Dataset Information

The Virtual City Paradigm^TM for Testing Visuo-Spatial Memory, Executive Functions and Cognitive Strategies in Children With ADHD: A Feasibility Study.

ABSTRACT: Navigation is a complex process, requiring target localization, route planning or retrieval, and physical displacement. Executive functions (EFs) such as working memory, inhibition and planning are fundamental for succeeding in this complex activity and are often impaired in Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Our aim was to analyze the feasibility of a new ecological navigation task, the Virtual City paradigm™ (VC™) to test visuo-spatial memory and EFs in children with ADHD. Visuo-spatial short and working memory, inhibition and planning skills were tested with standardized tasks. The VC™, a new paradigm developed by our group, used the Virtual Carpet^TM technology, consisting of a virtual town with houses, streets and crossroads projected on the ground. It includes a motion capture system, tracking body movement in 3D in real time. In one condition, children were required to walk through the city and reach a sequence of houses. In the other, before walking, they had to plan the shortest path to reach the houses, inhibiting the prepotent response to start walking. The results show a good feasibility of the paradigm (feasibility checklist and ad hoc questionnaire), being ecological and motivating. VC™ measures of span positively correlated with visuo-spatial short and working memory measures, suggesting that VC™ heavily relies on efficient spatial memory. Individual subject analyses suggested that children with ADHD may approach this task differently from typically developing children. Larger samples of ADHD and healthy children may further explore the specific role of EFs and memory, potentially opening new avenues for intervention.

SUBMITTER: Del Lucchese B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8406804 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:Neurocognitive heterogeneity is increasingly recognized as a valid phenomenon in ADHD, with most estimates suggesting that executive dysfunction is present in only about 33%-50% of these children. However, recent critiques question the veracity of these estimates because our understanding of executive functioning in ADHD is based, in large part, on data from single tasks developed to detect gross neurological impairment rather than the specific executive processes hypothesized to underlie the ADHD phenotype. The current study is the first to comprehensively assess heterogeneity in all three primary executive functions in ADHD using a criterion battery that includes multiple tests per construct (working memory, inhibitory control, set shifting). Children ages 8-13 (M?=?10.37, SD?=?1.39) with and without ADHD (N?=?136; 64 girls; 62% Caucasian/Non-Hispanic) completed a counterbalanced series of executive function tests. Accounting for task unreliability, results indicated significantly improved sensitivity and specificity relative to prior estimates, with 89% of children with ADHD demonstrating objectively-defined impairment on at least one executive function (62% impaired working memory, 27% impaired inhibitory control, 38% impaired set shifting; 54% impaired on one executive function, 35% impaired on two or all three executive functions). Children with working memory deficits showed higher parent- and teacher-reported ADHD inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive symptoms (BF10?=?5.23?×?104), and were slightly younger (BF10?=?11.35) than children without working memory deficits. Children with vs. without set shifting or inhibitory control deficits did not differ on ADHD symptoms, age, gender, IQ, SES, or medication status. Taken together, these findings confirm that ADHD is characterized by neurocognitive heterogeneity, while suggesting that contemporary, cognitively-informed criteria may provide improved precision for identifying a smaller number of neuropsychologically-impaired subtypes than previously described.

Project description:Seven percent of UK households are estimated to own both a cat and a dog, despite a popular view that the two do not live well together. This is the first study to evaluate the effects of pheromone products Feliway FriendsTM and AdaptilTM on cat-dog interactions, in homes where owners perceived the potential for improvement in the relationship between their cat and dog. A blinded parallel randomized trial design over a 6-week period was used to evaluate the effect of each of the two products, with 17 participants in each group completing the trial. Owners reported weekly on the frequency of 10 specific undesirable interactions and seven specific desirable interactions. Total undesirable and desirable interaction scores both showed significant linear contrasts over time (undesirable score decreased; desirable score increased). Undesirable interaction scores were significantly lower (with a very large effect size) during treatment compared with baseline. There were no significant differences between the two pheromone products in relation to these outcome measures. AdaptilTM and Feliway FriendsTM were both associated with a significant decrease in: dog chasing cat/cat runs away; cat hiding from dog; cat/dog staring at the other; and dog barking at cat. With AdaptilTM a significant increase was also seen in: friendly greeting and times spent relaxed in the same room. From baseline (Week 2) to the end of the study (Week 6) there was a significant improvement in owners' perception of dog relaxation in those participants who received AdaptilTM and of cat relaxation in those participants who received Feliway FriendsTM. Similarity in the core chemical structure of the appeasing pheromones might explain the main effects, whilst different species-specific additions may explain the product-appropriate species-specific increases in relaxation scores. Specific behavioral improvements seen with AdaptilTM may reflect a greater calming of dogs in this group, reducing their interest in seeking interaction with cats in the same home and the tension in the cat as a result. In conclusion, both products appear to improve the cat-dog relationship and it would be beneficial to further study their use in combination and against placebo. If selecting one product AdaptilTM may be preferable, unless there is a particular need to increase the cat's relaxation.

Dataset Information

The Virtual City Paradigm^TM for Testing Visuo-Spatial Memory, Executive Functions and Cognitive Strategies in Children With ADHD: A Feasibility Study.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets

Dataset Information

The Virtual City ParadigmTM for Testing Visuo-Spatial Memory, Executive Functions and Cognitive Strategies in Children With ADHD: A Feasibility Study.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets

The Virtual City Paradigm^TM for Testing Visuo-Spatial Memory, Executive Functions and Cognitive Strategies in Children With ADHD: A Feasibility Study.