Measuring mindreading in preschoolers: The perspective battery (PERBAT).

OBJECTIVE: The capacity to take another person's visual perspective is pivotal for solving mindreading tests, such as Theory of Mind (ToM) tasks, but most of them heavily rely on domain-general abilities (e.g., language, executive functions). Here we present a novel battery of visual perspective-taking tests for child neuropsychological assessment, the Perspective Battery (PERBAT), which poses a limited load on domain-general abilities. METHODS: The battery includes four tests: i) Block Building; ii) Hide and Seek; iii) Deceptive Figures; iv) Double-Sided Shelf. We administered the PERBAT to 126 typically developing preschoolers (65 males; 3-6-year-old); the participants also performed classical tests of social cognition, language, and nonverbal abstract reasoning. RESULTS: The scores of all the PERBAT tests were significantly and positively related with age and scores of the classical social cognition tests, but not with scores of the language and nonverbal abstract reasoning tests. CONCLUSIONS: The PERBAT could represent a useful neuropsychological tool providing a comprehensive assessment of visual perspective-taking skills in preschool children. Future investigation is needed to examine the validity of the PERBAT with neurotypical samples across countries, race, ethnicity, and language as well as with clinical populations. Longitudinal studies are also encouraged to examine whether early visual perspective-taking weaknesses are associated with later development of mindreading skills.

Visual and kinesthetic motor imagery in adults with different degrees of self-reported motor coordination difficulties.

Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) involves difficulties in performing coordinated movements with fine and/or gross motor skills deficits. Several studies showed that DCD is characterized by motor imagery deficits as well. Here we investigated in neurotypical adults (N = 334) the relationships between the ease of imaging two main motor imagery components, that is the visual and the kinesthetic one, self-reported motor coordination difficulties and handwriting speed. Self-reported motor difficulties were measured by the Adult Developmental Co-ordination Disorders/Dyspraxia Checklist (ADC) and scores were used to distinguish three groups: participants at risk of DCD (with both relevant childhood and current motor coordination difficulties); with motor coordination difficulties (relevant current but not childhood difficulties); without motor coordination difficulties (neither current nor childhood difficulties). The main results showed more kinesthetic and visual imagery difficulties in participants at risk of DCD than in those both with and without motor coordination difficulties. Interestingly, the relationships between the two imagery components and motor difficulties were different in the three groups, depending on: 1) the developmental phase (childhood or adulthood) to which motor coordination difficulties referred, and 2) the point of view (self or other), from which images were judged. Instead, no relationship was found between imagery abilities and handwriting speed. Thus, a nuanced pattern of the ease of imaging motor imagery emerged in adults with different degrees of self-reported motor coordination difficulties. These findings could be relevant for the assessment of people candidate to undergo a motor imagery training.

The Integrated Neuropsychological Therapy: A Psychotherapy Model Tying Neuropsychology and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

Transdiagnostic cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is based on the identification of dysfunctional processes and intervention principles shared across psychopathology. From a neuropsychological perspective, deficits of executive functions and social cognition have been identified as common mechanisms involved in the genesis and maintenance of different psychopathological disorders. The present article describes a new psychotherapy model, the integrated neuropsychological therapy (INPT), built on the principles of transdiagnostic CBT and neuropsychology. Case formulation is operationalized into three levels of functioning, that is, automatic, reflective, and strategic, considering both neuropsychological processes and clinical contents. Treatment planning involves three phases, that is, preparation, enhancement, and change, each consisting of different treatment modules defined according to the above levels of functioning. These modules are selected based on the patient's profile defined during case formulation. The theoretical foundations of INPT are provided, and a case description is presented, which illustrates the implementation of the treatment model.

Validation and psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Power Behavioural System Scale.

The power behavioural system is a neurobehavioral system that motivates a person to acquire and control resources that are important for survival and reproductive success. When activated, its function is to protect or restore the sense of power, influence, or dominance. Repeated experiences of failure in achieving this goal may result in hyperactivation or deactivation of power-oriented behaviours (analogous to the secondary strategies observed with respect to the attachment behavioural system). Gaining a reliable and valid measure of hyperactivation and deactivation of the power system can be important for understanding an individual's responses to different social contexts and, in clinical settings, can help the therapist identify the client's difficulties that may undermine the therapeutic process. In the present study, we developed the Italian version of the Power Behavioural System Scale (PBSS), a self-report measure developed by Shaver et al. (2011) to assess individual differences in hyperactivation and deactivation of the power system. Results indicated an adequate fit to the expected two-factor model, and the measure proved to be reliable and had good convergent and structural validity, allowing the quantification of individual differences in power system hyperactivation and deactivation.

