Sincronía materna asociada al rendimiento académico en niños en edad escolar

There is evidence that suggests that parental parenting styles are related to children's academic performance. However, this has not been examined through interactional synchronization analysis in mother-child dyads. Considering this gap, the goal of this study was to compare the processes of synchronous and asynchronous behavioral exchange in two samples of children with high (20 dyads) and low academic performance (20 dyads), from the behavioral records second to second in two conditions: recreational and academic activity. Results indicate that dyads with children of high academic performance exhibit greater frequencyof synchronous exchanges with their mothers during playful activity, while mothers of children with poor performance were more coercive and less interactive. These results suggest that synchronous processes can be an important mechanism that promotes the development of skills and maintenance in academic activities, which may increase academic performance.Existe evidencia de que los estilos parentales de crianza tienen relación con el rendimiento académico de los niños, sin embargo no ha sido evidenciado por análisis de sincronía interaccional en diadas madre-hijo. Considerando esta brecha, el objetivo del presente trabajo fue comparar los procesos de intercambio conductual sincrónico y asincrónico en dos muestras de niños con alto y bajo rendimiento académico, a partir de los registros conductuales segundo a segundo en dos condiciones: actividad lúdica y académica. Los resultados indican que las diadas con niños de alto rendimiento académico presentaron una mayor frecuencia de intercambios sincrónicos con sus madres durante la actividad lúdica, en tanto que las madres de niños con bajorendimiento fueron más coercitivas y menos interactivas. Estos resultados sugieren que los procesos sincrónicos pueden ser un mecanismo importante que propicie el desarrollo de habilidades y el mantenimiento en actividades académicas, lo cual podría contribuir a promover el rendimiento académico

Visuospatial working memory in toddlers with a history of periventricular Leukomalacia: an EEG narrow-band power analysis.

BACKGROUND: Periventricular Leukomalacia (PVL) affects white matter, but grey matter injuries have also been reported, particularly in the dorsomedial nucleus and the cortex. Both structures have been related to working memory (WM) processes. The aim of this study was to compare behavioral performances and EEG power spectra during a visuospatial working memory task (VSWMT) of toddlers with a history of PVL and healthy toddlers. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A prospective, comparative study of WM was conducted in toddlers with a history of PVL and healthy toddlers. The task responses and the EEG narrow-band power spectra during a VSWMT were compared in both groups. The EEG absolute power was analyzed during the following three conditions: baseline, attention and WM retention. The number of correct responses was higher in the healthy group (20.5 ± 5.0) compared to the PVL group (16.1 ± 3.9) (p = 0.04). The healthy group had absolute power EEG increases (p ≤ 0.05) during WM compared to the attention condition in the bilateral frontal and right temporal, parietal and occipital regions in frequencies ranging from 1.17 to 2.34 Hz and in the right temporal, parietal and occipital regions in frequencies ranging from 14.06 to 15.23 Hz. In contrast, the PVL group had absolute power increases (p ≤ 0.05) in the bilateral fronto-parietal, left central and occipital regions in frequencies that ranged from 1.17 to 3.52 Hz and in the bilateral frontal and right temporal regions in frequencies ranging from 9.37 to 19.14 Hz. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This study provides evidence that PVL toddlers have visuospatial WM deficits and a very different pattern of absolute power increases compared to a healthy group of toddlers, with greater absolute power in the low frequency range and widespread neuronal networks in the WM retention phase

Clinical characteristics of the toddlers.

*<p>p≤0.05,</p>**<p>p≤0.005. MDI: BSID-II Mental Developmental Index, PDI: BSID-II Psychomotor Developmental Index.</p

Correct and incorrect responses on the VSWMT.

<p>Responses to the VSWMT are shown in black for the PVL group and in white for the healthy group. The PVL group showed a lower number of correct responses than did the healthy group (*p≤0.05). For the different types of incorrect responses, no significant differences were identified.</p

Post-hoc t-test comparing differences between the attention and WM conditions in each group.

<p>Positive t values, shown in yellow on the topographic map, imply power increases during WM in comparison with attention. Negative t values, shown in blue on the topographic map, imply power decreases during WM in comparison with attention.</p

Correct answer in a healthy toddler.

<p>Left: Four phases of the VSWMT, as shown in the screen viewed by the toddlers. Right: Synchronized behavioral response of the toddler. A: attention phase, B: encoding phase, C: retention or WM retention phase and D: response phase. The subject of the photograph has given written informed consent, as outlined in the PLOS consent form, to publication of their photograph.</p

Visuospatial Working Memory Task (VSWMT).

<p>The durations and phases in which the windows were selected for the EEG power spectrum analysis in attention and retention (WM) conditions are shown in red. The salient stimulus of the encoding phase was taken from the IAPS <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0069837#pone.0069837-Lang1" target="_blank">[21]</a>.</p

Magnetic Resonance Image findings of toddlers with Periventricular Leukomalacia.

<p>PCA = Postconceptional age in weeks.</p><p>MRI = Magnetic Resonance Image.</p><p>DEHSI = Diffuse Excessive High Signal Intensity.</p

Post-hoc t-test comparing differences between groups in each of the conditions.

<p>On the Y-axis, t values are shown. Positive t values, shown in yellow on the topographic map, imply higher power in the PVL group compared to the healthy group. Negative t values, shown in blue on the topographic map, imply lower power in the PVL group compared to the healthy group.</p