The neonatal brain in Down Syndrome : white matter alterations and the relationship between brain volumes and childhood cognitive abilities

Down Syndrome (DS) is the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability. This project is the first attempt to (1) determine associations between early structural brain imaging with subsequent neurodevelopmental outcomes in DS; and (2) explore white matter (WM) alterations in neonates with DS. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed on neonates with DS and age- and sex-matched controls from 32 to 45 weeks postmenstrual age. WM microstructure alterations were explored with Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) and Fixel-based Analysis (FBA) in a subsample of 10 neonates with DS and 39 typical developing (TD) controls. Planned and exploratory correlations were performed to analyse the relationship between neonatal brain volumes and cognitive outcome in infants with DS in an independent sample of 12 individuals with DS, who had neuropsychological assessments performed, between 6 months and 5 years of age. The diffusion data showed that all TBSS metrics (including fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity) were reduced in the neonates with DS, relative to TD, in anterior WM tracts, corpus callosum and cerebral peduncles. FBA results showed statistically significant differences between DS and TD groups in WM organisation, but image registration was compromised by underlying volumetric difference between the groups and therefore the results were deemed unreliable. Regarding the structural data, there were no significant correlations between any of the brain tissue volumes and the outcome measures, but there were medium to large effect sizes (e.g., correlations between cortical grey matter and Mullen Receptive Language scores). However, there was a significant strong negative correlation between lateral ventricle volumes and Mullen Receptive Language Developmental quotient (DQ) scores (i.e., larger ventricle volumes relate to lower DQ 5 scores, or bigger delay). Overall, the research demonstrated that WM alterations in DS are present from early on in life, consistent with previous findings. However, it is too early to determine whether neonatal brain volumes might help predict measures of cognitive abilities in DS. Further research is needed to support these findings, to investigate whether other brain measures might be better predictors of outcomes (e.g., functional measures), and to understand the developmental mechanisms underlying the DS genotype-phenotype relationship across multiple levels of description

Exploring Musical Activities and Their Relationship to Emotional Well-Being in Elderly People across Europe : A Study Protocol

Music is a powerful, pleasurable stimulus that can induce positive feelings and can therefore be used for emotional self-regulation. Musical activities such as listening to music, playing an instrument, singing or dancing are also an important source for social contact, promoting interaction and the sense of belonging with others. Recent evidence has suggested that after retirement, other functions of music, such as self-conceptual processing related to autobiographical memories, become more salient. However, few studies have addressed the meaningfulness of music in the elderly. This study aims to investigate elderly people's habits and preferences related to music, study the role music plays in their everyday life, and explore the relationship between musical activities and emotional well-being across different countries of Europe. A survey will be administered to elderly people over the age of 65 from five different European countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czechia, Germany, Ireland, and UK) and to a control group. Participants in both groups will be asked about basic sociodemographic information, habits and preferences in their participation in musical activities and emotional well-being. Overall, the aim of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the role of music in the elderly from a psychological perspective. This advanced knowledge could help to develop therapeutic applications, such as musical recreational programs for healthy older people or elderly in residential care, which are better able to meet their emotional and social needs.Peer reviewe

A multi-level developmental approach to exploring individual differences in Down syndrome: genes, brain, behaviour, and environment.

In this article, we focus on the causes of individual differences in Down syndrome (DS), exemplifying the multi-level, multi-method, lifespan developmental approach advocated by Karmiloff-Smith (1998, 2009, 2012, 2016). We evaluate the possibility of linking variations in infant and child development with variations in the (elevated) risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) in adults with DS. We review the theoretical basis for this argument, considering genetics, epigenetics, brain, behaviour and environment. In studies 1 and 2, we focus on variation in language development. We utilise data from the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDI; Fenson et al., 2007), and Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) receptive and productive language subscales (Mullen, 1995) from 84 infants and children with DS (mean age 2;3, range 0;7 to 5;3). As expected, there was developmental delay in both receptive and expressive vocabulary and wide individual differences. Study 1 examined the influence of an environmental measure (socio-economic status as measured by parental occupation) on the observed variability. SES did not predict a reliable amount of the variation. Study 2 examined the predictive power of a specific genetic measure (apolipoprotein APOE genotype) which modulates risk for AD in adulthood. There was no reliable effect of APOE genotype, though weak evidence that development was faster for the genotype conferring greater AD risk (ε4 carriers), consistent with recent observations in infant attention (D'Souza, Mason et al., 2020). Study 3 considered the concerted effect of the DS genotype on early brain development. We describe new magnetic resonance imaging methods for measuring prenatal and neonatal brain structure in DS (e.g., volumes of supratentorial brain, cortex, cerebellar volume; Patkee et al., 2019). We establish the methodological viability of linking differences in early brain structure to measures of infant cognitive development, measured by the MSEL, as a potential early marker of clinical relevance. Five case studies are presented as proof of concept, but these are as yet too few to discern a pattern

