Neural signatures of predictive language processing in parkinson’s disease with and without mild cognitive impairment

This study was funded by grants from the Fundació la Marató de TV3 2014/U/477 and 20142910, and by financial support from the Center for Biomedical Research and Neurodegenerative Resources (CIBERNED). PLC was funded with a pre-doctoral grant FPU15/05554 (FPU "Ayudas para la Formación de Profesorado Universitario") of the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. JP was funded by PERIS (expedient number: SLT008/18/00088) of Generalitat de Catalunya. JK and HB-K were funded by FIS PI18/01717. HB -K was funded by Río Hortega CM17/00209 of Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) (Spain). JM was funded by Río Hortega CM15/00071 of Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) (Spain). None of these funding sources had any involvement in the conduct of the research or the preparation of the article.Cognitive deficits are common in Parkinson’s disease (PD), with some PD patients meeting criteria for mild cognitive impairment (MCI). An unaddressed question is whether linguistic prediction is preserved in PD. This ability is nowadays deemed crucial in achieving fast and efficient comprehension, and it may be negatively impacted by cognitive deterioration. To fill this gap of knowledge, we used event-related potentials (ERPs) to evaluate mechanisms of linguistic prediction in a sample of PD patients (on dopamine compensation) with and without MCI. To this end, participants read sentence contexts that were predictive or not about a sentence-final word. The final word appeared after 1 second, matching or mismatching the prediction. The introduction of the interval allowed to capture neural responses both before and after sentence-final words, reflecting semantic anticipation and processing. PD patients with normal cognition (N = 58) showed ERP responses comparable to those of matched controls. Specifically, in predictive contexts, a slow negative potential developed prior to sentence-final words, reflecting semantic anticipation. Later, expected words elicited reduced N400 responses (compared to unexpected words), indicating facilitated semantic processing. Besides, PD patients with MCI (N = 20) showed a prolongation of the N400 congruency effect (compared to matched PD patients without MCI), indicating that further cognitive decline impacts semantic processing. Finally, lower verbal fluency scores correlated with prolonged N400 congruency effects and with reduced pre-word differences in all PD patients (N = 78). This relevantly points to a role of deficits in temporal-dependent mechanisms in PD, besides prototypical frontal dysfunction, in altered semantic anticipation and semantic processing during sentence comprehension.Fundació la Marató de TV3 2014/U/477 and 20142910Center for Biomedical Research and Neurodegenerative Resources (CIBERNED)FPU15/05554 (FPU "Ayudas para la Formación de Profesorado Universitario") of the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and SportPERIS (expedient number: SLT008/18/00088) of Generalitat de CatalunyaRío Hortega CM17/00209 of Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) (Spain)FIS PI18/01717. HB -KRío Hortega CM15/00071 of Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) (Spain

Alpha power decreases associated with prediction in written and spoken sentence comprehension

Alpha and beta power decreases have been associated with prediction in a variety of cognitive domains. Recent studies in sentence comprehension have also reported alpha and/or beta power decreases preceding contextually predictable words, albeit with remarkable spatiotemporal variability across reports. To contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon, and the sources of variability, the present study explored to what extent these prediction-related alpha and beta power decreases might be common across different modalities of comprehension. To address this, we re-analysed the data of two EEG experiments that employed the same materials in written and in spoken comprehension. Sentence contexts were weakly or strongly constraining about a sentence-final word, which was presented after a 1 s delay, either matching or mismatching the expectation. In written comprehension, alpha power (8–12 Hz) decreased before final words appearing in strongly (relative to weakly) constraining contexts, in line with previous reports. Furthermore, a similar oscillatory phenomenon was evidenced in spoken comprehension, although with relevant spatiotemporal differences. Altogether, the findings agree with the involvement of both modality-specific and general-domain mechanisms in the elicitation of prediction-related alpha power decreases in sentence comprehension. Specifically, we propose that this phenomenon might partly reflect richer and more precise information representation when linguistic contexts afford prediction.pre-doctoral grant (FPU "Ayudas para la Formacion de Profesorado Universitario") of the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport FPU15/0555

Neural Evidence of Hierarchical Cognitive Control during Haptic Processing: An fMRI Study

