Potentials and Pitfalls of Cross-Translational Models of Cognitive Impairment

A number of clinical disorders that are either neurodevelopmental or neurodegenerative exhibit significant cognitive impairments that require some form of intervention. However, the current paucity of pro-cognitive treatments that are available, due to the lack of knowledge of biological targets and symptomologies, impedes the treatment of individuals with cognitive impairments. In this review article, we explore three critical steps that need to be established in order to lead to the development of effective and appropriate treatments for cognitive impairments. The first step specifically involves the ability to efficiently reproduce and standardize current animal models of disease. The second step involves establishing well-controlled and standardized animal models across different species, such as rodents and monkeys, that link to human disease conditions. The third step involves building these animal models from both a translational and a reverse translational perspective in order to gain critical insight into the etiologies of specific cognitive impairments and the development of their early physiological and behavioral biomarkers. This bidirectional translational approach is important to improve the investigation of disease biomarkers, the underlying mechanisms of novel therapeutics on cognition, and to validate preclinical findings of drug discovery. Overall, even though animal models play an important role in investigating the pathophysiological processes and mechanisms associated with typical and atypical behavior, we discuss the ongoing challenges associated with these three critical steps of cross-translational research that has led to the current lack of success of developing effective new compounds for potential treatments and suggest approaches to stimulate advances in the field

Identifying Reading Disabilities: A Survey of Practitioners

Accurate and timely identification of reading disabilities (RDs) is essential for providing appropriate and effective remediation for struggling readers. However, practices for identifying RDs lack sufficient documentation within and across educational and clinical settings. The wide range of possible practices intended to identify struggling readers can render the field vulnerable to inconsistencies in how the needs of struggling readers are recognized and supported. To better understand the range of current practices used to identify RDs in school-age children, we created and disseminated a survey nationally, and analyzed data from 965 practitioners. The findings indicate lengthy timelines to identify RDs; substantial variability in the composition of assessment teams, identification criteria, and diagnostic labels; and notable opportunities for enhancing practitioner training experiences. This study aims to promote cross-contextual dialogue about the identification of RDs and their implications for students’ educational experiences

Anxiety, motivation, and competence in mathematics and reading for children with and without learning difficulties

Knowledge of the relations among learners’ socio-emotional characteristics and competencies as they engage in mathematics and reading is limited, especially for children with academic difficulties. This study examined the relations between anxiety, motivation, and competence in mathematics and reading, within and across domains, in an academically-diverse set of 8–13-year-old learners (n = 146). To measure anxiety and motivation across domains, we paired existing measures of math anxiety and reading motivation with researcher-developed analogues for reading anxiety and math motivation. Participants completed standardized assessments of mathematics and reading, anxiety and motivation surveys for math and reading, and a measure of nonverbal cognitive ability. Results showed high internal consistency for all anxiety and motivation scales (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.76-0.91). Pearson correlations showed that within and across domains, participants with higher competence had lower anxiety and higher motivation. Higher anxiety was also associated with lower motivation. Regression analyses showed that for both math and reading, within-domain motivation was a stronger predictor of competence than anxiety. There was a unidirectional across-domain relation: socio-emotional characteristics for reading predicted math competence, after accounting for nonverbal cognitive ability, age, gender, and within-domain anxiety and motivation. Results contribute to knowledge of the socio-emotional characteristics of children with and without learning difficulties in association with reading and math activities. Implications of a unidirectional socio-emotional link between the two domains can advance research and theory of the relations among socio-emotional characteristics and competence for academically-diverse learners

Dissociating executive function and ADHD influences on reading ability in children with dyslexia

Developmental dyslexia (DD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are two of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders among school-age children. These disorders frequently co-occur, with up to 40-50% of children with one diagnosis meeting criteria for the other, and similar percentages of children with either DD or ADHD exhibiting impaired executive functions (EF). Although both ADHD and EF deficits are common in dyslexia, there is little evidence about how ADHD and EF deficits specifically influence the brain basis of reading difficulty in dyslexia, and whether the influences of ADHD and EF on dyslexia can be disentangled. The goal of the current study was to investigate, at both behavioral and brain levels, whether reading performance in individuals with dyslexia is more strongly associated with EF or with diagnostic status of comorbid ADHD. We examined reading abilities and EF in children (8-13 years old) with typical reading ability, DD only, or both DD + ADHD. Across both groups with dyslexia, impaired EF was associated with greater impairment on measures loading onto a reading fluency, but not a reading accuracy, factor. There were no significant differences between the DD and DD + ADHD groups on measures of reading fluency or reading accuracy. During functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing a rhyme-matching reading task requiring phonological awareness, typically developing readers showed greater left-hemisphere reading network activation than children with DD or DD + ADHD. Children with DD and DD + ADHD did not show differential activation, but DD children with unimpaired EF showed greater activation than those with impaired EF in reading-related areas. Thus, ADHD status alone had no measurable influence on reading performance or brain activation. Impaired EF in dyslexia, independent of ADHD status, was associated with greater deficits in reading fluency and greater reductions of activation in response to print in the typical left-hemisphere reading network

Anxiety, Motivation, and Competence in Mathematics and Reading for Children With and Without Learning Difficulties

Knowledge of the relations among learners' socio-emotional characteristics and competencies as they engage in mathematics and reading is limited, especially for children with academic difficulties. This study examined the relations between anxiety, motivation, and competence in mathematics and reading, within and across domains, in an academically-diverse set of 8–13-year-old learners (n = 146). To measure anxiety and motivation across domains, we paired existing measures of math anxiety and reading motivation with researcher-developed analogs for reading anxiety and math motivation. Participants completed standardized assessments of mathematics and reading, anxiety and motivation surveys for math and reading, and a measure of nonverbal cognitive ability. Results showed high internal consistency for all anxiety and motivation scales (Cronbach's alpha = 0.76–0.91). Pearson correlations showed that within and across domains, participants with higher competence had lower anxiety and higher motivation. Higher anxiety was also associated with lower motivation. Regression analyses showed that for both math and reading, within-domain motivation was a stronger predictor of competence than anxiety. There was a unidirectional across-domain relation: socio-emotional characteristics for reading predicted math competence, after accounting for nonverbal cognitive ability, age, gender, and within-domain anxiety and motivation. Results contribute to knowledge of the socio-emotional characteristics of children with and without learning difficulties in association with reading and math activities. Implications of a unidirectional socio-emotional link between the two domains can advance research and theory of the relations among socio-emotional characteristics and competence for academically-diverse learners