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The effect of brain training video games on improving visuospatial working memory and executive function in children with dyscalculia

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Abstract

The aim was to investigate the effect of brain training video games on improving visuospatial working memory and executive function in children with dyscalculia. This study employed a quasi-experimental, within-subjects design. Pre- post- and follow up test scores on visuospatial working memory and executive function were used. Sixty children from a primary education public school in Taif were selected. This study employed simple random method for selecting participants. Children assigned to the experimental group completed 18, 30 ms training sessions at the technology room in the presence of the researcher over a period of six weeks. The analyses were conducted using SPSS by performing a repeated-measures analysis of variance with a between-group factor and a with-group factor (pretest and posttest). Scheffé's post hoc test was also applied. The training helped the intervention group gain better scores in visuospatial working memory and executive function in post test compared to control one. There were significant differences in visuospatial working memory and executive function across different measurements(pre-post-and follow up).

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The purpose of this study was to meta-analyze the effectivity of interventions for children with mathematical difficulties. Furthermore, we investigated whether the fit between characteristics of participants and interventions was a decisive factor. Thirty-five evaluation studies that used pre-post-control group designs with at least 10 participants per group were analyzed. Using a random-effects model, we found a high, significant mean effect (0.83) for the standardized mean difference. Moreover, a significant effect was found for studies that used direct or assisted instruction, that fostered basic arithmetical competencies, and that used single-subject settings. Effect size was not moderated by administration mode (computer-based vs. face-to-face intervention) or by whether interventions were derived from theory. Interventions for children with at-risk dyscalculia were effective on average. Results of the fit between characteristics of the participants and intervention characteristics are provided. In summary, mathematics interventions are found to be effective for children with mathematical difficulties, though there was a high effect size variance between studies.
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A number of previous studies have identified cognitive deficits in developmental dyscalculia (DD). Yet, most of these studies were in alphabetic languages, whereas few of them examined Chinese DD. Here, we conducted a study aiming to determine the cognitive factors associated with DD in Chinese children. Five candidate cognitive factors of DD—phonological retrieval, phonological awareness, visual–spatial attention, spatial thinking, and pattern understanding—were studied in the present study. A total of 904 Chinese children aged between 8 and 11 years participated in this study. From the sample, 97 children were identified with DD through tests of arithmetic ability, and 93 age and IQ–matched typically developing children were selected as controls. Logistic regression analysis revealed that phonological retrieval, pattern understanding, visual–spatial attention, and phonological awareness significantly predicted DD, whereas spatial thinking failed to do so. Results of logistic relative weights analysis showed that all five factors explained statistically significant amounts of variance in arithmetic scores. Phonological retrieval had the most influence on DD, followed by pattern understanding, visual–spatial attention, phonological awareness, and spatial thinking. These findings have important clinical implications for diagnosis and intervention of Chinese DD.
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The term `working memory' refers to the temporary storage of information in connection with the performance of other cognitive tasks such as reading, problem-solving or learning. It is here conceptualized as comprising a limited-capacity central processor, the central executive, which employs a number of subsidiary slave systems. Evidence for this view is presented, together with a more detailed account of two such systems: the articulatory loop, which stores and manipulates speech-based material, and the visuo-spatial scratch-pad, which is responsible for creating and maintaining visual imagery.
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Developmental dyscalculia is one of the most prevalent learning disorders observed in children. However, it has received much less research interest than, for instance, developmental dyslexia. Thus our knowledge about aetiology, aetiopathology and symptomatology of dyscalculia remains patchy; and empirically validated approaches on remediation and intervention are still scarce. In the current chapter we first discuss the theoretical underpinnings of developmental dyscalculia, paying particular attention to its still debated aetiology: Some authors suggest the heterogeneous symptoms of developmental dyscalculia to be caused by a single underlying deficit of the number sense, while others propose different deficits in basic numerical competencies as its determinants (as observed in adult acalculia). Second, the implications of this differentiation on dyscalculia diagnostics are discussed. In particular, we focus on the importance of cut off criteria, sample selection, and their influence on the epidemiology of developmental dyscalculia. In a third section, the issue of comorbidity and its estimation will be evaluated. And finally, existing intervention approaches are reviewed in light of their theoretical underpinnings and practical applications. We conclude that we are on a promising way to better understand, diagnose and treat brain-based dyscalculia with innovative novel methodology.
