Inattention symptoms are predictors of neuropsychological functioning in children from 3rd and 4th grades

Symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity, arranged along a continuum, are commonly associated with neuropsychological and academic deficits, even in the general population. The aim of this study is to analyze how Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms are associated with the performance in neuropsychological and academic abilities (phonological processing, processing speed/automatic attention, executive functions, reading, and spelling) in school-age children. The sample consisted of 216 children from 3rd and 4th grades (M = 8.94 years old, SD =.71) from public elementary schools of two Brazilian capitals. Pearson correlation and Multiple Linear Regression analysis were performed. Inattention symptoms were the only predictors of performance in phonological processing (phoneme suppression and rapid automatized naming of letters), processing speed/automatic attention, executive functions, such as inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility, and reading fluency. Beta values ranged from .14 to .27, and the largest value was related to an inhibitory control task. Inattention, and not hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms, seems to affect neuropsychological functions even in non-clinical diagnosed children. Contributions and future directions are discussed

Déficits em funções executivas “frias” são mais salientes nos sintomas de TDAH que na dificuldade de leitura?

Introduction: Reading disability (RD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms often co-occur in school-age children. Methods: The present study evaluated the performance of 216 Brazilian children from 3rd and 4th grades on “cool” executive function (EF) abilities and phonological processing. The children were divided into three groups: those with ADHD symptoms only, those with RD only, and controls. Results: MANOVA analyses, controlling for age and nonverbal intelligence, showed worse performance for the RD group, compared to the ADHD symptoms group, on measures of phonological processing (phonemic awareness, phonological short-term memory, and lexical access) and “cool” EF components (orthographic verbal fluency and processing speed). The ADHD symptoms group did not differ from the control group on the majority of the “cool” EF tasks. Compared to the control group, the ADHD symptoms group and the RD group both showed significantly more errors in rapid automatized naming of figures, which evaluates the inhibition component of EF; performance on this task was similar for these groups. Conclusion: We conclude that children with RD have greater impairment in phonological processing and “cool” EF compared to those with ADHD symptoms. Furthermore, deficits in inhibitory control may be shared among children with both conditions.Introdução: Dificuldades de leitura (DL) e sintomas do Transtorno de Déficit de Atenção e Hiperatividade (TDAH) frequentemente coocorrem em crianças escolares. Métodos: O presente estudo comparou o desempenho em FE “frias” e processamento fonológico de 216 crianças brasileiras de 3ª e 4ª anos, que foram divididas em três grupos: apenas com sintomas de TDAH, apenas em DL e controles. Resultados: As análises de MANOVA, controlando para idade e inteligência não-verbal, indicaram que o grupo com DL apresentou desempenho significativamente inferior ao grupo com sintomas de TDAH nas medidas de processamento fonológico (consciência fonológica, memória verbal de curto prazo e acesso lexical) e em componentes das FE “frias” (fluência verbal ortográfica e velocidade de processamento). O grupo com sintomas de TDAH não se diferiram do grupo controle na maior parte das tarefas de FE “frias”. Ambos os grupos com sintomas de TDAH e DL apresentaram desempenhos significativamente menores (mais erros) em comparação às crianças de desenvolvimento típico na tarefa de Nomeação Seriada Rápida de figuras que avalia o componente de controle inibitório, e o desempenho foi semelhante entre os grupos. Conclusão: Conclui-se que crianças com DL apresentam maior comprometimento em processamento fonológico e FE “frias” em comparação àquelas com sintomas de TDAH e que déficits no controle inibitório podem ser compartilhados entre crianças com ambas as condições

Educomunicação, Transformação Social e Desenvolvimento Sustentável

Esta publicação apresenta os principais trabalhos dos GTs do II Congresso Internacional de Comunicação e Educação nos temas Transformação social, com os artigos que abordam principalmente Educomunicação e/ou Mídia-Educação, no contexto de políticas de diversidade, inclusão e equidade; e, em Desenvolvimento Sustentável os artigos que abordam os avanços da relação comunicação/educação no contexto da educação ambiental e desenvolvimento sustentável

Déficits em funções executivas “frias” são mais salientes nos sintomas de TDAH que na dificuldade de leitura?

