Cognitive styles and specific learning disorders in children and adolescents

Introduction

Learning Difficulties relates to significant and unusual difficulties in the acquisition and use of one or more of the following areas: listening, speaking, reading, writing and mathematical skills. In the last twenty years, following the research conducted by cognitive psychology, from neuropsychology, from pedagogy and from the confrontation between educators and psychologists, the attention was focused on the cognitive modalities of the subjects engaged in learning tasks.

Objectives

Thanks to the study of cognitive styles and Learning Styles thelearning subject was placed at the center of the educational project, stimulating from on the one hand there is also reflection on teaching styles and the most appropriate ones methodologies, teaching methods and methods of approaching the individual disciplines and, on the other hand, prompting clinicians to research around the intellectual peculiarities of each subject and a outline a descriptive criterion of his / her cognitive functioning profile.

Methods

The intellectual scale (WISC IV) of 32 children (aged between 7 and 15 years) with specific learning disabilities was analyzed, in order to highlight the underlying intellectual functioning and any cognitive styles.

Results

According to the international scientific literature, the results show a greater fall in the area of working memory, followed by the cognitive domain concerning processing speed.

Conclusions

In detail, by analyzing the individual subtests, greater difficulties are noted, at all ages, in the processes of abstraction and conceptualization, in short-term auditory memory, in the speed of processing and visual-praxic motor coordination.

[Bardoxolone: a new potential therapeutic agent in the treatment of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease?]

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most common genetic cause of chronic renal failure. The natural history of ADPKD is characterized by development of multiple bilateral renal cysts that progressively destroy the architecture of the parenchyma and lead to an enlargement in the total kidney volume (TKV) and to the decline of the renal function. Cyst growth activates the immune system response causing interstitial inflammation and fibrosis that contribute to disease progression. In recent years, the therapeutic toolkit available to the nephrologist in the treatment of ADPKD has been enriched with new tools, and in this context bardoxolone is classified as a potential therapeutic agent. It is a semisynthetic derivative of triterpenoids, a family of compounds widely used in traditional Asian medicine for their multiple effects. Bardoxolone exerts antioxidant activity by promoting the activation of Nrf2 (Nuclear factor erythroid2-derivative - 2) and the downregulation of the proinflammatory NF-kB (Nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells) signaling. Several pieces of evidence support the use of bardoxolone in the treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) documenting an effect on the increase of glomerular filtration rate (GFR). However, its use is limited to patients at risk of heart failure. The FALCON study will clarify the efficacy and safety of bardoxolone in the treatment of ADPKD.