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Effects of Story Champs and Puente de Cuentos on Bilingual Preschoolers' Use of Emotional Terms and Ability to Tell Stories

Description
This pilot study evaluated whether Story Champs and Puente de Cuentos helped bilingual preschoolers increase their usage of emotional terms and ability to tell stories. Participants in this study included 10 Spanish-English bilingual preschoolers. Intervention was conducted in 9 sessions over 3 days using the Test of Narrative Retell to…

This pilot study evaluated whether Story Champs and Puente de Cuentos helped bilingual preschoolers increase their usage of emotional terms and ability to tell stories. Participants in this study included 10 Spanish-English bilingual preschoolers. Intervention was conducted in 9 sessions over 3 days using the Test of Narrative Retell to measure results. Results did not find significant gains in either emotional term usage or ability to tell stories, but the results were promising as a pilot study.
ContributorsSato, Leslie Mariko (Author) / Restrepo, Maria (Thesis director) / Dixon, Maria (Committee member) / Department of Speech and Hearing Science (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05

Cognitive Functions improve following Assisted Cycle Therapy (ACT) in Children with Down Syndrome

Description

Cognitive functioning is an extremely crucial part of daily living. In individuals with Down Syndrome (DS) these tasks get even more challenging. The aim of this study is to determine the effects of Assisted Cycling Therapy (ACT) on cognitive functions in children with Down Syndrome (DS). This study examines the…

Cognitive functioning is an extremely crucial part of daily living. In individuals with Down Syndrome (DS) these tasks get even more challenging. The aim of this study is to determine the effects of Assisted Cycling Therapy (ACT) on cognitive functions in children with Down Syndrome (DS). This study examines the change in cognitive functioning using tests like Reaction time, Tower of London, and Card Sorting over an eight week intervention. All seven participants in the study were assigned to complete the ACT intervention, in which they rode a stationary bike with the assistance of a motor to maintain a cadence of at least 35% greater than their voluntary cycling speed. All participants completed the ACT intervention but a few were unable to complete some cognitive functioning tests due to their intellectual abilities. Overall, the results of this study showed that information processing, task-switching and problem solving improved following the eight week ACT intervention. These results provided more scope for future research in this field which can be done by modifying the time period of the intervention, increasing sample size of the study as well as conducting additional cognitive function tests. The results of our study are discussed with respect to the upward regulation of neurotrophic factors which are involved in increasing the functioning within the prefrontal cortex following exercise intervention.
ContributorsParab, Sujan Rajesh (Author) / Ringenbach, Shannon (Thesis director) / Ofori, Edward (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor)
Created2023-05
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Investigating the Interplay between Executive Function, Apolipoprotein E4, and Falls in Older Adults with Normal Cognition, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Alzheimer's Dementia

Description
Falls are a public health concern for older adults with or without cognitive impairment, including clinical Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) dementia. Executive function (EF) is linked to falls and is notably impaired in individuals with MCI and AD dementia. However, it is unclear which EF assessments…

Falls are a public health concern for older adults with or without cognitive impairment, including clinical Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) dementia. Executive function (EF) is linked to falls and is notably impaired in individuals with MCI and AD dementia. However, it is unclear which EF assessments are associated with falls in older adults with intact cognition, MCI, and AD dementia. Apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE4) increases the risk of MCI and AD dementia, with limited information suggesting decreased EF and gait impairment in ApoE4 carriers. The purpose of this study was to 1) investigate the relationships between EF assessments and falls (fall history and future fall) by cognitive status (intact cognition, MCI, AD dementia) and 2) determine if ApoE4 moderates the relationship between EF and falls across cognitive status. EF assessments included Digit Span (DS), Trail Making Test (ΔTMT), Stroop Interference Test, Controlled Oral Word Association assessments of phonemic and semantic fluency (COWAC), and Clock Drawing Test. Binary logistic regression was used with secondary data to analyze the EF and falls relationship. Results showed a significant association of the ΔTMT with fall history but may not be appropriate for use with people with AD dementia due to a floor effect. Significant interaction effects were shown between AD dementia and DS, ΔTMT, and EF as a latent variable, where individuals with a fall history had better EF performance. The interaction effects are influenced by the lower percentage of reported falls in people with severe AD dementia. In the second aim, a confounding effect exposed a potential four-way interaction where higher EF in ApoE4 non-carriers with AD dementia experienced a future fall without a fall history. Overall, more research is needed to determine which EF assessments are best suited for fall risk assessment and whether ApoE4 plays a role in the relationship between EF and falls. Since the low percentage of reported falls in people with severe AD dementia exposed a differing trend between EF and falls, more research is needed to develop valid and reliable tools for collecting fall data in individuals with severe AD dementia.
ContributorsDelgado, Ferdinand (Author) / Der Ananian, Cheryl (Thesis advisor) / Yu, Fang (Thesis advisor) / Mackinnon, David P (Committee member) / Peterson, Daniel S (Committee member) / Ofori, Edward (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
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The Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Resting-State Functional Connectivity and Executive Function in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Description
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are known to show impairments in various domains of executive function (EF) such as behavioral flexibility or inhibitory control. Research suggests that EF impairment in adults with ASD may relate to ASD core symptoms, restrictive behaviors and social communication deficits. Mindfulness-based stress…

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are known to show impairments in various domains of executive function (EF) such as behavioral flexibility or inhibitory control. Research suggests that EF impairment in adults with ASD may relate to ASD core symptoms, restrictive behaviors and social communication deficits. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) has shown promise for improving EF abilities in neurotypical adults, but research has not explored its efficacy or neural mechanisms in adults with ASD. This pilot study examines the effects of an 8-week MBSR intervention on self-report measures of EF and resting-state functional connectivity in a sample of adults with ASD. Fifty-four participants were assigned either to an MBSR group (n = 29) or a social support group (n = 25). Executive function was measured using the BRIEF-2 before and after the intervention for the twenty-seven participants in the second cohort. MBSR-specific improvements in EF were found for BRIEF measures of initiation, inhibition, and working-memory. Resting-state fMRI data was analyzed using independent component analysis (ICA), and group by time resting-state functional connectivity differences were observed between the cerebellar network and frontal regions including the right frontal pole (rFP), medial frontal cortex (MFC) and left and right superior frontal gyri (SFG). The MBSR group showed increases in functional connectivity between the cerebellum and EF regions which correlated with improvements in BRIEF-2 measures. These findings suggest that MBSR may improve EF domains in adults with ASD, and that increases in functional connectivity between the cerebellum and frontal regions while at rest may be a mechanism for such improvements.
ContributorsGuerithault, Nicolas (Author) / Braden, B. Blair (Thesis advisor) / Rogalsky, Corianne (Committee member) / Dixon, Maria (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021