties. The purpose of this study was to measure the effects of a speech-to-text assistive technology (AT) accommodation that was implemented to bypass the impaired handwriting and spelling (i.e., transcription) skills resulting from TBI. Three African American male students (Grades 4, 8, and 9) who received formal special education services under the category of TBI participated in this study. With the application of the speech-to-text AT accommodation, all participants' total words written (TWW), words spelled correctly (WSC), and correct writing sequences (CWS) significantly increased compared to the handwriting control condition. One hundred percent nonoverlapping data points across participants and dependent variables was achieved. Implications of the findings for the school-based treatment of TBI, study limitations, and future avenues of study are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Differential effects of cannabinoid CB1 inverse agonists and antagonists on impulsivity in male Sprague Dawley rats: identification of a possibly clinically relevant vulnerability involving the serotonin 5HT1A receptor.

RATIONALE: Cannabinoid CB1 inverse agonists hold therapeutic promise as appetite suppressants but have produced suicidal behaviors among a small subpopulation in clinical trials. Anatomical and pharmacological evidence implicate the 5HT1A serotonin receptor in suicide in humans and impulsivity in humans and animals. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study is to assess whether 5HT1A blockade is necessary for CB1 ligands to produce impulsivity. METHODS: Sprague Dawley rats were administered the CB1 inverse agonist AM 251, the CB1 antagonist AM 6527, or the peripherally restricted antagonist AM 6545, with or without pretreatment with the 5HT1A antagonist WAY 100,635 (WAY) on the paced fixed consecutive number (FCN) task, which measures choice to terminate a chain of responses prematurely. As FCN is sensitive to changes in time perception, which have been demonstrated with CB1 blockade, a novel variable consecutive number task with discriminative stimulus (VCN-S D ) was also performed and proposed to be less sensitive to changes in timing. RESULTS: Pretreatment with WAY enabled mild but significant reductions in FCN accuracy for AM 251 and AM 6527. No effects were found for AM 6545. On the VCN-S D task, substantial impairments were found for the combination of WAY and AM 251. CONCLUSIONS: AM 251, but not the antagonists AM 6527 or AM 6545, produced impulsivity only following systemic 5HT1A blockade. Although preliminary, the results may indicate that disrupted serotonin signaling produces a vulnerability to undesirable effects of CB1 inverse agonists, which is not evident in the general population. Furthermore, neutral CB1 antagonists do not produce this effect and therefore may have greater safety.

Examining the effectiveness of a culturally adapted social-emotional intervention for African American males in an urban setting.

The purpose of the present study was to assess the efficacy of a culturally adapted version of the Strong Start intervention program on the social-emotional outcomes of African American male students. Externalizing behavior problems of children, specifically African American males, are of great concern for schools. Punitive discipline polices such as expulsion and suspension have proved to be ineffective and harmful. Consequently, school-based social-emotional learning (SEL) interventions have been proposed to teach children coping skills that can help them increase positive social behaviors and emotional regulation. Sixty-one African American male students enrolled in an urban elementary school participated in this intervention. This study employed a randomized delayed treatment control design. Results indicated positive effects in the areas of self-regulation and self-competence. However the intervention did not have an impact on student's empathy, responsibility, or externalizing behavior. Implications are discussed in terms of developing culturally relevant school-based interventions for African American males. (PsycINFO Database Record