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- Boccia, M, et al.
(author)
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Neural Underpinnings of the Decline of Topographical Memory in Mild Cognitive Impairment
- 2016
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In: American journal of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. - : SAGE Publications. - 1938-2731 .- 1533-3175. ; 31:8, s. 618-630
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Spatial navigation is one of the cognitive functions known to decline in both normal and pathological aging. In the present study, we aimed to assess the neural correlates of the decline of topographical memory in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). Patients with aMCI and age-matched controls were engaged in an intensive learning paradigm, lasting for 5 days, during which they had to encode 1 path from an egocentric perspective and 1 path from an allocentric perspective. After the learning period, they were asked to retrieve each of these paths using an allocentric or egocentric frame of reference while undergoing a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. We found that patients with aMCI showed a specific deficit in storing new topographical memories from an allocentric perspective and retrieving stored information to perform the egocentric task. Imaging data suggest that this general decline is correlated with hypoactivation of the brain areas generally involved in spatial navigation.
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- Di Vita, A, et al.
(author)
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Cerebellar grey matter modifications in lower limb amputees not using prosthesis
- 2018
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In: Scientific reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 8:1, s. 370-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Plastic brain changes following peripheral deafferentation, in particular those following limb amputations, are well-documented, with significant reduction of grey matter (GM) in the sensory-motor cerebral areas representing the amputated limb. However, few studies have investigated the role played by the use of a prosthesis in these structural brain modifications. Here we hypothesized that using a functional prosthesis that allows individuals to perform actions may reduce grey matter reduction. We investigated the brain structural reorganization following lower limb amputation by using a Voxel Based Morphometry (VBM) analysis of structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 8 right-handed individuals with lower limb amputation (LLA) fitted with prostheses (LLAwp), compared to 6 LLA who had never used a prosthesis (LLAnp). 14 age-matched healthy controls were also enrolled (HC). We did not find any significant effect when comparing LLAwp and HC. However we found a decreased GM volume in the bilateral cerebellum in LLAnp compared with HC. These results suggest that prosthesis use prevents GM decrease in the cerebellum after lower limb amputation.
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- Nemmi, F., et al.
(author)
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Behavior and neuroimaging at baseline predict individual response to combined mathematical and working memory training in children
- 2016
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In: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. - : Elsevier BV. - 1878-9293 .- 1878-9307. ; 20, s. 43-51
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Mathematical performance is highly correlated with several general cognitive abilities, including working memory (WM) capacity. Here we investigated the effect of numerical training using a number-line (NLT), WM training (WMT), or the combination of the two on a composite score of mathematical ability. The aim was to investigate if the combination contributed to the outcome, and determine if baseline performance or neuroimaging predict the magnitude of improvement. We randomly assigned 308, 6-year-old children to WMT, NLT, WMT + NLT or a control intervention. Overall, there was a significant effect of NLT but not WMT. The WMT + NLT was the only group that improved significantly more than the controls, although the interaction NLTxWM was non-significant. Higher WM and maths performance predicted larger benefits for WMT and NLT, respectively. Neuroimaging at baseline also contributed significant information about training gain. Different individuals showed as much as a three-fold difference in their responses to the same intervention. These results show that the impact of an intervention is highly dependent on individual characteristics of the child. If differences in responses could be used to optimize the intervention for each child, future interventions could be substantially more effective. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license.
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- Nemmi, F, et al.
(author)
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Grit Is Associated with Structure of Nucleus Accumbens and Gains in Cognitive Training
- 2016
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In: Journal of cognitive neuroscience. - : MIT Press - Journals. - 1530-8898 .- 0898-929X. ; 28:11, s. 1688-1699
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- There is a long-standing interest in the determinants of successful learning in children. “Grit” is an individual trait, reflecting the ability to pursue long-term goals despite temporary setbacks. Although grit is known to be predictive of future success in real-world learning situations, an understanding of the underlying neural basis and mechanisms is still lacking. Here we show that grit in a sample of 6-year-old children (n = 55) predicts the working memory improvement during 8 weeks of training on working memory tasks (p = .009). In a separate neuroimaging analysis performed on a partially overlapping sample (n = 27), we show that interindividual differences in grit were associated with differences in the volume of nucleus accumbens (peak voxel p = .021, x = 12, y = 11, z = −11). This was also confirmed in a leave-one-out analysis of gray matter density in the nucleus accumbens (p = .018). The results can be related to previous animal research showing the role of the nucleus accumbens to search out rewards regardless of delays or obstacles. The results provide a putative neural basis for grit and could contribute a cross-disciplinary connection of animal neuroscience to child psychology.
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