Table_1_Differential features of early childhood motor skill development and working memory processing: evidence from fNIRS.xls

ObjectiveThe study investigated the differential characteristics associated with motor skill development and working memory processing during early childhood, thereby providing insights for understanding motor learning and cognitive development in young children.MethodsIn total, 101 preschool children (age: 4–6 years) were recruited for this study. The motor skill development level and the working memory capacity of the children were assessed using the MOBAK Motor Development Assessment Scale and a block task paradigm, respectively. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy brain imaging technology was used to monitor hemodynamic signals in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of the children while they completed different memory tasks. MATLAB software and the Homer2 plugin were used to calculate the oxygenated hemoglobin (Oxy-Hb) concentration in relevant brain regions during the tasks.Results(1) The low motor skill group exhibited significantly lower accuracy during the three-memory load condition than during the two-memory load condition. Under both two-memory and three-memory load conditions, the high motor skill group exhibited significantly higher accuracy than the low motor skill group. (2) Significant differences in the Oxy-Hb concentration were observed in the left dorsolateral PFC (L-DLPFC), and right and left triangular part of the Broca’s area (R-PTBA and L-PTBA, respectively) between the two memory difficulty levels for the high motor skill group. The Oxy-Hb concentration was significantly higher during the three-memory load condition than during the two-memory load condition. Under the two-memory load condition, the high motor skill group exhibited significantly higher Oxy-Hb concentration in the L-DLPFC and L-PTBA regions than in the low motor skill group. Under the three-memory load condition, the high motor skill group exhibited significantly higher Oxy-Hb concentration in the L-DLPFC, R-PTBA, and L-PTBA regions than the low motor skill group.ConclusionA close association was observed between the motor skill levels and working memory in young children, with higher motor skill levels being associated with more pronounced brain activation patterns during working memory tasks.</p

Bland-Altman plot illustrating the agreement between actual and predicted anterior chamber depth (ACD) measurements in algorithm validation.

Bland-Altman plot illustrating the agreement between actual and predicted anterior chamber depth (ACD) measurements in algorithm validation.</p

Demographic and ocular characteristics of participants included in this study.

Demographic and ocular characteristics of participants included in this study.</p

Correlation between actual anterior chamber depth (ACD) measurements and deep learning predicted ACD values in algorithm validation.

Correlation between actual anterior chamber depth (ACD) measurements and deep learning predicted ACD values in algorithm validation.</p

Schematic diagram of neural network architecture.

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Saliency maps of predicted ACD values that were outside of the limit-of-agreement in Bland-Altman plot in algorithm validation.

Footnote: Saliency maps presented above were generated by averaging all saliency maps of 23 observations that were outside the Limits-of-Agreement in Bland-Altman plot (test dataset). There were 4 observations with actual ACD measurements 3mm. (TIF)</p

Saliency map illustrating the structural features used by the deep learning algorithm to predict anterior chamber depth in algorithm validation.

Saliency map illustrating the structural features used by the deep learning algorithm to predict anterior chamber depth in algorithm validation.</p

Saliency map illustrating the structural features used by the deep learning algorithm in algorithm validation to predict anterior chamber depth in eyes with different angle status.

Footnote: Saliency maps presented above were generated by averaging all saliency maps of eyes with open angles (A; n = 327) and angle closure (B; n = 135). (TIF)</p

Current literature on the performance of anterior chamber depth (ACD) in discriminating eyes with angle closure from open angles.

* ACD measurement includes central corneal thickness. † Narrow angle diagnosed in eyes with 1) 1 ‘closed’ quadrant (i.e., trabecular meshwork not observed even with indentation gonioscopy) and ≥1 ‘narrow’ quadrants (i.e., trabecular meshwork only observed with indentation gonioscopy) or 2) ≥2 ‘narrow’ quadrants. ‡ Angle closure diagnosed in eyes where the posterior trabecular meshwork (PTM) was not observed in ≥3 quadrants with gonioscopy. § Angle closure diagnosed in eyes where the posterior trabecular meshwork (PTM) was not observed in ≥2 quadrants with gonioscopy. Acronym: ACD, Anterior Chamber Depth; AUC, Area-under-the-curve; PPV, Positive Predictive Value; NPV, Negative Predictive Value; UBM, Ultrasound biomicroscopy (DOCX)</p

Distribution of anterior chamber depth in the training dataset.

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