Task Switching in English-Chinese Bilinguals: A Life Span Approach

The current study investigated the developmental trajectory of 124 English-Chinese Singaporean bilinguals (41 6-9-year-olds, 44 18-26-year-olds, and 39 55-79-year-olds) with the Standard (SD), Total Change (TC), Positive Priming (PP), and Negative Priming (NP) versions of the Computerized Dimensional Change Card Sort task. Tasks were administrated in either English or Chinese. Additionally, participants were tested with both English and Chinese versions of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Separate curve fitting indicated that significant quadratic trends appeared in the local switch costs for accuracy only in the SD and the PP versions. Children had significantly larger local switch costs in all the versions compared to young adults and elderly adults, who had similar local switch costs. These findings suggest that bilingualism may slow down the decay of information maintaining, updating, disinhibition, and task set integration in elderly adults. Results imply that bilingual advantage may accumulate through childhood, and be preserved in late adulthood

Structural cerebellar correlates of cognitive functions in spinocerebellar ataxia type 2

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease involving the cerebellum and characterized by a typical motor syndrome. In addition, the presence of cognitive impairment is now widely acknowledged as a feature of SCA2. Given the extensive connections between the cerebellum and associative cerebral areas, it is reasonable to hypothesize that cerebellar neurodegeneration associated with SCA2 may impact on the cerebellar modulation of the cerebral cortex, thus resulting in functional impairment. The aim of the present study was to investigate and quantitatively map the pattern of cerebellar gray matter (GM) atrophy due to SCA2 neurodegeneration and to correlate that with patients' cognitive performances. Cerebellar GM maps were extracted and compared between SCA2 patients (n = 9) and controls (n = 33) by using voxel-based morphometry. Furthermore, the relationship between cerebellar GM atrophy and neuropsychological scores of the patients was assessed. Specific cerebellar GM regions were found to be affected in patients. Additionally, GM loss in cognitive posterior lobules (VI, Crus I, Crus II, VIIB, IX) correlated with visuospatial, verbal memory and executive tasks, while additional correlations with motor anterior (V) and posterior (VIIIA, VIIIB) lobules were found for the tasks engaging motor and planning components. Our results provide evidence that the SCA2 neurodegenerative process affects the cerebellar cortex and that MRI indices of atrophy in different cerebellar subregions may account for the specificity of cognitive symptomatology observed in patients, as result of a cerebello-cerebral dysregulation

Short rehabilitation training program may improve postural control in children with autism spectrum disorders: preliminary evidences

International audienceAutism Spectrum Disorders subjects (ASD) is characterized by postural control deficits. This study aimed to explore the effect of a short postural rehabilitation training program on postural capabilities in children with ASD. Two groups (G1 and G2) of twenty children with ASD of IQ-, sex- and age- matched (mean age 11.7 ± 2.4 years) were included in this study. Posture was recorded by using the Balance Quest from Framiral on unstable platform in three different viewing conditions. The rehabilitation program consisted in two distinct postural control training exercises. Postural recordings were performed twice at T1 and T2 for both groups of children. Between T1 and T2 a 6-minute postural training was performed by the G1 group only, while the G2 group had a 6-minute of rest. Children were allocated randomly to the G1 or G2 groups. At T1, postural instability was similar for both groups of ASD children (G1 and G2) desp+\ite viewing conditions. At T2, we observed an improvement of postural control related to a mixed effect of training rehabilitation but also of test-retest. Knowing the potential of new rehabilitation strategies, the impact of postural control deficit in ASD children needs to be reconsidered. Well design case-control studies are requested to ensure scientific validity of postural rehabilitation training program