Why are they late? Timing abilities and executive control among students with learning disabilities

Predicting emotional consequences of disorganization among adults with neurodevelopmental disorders: a structural equation model

PURPOSE

Previous studies exhibited differences in sensory processing, motor coordination, metacognitive executive functions (EF-MI), and sleep quality among adults with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD). This study aims to find relationships between those abilities and organization-in-time, focusing on emotional responses after decreased organization abilities.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This is a secondary data analysis of a larger sample from three previous studies conducted in one laboratory. Data were collected from 290 adults; 149 with NDD and 141 sex- and age- (20-50 years) matched controls completed the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile, Adult Developmental Coordination Disorder, Adults Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Functions, Mini Sleep, and Time Organization and Participation questionnaires. Structural equation model (SEM) analysed relationships and variable prediction.

RESULTS

Significant between-group differences were found for all variables; SEM indicated similar paths in both groups. Sensory processing affected EF-MI and sleep quality and significantly correlated with motor coordination, affecting EF-MI; EF-MI affected organization-in-time. Sleep quality significantly affected organization-in-time, affecting emotional responses.

CONCLUSIONS

Sensory, motor, EF, and sleep differences were associated with decreased organization-in-time abilities of adults with NDD, adversely affecting their emotional well-being. Early detection of such differences and targeted interventions may improve daily functioning and life quality and prevent negative emotional implications.

Time to inhibit: P300 amplitude differences in individuals with high and low temporal efficiency

Temporal processing and inhibitory control are closely interconnected. This study investigated whether individuals of high and low temporal efficiency display different behavioral and neural patterns while performing an electrophysiological Go/No-Go task. Individuals with lower temporal processing had significantly poorer behavioral performance of the task-slower reaction times to Go stimuli, greater number of omissions, and lower stimulus detectability (lower d-prime value)-than the high temporal efficiency group. Additionally, participants with low temporal efficiency had significantly lower P300 response to correct inhibitions (No-Go stimuli) compared to those with high temporal efficiency. Furthermore, the greater amplitude of the difference wave (No-Go vs Go) in the high temporal efficiency group may suggest superior efficacy of response inhibition and attention control processes in comparison to the low temporal efficiency group. These findings highlight significant differences in inhibitory control at both behavioral and neural levels in young adults differing in temporal processing efficiency.

Work participation, sensory processing and sleep quality in adults with attention deficit hyperactive disorder

BACKGROUND: Although studies have indicated significant effects of attention-deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) on work participation, the mechanism underlying work participation of adults with ADHD is still unclear. OBJECTIVE: Following the World Health Organization’s international classification of functioning, disability, and health concepts, this study compares sensory processing and sleep quality (body functions) with work participation among adults with and without ADHD and examines predictive relationships among adults with ADHD. METHODS: Sixty-nine adults with ADHD and 52 matched controls completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Adult/Adolescent Sensory Profile, the Mini Sleep Questionnaire, and the Occupational Questionnaire. RESULTS: The ADHD group had significantly poorer body functions, sensory processing (i.e., low-registration, sensory-sensitivity, and sensation-avoiding patterns), sleep quality, and work performance compared to the control group (p <  .001). For adults with ADHD, sensory sensitivity accounted for 10.9%, and sleep quality accounted for 22.0%, of the variance in their work performance. CONCLUSIONS: The deficient body functions of adults with ADHD may affect their work performance and therefore should be considered in further research, as well as in clinical applications.

Differential Efficacy of an Intelligent Tutoring System for University Students: A Case Study with Learning Disabilities

Computer-Based Learning Environments (CBLEs) have emerged as an almost limitless source of education, challenging not only students but also education providers; teaching and learning in these virtual environments requires greater self-regulation of learning. More research is needed in order to assess how self-regulation of learning strategies can contribute to better performance. This study aims to report how an Intelligent Tutoring System can help students both with and without learning difficulties to self-regulate their learning processes. A total of 119 university students with and without learning difficulties took part in an educational experiment; they spent 90 min learning in a CBLE specifically designed to assess and promote self-regulated learning strategies. Results show that as a consequence of the training, the experimental group applied more self-regulation strategies than the control group, not only as a response to a system prompt but also self-initiated. In addition, there were some differences in improvement of learning processes in students with and without learning difficulties. Our results show that when students with learning difficulties have tools that facilitate applying self-regulated learning strategies, they do so even more than students without learning difficulties.

Inhibitory control and temporal perception in cerebral palsy

Prepotent response inhibition and temporal perception abilities were explored in a sample of individuals with cerebral palsy relative to typically developing peers. The extent to which inhibitory control difficulties might affect temporal processing was also investigated. For this purpose, two inhibitory control tasks and two duration estimation tasks were given to the groups of cerebral palsy and typically developing children. Results showed inhibition and temporal perception problems in the group with cerebral palsy. A relationship was found between inhibition and temporal estimation performances, which indicates that inhibitory control contributes, at least partially, to acquisition of the temporal processing ability.

Neural Correlates of Duration Discrimination in Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Their Comorbid Presentation

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often co-occur and share neurocognitive deficits. One such shared impairment is in duration discrimination. However, no studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have investigated whether these duration discrimination deficits are underpinned by the same or different underlying neurofunctional processes. In this study, we used fMRI to compare the neurofunctional correlates of duration discrimination between young adult males with ASD (n = 23), ADHD (n = 25), the comorbid condition of ASD+ADHD (n = 24), and typical development (TD, n = 26) using both region of interest (ROI) and whole brain analyses. Both the ROI and the whole-brain analyses showed that the comorbid ASD+ADHD group compared to controls, and for the ROI analysis relative to the other patient groups, had significant under-activation in right inferior frontal cortex (IFG) a key region for duration discrimination that is typically under-activated in boys with ADHD. The findings show that in young adult males with pure ASD, pure ADHD and comorbid ASD+ADHD with no intellectual disability, only the comorbid group demonstrates neurofunctional deficits in a typical duration discrimination region.