Skin and macular carotenoids and relations to academic achievement among school-aged children.

ABSTRACTObjectives: Carotenoids are plant pigments that accumulate in human tissue (e.g. macula and skin) and can serve as biomarkers for diet quality; however, knowledge on skin and macular carotenoids in relation to cognition in children is limited. This study aimed to address this gap by assessing links between skin and macular carotenoids and academic achievement in school-aged children.Methods: Children 7-12 years old (n = 81) participated in a crosssectional study. Skin and macular carotenoids were measured with reflection spectroscopy and heterochromatic flicker photometry, respectively. Academic achievement was measured using Woodcock-Johnson IV (WJ-IV). Body Mass Index was calculated using height and weight measurements, demographic information was collected using a family demographics and pediatric health history questionnaire, and carotenoid intake was assessed using 7-day diet records.Results: Skin carotenoids were not related to macular pigment (r = 0.08, p = 0.22). Adjusting for age, sex, BMI percentile, household income, and total carotenoid consumption (mg/1000kcal), skin carotenoids were predictive of math (ß = 0.27, p = 0.02), broad math (ß = 0.36, p < 0.01) and math calculation (ß = 0.38, p < 0.01). Skin carotenoids displayed trending relationships with broad reading (ß = 0.23, p = 0.05) and reading fluency (ß = 0.22, p = 0.07). There were no significant associations between macular pigment and academic achievement (all ß's ≤ 0.07, all p's ≥ 0.56).Discussion: Skin carotenoids were positively associated with academic abilities in children, while macular carotenoids did not display this relationship. Future interventions examining prospective effects of changes in carotenoids in different tissues on childhood academic achievement are warranted.

Rules generalization in children with dyslexia.

BACKGROUND: Rule learning (RL) is the ability to extract and generalize higher-order repetition-based structures. Children with Developmental Dyslexia (DD) often report difficulties in learning complex regularities in sequential stimuli, which might be due to the complexity of the rule to be learned. Learning high-order repetition-based rules represents a building block for the development of language skills. AIMS: This study investigates the ability to extract and generalize simple, repetition-based visual rules (e.g., ABA) in 8-11-year-old children without (TD) and with a diagnosis of Development Dyslexia (DD) and its relationship with language and reading skills. METHOD: Using a forced-choice paradigm, children were first exposed to a visual sequence containing a repetition-based rule (e.g., ABA) and were then asked to recognize familiar and novel rules generated by new visual elements. Standardized language and reading tests were also administered to both groups. RESULTS: The accuracy in recognizing rules was above chance for both groups, even though DD children were less accurate than TD children, suggesting a less efficient RL mechanism in the DD group. Moreover, visual RL was positively correlated with both language and reading skills. CONCLUSION: These results further confirm the crucial role of RL in the acquisition of linguistic skills and mastering reading abilities.

Neural specialization to English words in Chinese children: Joint contribution of age and English reading abilities.

N1 tuning to words, a neural marker of visual word recognition, develops by an interaction between age and ability. The development of N1 tuning to a second learnt print is unclear. The present study examined the joint contribution of age and English reading abilities to N1 amplitude and tuning to English print in Chinese children in Hong Kong. EEG signals were recorded from 179 children (six to nine years old) while they were performing a repetition detection task comprised of different print stimuli measuring three types of tuning, i.e., coarse tuning (real word versus false font), fine tuning (real versus nonword), and lexicality effect (real versus pseudo word). Children were assessed in English word reading accuracy (EWR) and English sub-lexical orthographic knowledge (EOK). Results indicated that coarse tuning decreased with age but increased with EWR and EOK. Fine tuning uniquely increased with EOK, and the lexicality effect increased with EWR. At last, higher EWR was linked to less right-lateralized coarse tuning in younger children. Taken together, the findings support the visual perceptual expertise account in the L2 context, in that N1 coarse tuning, fine tuning, and lexicality effect are driven by skill improvement.

Characterizing different cognitive and neurobiological profiles in a community sample of children using a non-parametric approach: An fMRI study.

