The impact of second language learning on semantic and nonsemantic first language reading

The relationship between orthography (spelling) and phonology (speech sounds) varies across alphabetic languages. Consequently, learning to read a second alphabetic language, that uses the same letters as the first, increases the phonological associations that can be linked to the same orthographic units. In subjects with English as their first language, previous functional imaging studies have reported increased left ventral prefrontal activation for reading words with spellings that are inconsistent with their orthographic neighbors (e.g., PINT) compared with words that are consistent with their orthographic neighbors (e.g., SHIP). Here, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 17 Italian--English and 13 English--Italian bilinguals, we demonstrate that left ventral prefrontal activation for first language reading increases with second language vocabulary knowledge. This suggests that learning a second alphabetic language changes the way that words are read in the first alphabetic language. Specifically, first language reading is more reliant on both lexical/semantic and nonlexical processing when new orthographic to phonological mappings are introduced by second language learning. Our observations were in a context that required participants to switch between languages. They motivate future fMRI studies to test whether first language reading is also altered in contexts when the second language is not in use

Cognitive biases in implementing a performance management system: behavioral strategy for supporting managers’ decision-making processes

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: to provide a clear picture on the cognitive biases affecting managers' decision-making process of implementing a performance management system (PMS), and to identify managerial practices, measures and the key challenges to manage the cognitive biases in the corporate strategy. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews, based on theoretical milestones of performance management and cognitive psychology, gathered from 104 experienced professionals' evaluations on the likelihood and impact of managers' cognitive biases in PMS implementation, potential solutions as well as drivers and connected criticalities. Findings Recurring cognitive biases, together with considerable impacts, emerged in the first, and most strategic, phases of the PMS implementation. The authors developed a roadmap to support corporate transition to integrate behavioral strategy into the PMS implementation aiming to achieve economically and efficiently sound performance. Research limitations/implications From the view of proper behavioral strategy affirmation in performance management literature, in a small way, the authors contribute to a desirable taxonomy of cognitive biases so differentiated decision-making scenarios may be built to compare results and draw new observations. Behavioral studies could transversally connect the cognitive biases of performance management to actors' sociodemographic features and personality types. Practitioners may check biases affecting their organizations by means of the questionnaire and, consequently, adopt the framework illustrated to reduce them. Originality/value Performance management literature has constantly investigated positive and negative behavioral factors related to the PMS. This study, instead, makes a theoretical and methodological contribution to the PMS implementation as a decision-making process. The authors propose a theoretical framework that integrates cognitive psychology insights and applies measures to reduce biases

A Neuroanatomical Signature for Schizophrenia Across Different Ethnic Groups

Schizophrenia is a disabling clinical syndrome found across the world. While the incidence and clinical expression of this illness are strongly influenced by ethnic factors, it is unclear whether patients from different ethnicities show distinct brain deficits. In this multicentre study, we used structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging to investigate neuroanatomy in 126 patients with first episode schizophrenia who came from 4 ethnically distinct cohorts (White Caucasians, African-Caribbeans, Japanese, and Chinese). Each patient was individually matched with a healthy control of the same ethnicity, gender, and age (±1 year). We report a reduction in the gray matter volume of the right anterior insula in patients relative to controls (P < .05 corrected); this reduction was detected in all 4 ethnic groups despite differences in psychopathology, exposure to antipsychotic medication and image acquisition sequence. This finding provides evidence for a neuroanatomical signature of schizophrenia expressed above and beyond ethnic variations in incidence and clinical expression. In light of the existing literature, implicating the right anterior insula in bipolar disorder, depression, addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and anxiety, we speculate that the neuroanatomical deficit reported here may represent a transdiagnostic feature of Axis I disorders

Autobiographical memory: A candidate latent vulnerability mechanism for psychiatric disorder following childhood maltreatment

BACKGROUND: Altered autobiographical memory (ABM) functioning has been implicated in the pathogenesis of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and may represent one mechanism by which childhood maltreatment elevates psychiatric risk. AIMS: To investigate the impact of childhood maltreatment on ABM functioning. METHOD: Thirty-four children with documented maltreatment and 33 matched controls recalled specific ABMs in response to emotionally-valenced cue words during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). RESULTS: Children with maltreatment experience showed reduced hippocampal and increased middle temporal and para-hippocampal activation during positive ABM recall compared to peers. During negative ABM recall they exhibited increased amygdala activation, and greater amygdala connectivity with the salience network. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood maltreatment is associated with altered ABM functioning, specifically reduced activation in areas encoding specification of positive memories, and greater activation of the salience network for negative memories. This pattern may confer latent vulnerability to future depression and post-traumatic stress disorder