The Relationships between Self-Reported Motor Functioning and Autistic Traits: The Italian Version of the Adult Developmental Coordination Disorders/Dyspraxia Checklist (ADC).

BACKGROUND: We developed the Italian version of the adult developmental co-ordination disorders/dyspraxia checklist (ADC), providing reliability and concurrent validity data for the scale (Aim 1). In addition, we investigated the relationships between motor coordination difficulties and different autistic traits (Aim 2). METHODS: 498 participants (341 females; age range = 18-34) underwent the Italian version of the ADC, as well as a handwriting speed test, the autism spectrum quotient, the empathy quotient, and the systemizing quotient. RESULTS: The distinction between three main factors (A, B, and C) identified in the original version of the ADC was confirmed here. Internal consistency of the ADC subscales was adequate, as well as the correlation with the handwriting speed test used to assess concurrent validity. No substantial sex differences on the ADC scores were found. Furthermore, data revealed that poor autistic-related communication skills and lower levels of systemizing tendencies were, among all the investigated autistic traits, those more strongly associated with higher motor coordination difficulties. CONCLUSIONS: The Italian ADC seems a valuable tool for assessing motor coordination difficulties in adults and can reveal the nuanced impact exerted by different autistic traits on self-reported motor functioning.

Specific Global-Local Visual Processing Abilities Mediate the Influence of Non-social Autistic-like Traits on Mental Rotation.

Inconsistent data are available on mental rotation performance in neurotypicals with high autistic-like traits. Here, we tested whether global-local visual processing abilities mediate the influence of specific autistic-like trait domains (social skill, attention switching, attention-to-detail, communication, and imagination) on mental rotation. Neurotypical participants (N = 128) underwent an assessment of autistic-like traits, a flanker task with hierarchical stimuli, and a mental rotation task. Path analysis showed that Reaction Times on the incongruent/local condition of the flanker task mediated the relationship between attention-to-detail and mental rotation accuracy. These findings indicate that a better capacity of ignoring incongruent global information to identify local information (reduced global interference) in persons with high non-social autistic-like traits, as attention-to-detail, facilitates mental rotation performance.

NeonaTal Assisted TelerehAbilitation (T.A.T.A. Web App) for Hearing-Impaired Children: A Family-Centered Care Model for Early Intervention in Congenital Hearing Loss.

BACKGROUND: An early hearing detection and intervention program (EHDI) is the first step for the habilitation of children with permanent hearing impairment (PHI). Actually, early intervention programs have increasingly shifted toward family involvement, emphasizing that the child's family should take an active role in the habilitation process. Therefore, familiar empowerment is the best way to improve a child's emerging abilities. The aim of this study was to investigate parental self-efficacy beliefs and involvement as well as the language skills of deaf or hard of hearing DHH children who were habilitated with hearing aids and followed using the T.A.T.A web app (NeonaTal Assisted TelerehAbilitation), an example of asynchronous telepractice. METHODS: The study describes the early stages of the habilitation program of 15 PHI children followed through the T.A.T.A. web app, which empowers families through a weekly questionnaire submitted during the first 270 to 360 days of their child's life, for 14 weeks. The family involvement rate scale (FIRS) was used to evaluate parental compliance, and all children received in-person visits at the beginning and at the end of the training period. RESULTS: The children showed greater auditory perceptual skills at the end of the training period on the basis of both the Infant Listening Progress Profile (ILiP) score and the Categories of Auditory Performance (CAP) and FIRS scales. In other words, the auditory skills improved with age as well as with parental participation. CONCLUSIONS: The T.A.T.A. web app promotes a proactive management and a tailored habilitation through an active familiar involvement, easily achieved in clinical routine and in emergency settings without additional costs.

The effect of autistic traits on disembedding and mental rotation in neurotypical women and men.

Recent data has revealed dissociations between social and non-social skills in both autistic and neurotypical populations. In the present study, we investigated whether specific visuospatial abilities, such as figure disembedding and mental rotation, are differently related to social and non-social autistic traits, in neurotypical women and men. University students (N = 426) completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), figure disembedding and mental rotation of two-dimensional figures tasks. AQ social skills (AQ-social) and attention-to-details (AQ-attention) subscales were used as measures of social and non-social autistic traits, respectively. Mental rotation was affected by a significant interaction between sex, social and non-social traits. When non-social traits were above the mean (+ 1 SD), no sex differences in mental rotation were found. Instead, below this value, sex differences depended on the social traits, with men on average outperforming women at middle-to-high social traits, and with a comparable performance, and with women on average outperforming men, at lower social traits. A small positive correlation between figure disembedding and social traits was observed in the overall sample. These results are interpreted in terms of the hyper-systemizing theory of autism and contribute to the evidence of individual differences in the cognitive style of autistic people and neurotypical people with autistic traits.