Executive Functions (EF) is an umbrella term for a set of mental processes geared towards goal-directed behavior supporting academic skills such as reading abilities. One of the brain's functional networks implicated in EF is the Default Mode Network (DMN). The current study uses measures of inhibitory control, a main sub-function of EF, to create cognitive and neurobiological "inhibitory control profiles" and relate them to reading abilities in a large sample (N = 5055) of adolescents aged 9-10 from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Using a Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) approach, data related to inhibitory control was divided into four inhibition classes. For each class, functional connectivity within the DMN was calculated from resting-state data, using a non-parametric algorithm for detecting group similarities. These inhibitory control profiles were then related to reading abilities. The four inhibitory control groups showed significantly different reading abilities, with neurobiologically different DMN segregation profiles for each class versus controls. The current study demonstrates that a community sample of children is not entirely homogeneous and is composed of different subgroups that can be differentiated both behaviorally/cognitively and neurobiologically, by focusing on inhibitory control and the DMN. Educational implications relating these results to reading abilities are noted.

Features of eye movements during rapid automatized naming in Chinese children aged 7-11 years.

Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) tests have been well-documented to predict reading abilities as well as a variety of neurobiological disorders (e.g., developmental dyslexia). Traditional measures of RAN tests only take into account the naming time and accuracy and cannot reflect temporal-spatial features during RAN tests. Although the eye tracking approach appears to be a promising tool for characterizing the essential temporal-spatial characteristics of RAN tests, no research has been conducted to investigate whether and how gender, age, and task-type alter those characteristics. Additionally, no study has examined eye movements during a Chinese adaptation of RAN in order to expand the applicability of RAN to developmental dyslexia in Chinese. To address the concerns stated above, this article recruited 408 children (206 males, aged 7-11 years) and adopted eight measures to quantify features of eye movements during a Chinese adaptation of RAN. Findings showed that: (1) eight eye-movement measures had the main effects of task-type and age, but only five of them had the main effect of gender (in particular, females outperformed males); (2) RAN abilities observed by eight eye-movement measures initially developed quickly before the age of 9, and then entered a relatively sluggish development phase; (3) non-alphanumeric RAN tasks generally required higher mental load (implying more fixation counts, saccade counts, and regression counts, smaller average saccade amplitude, fixation duration fluctuation and saccade amplitude fluctuation, and longer average fixation duration and total time of naming) than alphanumeric ones; (4) there were significant correlations between total time of naming (a widely-used behavioral parameter) and other eye-movement measures; and (5) there were significant correlation between eight eye-movement measures and three attention-related skills observed from a number cancellation task. The current study might offer some perspectives on the understanding of normative data of eye movements during RAN in Chinese school-aged children, as well as the applications (e.g., developmental dyslexia) associated with RAN.

Stroop performance is related to reading profiles in Hebrew-speaking individuals with dyslexia and typical readers.

There is a debate in the literature regarding the level of contribution of executive functions (EF) to reading comprehension (RC), in the context of the simple view of reading (SVR) model. The current study aims to create sub-profiles of reading and cognitive abilities based on a measure traditionally used for evaluating EF, that is, the Stroop task, and specifically, Stroop time. Ninety-seven adults with and without reading difficulties performed reading and cognitive tasks, including the Stroop tests. Four groups were created based on Stroop performance time and a reading profile was created for each group. A mediation analysis was conducted to determine if reading accuracy and linguistic abilities predict RC mediated by Stroop time. Participants with a shorter Stroop time demonstrated better reading abilities, whereas those with longer Stroop time showed decreased reading performance. Stroop time was also negatively associated with better performance in additional cognitive abilities. A mediation analysis suggested that decoding ability and linguistic ability predict RC through EF. Our findings support the SVR model and the involvement of EF in reading proficiency and might be used for designing EF-based interventions for reading and RC difficulties.

Reading abilities and dopamine D2/D3 receptor availability: An inverted U-shaped association in subjects with schizophrenia.

