No abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the link between working memory capacity and the ability to exert cognitive control. Here, participants with either high or low working memory capacity (WMC) performed a semantic negative priming (NP) task as a measure of cognitive control. They were required to ignore a single prime word followed by a pattern mask appearing immediately or after a delay. The prime could be semantically related or unrelated to an upcoming target word where a forced-choice categorization was required. Each type of mask (immediate vs. delayed) appeared randomly from trial to trial. Results demonstrated that, when the ignored prime was immediately followed by the mask, neither of the groups (high or low WMC) showed reliable NP. In clear contrast, when the mask onset was delayed responses latencies were reliably slower for semantically related trials than for unrelated trials (semantic NP), but only for the high WMC group. The present results clearly demonstrate that semantic NP from single ignored primes depends on both the masking pattern that follows the prime (immediate vs. delayed mask), and on working memory capacity.

Resumen:Introducción. Diversas investigaciones han demostrado que el desarrollo cognitivo de los niños prematuros suele verse afectado, existiendo una estrecha relación entre prematuridad, déficits ejecutivos, trastornos del aprendizaje, alteraciones del lenguaje y problemas conductuales. Asimismo, destacan también las dificultades en tareas viso-perceptivas y de integración funcional. Objetivo. Evaluar los procesos cognitivos (funciones ejecutivas, integración viso-perceptiva, coordinación viso-motora, memoria, conocimiento del medio, lenguaje, procesamiento visomotor y aptitud motora) en niños de siete años de edad nacidos pretérmino y compararlos con un grupo control, igualado en las variables nivel sociocultural, sexo y edad. Sujetos y método. Participaron 20 niños con edades comprendidas entre siete años y dos meses y siete años y 11 meses, distribuidos homogéneamente en dos grupos (prematuro vs. control). Se elaboró un protocolo de pruebas neuropsicológicas estandarizadas para evaluar los diferentes dominios cognitivos mencionados. Resultados. Los datos obtenidos evidencian una peor ejecución en los niños prematuros en diversos dominios evaluados (v.g., funciones ejecutivas y procesamiento visomotor) en comparación con los controles. Conclusiones. Debido al escaso número de trabajos que analizan procesos cognitivos en niños nacidos pretérmino de habla hispana, en esta investigación se seleccionó la ventana de edad de 7 años, momento en el que se inician procesos esenciales -lectura, escritura y cálculo matemático-, para detectar problemas neuropsicológicos que pudiesen estar influyendo en los procesos académicos, aportando de este modo nuevos hallazgos para el ámbito de la neuropsicología infantil. Palabras clave: Prematuridad; neuropsicología; funciones ejecutivas; dominios cognitivos.Title: Neuropsychological assessment of cognitive processes in seven-yearold children born prematurely. Abstract: Introduction. Several studies have shown that the cognitive development of premature children is affected. In fact, it appears to be a close relationship between prematurity, executive deficits, learning disorders, language disorders and behavioral problems. Premature children present also difficulties in viso-perceptive tasks and functional integration tasks. Objective. The main goal of this study was to assess cognitive processes (executive functions, viso-perceptual integration, viso-motor coordination, memory, environmental knowledge, language, viso-motor processing and motor skills) in seven-year-old children who were born preterm and to compare them with those of a control group, matching in sociocultural level, sex and age. Subjects and method. 20 children ranging in age between seven years and two months and seven years and 11 months, assigned to two groups (premature vs. control) participated in the present study. A protocol including standardized neuropsychological tests was designed to assess the different cognitive mentioned domains. Results. We observed that there was worse performance in several eva...

In the present study, event-related potentials (ERPs) were registered during a semantic negative priming (NP) task in participants with higher and lower working memory capacity (WMC). On each trial participants had to actively ignore a briefly presented single prime word, which was followed either immediately or after a delay by a mask. Thereafter, either a semantically related or an unrelated target word was presented, to which participants made a semantic categorization judgment. The ignored prime produced a behavioral semantic NP in delayed (but not in immediate) masking trials, and only for participants with a higher-WMC. Both masking type and WMC also modulated ERP priming effects. When the ignored prime was immediately followed by a mask (which impeded its conscious identification) a reliable N400 modulation was found irrespective of participants’ WMC. However, when the mask onset following the prime was delayed (thus allowing its conscious identification), an attenuation of a late positive ERP (LPC) was observed in related compared to unrelated trials, but only in the higher-WMC group showing reliable behavioral NP. The present findings demonstrate for the first time that individual differences in WMC modulate both behavioral measures and electrophysiological correlates of semantic NP.