Autobiographical memory as a latent vulnerability mechanism following childhood maltreatment: Association with future depression symptoms and prosocial behavior

OBJECTIVES: Childhood maltreatment is associated with altered neural reactivity during autobiographical memory (ABM) recall and a pattern of overgeneral memory (OGM). Altered ABM and OGM have been linked with psychopathology and poorer social functioning. The present study investigated the association between altered ABM and subsequent socio-emotional functioning (measured two years later) in a sample of adolescents with (N = 20; maltreatment group, MT) and without (N = 17; non-MT group) documented childhood maltreatment histories. METHOD: At baseline, adolescents (aged 12.6 ± 1.45 years) were administered the Autobiographical Memory Test to measure OGM. Participants also recalled specific ABMs in response to emotionally valenced cue words during functional MRI. Adolescents in both groups underwent assessments measuring depressive symptoms and prosocial behavior at both timepoints. Regression analyses were carried out to predict outcome measures at follow-up controlling for baseline levels. RESULTS: In the MT group, greater OGM at baseline significantly predicted reduced prosocial behavior at follow-up and showed a trend level association with elevated depressive symptoms. Patterns of altered ABM-related brain activity did not significantly predict future psycho-social functioning. CONCLUSIONS: The current findings highlight the potential value of OGM as a cognitive mechanism that could be targeted to reduce risk of depression in adolescents with prior histories of maltreatment

Predictors of treatment response in young people at ultra-high risk for psychosis who received long-chain omega-3 fatty acids

Previous efforts in the prospective evaluation of individuals who experience attenuated psychotic symptoms have attempted to isolate mechanisms underlying the onset of full-threshold psychotic illness. In contrast, there has been little research investigating specific predictors of positive outcomes. In this study, we sought to determine biological and clinical factors associated with treatment response, here indexed by functional improvement in a pre-post examination of a 12-week randomized controlled intervention in individuals at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis. Participants received either long-chain omega-3 (&omega;-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) or placebo. To allow the determination of factors specifically relevant to each intervention, and to be able to contrast them, both treatment groups were investigated in parallel. Univariate linear regression analysis indicated that higher levels of erythrocyte membrane &alpha;-linolenic acid (ALA; the parent fatty acid of the &omega;-3 family) and more severe negative symptoms at baseline predicted subsequent functional improvement in the treatment group, whereas less severe positive symptoms and lower functioning at baseline were predictive in the placebo group. A multivariate machine learning analysis, known as Gaussian Process Classification (GPC), confirmed that baseline fatty acids predicted response to treatment in the &omega;-3 PUFA group with high levels of sensitivity, specificity and accuracy. In addition, GPC revealed that baseline fatty acids were predictive in the placebo group. In conclusion, our investigation indicates that UHR patients with higher levels of ALA may specifically benefit from &omega;-3 PUFA supplementation. In addition, multivariate machine learning analysis suggests that fatty acids could potentially be used to inform prognostic evaluations and treatment decisions at the level of the individual. Notably, multiple statistical analyses were conducted in a relatively small sample, limiting the conclusions that can be drawn from what we believe to be a first-of-its-kind study. Additional studies with larger samples are therefore needed to evaluate the generalizability of these findings

Functional brain plasticity following childhood maltreatment: A longitudinal fMRI investigation of autobiographical memory processing

Altered autobiographical memory (ABM) processing characterizes some individuals with experiences of childhood maltreatment. This fMRI study of ABM processing evaluated potential developmental plasticity in neural functioning following maltreatment. Adolescents with (N = 19; MT group) and without (N = 18; Non-MT group) documented childhood maltreatment recalled specific ABMs in response to emotionally valenced cue words during fMRI at baseline (age 12.71 ± 1.48) and follow-up (14.88 ± 1.53 years). Psychological assessments were collected at both timepoints. Longitudinal analyses were carried out with BOLD signal changes during ABM recall and psychopathology to investigate change over time. In both groups there was relative stability of the ABM brain network, with some developmental maturational changes observed in cortical midline structures (ventromedial PFC (vmPFC), posterior cingulate cortex (pCC), and retrosplenial cortex (rSC). Significantly increased activation of the right rSC was observed only in the MT group, which was associated with improved psychological functioning. Baseline group differences in relation to hippocampal functioning, were not detected at follow-up. This study provides preliminary empirical evidence of functional developmental plasticity in children with documented maltreatment experience using fMRI. This suggests that altered patterns of brain function, associated with maltreatment experience, are not fixed and may reflect the potential to track a neural basis of resilience