Reading impairments are prominent trait-like features of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia, predictive of overall cognitive functioning and presumably linked to dopaminergic abnormalities. To evaluate this, we used 18F-fallypride PET in 19 healthy and 21 antipsychotic-naïve schizophrenia subjects and correlated dopamine receptor binding potentials in relevant AFNI-derived regions and voxelwise with group performance on WRAT4 single-word reading subtest. Healthy subjects' scores were positively and linearly associated with D2/D3 receptor availability in the rectus, orbital and superior frontal gyri, fusiform and middle temporal gyri, as well as middle occipital gyrus and precuneus, all predominantly in the left hemisphere and previously implicated in reading, hence suggesting that higher dopamine receptor density is cognitively advantageous. This relationship was weakened in schizophrenia subjects and in contrast to healthy participants followed an inverted U-shaped curve both in the cortex and dorsal striatum, indicating restricted optimal range of dopamine D2/D3 receptor availability for cognitive performance in schizophrenia.

Using selected behaviour modification practices to enhance reinforcement of reading abilities among dyslexic learners in Kenya.

BACKGROUND: Dyslexic learners have difficulties in accurate and fluent word recognition and poor spelling and decoding abilities. OBJECTIVE: The present study investigated the use of selected behaviour modification practices to enhance reinforcement of reading abilities amongst dyslexic learners in primary schools in Kenya. METHODS: The Solomon four research design was adopted. A sample size of 229 dyslexic learners in four selected schools was obtained using purposive sampling technique. The tools used were the Bangor Dyslexia Test and a short reading comprehension test. Internal validity of the constructs was tested using the Kaiser-Meyer-Oklin measure of sampling adequacy (KMO Index) and the Bartlett's test of sphericity. The reliability of the questionnaires was ascertained using Cronbach's alpha and internal consistencies of 0.673-0.807 were reported. RESULTS: The findings reported a statistical significant difference between pre-test and post-test scores of the experiment group 1, t (48) = -15.059, p < 0.01, implying that a significant effect was found in the use of behaviour modification strategies in improving learner English language reading skills. The regression model explained 54.7% (R 2 = 0.547) of the variability in the level of English language reading abilities amongst primary school learners with dyslexia. CONCLUSION: The study concludes that coaching behaviour modification practice had the highest influence on English language reading abilities as compared to prompting, shaping and modelling practices. The study recommended training of teachers on the use of behaviour modification practices to improve dyslexic learners' reading ability.

Pinyin Spelling Promotes Reading Abilities of Adolescents Learning Chinese as a Foreign Language: Evidence From Mediation Models.

Pinyin is a phonological encoding system used to spell modern Chinese Mandarin due to the phonological opacity of Chinese characters. The present study examined the role of Pinyin spelling in the reading abilities of adolescents learning Chinese as a foreign language (CFL). A total of 158 Indonesian senior primary students were tested on Pinyin spelling, character production, listening comprehension, depth of vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension. Pinyin spelling skills were assessed by two measures, Pinyin Dictation (sentence dictation in Pinyin) and Pinyin Tagging (Pinyin writing for characters). Path analysis revealed that even after controlling for the effect of character production, Pinyin dictation performance influenced reading comprehension through the mediating effect of listening comprehension and the depth of vocabulary knowledge, and Pinyin tagging performance also influenced reading comprehension through the mediating effect of the depth of vocabulary knowledge. The results highlight the importance of Pinyin skills for Chinese reading abilities of CFL learners. As a reliable and explicit indicator of specifying Chinese phonological representations and processing, Pinyin spelling has a long-term and multifaceted influence on higher-level CFL abilities.

Longitudinal Relationships Between Reading Abilities, Phonological Awareness, Language Abilities and Executive Functions: Comparison of Low Risk Preterm and Full-Term Children.

