Abstract, emotional and concrete concepts and the activation of mouth-hand effectors

According to embodied and grounded theories, concepts are grounded in sensorimotor systems. The majority of evidence supporting these views concerns concepts referring to objects or actions, while evidence on abstract concepts is more scarce. Explaining how abstract concepts such as ‘‘freedom’’ are represented would thus be pivotal for grounded theories. According to some recent proposals, abstract concepts are grounded in both sensorimotor and linguistic experience, thus they activate the mouth motor system more than concrete concepts. Two experiments are reported, aimed at verifying whether abstract, concrete and emotional words activate the mouth and the hand effectors. In both experiments participants performed first a lexical decision, then a recognition task. In Experiment 1 participants responded by pressing a button either with the mouth or with the hand, in Experiment 2 responses were given with the foot, while a button held either in the mouth or in the hand was used to respond to catch-trials. Abstract words were slower to process in both tasks (concreteness effect). Across the tasks and experiments, emotional concepts had instead a fluctuating pattern, different from those of both concrete and abstract concepts, suggesting that they cannot be considered as a subset of abstract concepts. The interaction between type of concept (abstract, concrete and emotional) and effector (mouth, hand) was not significant in the lexical decision task, likely because it emerged only with tasks implying a deeper processing level. It reached significance, instead, in the recognition tasks. In both experiments abstract concepts were facilitated in the mouth condition compared to the hand condition, supporting our main prediction. Emotional concepts instead had a more variable pattern. Overall, our findings indicate that various kinds of concepts differently activate the mouth and hand effectors, but they also suggest that concepts activate effectors in a flexible and task-dependent wa

Comparison of short-stretch bandage and long-stretch bandage for post-traumatic hand edema

Introduction and importance: Hand edema is a common post-surgical or traumatic complication in orthopedic patients, necessitating effective treatment interventions. This study aimed to investigate the effects of two different types of bandages, along with finger flexion exercises, on managing hand edema. Case presentation: Our orthopedic patients with post-surgical or traumatic hand edema and three non-edematous hands were enrolled in the study. A mixed model effect with fixed factors of time (pre-post) and bandage type (M, C, N), and random factors of hand, edema, fingers, and phalanges was applied. The bandage types were circular with short elastic bandage (M) and circular with elastic bandage (C). Finger flexion exercises involved alternating contractions of extrinsic and intrinsic flexors. Randomization ensured unbiased allocation to bandage types. Clinical discussion: The M bandage demonstrated a significant reduction in hand edema by effectively moving free fluids, reinforcing tissue hydrostatic pressure, and facilitating venous and lymphatic flow. On the other hand, the C bandage did not produce significant pre-post differences in hand circumference. Conclusions: The combination of a circular bandage with finger flexion exercises shows promise in reducing hand edema in orthopedic patients. Particularly, the stiff bandage M exhibited superior efficacy compared to the elastic one C in reducing hand circumference. These findings provide valuable insights for clinical practice, offering an effective strategy for managing hand edema and promoting better patient outcome

Interaction effect: Are you doing the right thing?

How to correctly interpret interaction effects has been largely discussed in scientific literature. Nevertheless, misinterpretations are still frequently observed, and neuroscience is not exempt from this trend. We reviewed 645 papers published from 2019 to 2020 and found that, in the 93.2% of studies reporting a statistically significant interaction effect (N = 221), post-hoc pairwise comparisons were the designated method adopted to interpret its results. Given the widespread use of this approach, we aim to: (1) highlight its limitations and how it can lead to misinterpretations of the interaction effect; (2) discuss more effective and powerful ways to correctly interpret interaction effects, including both explorative and model selection procedures. The paper provides practical examples and freely accessible online materials to reproduce all analyses