Increased CD8+ T cell responses to apoptotic T cell-associated antigens in multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: Here, we evaluated the hypothesis that CD8(+) T cell responses to caspase-cleaved antigens derived from effector T cells undergoing apoptosis, may contribute to multiple sclerosis (MS) immunopathology. METHODS: The percentage of autoreactive CD8(+) T effector cells specific for various apoptotic T cell-associated self-epitopes (apoptotic epitopes) were detected in the peripheral blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) by both enzyme-linked immunospot and dextramers of class I molecules complexed with relevant apoptotic epitopes. Moreover, the capacity of dextramer(+) CD8(+) T cells to produce interferon (IFN)-γ and/or interleukin (IL)-17 in response to the relevant apoptotic epitopes was evaluated by the intracellular cytokine staining. Cross-presentation assay of apoptotic T cells by dendritic cells was also evaluated ex vivo. RESULTS: We found that polyfunctional (IFN-γ and/or IL-17 producing) autoreactive CD8(+) T cells specific for apoptotic epitopes were represented in MS patients with frequencies significantly higher than in healthy donors. These autoreactive CD8(+) T cells with a strong potential to produce IFN-γ or IL-17 in response to the relevant apoptotic epitopes were significantly accumulated in the CSF from the same patients. In addition, the frequencies of these autoreactive CD8(+) T cells correlated with the disease disability. Cross-presentation assay revealed that caspase-cleaved cellular proteins are required to activate apoptotic epitope-specific CD8(+) T cells ex vivo. CONCLUSION: Taken together, these data indicate that apoptotic epitope-specific CD8(+) T cells with strong inflammatory potential are recruited at the level of the inflammatory site, where they may be involved in MS immunopathology through the production of high levels of inflammatory cytokines

Structural correlates of semantic and phonemic fluency ability in first and second languages

Category and letter fluency tasks are commonly used clinically to investigate the semantic and phonological processes central to speech production, but the neural correlates of these processes are difficult to establish with functional neuroimaging because of the relatively unconstrained nature of the tasks. This study investigated whether differential performance on semantic (category) and phonemic (letter) fluency in neurologically normal participants was reflected in regional gray matter density. The participants were 59 highly proficient speakers of 2 languages. Our findings corroborate the importance of the left inferior temporal cortex in semantic relative to phonemic fluency and show this effect to be the same in a first language (L1) and second language (L2). Additionally, we show that the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) and head of caudate bilaterally are associated with phonemic more than semantic fluency, and this effect is stronger for L2 than L1 in the caudate nuclei. To further validate these structural results, we reanalyzed previously reported functional data and found that pre-SMA and left caudate activation was higher for phonemic than semantic fluency. On the basis of our findings, we also predict that lesions to the pre-SMA and caudate nuclei may have a greater impact on phonemic than semantic fluency, particularly in L2 speakers

Reduced parahippocampal cortical thickness in subjects at ultra-high risk for psychosis

Background: Grey matter volume and cortical thickness represent two complementary aspects of brain structure. Several studies have described reductions in grey matter volume in people at ultra-high risk (UHR) of psychosis; however, little is known about cortical thickness in this group. The aim of the present study was to investigate cortical thickness alterations in UHR subjects and compare individuals who subsequently did and did not develop psychosis. Method: We examined magnetic resonance imaging data collected at four different scanning sites. The UHR subjects were followed up for at least 2 years. Subsequent to scanning, 50 UHR subjects developed psychosis and 117 did not. Cortical thickness was examined in regions previously identified as sites of neuroanatomical alterations in UHR subjects, using voxel-based cortical thickness. Results: At baseline UHR subjects, compared with controls, showed reduced cortical thickness in the right parahippocampal gyrus (p<0.05, familywise error corrected). There were no significant differences in cortical thickness between the UHR subjects who later developed psychosis and those who did not. Conclusions: These data suggest that UHR symptomatology is characterized by alterations in the thickness of the medial temporal cortex. We did not find evidence that the later progression to psychosis was linked to additional alterations in cortical thickness, although we cannot exclude the possibility that the study lacked sufficient power to detect such differences