Different investigations have found that very or extremely (high risk) preterm children show global or specific difficulties in phonological awareness (PA) and reading abilities. Do low risk preterm children, however, exhibit this pattern? Phonological awareness has been considered an important predictor of literacy. Certain executive functions (EFs), and language abilities in turn, have been found to predict PA. The aims of this study are (1) to compare reading abilities of low risk preterm children of different gestational age (GA) groups to those of full-term children, (2) to compare the performance of low risk preterm children of different GA groups to that of full-term children in different EFs, language measures and PA, and (3) to perform a path analysis in order to test a longitudinal model of the relationships between EFs, language abilities, PA and reading. The participants were 108 low risk 4- year-old preterm children, classified into 3 groups of different GAs, and 34 full-term children. The children's EFs (rapid automatized naming task (RAN), working memory, and inhibition) were assessed at 4 and 5 years of age. Vocabulary comprehension, morphosyntactic production and grammar reception were assessed when the children were 5 years of age, as well as phonemic awareness and syllabic awareness. Finally, reading abilities were assessed when the children were 9 years old. No significant difference between gestational age groups was found on any of the measures taken on EFs, language abilities, phonological awareness, or reading abilities. The path analysis model demonstrates the direct effect of working memory, certain linguistic skills governed by rules (grammar, morphology) and phonological awareness on reading abilities at 9 years of age. The model also shows the mediating role that PA has on the relationship between EFs and language abilities with reading abilities.

Inflectional morphology and dyslexia: Italian children's performance in a nonword pluralization task.

In this study, we present the results of an original experimental protocol designed to assess the performance in a pluralization task of 52 Italian children divided into two groups: 24 children with developmental dyslexia (mean age 10.0 years old) and 28 typically developing children (mean age 9.11 years old). Our task, inspired by Berko's Wug Test, had the aim of testing the subjects' ability to apply pluralization rules to nonwords in the morphologically complex context of Italian nominal inflection. Results demonstrate that dyslexics display poorer morphological skills in comparison to controls, showing lower accuracy in the task. Furthermore, the dissimilar performances reported by the subjects in the different conditions indicate that the ability to inflect nonwords depends on factors such as the rule's productivity, frequency, and opacity with respect to gender. Finally, the children's performance in this task was significantly related to their reading proficiency, and it could predict accuracy in word reading independently of phonological awareness and working memory.

Advances in Dyslexia Genetics-New Insights Into the Role of Brain Asymmetries.

Dyslexia is a common condition affecting up to 10% school-aged children. There is strong evidence that genetics plays an important role in dyslexia and is expected to be complex in nature. Few specific susceptibility factors have been identified so far, but their functional characterization has provided novel insights into the biology of dyslexia. In particular, they point to an unexpected role of candidate genes for dyslexia in the biology of cilia, cellular organelles required in many processes including the establishment of left-right asymmetries early in development. This observation has brought back into the spotlight the old idea of a link between dyslexia and handedness. Yet much of the genetics contributing to dyslexia remains unexplained. The lack of biological markers, clear diagnostic criteria, and homogeneous assessment strategies are just some of the factors preventing the collection of the cohorts powered enough for large-scale genetic studies. While the technology and methods to generate and handle large-scale data have reached unprecedented potential, the main challenge remains in establishing universal guidelines to collect suitable phenotype information across independent studies. These difficulties reflect the complex nature of dyslexia which is highly heterogeneous and often co-occurs with other neurodevelopmental disorders.

Contribución única de la inteligencia fluida y cristalizada en el rendimiento académico / Unique contribution of intelligence fluid and crystallized from academic performance

La teoría de la inversión de Cattell establece que inteligencia fluida(Gf) constituye la base de la inteligencia cristalizada (Gc), en tanto hace posible la adquisición de habilidades y conocimientos. Sin embargo, las evidencias empíricas no son concluyentes. La presente investigación pretende determinar la contribución única de la inteligencia, Gf y Gc, sobre el rendimiento académico del niño escolar. Se utilizó una muestra de 100 niños según criterios de selección en dos tipos de enseñanza: niños con calificaciones de Mal y Regular en las materias escolares (enseñanza regular) y niños con retraso mental ligero (enseñanza especial). Las pruebas intelectuales fueron: Escala de Capacidad Intelectual y Analogía verbales. Las tareas académicas fueron: fluidez lectora y fluidez matemática. Los resultaron indicaron fuertes correlaciones entre las variables académicas y las intelectuales. La regresión jerárqica indicó contribución significativa de Gc (Analogía verbales) para pronosticar el desarrollo de la lectura cuando se controla el efecto de Gf (Escala de Capacidad Intelectual). Por el contrario, Gf mostró una contribución significativa para explicar el rendimiento de la matemática cuando se controla a Gc.

