Developmental changes in the role of different metalinguistic awareness skills in Chinese reading acquisition from preschool to third grade

Copyright @ 2014 Wei et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.The present study investigated the relationship between Chinese reading skills and metalinguistic awareness skills such as phonological, morphological, and orthographic awareness for 101 Preschool, 94 Grade-1, 98 Grade-2, and 98 Grade-3 children from two primary schools in Mainland China. The aim of the study was to examine how each of these metalinguistic awareness skills would exert their influence on the success of reading in Chinese with age. The results showed that all three metalinguistic awareness skills significantly predicted reading success. It further revealed that orthographic awareness played a dominant role in the early stages of reading acquisition, and its influence decreased with age, while the opposite was true for the contribution of morphological awareness. The results were in stark contrast with studies in English, where phonological awareness is typically shown as the single most potent metalinguistic awareness factor in literacy acquisition. In order to account for the current data, a three-stage model of reading acquisition in Chinese is discussed.National Natural Science Foundation of China and Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Fluctuations between high- and low-modularity topology in time-resolved functional connectivity

Modularity is an important topological attribute for functional brain networks. Recent studies have reported that modularity of functional networks varies not only across individuals being related to demographics and cognitive performance, but also within individuals co-occurring with fluctuations in network properties of functional connectivity, estimated over short time intervals. However, characteristics of these time-resolved functional networks during periods of high and low modularity have remained largely unexplored. In this study we investigate spatiotemporal properties of time-resolved networks in the high and low modularity periods during rest, with a particular focus on their spatial connectivity patterns, temporal homogeneity and test-retest reliability. We show that spatial connectivity patterns of time-resolved networks in the high and low modularity periods are represented by increased and decreased dissociation of the default mode network module from task-positive network modules, respectively. We also find that the instances of time-resolved functional connectivity sampled from within the high (low) modularity period are relatively homogeneous (heterogeneous) over time, indicating that during the low modularity period the default mode network interacts with other networks in a variable manner. We confirmed that the occurrence of the high and low modularity periods varies across individuals with moderate inter-session test-retest reliability and that it is correlated with previously-reported individual differences in the modularity of functional connectivity estimated over longer timescales. Our findings illustrate how time-resolved functional networks are spatiotemporally organized during periods of high and low modularity, allowing one to trace individual differences in long-timescale modularity to the variable occurrence of network configurations at shorter timescales.Comment: Reorganized the paper; to appear in NeuroImage; arXiv abstract shortened to fit within character limit

Neural correlates of subjective awareness for natural scene categorization of color photographs and line-drawings

It remains controversial whether visual awareness is correlated with early activation indicated by VAN (visual awareness negativity), as the recurrent process hypothesis theory proposes, or with later activation indicated by P3 or LP (late positive), as suggested by global workspace theories. To address this issue, a backward masking task was adopted, in which participants were first asked to categorize natural scenes of color photographs and line-drawings and then to rate the clarity of their visual experience on a perceptual awareness scale (PAS). The interstimulus interval (ISI) between the scene and the mask was manipulated. The behavioral results showed that categorization accuracy increased with PAS ratings for both color photographs and line-drawings, with no difference in accuracy between the two types of images for each rating, indicating that the experience rating reflected visibility. Importantly, the ERP results revealed that for correct trials, the early posterior N1 and anterior P2 components changed with the PAS ratings for color photographs, but did not vary with the PAS ratings for line-drawings, indicating that the N1 and P2 do not always correlate with subjective visual awareness. Moreover, for both types of images, the anterior N2 and posterior VAN changed with the PAS ratings in a linear way, while the LP changed with the PAS ratings in a nonlinear way,suggesting that these components relate to different types of subjective awareness. The results reconcile the apparently contradictory predictions of different theories and help to resolve the current debate on neural correlates of visual awareness

Neurobiological Changes of Schizotypy: Evidence From Both Volume-Based Morphometric Analysis and Resting-State Functional Connectivity

