Okul Öncesi Eğitimde Rehberlik Hizmetleri: Okul Öncesi Öğretmen Adaylarının ve Psikolojik Danışman Adaylarının Görüşleri

Okul öncesi eğitiminin çocukların gelecek yaşamlarındaki etkisi göz önünde bulundurulduğunda, bu sürecin kritik bir öneme sahip olduğu söylenebilir. Eğitimin bu döneminin amaçlarına ulaşabilmesinde okul öncesi öğretmenlerinin önemli bir rolü olmakla birlikte, bu sürecin daha kolay ve daha verimli geçirilmesi için hem okul öncesi öğretmenlerinin, hem de bu kademedeki çocukların ve ailelerinin profesyonel bir yardıma ihtiyaçları vardır. Bu durumda, okulda bulunan bir psikolojik danışman da çocuğun eğitim deneyimlerinde önemli bir rol oynayacaktır. Bu nedenle bu çalışma, okul öncesi öğretmen adaylarının ve psikolojik danışman adaylarının okul öncesi eğitim kademesinde sürdürülen rehberlik hizmetleri ile ilgili görüşlerini ortaya koymayı ve bu görüşleri karşılaştırmayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu çalışmada, temel ni¬tel araştırma (basic qualitative research) yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Çalışmaya, 15 okul öncesi öğretmen adayı ve 21 psikolojik danışman adayı katılmıştır. Çalışmanın verileri, araştırmacılar tarafından geliştirilmiş yarı yapılandırılmış bir görüşme formu ile toplanmıştır. Nitel veri analizi için, kelime tekrarı yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Çalışmanın bulgularına göre, katılımcıların çoğu, okul öncesi dönemde rehberlik hizmetlerinin gerekli olduğunu düşünmektedir. Ayrıca, okul öncesi dönemde verilecek rehberlik hizmetleri ile ilgili okul öncesi öğretmen adayları ve psikolojik danışman adayları benzer görüşler bildirmişlerdir. Son olarak, bu dönemde rehberlik hizmetlerinin daha verimli hale getirilmesi için veli toplantıları düzenlenmesi, katılımcılar tarafından en çok dile getirilen öneridir

Normalized Theta but Increased Gamma Activity after Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitor Treatment in Alzheimer's Disease: Preliminary qEEG Study

Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChE-I) are the core treatment of mild to severe Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the efficacy of AChE-I treatment on electroencephalography (EEG) and cognition remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the EEG power and coherence changes, in addition to neuropsychological performance, following a one-year treatment. Nine de-novo AD patients and demographically-matched healthy controls (HC) were included. After baseline assessments, all AD participants started cholinergic therapy. We found that baseline and follow-up gamma power analyzes were similar between groups. Yet, within the AD group after AChE-I intake, individuals with AD displayed higher gamma power compared to their baselines (P < .039). Also, baseline gamma coherence analysis showed lower values in the AD than in HC (P < .048), while these differences disappeared with increased gamma values of AD patients at the follow-up. Within the AD group after AChE-I intake, individuals with AD displayed higher theta and alpha coherence compared to their baselines (all, P < .039). These increased results within the AD group may result from a subclinical epileptiform activity. Even though AChE-I is associated with lower mortality, our results showed a significant effect on EEG power yet can increase the subclinical epileptiform activity. It is essential to be conscious of the seizure risk that treatment may cause

Electrophysiological and neuropsychological outcomes of severe obstructive sleep apnea: effects of hypoxemia on cognitive performance

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a sleep disorder characterized with upper airway obstructions. Some studies showed cognitive and electrophysiological changes in patients with OSAS; however, contradictory results were also reported. The purpose of the present study was twofold: (1) to investigate cognitive changes in severe OSAS patients by using neuropsychological tests and electrophysiological methods together, (2) to investigate influence of hypoxemia levels on cognition. Fifty-four severe OSAS patients and 34 age-, gender- and education matched healthy subjects were participated. OSAS patients were further divided into two subgroups according to minimum oxygen saturation levels. All participants underwent a detailed neuropsychological test battery. A classical visual oddball task was used to elicit ERP P300 and mean P300 amplitudes were measured from F-z, C-z and P-z electrode sites. OSAS patients showed reduced mean P300 amplitudes up to 43-51% on all electrode sites compared to healthy controls. Subgroup analysis revealed significant differences in neuropsychological test scores between healthy controls and high hypoxemia OSAS group, as well as between low and high hypoxemia groups. Moreover, both low and high hypoxemia OSAS groups had lower P300 amplitudes compared with healthy controls. P300 amplitudes showed a gradual decline in parallel with increasing hypoxemia severity; however, the difference between high and low hypoxemia OSAS groups did not reach significance. Moderate correlations were found between sleep parameters, neuropsychological test scores and P300 amplitudes. These results suggest that electrophysiological measures could be better indicators of cognitive changes than neuropsychological tests in OSAS, particularly in mildly affected patients

The reliability of P300 and the influence of age, gender and education variables in a 50 years and older normative sample

Objectives: The present study aims to investigate the effects of age, gender, and level of education on P300 in a healthy population, aged 50 years and over; and determine the reliability metrics for different conditions and measurement methods.Method: Auditory and visual oddball recordings of 171 healthy adults were investigated. A fully automated preprocessing was applied to elicit ERP P300. Maximum peak amplitude, latency and mean amplitudes were measured. Data were stratified by age, gender, and education to determine group-level differences by using repeat measures of ANOVA. The internal consistency of P300 was calculated by a split-half method using odd-even segments. Test-retest reliability was assessed by calculating the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).Results: Maximum peak P300 amplitudes were higher in the 50-64 years age group compared to the >65 years age group; and females showed increased P300 amplitudes compared to males. P300 measures showed fair to good internal consistency and poor to good test-retest reliability.Conclusion: Age and gender should be taken into account when designing ERP studies with elderly individuals. P300 showed good internal consistency in general, between gender groups and age groups. Long-term test-retest reliability was lower but acceptable. These findings can be interpreted as the strength of P300 by being an objective and reliable method independent of cultural differences. Here we underline several factors that may affect P300 measures and discuss other possible factors that should be standardized for P300 to be used in clinical settings