Abstract and concrete concepts in conversation

Concepts allow us to make sense of the world. Most evidence on their acquisition and representation comes from studies of single decontextualized words and focuses on the opposition between concrete and abstract concepts (e.g., "bottle" vs. "truth"). A significant step forward in research on concepts consists in investigating them in online interaction during their use. Our study examines linguistic exchanges analyzing the differences between sub-kinds of concepts. Participants were submitted to an online task in which they had to simulate a conversational exchange by responding to sentences involving sub-kinds of concrete (tools, animals, food) and abstract concepts (PS, philosophical-spiritual; EMSS, emotional-social, PSTQ, physical-spatio-temporal-quantitative). We found differences in content: foods evoked interoception; tools and animals elicited materials, spatial, auditive features, confirming their sensorimotor grounding. PS and EMSS yielded inner experiences (e.g., emotions, cognitive states, introspections) and opposed PSTQ, tied to visual properties and concrete agency. More crucially, the various concepts elicited different interactional dynamics: more abstract concepts generated higher uncertainty and more interactive exchanges than concrete ones. Investigating concepts in situated interactions opens new possibilities for studying conceptual knowledge and its pragmatic and social aspects

Internalizing Symptoms in Developmental Dyslexia: A Comparison Between Primary and Secondary School

Although the relationship between developmental dyslexia (DD) and the risk of occurrence of internalizing symptomatology has been widely investigated in the extant literature, different findings have been reported. In this study, two experiments with two general purposes are presented. The first study investigates whether the differences in the severity of internalizing symptoms between DD and controls are greater in students attending secondary school than in those attending primary school. Sixtyfive DD and 169 controls attending primary and secondary school took part in the first study. The diagnosis of dyslexia was obtained from standardized reading tests; internalizing symptom severity was assessed with the Self Administrated Psychiatric Scales for Children and Adolescents questionnaire. The results showed that adolescents with dyslexia had an increased level of self-perceived anxiety, depression and somatic symptoms, whereas no significant differences between DD and controls emerged in childhood. In the second study, a cohort of adolescents attending secondary school (DD = 44; controls = 51) was closely analyzed to clarify whether contextual and subjective factors could contribute toward exacerbating the risk of internalizing symptomatology at that age. Internalizing symptom severity was assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist, Youth Self Report questionnaire, decision-making factors were measured with the Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire, and student\u2019s quality of life was gaged using the Clipper test. The results showed that high levels of internalizing symptoms in DD were associated with a low level of self-esteem and the tendency to react to problematic situations with hyperactivation. By contrast, positive relationships with peers were associated with low symptom severity. In conclusion, the intensified internalizing symptoms that could emerge in adolescents in association with the presence of dyslexia are predicted by social protective and risk factors that are associated with symptom severity. Accordingly, the results suggest that remediation programs for dyslexia should include implementing motivation strategies, self-esteem enhancement activities and building peers networks that, starting in childhood, can prevent the appearance of internalizing symptoms

Preliminary evidence on machine learning approaches for clusterizing students’ cognitive profile

Assessing the cognitive abilities of students in academic contexts can provide valuable insights for teachers to identify their cognitive profile and create personalized teaching strategies. While numerous studies have demonstrated promising outcomes in clustering students based on their cognitive profiles, effective comparisons between various clustering methods are lacking in the current literature. In this study, we aim to compare the effectiveness of two clustering techniques to group students based on their cognitive abilities including general intelligence, attention, visual perception, working memory, and phonological awareness. 292 students, aged 11–15 years, participated in the study. A two-level approach based on the joint use of Kohonen's Self-Organizing Map (SOMs) and k-means clustering algorithm was compared with an approach based on the k-means clustering algorithm only. The resulting profiles were then predicted via AdaBoost and ANN supervised algorithms. The results showed that the two-level approach provides the best solution for this problem while the ANN algorithm was the winner in the classification problem. These results laying the foundations for developing a useful instrument for predicting the students’ cognitive profile

Preliminary Validation of the CI-FRA Checklist: A Simple Screening Tool for Measuring the Early Signs of Reading and Spelling Disorders in Italian Primary Students