Empathy through the Pandemic: Changes of Different Emphatic Dimensions during the COVID-19 Outbreak.

Growing evidence suggests that empathy is a relevant psychological trait to face the challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but at the present very little is known on whether this multi-dimensional construct has been affected by the pandemic outbreak differently in its separate components. Here, we aimed at filling this gap by capitalizing on the opportunity of having collected data from different self-report measures and cognitive tasks assessing the main dimensions of empathy immediately before the beginning of the global pandemic and about one year later. The results showed a detrimental impact of the pandemic outbreak on empathic social skills but not on both cognitive (perspective-taking) and emotional empathy that instead significantly improved. Thus, reduced empathic social skills could be a weakness to be targeted in psychological interventions to help people cope with the mental health challenges related to COVID-19 pandemic, whereas the ability of understanding another's mental states and emotions could represent a strength in dealing with the current long-lasting crisis.

The Two-Dimensional Model of Behavioral Systems and the "Problematic" Activation Style.

We describe a two-dimensional model of activation of the behavioural systems according to which four prototypical activation styles can be identified within a system by positioning an individual on two main dimensions. A functional style, characterized by primary strategies of activation, a hyperactivated style, by hyperactivation strategies, an inhibited style, by deactivating strategies, and a fourth style, the problematic style, characterized by coexistence of hyperactivating and deactivating strategies. Here, we focus on the problematic style representing a dysfunctional expression of the behavioral systems leading to chaotic and unpredictable behaviors, and also relating to higher rates of psychopathology and reduced ability to participate to therapy. The present model could help the clinician to identify problematic behavioural activations undermining the therapeutic process.

Monochannel Preference in Autism Spectrum Conditions Revealed by a Non-Visual Variant of Rubber Hand Illusion.

Individuals with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) are less susceptible to multisensory delusions, such as rubber hand illusion (RHI). Here, we investigate whether a monochannel variant of RHI is more effective in inducing an illusory feeling of ownership in ASC. To this aim, we exploit a non-visual variant of the RHI that, excluding vision, leverages only on the somatosensory channel. While the visual-tactile RHI does not alter the perceived hand position in ASC individuals, the tacto-tactile RHI effectively modulates proprioception to a similar extent as that found in typical development individuals. These findings suggest a more effective integration of multiple inputs originating from the same sensory channel in ASC, revealing a monochannel preference in this population.

Anxiety Sensitivity Domains are Differently Affected by Social and Non-social Autistic Traits.

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is implicated in the development and maintenance of several psychopathological conditions. Non-clinical individuals with high autistic traits may develop anxiety disorders and depressive symptoms. Here, we investigated the relationships of autistic traits with AS dimensions and depression, considering sex. We referred to the two-factor model of the autism spectrum quotient to distinguish social and non-social autistic traits and assessed 345 university students on AS and depression scales. Results showed that only social autistic traits predicted general AS and anxiety-related concerns regarding social and cognitive domains. The present results emphasize the need of assessing multiple domains of anxiety in individuals on the autistic spectrum, differentiating social and non-social traits.

Figure Disembedding: The Gottschaldt's Hidden Figure Test in Children with Typical Development and Autism.

In two studies, we used the Gottschaldt's Hidden Figure Test (GHFT) for assessing figure disembedding ability in children aged 7-11. Study 1 demonstrated in a large sample of typically developing children that GHFT accuracy and time scores differed across age groups, without sex and socioeconomic differences. Thus, we provided normative data only taking into account children's age. In Study 2, GHFT normative values were used to assess children with autism, who were also compared with a closely age-matched group of typical controls. Children with autism achieved time scores at or above the 50th centile and significantly differed from the controls for time score. The GHFT seems a valuable tool for defining the cognitive profile of children with autism.

"Health Comes First": Action Tendencies to Health-Related Stimuli in People with Health-Anxiety as Revealed by an Emotional Go/No-Go Task.

The processing of health-related stimuli can be biased by health anxiety and anxiety sensitivity but, at the moment, it is far from clear whether health-related stimuli can affect motor readiness or the ability to inhibit action. In this preliminary study, we assessed whether different levels of health anxiety and anxiety sensitivity affect disposition to action in response to positive and negative health-related stimuli in non-clinical individuals. An emotional go/no-go task was devised to test action disposition in response to positive (wellness-related), and negative (disease-related) stimuli in non-clinical participants who also underwent well-validated self-report measures of health anxiety and anxiety sensitivity. The main results showed that both health anxiety and anxiety sensitivity biased participants' responses. Importantly, safety-seeking and avoidance behaviors differently affected action disposition in response to positive and negative stimuli. These preliminary results support the idea that health anxiety and anxiety sensitivity could determine a hypervigilance for health-related information with a different perturbation of response control depending on the valence of the stimuli. Health anxiety and health anxiety disorder do form a continuum; thus, capturing different action tendencies to health-related stimuli could represent a valuable complementary tool to detect processing biases in persons who might develop a clinical condition.