Introduction: Reading disability (RD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms often co-occur in school-age children. Methods: The present study evaluated the performance of 216 Brazilian children from 3rd and 4th grades on “cool” executive function (EF) abilities and phonological processing. The children were divided into three groups: those with ADHD symptoms only, those with RD only, and controls. Results: MANOVA analyses, controlling for age and nonverbal intelligence, showed worse performance for the RD group, compared to the ADHD symptoms group, on measures of phonological processing (phonemic awareness, phonological short-term memory, and lexical access) and “cool” EF components (orthographic verbal fluency and processing speed). The ADHD symptoms group did not differ from the control group on the majority of the “cool” EF tasks. Compared to the control group, the ADHD symptoms group and the RD group both showed significantly more errors in rapid automatized naming of figures, which evaluates the inhibition component of EF; performance on this task was similar for these groups. Conclusion: We conclude that children with RD have greater impairment in phonological processing and “cool” EF compared to those with ADHD symptoms. Furthermore, deficits in inhibitory control may be shared among children with both conditions.Introdução: Dificuldades de leitura (DL) e sintomas do Transtorno de Déficit de Atenção e Hiperatividade (TDAH) frequentemente coocorrem em crianças escolares. Métodos: O presente estudo comparou o desempenho em FE “frias” e processamento fonológico de 216 crianças brasileiras de 3ª e 4ª anos, que foram divididas em três grupos: apenas com sintomas de TDAH, apenas em DL e controles. Resultados: As análises de MANOVA, controlando para idade e inteligência não-verbal, indicaram que o grupo com DL apresentou desempenho significativamente inferior ao grupo com sintomas de TDAH nas medidas de processamento fonológico (consciência fonológica, memória verbal de curto prazo e acesso lexical) e em componentes das FE “frias” (fluência verbal ortográfica e velocidade de processamento). O grupo com sintomas de TDAH não se diferiram do grupo controle na maior parte das tarefas de FE “frias”. Ambos os grupos com sintomas de TDAH e DL apresentaram desempenhos significativamente menores (mais erros) em comparação às crianças de desenvolvimento típico na tarefa de Nomeação Seriada Rápida de figuras que avalia o componente de controle inibitório, e o desempenho foi semelhante entre os grupos. Conclusão: Conclui-se que crianças com DL apresentam maior comprometimento em processamento fonológico e FE “frias” em comparação àquelas com sintomas de TDAH e que déficits no controle inibitório podem ser compartilhados entre crianças com ambas as condições

O uso da maconha medicinal no tratamento de pacientes com dor crônica

   A dor crônica é uma condição na qual há recorrência de dores por mais de 3 meses ou que há persistência por mais de 1 mês após a resolução tecidual aguda, sendo uma de suas terapêuticas atuais a maconha medicinal, que tem sido utilizado pelos profissionais da saúde como um tratamento alternativo e complementar, mas que ainda possui uso controverso. Nessa perspectiva, o presente artigo trata-se de uma mini revisão integrativa de literatura que teve como objetivo avaliar os efeitos do uso da cannabis medicinal no tratamento de pacientes com dor crônica. Foram utilizados cinco artigos das bases de dados Scientific Ele-tronic Library Online (SciELO), PubMed e Virtual Health Library (VHL), encontrados por meio dos descritores “Dor crônica”, “Terapêutica” e “Maconha Medicinal”. Constatou-se que o uso da maconha medicinal como adjuvante aos opioides na terapia da dor crônica traz bene-fícios aos pacientes. Com isso, dentre os princípios ativos analisados, os que tiveram melhor resultado foram o THC e o CBD, que quando administrados em pequenas doses, diminuíram a intensidade de dores e o uso de opioides sem desencadear efeitos colaterais severos ou prejudicar o funcionamento do sistema nervoso, embora a literatura também mostre que o uso da maconha medicinal não foi efetiva na diminuição da dor espontânea. Mais estudos são necessários para elucidar os efeitos do uso da maconha medicinal na diminuição da dor crônicas.&nbsp

Intragroup differences and similarities in performance on rapid automatized naming tasks in children with ADHD symptoms, children with reading disabilities, and controls

Introduction Rapid automatized naming (RAN) is the ability to name, as fast as possible, symbols such as letters, digits and figures. The present study aimed to investigate intragroup performance patterns on RAN tasks in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms alone, children with reading disability (RD) alone and controls with typical development. Methods A total of 216 Brazilian children between 8 to 11 years old were selected from public schools located in two Brazilian capitals, namely Porto Alegre and Belo Horizonte, to participate in the study. Mixed 3 (participant group: ADHD symptoms, RD or control group) × 3 (type of stimulus: letters, numbers or figures) ANOVAs were performed using response time and number of errors as dependent variables. Only intragroup comparisons are described in this paper. Results The groups with ADHD symptoms and RD showed similar performance results on naming speed. There were no differences between letters and numbers within each group, but we found slower responses in figure naming compared to the other tasks for both groups. Concerning accuracy, children with ADHD symptoms showed a similar number of errors in all three tasks. These patterns were distinct from the performance of the control group. Conclusion Results suggest a shared deficit in naming speed of alphanumeric stimuli in children with ADHD symptoms and those with RD, and impairments in naming digits correctly in children with ADHD symptoms

The quandary of diagnosing mathematical difficulties in a generally low performing population