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Background: Youths with coexisting learning disabilities (LD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at risk for poor academic and social outcomes. The underlying cognitive deficits, such as poor working memory (WM), are not well targeted by current treatments for either LD or ADHD. Emerging evidence suggests that WM might be improved by intensive and adaptive computerized training, but it remains unclear whether this intervention would be effective for adolescents with severe LD and comorbid ADHD. Methods: A total of sixty 12- to 17-year olds with LD/ADHD (52 male, 8 female, IQ > 80) were randomized to one of two computerized intervention programs: working memory training (Cogmed RM) or math training (Academy of Math) and evaluated before and 3 weeks after completion. The criterion measures of WM included auditory-verbal and visual-spatial tasks. Near and far transfer measures included indices of cognitive and behavioral attention and academic achievement. Results: Adolescents in the WM training group showed greater improvements in a subset of WM criterion measures compared with those in the math-training group, but no training effects were observed on the near or far measures. Those who showed the most improvement on the WM training tasks at school were rated as less inattentive/hyperactive at home by parents. Conclusions: Results suggest that WM training may enhance some aspects of WM in youths with LD/ADHD, but further development of the training program is required to promote transfer effects to other domains of function.
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I present an account of the origins and development of the multicomponent approach to working memory, making a distinction between the overall theoretical framework, which has remained relatively stable, and the attempts to build more specific models within this framework. I follow this with a brief discussion of alternative models and their relationship to the framework. I conclude with speculations on further developments and a comment on the value of attempting to apply models and theories beyond the laboratory studies on which they are typically based.
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Working memory (WM) capacity predicts performance in a wide range of cognitive tasks. Although WM capacity has been viewed as a constant trait, recent studies suggest that it can be improved by adaptive and extended training. This training is associated with changes in brain activity in frontal and parietal cortex and basal ganglia, as well as changes in dopamine receptor density. Transfer of the training effects to non-trained WM tasks is consistent with the notion of training-induced plasticity in a common neural network for WM. The observed training effects suggest that WM training could be used as a remediating intervention for individuals for whom low WM capacity is a limiting factor for academic performance or in everyday life.
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Cognitive neuroscience is making rapid strides in areas highly relevant to education. However, there is a gulf between current science and direct classroom applications. Most scientists would argue that filling the gulf is premature. Nevertheless, at present, teachers are at the receiving end of numerous 'brain-based learning' packages. Some of these contain alarming amounts of misinformation, yet such packages are being used in many schools. What, if anything, can neuroscientists do to help good neuroscience into education?
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Adolescents with developmental dyscalculia (DD) but no other impairments were examined with neuropsychological tests and with event-related brain potentials (ERPs). A matched control group and an adult control group were tested as well. Behavioural and ERP markers of the magnitude representation were examined in a task where subjects decided whether visually presented Hindu-Arabic digits were smaller or larger than 5. There was a normal behavioural numerical distance effect (better performance for digits closer to the reference number than for digits further away from it) in DD. This suggests that semantic magnitude relations depend on a phenomenologically (nearly) normal magnitude representation in DD, at least in the range of single-digit numbers. However, minor discrepancies between DD subjects and controls suggest that the perception of the magnitude of single digits may be slightly impaired in DD. Early ERP distance effects were similar in DD and in control subjects. In contrast, between 400 and 440 ms there was a focused right-parietal ERP distance effect in controls, but not in DD. This suggests that early, more automatic processing of digits was similar in both groups, and between-group processing differences arose later, during more complex controlled processing. This view is supported by signs of decelerated executive functioning in developmental dyscalculia. Further, DD subjects did not differ from controls in general mental rotation and in body parts knowledge, but were markedly impaired in mental finger rotation, finger knowledge, and tactile performance.
Dyscalculia screener
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