The current study sought to examine the underlying brain changes in individuals with high schizotypy by integrating networks derived from brain structural and functional imaging. Individuals with high schizotypy (n = 35) and low schizotypy (n = 34) controls were screened using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire and underwent brain structural and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging on a 3T scanner. Voxel-based morphometric analysis and graph theory-based functional network analysis were conducted. Individuals with high schizotypy showed reduced gray matter (GM) density in the insula and the dorsolateral prefrontal gyrus. The graph theoretical analysis showed that individuals with high schizotypy showed similar global properties in their functional networks as low schizotypy individuals. Several hubs of the functional network were identified in both groups, including the insula, the lingual gyrus, the postcentral gyrus, and the rolandic operculum. More hubs in the frontal lobe and fewer hubs in the occipital lobe were identified in individuals with high schizotypy. By comparing the functional connectivity between clusters with abnormal GM density and the whole brain, individuals with high schizotypy showed weaker functional connectivity between the left insula and the putamen, but stronger connectivity between the cerebellum and the medial frontal gyrus. Taken together, our findings suggest that individuals with high schizotypy present changes in terms of GM and resting-state functional connectivity, especially in the frontal lobe

Coexistence and different determinants of posttraumatic stress disorder and posttraumatic growth among Chinese survivors after earthquake: role of resilience and rumination

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and posttraumatic growth (PIG) are two different outcomes that may occur after experiencing traumatic events. Resilience and rumination are two important factors that determine the development of these outcomes after trauma. We investigated the association between these two factors, PTSD and PIG, among Chinese survivors in an earthquake. With a convenience sample of 318 survivors from earthquake, we measured trauma exposure, PTSD, PIG, resilience, and rumination (Impact of Event Scale-Revised, Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, 10 item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Ruminative Response Scale). Then we used bivariate correlation and structural equation modeling to examine the structure of relations among these factors. Results showed that resilience and reflective rumination have a positive effect on PIG (beta = 0.32, p &lt; 0.001; = 0.17, p = 0.049). Earthquake exposure, brooding rumination and depressed-related rumination are related with higher level of PTSD = 0.10, p = 0.021; = 0.33, p &lt; 0.001; beta = 0.36, p &lt; 0.001). The findings suggest distinct determinants of the negative and positive outcomes, and this may provide better understanding about the risk and protective factors for traumatic reactions.</p

Cinnamic aldehyde treatment alleviates chronic unexpected stress-induced depressive-like behaviors via targeting cyclooxygenase-2 in mid-aged rats

Ethnopharmacological relevance: COX-2 has been considered as a potent molecular target for prevention and therapy of depression. However, a recent study showed that COX-2 inhibitor does not improve depressive symptoms in persons aged 70 and over. Therefore, whether treatments targeting COX-2 have a clinical efficacy in depression, especially elderly individuals, remains unclear. Cinnamic aldehyde is a major constituent of Cinnamomum cassia, which has exhibited excellent anti-inflammatory activities as a COX-2 inhibitor. To investigate the potential antidepressant effect of cinnamic aldehyde in mid-aged rats

Collective-efficacy as a mediator of the relationship of leaders' personality traits and team performance: A cross-level analysis

The relationship between a leader&#39;s personality and his team&#39;s performance has been established in organisational research, but the underlying process and mechanism responsible for this effect have not been fully explored. Both the traditional multiple linear regression and the multilevel structural equation model approaches were used in this study to test a proposed mediating model of subordinates&#39; perception of collective efficacy between leader personality and team performance. The results show that the team leader&#39;s extraversion and conscientiousness personality traits were related positively to both the team-average (individual) perception of collective efficacy and team performance, and the collective efficacy mediated the relationship of the leader&#39;s personality traits and team performance. This study also discusses how Chinese cultural elements play a role in such a mediating model.</p

Are Rich People Perceived as More Trustworthy? Perceived Socioeconomic Status Modulates Judgments of Trustworthiness and Trust Behavior Based on Facial Appearance

In the era of globalization, people meet strangers from different countries more often than ever. Previous research indicates that impressions of trustworthiness based on facial appearance play an important role in interpersonal cooperation behaviors. The current study examined whether additional information about socioeconomic status (SES), including national prosperity and individual monthly income, affects facial judgments and appearance-based trust decisions. Besides reproducing previous conclusions that trustworthy faces receive more money than untrustworthy faces, the present study showed that high-income individuals were judged as more trustworthy than low-income individuals, and also were given more money in a trust game. However, trust behaviors were not modulated by the nationality of the faces. The present research suggests that people are more likely to trust strangers with a high income, compared with individuals with a low income.</p