Brazilian students’ mathematical achievement was repeatedly observed to fall below average levels of mathematical attainment in international comparison studies such as PISA. In this article, we argue that this general low level of mathematical attainment interferes with the diagnosis of developmental dyscalculia when the psychometric criterion is used: establishing of an arbitrary cut-off (e.g., performance < percentile 10) may lead to misleading diagnoses. Therefore, the present study set off to evaluate the performance of Brazilian school children on basic arithmetic operations. Seven hundred and six children from 3rd to 5th grades completed a calculation task assessing arithmetic fluency in addition, subtraction, and multiplication. In line with PISA results, children presented difficulties in all arithmetic operations investigated. Children performed better in addition than subtraction and multiplication, and 3rd and 4th graders were outperformed by 5th graders in all three operations. However, even after five years of formal schooling, less than half of 5th graders performed perfectly on simple addition, subtraction, and multiplication problems. Therefore, these data substantiate the argument that the sole use of a psychometric criterion might not be sensible to diagnose dyscalculia in the context of a generally low performing population, such as Brazilian primary school children. When the majority of children fail the task, it is hard to distinguish atypical from typical numerical development. As such, other diagnostic approaches, such as Response to Intervention, might be more suitable in such a context

Theoretical–Methodological Foundations for the Global Integration Method (Método de Integração Global—MIG) in the Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Currently, there is no intervention model for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that addresses all levels and factors of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF, WHO). The most researched programs focus on naturalistic, developmental and behavioral approaches to socio-communication. Less attention has been paid to motor and environmental reactivity aspects (behavior/interest restriction and sensory reactivity). The evidence rationale for the Global Integration Method (MIG, “Método de Integração Global”), a model addressing sensorimotor reactivity in addition to socio-communication, is presented. MIG is an integrative, interdisciplinary, family-oriented intervention and naturalistic program that addresses all levels and moderating factors of ASD’s impact. MIG’s theoretical rationale is based on the predictive coding impairment and embodied cognition hypotheses. MIG incorporates both bottom-up (flexible therapeutic suit, social-motor synchronization) and top-down (schematic social information processing, narratives, imagery) strategies to promote the building and use of accurate, flexible and context-sensitive internal predictive models. MIG is based on the premises that predictive coding improves both socio-communication and environmental reactivity, and that the postural stabilization provided by the flexible therapeutic suit frees information processing resources for socio-cognitive learning. MIG builds on interdisciplinary, professionally and parentally mediated work based on behavioral principles of intensive training in a situated environment

The quandary of diagnosing mathematical difficulties in a generally low performing population

Brazilian students’ mathematical achievement was repeatedly observed to fall below average levels of mathematical attainment in international comparison studies such as PISA. In this article, we argue that this general low level of mathematical attainment interferes with the diagnosis of developmental dyscalculia when the psychometric criteria is used: establishing of an arbitrary cut-off (e.g., performance < percentile 10) may lead to misleading diagnoses. Therefore, the present study set off to evaluate the performance of Brazilian school children on basic arithmetic operations. Seven hundred and six children from 3rd to 5th grades completed a calculation task assessing arithmetic fluency in addition, subtraction, and multiplication. In line with PISA results, children presented difficulties in all arithmetic operations investigated. Children performed better in addition than subtraction and multiplication, and 3rd and 4th graders were outperformed by 5th graders in all three operations. However, even after five years of formal schooling, less than half of 5th graders performed perfectly on simple addition, subtraction, and multiplication problems. Therefore, these data substantiate the argument that the sole use of a psychometric criterion might not be sensible to diagnose dyscalculia in the context of a generally low performing population, such as Brazilian primary school children. When the majority of children fail the task, it is hard to distinguish atypical from typical numerical development. As such, other diagnostic approaches, such as Response to Intervention, might be more suitable in such a context

MAOA-LPR polymorphism and math anxiety: A marker of genetic susceptibility to social influences in girls?

Math anxiety (MA) seems to result from an interaction of genetic vulnerability with negative experiences learning mathematics. Although mathematics achievement does not substantially differ between the sexes, MA levels are usually higher in girls. Molecular genetic markers of MA vulnerability have been seldom explored. This article examines the contribution of the monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA) to MA and to sex differences in MA. Five hundred and sixty-eight third to fifth graders were genotyped for the MAOA-LPR polymorphism (a repetitive element in MAOA promoter that has been associated with MAOA enzymatic activity), and assessed on general cognitive ability, mathematics achievement, and the cognitive and affective dimensions of MA. MAOA-LPR genotypes were classified as high (MAOA-H) or low (MAOA-L) according to their predicted enzymatic activity. Mixed models controlling for effects of school, sex, general cognitive ability, and mathematics achievement were evaluated. The best fitting model included school, math achievement, sex, MAOA-LPR, and the MAOA-LPR by sex interaction. This indicated that under the MAOA-H dominant model, anxiety toward mathematics interacted with the MAOA genotype: girls with an MAOA-L genotype exhibited higher levels of MA, with a small but significant effect. The association between MAOA-L genotype and MA in girls may represent an example of developmental plasticity. </p