In the present study, we investigated whether interpretation of proverbs differs across the lifespan and if so, whether it is associated with age-related fronto-temporal atrophy. Using a sample of ...333 healthy individuals aged 18–89 years, we found a significant effect of age on proverb interpretation
H
(2) = 12.001,
p
= 0.002: old adults (OA) were better than young adults (YA) (
p
= 0.002), and so were middle-aged-adults (MA) (
p
= 0.005). OA and MA had significantly less grey matter (GM) than YA in frontal and temporal lobes bilaterally, and OA less than MA in the right temporal lobe. GM volumes in these regions did not moderate the effect of age on the proverbs scores. The whole-brain analysis of groups’ GM maps revealed that the proverbs scores were associated with more GM in YA relative to OA in the right middle temporal gyrus, which is consistent with evidence on the role of this area in processing of unfamiliar proverbs. Overall, our data suggest that interpretation of proverbs is well preserved in late adulthood, despite considerable age-related cortical atrophy.
Abstract The goal of the present study was to determine the earliest patterns of hypometabolism and atrophy in the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Stages of AD were defined by positron ...emission tomography imaging evidence of cortical amyloid pathology in addition to cognitive criteria. Subjects for the study were selected from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database and divided into 4 groups: cognitively normal (CN) amyloid negative (Aβ−) elderly subjects (n = 36), CN amyloid-positive (Aβ+) (n = 21), early mild cognitive impairment Aβ+ (n = 65), and late mild cognitive impairment Aβ+ (n = 23) subjects. Region of interest–based (primary) and voxel-based (secondary) analyses were used to assess gray matter hypometabolism, quantified by 18Ffluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography, and decrease in gray matter volume and cortical thickness was measured by magnetic resonance imaging. Region of interest- and voxel-based analyses showed significant hypometabolism but not atrophy in CN Aβ+ subjects compared with CN Aβ− subjects. The results suggest that hypometabolism exceeds atrophy in preclinical AD, supporting the notion that amyloid load may affect synaptic activity, leading to synaptic loss and subsequent neuronal loss.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
The relevance of anatomical connectivity for understanding of the neural basis of language was recognized in the 19
th
century, and yet this topic has only recently become the subject of wider ...research interest. In this paper, I review recent findings on white matter tracts implicated in language: the arcuate fasciculus, superior longitudinal fasciculus, extreme capsule, uncinate fasciculus, middle longitudinal fasciculus, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus. The reviewed findings on these tracts were reported in studies that used a variety of methods, from post-mortem dissection and diffusion imaging to intraoperative electrostimulation with awake surgery patients. The emerging picture suggests that there is currently no consensus with regard to the exact number and identity of the tracts supporting language, their origins, trajectories, and terminations, as well as their functional interpretation.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
The purpose of the present study was to determine whether early bilingual Basque-Spanish speakers, who acquired Spanish by the age of 5, comprehend Spanish
-dependences as effortlessly as native ...Spanish speakers. Given that Basque and Spanish are structurally different languages, we hypothesized that predictive processing strategies from the first language (L1) would interfere with predictive processing strategies in the second language (L2). More specifically, since Basque overtly marks the semantic role of agent/subject position, whereas Spanish overtly marks the role of patient/object position, we looked at whether the difference in overt marking of semantic roles would affect comprehension of subject
. object
“who” and
“which” direct and embedded questions as well as subject
. object relative clauses introduced by
. The main finding of the study is that overall early Basque-Spanish bilinguals needed more time for the comprehension of
-dependencies in Spanish compared to native Spanish speakers, as indicated by statistically significant group differences in response times in 9 out of 10 conditions. The results of this exploratory study indicate that a difference in overt marking of semantic roles between the two languages affects the ease of processing of Spanish
-dependencies in early Basque-Spanish bilinguals, interfering with their ability to make native-like predictions in L2.
Recent findings on retrieval of proper names in cognitively healthy middle- aged persons indicate that Tip-Of-The-Tongue (TOT) states occurring during proper name retrieval implicate inferior frontal ...(BA 44) and parietal (BA 40) cortical areas. Such findings give rise to the possibility that anatomical connectivity via dorsal white matter may be associated with difficulties in name retrieval in midlife.
Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging, we examined in vivo microstructural properties of white matter in 72 cognitively healthy Middle-Aged (MA) and 59 Young Adults (YA), comparing their naming abilities as well as testing, for possible associations between dorsal white matter integrity and naming abilities in the MA group.
The MA group was better in retrieving correct names (U = 1525.5, p = .006), but they also retrieved more incorrect names than YA believing they had retrieved the correct ones (U = 1265.5, p < .001). Furthermore, despite being more familiar with the tested names than YA (U = 930, p < .001), MA experienced significantly more TOTs relative to YA (U = 1498.5, p = .004). Tract-based spatial statistics showed significant group differences in values of fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity, radial diffusivity, and mode of anisotropy in a range of white matter tracts. In the MA group, FA values in the right Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus (SLF) were positively correlated with "don't know" scores (rs = .287, p = .014).
The association of SLF integrity and name retrieval ability in midlife indicates a need to revisit the models of name retrieval that posit no role for dorsal white matter in proper name retrieval.
Objectives
The variability in patterns of acquisition of literacy and numeracy skills in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is currently not well understood. In the present study, we ...investigated these skills in cognitively able children with ASD ages 7–12 years.
Methods
Using independent samples
t
test, we compared autistic children’s scores on word reading, spelling, and numerical operations with those of typically developing children in the same age group. A paired-samples
t
test was used to assess whether reading, spelling, and numerical operations scores were comparable within the ASD group. Finally, we tested whether verbal IQ mediated the effect of diagnostic status on these scores.
Results
The main findings of the study are that autistic children had worse scores on numerical operations than the control group (
t
(54.112) = − 3.326,
p
= .002,
d
= − .314), but the groups’ scores were similar in word reading and spelling. The autistic children had significantly better scores on word reading and spelling than on numerical operations. All scores of autistic children were positively associated with their verbal IQ scores. Verbal IQ mediated the effect of diagnostic status on all outcome variables.
Conclusion
These findings extend current understanding of patterns of acquisition of literacy and numeracy skills in young children with ASD, suggesting a critical role of verbal abilities in the acquisition of numerical skills.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
The association between verbal fluency deficit in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and deterioration of specific white matter (WM) tracts is currently not well understood. Using diffusion tensor imaging, we ...investigated a possible association between the left uncinate fasciculus, which has been implicated in word retrieval, and verbal fluency deficit in AD. A comparison of five properties of WM (fractional anisotropy, mode of anisotropy, mean diffusivity, radial diffusivity, and axial diffusivity) in 28 mild AD patients and 26 age-, gender- and education-matched healthy controls revealed significant group differences in a range of WM tracts. Looking specifically at diffusion parameters’ values for the left uncinate fasciculus and verbal fluency scores in the AD group, we observed a positive trend between the letter fluency scores and mode of anisotropy values (
= 0.36,
= 0.55). Thus, our data suggest more global WM damage in mild AD, which also includes damage to the left uncinate fasciculus. However, damage to this particular tract is not robustly associated with verbal fluency decline at this stage of disease.
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