Interacting with our immediate surroundings requires constant manipulation of objects. Dexterous manipulation depends on comparison between actual and predicted sensory input, with these predictions calculated by means of lower- and higher-order corollary discharge signals. However, there is still scarce knowledge about the hierarchy in the neural architecture supporting haptic monitoring during manipulation. The present study aimed to assess this issue focusing on the cross talk between lower- order sensory and higher-order associative regions. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging in humans during a haptic discrimination task in which participants had to judge whether a touched shape or texture corresponded to an expected stimulus whose name was previously presented. Specialized haptic regions identified with an independent localizer task did not differ between expected and unexpected conditions, suggesting their lack of involvement in tactile monitoring. When presented stimuli did not match previous expectations, the left supramarginal gyrus (SMG), middle temporal, and medial prefrontal cortices were activated regardless of the nature of the haptic mismatch (shape/texture). The left primary somatosensory area (SI) responded differently to unexpected shapes and textures in line with a specialized detection of haptic mismatch. Importantly, connectivity analyses revealed that the left SMG and SI were more functionally coupled during unexpected trials, emphasizing their interaction. The results point for the first time to a hierarchical organization in the neural substrates underlying haptic monitoring during manipulation with the SMG as a higher-order hub comparing actual and predicted somatosensory input, and SI as a lower- order site involved in the detection of more specialized haptic mismatch

Alpha power decreases associated with prediction in written and spoken sentence comprehension

Alpha and beta power decreases have been associated with prediction in a variety of cognitive domains. Recent studies in sentence comprehension have also reported alpha and/or beta power decreases preceding contextually predictable words, albeit with remarkable spatiotemporal variability across reports. To contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon, and the sources of variability, the present study explored to what extent these prediction-related alpha and beta power decreases might be common across different modalities of comprehension. To address this, we re-analysed the data of two EEG experiments that employed the same materials in written and in spoken comprehension. Sentence contexts were weakly or strongly constraining about a sentence-final word, which was presented after a 1 s delay, either matching or mismatching the expectation. In written comprehension, alpha power (8-12 Hz) decreased before final words appearing in strongly (relative to weakly) constraining contexts, in line with previous reports. Furthermore, a similar oscillatory phenomenon was evidenced in spoken comprehension, although with relevant spatiotemporal differences. Altogether, the findings agree with the involvement of both modality-specific and general-domain mechanisms in the elicitation of prediction-related alpha power decreases in sentence comprehension. Specifically, we propose that this phenomenon might partly reflect richer and more precise information representation when linguistic contexts afford prediction

Los juegos y deportes tradicionales canarios: La necesidad de su inclusión en la educación.

La cultura de las Islas Canarias, ha pasado de generación en generación. No podemos olvidar de dónde venimos, es muy importante conocer los juegos tradicionales y deportes canarios, ya que hoy en día se está incrementando su divulgación a través de las instituciones públicas, mediante programas y proyectos educativos, principalmente. Queremos hacer hincapié en la importancia de llevar nuestras tradiciones culturales a los colegios e institutos de nuestras islas, debido a que, si queremos que nuestras futuras generaciones las conozcan, estamos en la obligación de enseñarlas, no sólo de manera teórica sino también de forma práctica y activa desde las escuelas y con la visita a las instalaciones adecuadas. Pensamos que se debería incrementar curricularmente estos contenidos canarios a través de especialistas y deportistas que puedan formar a los docentes con el objeto de inculcarles los entresijos y valores que albergan y forman parte de nuestra historia. Nuestra propuesta es contribuir con este requerimiento y, por ello, presentamos un trabajo de indagación en el que además de la consulta de algunas fuentes nos inmiscuimos en la labor de los protagonistas mediante entrevistas directas con el objeto de rescatar su mensaje a la sociedad actual.The culture of the Canary Islands has been passed down from generation to generation. We cannot forget where we come from, it is very important to know the traditional games and sports of the Canary Islands, as nowadays their dissemination is increasing through public institutions, mainly by means of educational programmes and projects. We want to emphasize the importance of taking our cultural traditions to the schools and institutes of our islands, because, if we want our future generations to know them, we have the obligation to teach them, not only in a theoretical way but also in a practical and active way from the schools and with the visit to the appropriate facilities. We believe that these Canarian contents should be increased in the curriculum by means of specialists and sportsmen and women who can help teachers to instill in them the intricacies and values that form part of our history. Our proposal is to contribute to this requirement and, for this reason, we present a research project in which, in addition to consulting some sources, we have also gone into the work of the protagonists through direct interviews with the aim of recovering their message for today's society