The investment theory of Cattell states that fluid intelligence (Gf) is the basis of crystallized intelligence (Gc), as does the acquisition of skills and knowledge possible. However, the empirical evidence is inconclusive. This research trying to determine the unique contribution of intelligence, Gf and Gc, on the academic performance of school children. A sample of 100 children was used as selection criteria in two types of education: children with scores bad and regular school subjects (regular education) and children with mild mental retardation (special education). Intellectual tests were: Intellectual Ability Scale and Verbal Analogy test. Academic tasks were: reading fluency and math fluency. The resulted showed strong correlations between academic and intellectual variables. The hierarchical regression indicated significant contribution of Gc (Verbal Analogy) to predict the development of reading when the effect of Gf (Intellectual Ability Scale) is controlled. By contrast, Gf showed a significant contribution to explain the performance of mathematics when Gc controls.

O que dizem as matrizes de habilidades sobre a leitura em ambientes digitais / What ability matrices convey about reading in digital environments

Com base em análises da matriz de Língua Portuguesa do Saeb, utilizada em avaliações de larga escala no Brasil, este trabalho discute a vinculação dessa matriz às prá ticas de leitura e à cultura escrita impressa, além de propor uma reflexão sobre a com plexidade dos descritores que compõem a matriz em relação às práticas de leitura reais. Propõe-se a diferenciação entre matriz de avaliação e matriz de ensino, assim como se considera de suma importância que o ato de ler seja abordado em seus aspectos multi modais e relativos ao letramento digital.

Based on an analysis of the Saeb's Matrix on Portuguese Language, widely used in evaluations in Brazil, we discuss in this paper the relationship of this matrix to reading practices and printed writing culture. We also propose a discussion about the complexity of abilities that compose the matrix, as far as real reading practices are con cerned. We propose the necessity to make a clear distinction between a matrix for eval uation purposes and a matrix designed for teaching purposes. It is also very important to consider aspects related to the multimodal and digital literacy as a crucial part of the act of reading.

Morfología y función en el análisis empírico del ajuste lector / . Morphology and function in the empirical analysis of reading adjustment

En este estudio se evalúan los efectos de variar el tipo de criterio y el tipo de morfología del hacer estudiantil sobre el porcentaje de respuestas correctas en tareas de ajuste lector. Participaron 20 estudiantes universitarios asignados a uno de cuatro grupos que se distinguían por la constancia - variabilidad del criterio y la constancia - variabilidad de la morfología de la respuesta para satisfacer el criterio. Se aplicó una evaluación inicial a todos los participantes, un entrenamiento y una evaluación final, semejante a la primera. Se encontró que, en general, el entrenamiento variable de criterios y morfología tuvo mayores efectos positivos sobre el desempeño en la segunda evaluación, en contraste con los grupos expuestos a un solo criterio o a una sola morfología. Los resultados permiten discutir el papel de la morfología como estrategia de aprendizaje efectiva al margen del criterio funcional, del dominio y del texto leído.

The present study evaluated the effects of varying the criterion and the morphology of the percentage of correct response upon reading adjustment tasks. Participants were 20 voluntary students, distributed in four groups, which were differentiated by the certainty - variability of the criterion and the certainty - variability of themorphology of response to satisfy the criterion. All participants were exposed to a first evaluation, training and finally a second evaluation similar to the first one was applied. Results question the role of morphology as a comprehension strategy independent of a functional criterion, domain and of the text itself.