Although several screening tests for recognizing early signs of reading and spelling difficulties have been developed, brief and methodologically grounded tools for teachers are very limited. The present study aimed to lay the foundation for a new screening tool for teachers: the Checklist for early Indicators of risk Factors in Reading Ability (CI-FRA). The proposed checklist consists of 20 items, based on a 7-point Likert scale, and it investigates five domains: reading, writing, attention, and motor skills. Six hundred sixtyseven children were evaluated by 40 teachers during the first year of primary school and, longitudinally, in the second year. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were applied to verify structural validity. Concurrent validity was assessed by Spearman correlation to analyze the link between CI-FRA and reading and spelling standardized tests and cognitive tests. Reliability was assessed by Cronbach a and interclass correlation coefficient. The CFA reported a three-factor structure as the optimal solution, including language (reading and writing), visuospatial attention, and fine motor skills subscales. Good reliability, good internal consistency, and acceptable test\u2013 retest indices were found. Concurrent validity was confirmed by significant correlations between CI-FRA total score and standardized reading and spelling test, as well as by correlations between CI-FRA subscales and neuropsychological standardized test scores. Preliminary evaluation of sensitivity by receiver operating characteristic curves showed that the CI-FRA score has particularly high sensitivity and specificity for word reading speed deficit. In conclusion, the results confirm that CI-FRA is a theoretically grounded and statistically valid tool that could help the teachers to screen for early signs of reading and spelling difficulties

Does early object exploration support gesture and language development in extremely preterm infants and full-term infants?

Background: An increasing body of research on typically and atypically developing infants has shown that motor skills play an important role in language development. To date, however, the role of specific object exploration skills for early gesture and vocabulary development has not been investigated in extremely low gestational age infants (ELGA, GA < 28 weeks), who are at greater risk for motor and language delays than full-term (FT) infants. Purpose: This longitudinal study examined relations between 6-month active exploratory behaviors and 12- month word comprehension, gestures and vocal production, controlling for cognitive performance and neonatal condition (ELGA vs FT). Methods: Forty infants, 20 ELGA and 20 FT, and their mothers participated in the study. Mother-infant play interaction was video-recorded at 6 and 12 months. Oral and manual object exploration at 6 months and spontaneous gestures and vocal production at 12 months were coded. Word comprehension was evaluated with the Italian version of the MacArthur-Bates CDI parent questionnaire at 12 months. Cognitive performance was examined with the Griffiths Mental Developmental Scales at 6 months and the Bayley-III Scales at 12 months. Results: Regression analyses showed that after accounting for cognitive performance and neonatal condition, oral exploration was related to word comprehension, and manual exploration to gestures and vocal production in the overall sample. Conclusions: Cascading effects of specific object exploration skills on gestures and language comprehension and production in preterm infants and FT infants are discussed. Clinical implications for early assessment of and interventions involving object exploration skills, which may affect language development, are considered for the preterm population

Using Two-Step Cluster Analysis and Latent Class Cluster Analysis to Classify the Cognitive Heterogeneity of Cross-Diagnostic Psychiatric Inpatients

The heterogeneity of cognitive profiles among psychiatric patients has been reported to carry significant clinical information. However, how to best characterize such cognitive heterogeneity is still a matter of debate. Despite being well suited for clinical data, cluster analysis techniques, like the Two-Step and the Latent Class, received little to no attention in the literature. The present study aimed to test the validity of the cluster solutions obtained with Two-Step and Latent Class cluster analysis on the cognitive profile of a cross-diagnostic sample of 387 psychiatric inpatients. Two-Step and Latent Class cluster analysis produced similar and reliable solutions. The overall results reported that it is possible to group all psychiatric inpatients into Low and High Cognitive Profiles, with a higher degree of cognitive heterogeneity in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder patients than in depressive disorders and personality disorder patients