The black box of global aphasia: Neuroanatomical underpinnings of remission from acute global aphasia with preserved inner language function

Objective We studied an unusual case of global aphasia (GA) occurring after brain tumor removal and remitting one-month after surgery. After recovering, the patient reported on her experience during the episode, which suggested a partial preservation of language abilities (such as semantic processing) and the presence of inner speech (IS) despite a failure in overt speech production. Thus, we explored the role of IS and preserved language functions in the acute phase and investigated the neuroanatomical underpinnings of this severe breakdown in language processing. Method A neuropsychological and language assessment tapping into language production, comprehension, attention and working memory was carried out both before and three months after surgery. In the acute stage a simplified protocol was tailored to assess the limited language abilities and further explore patient's performance on different semantic tasks. The neuroanatomical dimension of these abrupt changes was provided by perioperative structural neuroimaging. Results Language and neuropsychological performance were normal/close to normal both before and three months after surgery. In the acute stage, the patient presented severe difficulties with comprehension, production and repetition, whereas she was able to correctly perform tasks that requested conceptual analysis and non-verbal operations. After recovering, the patient reported that she had been able to internally formulate her thoughts despite her overt phonological errors during the episode. Structural neuroimaging revealed that an extra-axial blood collection affected the middle frontal areas during the acute stage and that the white matter circuitry was left-lateralized before surgery. Conclusions We deemed that the global aphasia episode was produced by a combination of the post-operative extra-axial blood collection directly impacting left middle frontal areas and a left-lateralization of the arcuate and/or uncinated fasciculi before surgery. Additionally, we advocate for a comprehensive evaluation of linguistic function that includes the assessment of IS and non-expressive language functions in similar cases

Validity and invariance of measurement of the satisfaction with love life scale in older adults

In recent years, interest in satisfaction with love life (SWLL) has increased. Empirical evidence demonstrated that SWLL favors subjective well-being, physical and mental health, marital quality and stability. In this regard, the study aimed to examine evidence based on the internal structure validity, reliability, and measurement invariance of the Peruvian version of the Satisfaction with Love Life Scale (SWLLS). The participants were 323 older adults recruited from the region of San Martin (Peru) with an average age of 68.73 years (SD = 7.17). The sample comprised of 49.5% women and 50.5% men. The results supported the one-dimensional model and adequate reliability of the SWLLS. A multi-group analysis provided evidence of configural, metric, and scale invariance across genders. The findings verified the validity and reliability of the Peruvian version of the SWLLS, which can be used to measure SWLL.Universidad del Nort

Mineralocorticoid Receptor Modulation by Dietary Sodium Influences NAFLD Development in Mice

Introduction and Objectives Nonalcoholic-fatty-liver disease (NAFLD) is considered the hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome (MetS). Mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) activation is associated with increased risk of MetS but few studies have assessed the role of liver MR on NAFLD. We aimed to evaluate the effect of MR modulation by sodium intake in liver injury in experimental models of NAFLD. Materials and Methods C57BL/6J mice were fed either a high-fat-diet (HFD) or a choline/methionine deficient (MCD) diet with different sodium concentrations. Hepatic concentration of lipid species, serum aldosterone levels, expression of MR, proinflammatory and profibrotic markers and liver histology were assessed. Results Mice fed with High-Na+/HFD showed a lower MR expression in liver (p = 0.01) and less steatosis on histology (p = 0.04). Consistently, animals from this group exhibited lower levels of serum aldosterone (p = 0.028) and lower hepatic triglyceride content (p = 0.008). This associated to a reduced expression of lipogenic genes, significant changes in lipid subspecies, lower HOMA-IR (p < 0.05), and lower expression of pro-inflammatory and profibrotic markers compared to those mice fed a Low-Na+/HFD. Additionally, mice fed a High-Na+/HFD showed higher expression of salt-inducible kinase (SIK)-1 and lower expression of serum-and-glucocorticoid-inducible kinase (SGK)-1. Similar results were observed with the MCD diet model. Conclusion We identified in two experimental models of NAFLD that High-Na+ diet content is associated to lower serum aldosterone levels and hepatic MR downregulation, associated to decreased steatosis and reduced de novo hepatic lipogenesis, proinflammatory and profibrotic markers. Decreased activation of hepatic MR seems to generate beneficial downstream inhibition of lipogenesis in experimental NAFLD.This work was funded, in part, by grants from the Chilean Government [FONDECYT #1150327 and #1191145 to M.A.; #1200227 to JPA; #1190419 to R.B and #1191183 to F.B.; #1211879 to D.C.) and the Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT, AFB170005, CARE Chile UC)]. MA is part of the European- Latin American ESCALON consortium funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under grant agreement no. 825510. Funding from Ayudas para apoyar grupos de investigación del sistema Universitario Vasco (IT971-16 to P.A.), MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE (RTI2018-095134-B-100 to P.A) is also acknowledged

