Cuteness and the Power of Emotion.

Background: There is an agreement among individuals from different cultures in how they judge the cuteness of a face. There are observations suggesting that some preferences may be neurobiological rather than cultural. Most of the studies conducted use adult faces with a neutral expression; however, the mechanisms involved in rating cuteness are not exactly the same as those involved in the perception of attractiveness. Furthermore, it is not always taken into account that emotional expressions influence the impression on the beauty of a face. The objective of the study is to evaluate the influence of the different emotions on the perception of cuteness of children's faces. Materials and Methods: We included 60 adults and 21 children who observed 150 photographs of children's faces expressing the six basic emotions and had to rate facial cuteness. Results: Participants gave the highest cuteness score to faces with happy emotions (mean [M] = 6.89, 95% confidence interval [CI] 6.48-7.30) and the lowest to those that expressed negative emotions (M = 5.32, 95% CI 4.87-5.78, t(160) = 5.08, P <.001). This was evidenced in adults and children of both genders, regardless of the gender of the stimulus. Conclusions: In our study, we found that facial expression generates an impact on the perception that a subject has on the cuteness of the face. The faces that show happiness were scored as more cute compared to those that expressed anger, disgust, or sadness. We suggest that expression of positive emotions, like a smile, could increase the conducts associated with caring, placing the child in a more favorable situation for the future.

Competencias narrativas escritas en niños con trastornos del desarrollo / Narrative in children with developmental disorders

RESUMEN INTRODUCCIÓN: Los aspectos narrativos del lenguaje constituyen una competencia en el desarrollo funcional de la comunicación, la cual predice el desempeño académico de los niños. En este trabajo se estudia la narrativa en niños con trastornos del desarrollo, a fin de hacer diagnósticos precoces y adoptar mejores estrategias terapéuticas. MATERIAL Y MÉTODO: Estudio controlado analítico de corte transversal. Se incluyen sujetos de 9 a 17 años, evaluados con la prueba de teoría de la mente (TOM) de Sally y Anne, quienes luego deben narrar la historia de la prueba. Se evaluó el número total de palabras (TP), la cantidad total de oraciones (TO), el promedio de palabras por oración (PPO), la sintaxis (S) y la capacidad expresar la idea central del relato (ICR). RESULTADOS: Participaron 61 sujetos. El grupo 1 o control con 24, el grupo 2 con 37 sujetos (con diagnóstico de trastorno por déficit de atención (TDA), trastorno de la lectoescritura (TLE), trastorno del espectro autista (TEA) y discapacidad intelectual (DI)). En teoría de la mente respondieron correctamente 18 participantes del grupo 1, 7 participantes con TDA, 4 de los TLE, 5 sujetos con DI y 3 sujetos con TEA. Los sujetos del grupo 2 presentaron distintos grados de dificultades narrativas según el trastorno. A mayor edad utilizaron mayor cantidad de palabras, sin distinción por sexo. CONCLUSIÓN: Es importante estudiar los aspectos narrativos del lenguaje en pediatría puesto que las habilidades requeridas incluyen aspectos estructurales del lenguaje y habilidades cognitivas que es necesario tener en cuenta para definir estrategias terapéuticas más precisas y acordes a las necesidades de este grupo de pacientes.

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION: Narrative is a competence in the functional development of communication that predicts academic performance in children. We studied narrative in children with developmental disorders in order to develop better therapeutic strategies. METHODS: Cross-sectional analytical controlled study. We included subjects age 9 to 17 years old, evaluated with the Mind Theory Test (TOM) of Sally and Anne in which they have to repeat a story. We evaluated total number of words (TP), total number of sentences (TO), average words per sentence (PPO), syntax (S) and ability to express the central idea of the story (ICR). RESULTS: We included 61 subjects in two groups. Group 1 or control with 24, Group 2 with 37 subjects (with a diagnosis of attention deficit disorder (ADD), literacy disorder (TLE), autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability (ID)). TOM 3 was correctly answered by 18 subjects of Group 1, 7 of ADD, 4 of the TLE, 5 of the ID and 3 participants with TEA. The Group 2 presented different degrees of narrative difficulties. All children said more words when they grew up without distinction by gender. DISCUSSION: Children with developmental disorders present a lower performance in narrative aspects depending of the disorder, which allows to carry out therapeutic strategies according to their needs.

Letter and category Fluency Test in Spanish-Speaking Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

INTRODUCTION: Verbal fluency test is a short psychometric test, which is sensitive to verbal ability and executive control impairment. We did not find studies that analyze verbal fluency in relation to the neurodevelopmental disorders in Spanish-speaking children with letters P-M. Our objective was to analyze the verbal fluency of Spanish-speaking children with neurodevelopmental disorders. METHOD: We carried out a retrospective cross-sectional study to analyze the performance of children who had undergone a neuropsychological assessment. RESULTS: We included 164 patients. There were 55 (33.54%) patients with low intellectual performance (LIP), 19 (11.59%) patients with dyslexia , and 90 (54.88%) patients had an ADHD. Patients with LIP showed lower phonological fluency than patients with ADHD. As for semantic fluidity, differences were observed between patients with LIP and ADHD and also between LIP and dyslexia. The probability of having LIP was 9.6 times greater when somebody had a scale score lower than 7 in the PF task and it was 16.7 times greater when the scale score was lower than 7 in the SF task. CONCLUSIONS: There was a direct relationship between FSIQ and the performance in verbal fluency test, which is a brief and effective neuropsychological test in revealing deficits in executive functions, verbal abilities, and LIP.