"Mind the thumb": Judging hand laterality is anchored on the thumb position.

People can decide whether the image of a hand represents a left or a right one. The laterality judgment mainly implies mentally imaging own hand movement (motor simulation) if the stimulus represents a palm, or analysing visual cues, as hand asymmetry, if the stimulus reproduces a dorsum. Here, by capitalizing on evidence underscoring the key role of thumb-palm complex in motor dexterity of human hand, we hypothesise that activation of motor or visual processes when judging hand laterality is due to the different relevance of palm-thumb and dorsum-thumb combinations to hand action. To test this thumb-anchored strategy, in a laterality judgment experiment, we concurrently manipulated the thumb position (flexed or extended) with respect to palm and dorsum, and the human likeness of the hand shape (influencing the salience of the thumb with respect to the hand shape). The main results demonstrated that viewing the flexed thumb from palm or dorsum elicited motor simulation, while viewing the extended thumb activated motor simulation when combined with palm but not dorsum. The present data highlight the pivotal role of the thumb in hand laterality judgments, consistent with its key role in human in-hand manipulation.

Multimodal MRI Assessment of Thalamic Structural Changes in Earthquake Survivors.

Moving from the central role of the thalamus in the integration of inner and external stimuli and in the implementation of a stress-related response, the objective of the present study was to investigate the presence of any MRI structural and volumetric changes of the thalamic structures in earthquake witnesses. Forty-one subjects were included, namely 18 university students belonging to the experimental earthquake-exposed group (8 males and 10 females, mean age 24.5 ± 1.8 years) and a control group of 23 students not living in any earthquake-affected areas at the time of the earthquake (14 males and 9 females, mean age 23.7 ± 2.0 years). Instrumental MRI evaluation was performed using a 3-Tesla scanner, by acquiring a three-dimensional fast spoiled gradient-echo (FSPGR) sequence for volumetric analysis and an EPI (echoplanar imaging) sequence to extract fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values. As compared to the control one, the experimental group showed significantly lower gray matter volume in the mediodorsal nucleus of the left thalamus (p < 0.001). The dominant hemisphere thalamus in the experimental group showed higher mean ADC values and lower mean FA values as compared to the control group.

Linking perception of bodily states and cognitive control: the role of interoception in impulsive behaviour.

Interoception and impulsivity are two multi-dimensional constructs and although the role of interoception in impulsiveness has been previously reported, it is not clear whether their different facets are related to each other. In the present study, we aimed at bridging this gap by investigating the relationships between interoception and impulsivity in the light of their multi-dimensional nature. To this aim, we conducted a cross-task comparison and assessed in the same sample of healthy participants, interoceptive accuracy, by the heartbeat perception task, interoceptive sensibility, by a self-reported measure, "hot" impulsivity, by a behavioural task of risk taking, and "cool" impulsivity, by a go/no-go task. Also, we assessed trait impulsivity by a self-report measure. We found that interoceptive sensibility contributed to "hot" impulsivity, while interoceptive accuracy was related to non-planning trait impulsivity. These findings underscore the need to investigate at a finer grain the relationships between these two complex, multi-dimensional constructs.

"Building blocks and drawing figures is not the same": Neuropsychological bases of block design and Rey figure drawing in typically developing children.

Several studies investigated the neuropsychological bases of spatial construction in developmental samples. However, no study directly tested whether the pattern of the neuropsychological processes implied in spatial construction changed depending on whether a block building or a figure drawing task is considered. Here, we used the path analysis to test the direct and indirect effects of verbal abilities (naming and verbal knowledge), executive functions, figure disembedding and mental rotation on two classical spatial construction tasks: the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) and the Block Design (BD). We recruited a sample of 186 typically developing children (age range: 7-12 years). Results showed that ROCF copying was directly influenced by age and figure disembedding, and it was indirectly affected by executive functions, naming and verbal knowledge, whereas BD was influenced in a direct way by verbal knowledge, figure disembedding and mental rotation and indirectly affected by executive functions and naming skills. Moreover, the results showed a full measurement invariance of the path model between sexes, whereas only partial invariance was found for age. Thus, we tested the model in two age groups (age ranges: 7-9.5 and 9.6-12 years) and found that the relationships between the variables of the model changed across development. Although other variables might be relevant to spatial construction, the present findings demonstrate different neuropsychological bases of drawing figures and building blocks in typically developing children.