Propuesta metodológica para el mejoramiento de la enseñanza y el aprendizaje en el aula rural multigrado

El documento que presentamos es el producto de una reflexión grupal que se ha nutrido de los resultados del diagnóstico evaluativo realizado a fines del año 2000; del estudio y sistematización de los documentos que orientan y norman la educación primaria de menores, la formación y la capacitación docente y la educación bilingüe intercultural; del análisis de los materiales educativos elaborados y distribuidos por el Ministerio de Educación (MED), y del conocimiento de las experiencias de metodología multigrado emprendidas en diversos países. Con relación a este último punto, especialmente útil fue la participación de dos miembros del equipo en el Proyecto de Investigación Internacional “Enseñanza multigrado en Perú, Sri Lanka y Vietnam”, conducido por el Instituto de Educación de la Universidad de Londres. Aun cuando las competencias y las habilidades del docente son indispensables para mejorar los logros de aprendizaje en las aulas multigrado, el esfuerzo por realizar no depende exclusivamente de él. Hay una serie de condiciones y requerimientos que exceden lo que por su cuenta puede hacer un maestro, aun si dispone de un conjunto de ideas prácticas para desempeñar mejor su tarea. Así, la nueva metodología debe formar parte de un proyecto de atención integral de la educación primaria rural, que comprenda estrategias específicas sobre formación docente, capacitación de docentes en servicio, tratamiento de la ECB, organización del servicio educativo en zonas rurales, requerimientos de infraestructura y mobiliario, requerimientos de materiales educativos y relaciones escuela – familia – comunidad. Algunas de estas estrategias son planteadas, a modo de sugerencias y recomendaciones, en el anexo 2

Mortality and biochemical recurrence after surgery, brachytherapy, or external radiotherapy for localized prostate cancer: a 10-year follow-up cohort study

To compare the effectiveness at ten years of follow-up of radical prostatectomy, brachytherapy and external radiotherapy, in terms of overall survival, prostate cancer-specific mortality and biochemical recurrence. Cohort of men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer (T1/T2 and low/intermediate risk) from ten Spanish hospitals, followed for 10 years. The treatment selection was decided jointly by patients and physicians. Of 704 participants, 192 were treated with open radical retropubic prostatectomy, 317 with I-125 brachytherapy alone, and 195 with 3D external beam radiation. We evaluated overall survival, prostate cancer-specific mortality, and biochemical recurrence. Kaplan-Meier estimators were plotted, and Cox proportional-hazards regression models were constructed to estimate hazard ratios (HR), adjusted by propensity scores. Of the 704 participants, 542 patients were alive ten years after treatment, and a total of 13 patients have been lost during follow-up. After adjusting by propensity score and Gleason score, brachytherapy and external radiotherapy were not associated with decreased 10-year overall survival (aHR = 1.36, p = 0.292 and aHR = 1.44, p = 0.222), but presented higher biochemical recurrence (aHR = 1.93, p = 0.004 and aHR = 2.56, p < 0.001) than radical prostatectomy at ten years of follow-up. Higher prostate cancer-specific mortality was also observed in external radiotherapy (aHR = 9.37, p = 0.015). Novel long-term results are provided on the effectiveness of brachytherapy to control localized prostate cancer ten years after treatment, compared to radical prostatectomy and external radiotherapy, presenting high overall survival, similarly to radical prostatectomy, but higher risk of biochemical progression. These findings provide valuable information to facilitate shared clinical decision-making. Study identifier at ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01492751