Navegar sem ler, ler sem navegar e outras combinações de habilidades do leitor / Navigating without reading, reading without navigating and other combinations of readers abilities

Com base nos conceitos de letramento, sistema de mídia e mídias mosaiquicas e apoiado em uma concepção de hipertexto não exclusivamente digital, este trabalho mostra a relação de grupos de leitores com a leitura de jornais impressos e digitais. Este estudo de caso foi desenvolvido com alunos de uma instituição privada de ensino superior, em Belo Horizonte. Após a aplicação de questionários sobre hábitos e frequência de leitura de jornais, foram selecionados 23 alunos para fazer testes de navegação e leitura. Algumas habilidades de leitura foram medidas com base na matriz de Língua Portuguesa do Saeb. Com base nos resultados, faz-se a diferenciação entre habilidades de navegação e habilidades de leitura. Os resultados também sugerem certa assimetria entre navegação e leitura (compreensão), já que nem sempre os navegadores mais hábeis compreendem o que leem, assim como nem sempre aqueles que mostram dificuldades em navegar têm mau desempenho em leitura. Conclui-se que a leitura se constrói a partir de uma sobreposição complexa de habilidades. Embora seja importante que o leitor desenvolva letramentos vários, é possível apresentar habilidades assimétricas em relação a diferentes aspectos da leitura.

Based upon the concepts of literacy, media systems and mosaic media, supported by an off-line concept of hypertext, this work discusses the relationship established by readers groups with the reading of newspapers. This case study was carried out with undergraduates at a private school in Belo Horizonte. From questionnaire-generated reading profiles, a group of 23 students was selected to make tests on navigation and on reading. The sudents had to answer questions, which were proposed in accordance with Saeb exam reading abilities matrix. The results show that good navigators may be low proficient readers and good readers may be poor navigators. So, it was possible to conclude that reading depends upon the development of many other abilities, independently of the reading platform; that reading is built up from a complex superposition of abilities.

Cambios sociales y evaluación de la educación en méxico. El caso de la lectura. / Social changes and the assessment of education in Mexico. The case of reading

A partir de la lectura de documentos oficiales, se reflexiona sobre los cambios que ha presentado el Estado mexicano, para asumirse actualmente como un estado evaluador; la participación de la Organización de Cooperación para el Desarrollo Económico (OCDE), en el diagnóstico sobre la educación en México, y la aplicación del Programa Internacional de Evaluación de Estudiantes (PISA), sus resultados y la respuesta que da el gobierno en la generación de estrategias para cambiar aptitudes de lectura de la población mexicana. Se presentan resultados de una encuesta aplicada en el 2005, por la Procuraduría Federal del Consumidor (Profeco), para identificar cómo, a ocho años del diagnóstico de la OCDE (1997) Y a cinco de la aplicación del PISA (2000), con énfasis en la lectura, la población sigue presentando resultados negativos. La propuesta es ya no esperar políticas públicas, ante esta necesidad urgente, adoptar una actitud reflexiva y responsable con nosotros mismos y la población con la que nos relacionamos, ya sea por razones laborales o familiares; con la certidumbre de que somos capaces de construir mejores mañanas.

Starting from the reading of official documents, one can reflect about the changes the Mexican Government has presented for assuming itself as an evaluating state; about the Cooperative Organization for the Economical. Development (OCDE) participation to the diagnostics about education in Mexico, and the Students Evaluation. International Program (PlSA) application, their outcomes, and the answer given by the government when generating strategies to change the Mexican population reading abilities. Here, the outcomes of a survey carriec! out in 2005 by the Federal Procurator Office for Consumers (Profeco) in order to identify how, at eight years from the OCDE diagnoses (1997) and at five from the PISA application (2000), with an emphasis on reading, population continues showing negative outcomes. The proposal is to stop waiting for public politics before this urgent need and realize a reflexive and responsible attitude must be adopted with ourselves and with the population with which we are relating, either because working or family reasons; with the certitude that we are capable to build a better "tomorrow".