Oscillatory activity and EEG phase synchrony of concurrent word segmentation and meaning-mapping in 9-year-old children

When learning a new language, one must segment words from continuous speech and associate them with meanings. These complex processes can be boosted by attentional mechanisms triggered by multi-sensory information. Previous electrophysiological studies suggest that brain oscillations are sensitive to different hierarchical complexity levels of the input, making them a plausible neural substrate for speech parsing. Here, we investigated the functional role of brain oscillations during concurrent speech segmentation and meaning acquisition in sixty 9-year-old children. We collected EEG data during an audio-visual statistical learning task during which children were exposed to a learning condition with consistent word-picture associations and a random condition with inconsistent word-picture associations before being tested on their ability to recall words and word-picture associations. We capitalized on the brain dynamics to align neural activity to the same rate as an external rhythmic stimulus to explore modulations of neural synchronization and phase synchronization between electrodes during multi-sensory word learning. Results showed enhanced power at both word- and syllabic-rate and increased EEG phase synchronization between frontal and occipital regions in the learning compared to the random condition. These findings suggest that multi-sensory cueing and attentional mechanisms play an essential role in children's successful word learning

Using Chess as an Intervention to Improve Executive Functioning Among Youth

Youth represent a vulnerable segment of the population and may have underdeveloped levels of executive functioning (EF), which is important in both daily life and is shown to have far-reaching effects. This research study aimed to decipher if lessons in the game of chess could be used as an efficacious intervention for accelerating EF development in youth. The three research questions focused on determining whether there was a difference in the chosen indices of EF before and after a 14-session chess intervention. The theoretical framework used for this study was Piaget’s cognitive development theory. This quantitative, single group pretest–posttest design measured three indices of EF: decision making measured by Iowa’s gambling task, working memory measured by the digit span backward task, and impulsivity measured by the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale—Brief. The 39 participants included youth (8 to 17 years old) in the beginner groups of chess training from chess academies across the United States. Results were analyzed using a paired-samples t test and indicated (a) a statistically significant positive difference in decision making after the chess intervention [t(38) = 3.37, p = .002], (b) a statistically significant positive difference in working memory after the chess intervention [t(38) = 3.18, p = .003], and (c) no statistically significant difference in impulsivity after the chess intervention [t(38) = -1.62, p = .114]. These results point to how chess may be used as a valuable tool to improve EF development in youth. This can significantly alter academic, health, and work-related outcomes for youth. It may impact social change by helping educators and social workers by providing them with an effective and easily accessible tool