Impairments in the Visual Processing of Global Biological Motion Cues in Down Syndrome

The use of the cambridge neuropsychological test automated battery for people born with Down syndrome and those born premature: A comparative systematic review

This review aimed to investigate the use of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Automated Testing Battery (CANTAB) for people at risk of cognitive impairment, especially those born with Down syndrome and those born preterm. Six databases were searched according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) standards, in addition to the bibliography index listed in the CANTAB site. Twenty four studies regarding Down syndrome and 17 regarding prematurity were reviewed and are here described. Both cognitive profiles were described, and their performance was compared on specific tasks and CANTAB tests. In this battery of tests, people with Down syndrome usually present impaired key cognitive domains, such as episodic memory and recognition memory. Results were presented considering general aspects described in the studies, specific findings such as dementia, the role of genetics, and cognitive profile, among other descriptions. Comparability between both populations in future studies is discussed.

Working Memory Capacity of Biological Motion's Basic Unit: Decomposing Biological Motion From the Perspective of Systematic Anatomy

Many studies have shown that about three biological motions (BMs) can be maintained in working memory. However, no study has yet analyzed the difficulties of experiment materials used, which partially affect the ecological validity of the experiment results. We use the perspective of system anatomy to decompose BM, and thoroughly explore the influencing factors of difficulties of BMs, including presentation duration, joints to execute motions, limbs to execute motions, type of articulation interference tasks, and number of joints and planes involved in the BM. We apply the change detection paradigm supplemented by the articulation interference task to measure the BM working memory capacity (WMC) of participants. Findings show the following: the shorter the presentation duration, the less participants remembered; the more their wrist moved, the less accurate their memory was; repeating verbs provided better results than did repeating numerals to suppress verbal encoding; the more complex the BM, the less participants remembered; and whether the action was executed by the handed limbs did not affect the WMC. These results indicate that there are many factors that can be used to adjust BM memory load. These factors can help sports psychology professionals to better evaluate the difficulty of BMs, and can also partially explain the differences in estimations of BM WMC in previous studies.

Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities Rely on Somatosensory Information Rather Than Visual Information to Catch a Ball

According to the literature, persons with intellectual disabilities have poor motor control in tasks in which motor anticipation is needed. Our study aimed to assess their motor behavior during interceptive tasks (a tennis ball interception with external-and-oneself throw conditions). A stick-bar was used as a reference or to support cloth to occlude a ball's trajectory. Catch performance and interceptive behavior were analyzed (26 persons). The results show that high/low values of the initial approaching movement led to successful/successful catches, respectively. Our results are in line with the literature about the impact of poor motor control on performance in those with intellectual disabilities. We suggest that low anticipation may relate to problems in real-life situations.

Social Cognition in Down Syndrome: Face Tuning in Face-Like Non-Face Images

Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) are widely believed to possess considerable socialization strengths. However, the findings on social cognition capabilities are controversial. In the present study, we investigated whether individuals with DS exhibit shortage in face tuning, one of the indispensable components of social cognition. For this purpose, we implemented a recently developed Face-n-Food paradigm with food-plate images composed of food ingredients such as fruits and vegetables. The key benefit of such face-like non-face images is that single elements do not facilitate face processing. In a spontaneous recognition task, 25 children with DS aged 9 to 18 years were presented with a set of Face-n-Food images bordering on the Giuseppe Arcimboldo style. The set of images was administered in a predetermined order from the least to most resembling a face. In DS individuals, thresholds for recognition of the Face-n-Food images as a face were drastically higher as compared not only with typically developing controls, but also with individuals with autistic spectrum disorders and Williams-Beuren syndrome. This outcome represents a significant step toward better conceptualization of the visual social world in DS and neurodevelopmental disorders in general.