Exploring Musical Activities And Their Relationship To Emotional Well-being In Elderly People Across Europe: A Study Protocol

Music is a powerful, pleasurable stimulus that can induce positive feelings and can therefore be used for emotional self-regulation. Musical activities such as listening to music, playing an instrument, singing or dancing are also an important source for social contact, promoting interaction and the sense of belonging with others. Recent evidence has suggested that after retirement, other functions of music, such as self-conceptual processing related to autobiographical memories, become more salient. However, few studies have addressed the meaningfulness of music in the elderly. This study aims to investigate elderly people's habits and preferences related to music, study the role music plays in their everyday life, and explore the relationship between musical activities and emotional well-being across different countries of Europe. A survey will be administered to elderly people over the age of 65 from five different European countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czechia, Germany, Ireland, and UK) and to a control group. Participants in both groups will be asked about basic sociodemographic information, habits and preferences in their participation in musical activities and emotional well-being. Overall, the aim of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the role of music in the elderly from a psychological perspective. This advanced knowledge could help to develop therapeutic applications, such as musical recreational programs for healthy older people or elderly in residential care, which are better able to meet their emotional and social needs

Health behavior and decision-making in healthcare, in Ruggeri, K (ed.), Psychology and Behavioral Economics

Where people live, what they eat, how careful they are about taking their medications, and even what they do in their spare time are very much related to the quality of their lives and their health-related outcomes. While our genetic makeup accounts for a significant portion of our health outcomes, we know that health is also heavily influenced by what are known as social determinants: education, wealth, neighborhood safety, housing, and health literacy, among many others. Throughout the day, we face many decisions that have a direct or indirect impact on our health and quality of life. Many of these choices can be influenced toward healthier options by behavioral interventions. This chapter presents behavioral insights and interventions that have a high potential to impact the health of community members, reduce disparities, and improve their overall quality of life. These insights and interventions range from increased medical adherence to improved nutritional choices using nudges, regulations, provision of information, or rewards for positive behaviors

Exploring Musical Activities and Their Relationship to Emotional Well-Being in Elderly People across Europe: A Study Protocol

Music is a powerful, pleasurable stimulus that can induce positive feelings and can therefore be used for emotional self-regulation. Musical activities such as listening to music, playing an instrument, singing or dancing are also an important source for social contact, promoting interaction and the sense of belonging with others. Recent evidence has suggested that after retirement, other functions of music, such as self-conceptual processing related to autobiographical memories, become more salient. However, few studies have addressed the meaningfulness of music in the elderly. This study aims to investigate elderly people’s habits and preferences related to music, study the role music plays in their everyday life, and explore the relationship between musical activities and emotional well-being across different countries of Europe. A survey will be administered to elderly people over the age of 65 from five different European countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czechia, Germany, Ireland, and UK) and to a control group. Participants in both groups will be asked about basic sociodemographic information, habits and preferences in their participation in musical activities and emotional well-being. Overall, the aim of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the role of music in the elderly from a psychological perspective. This advanced knowledge could help to develop therapeutic applications, such as musical recreational programs for healthy older people or elderly in residential care, which are better able to meet their emotional and social needs.© 2017 Grau-Sánchez, Foley, Hlavová, Muukkonen, Ojinaga-Alfageme, Radukic, Spindler and Hundeva