Implicit cognitive flexibility in self-limited focal epilepsy of childhood: An HD-EEG study

Adaptive Cognitive Control in Prematurely Born Children: An HD-EEG Investigation

“…We also hypothesized (H3) between-group differences only in the ability to use global, rather than local, predictability to adjust behaviour. Specifically, in line with previous evidence showing suboptimal global ACC in children with atypical development (Down Syndrome, [ 42 ] and suffering neurological disorders [ 43 ], we expect PT children to show a less efficient global behavioral adaptation than FT peers even in the absence of diagnosed neurodevelopmental disorders. Finally, in line with our previous findings [ 23 , 25 ], we hypothesized (H4) that the group-level behavioral differences would be supported by a less efficient neural engagement in PT children.…”

“…Albeit limited, the extant evidence on typical development suggested the possibility of assessing ACC as a marker of potential clinical relevance for atypical development, which has been scarcely investigated. In two studies using the DTP task we were able to show that the ability to implement ACC on the basis of global predictability is disrupted in Down syndrome [ 42 ] and focal epilepsy of childhood [ 43 ]. Conversely, deaf children with cochlear implants (a condition of neurodevelopmental risk for academic outcomes; [ 44 ]) showed comparable ACC performance as typically hearing children, suggesting that implicit learning might be resilient to early adverse experiences such as a lack of auditory stimulation [ 45 ].…”

“…Noteworthy, unlike traditional cognitive control tasks (i.e., Stroop, flanker or Simon) the DTP task does not include a conflict condition, ruling out any potential confound deriving from excessive working memory load or complex instructions, as the only instruction is to press a button when the target occurs. This makes it suitable for investigating ACC in young typically [ 41 ] and atypically [ 42 , 43 , 45 ] developing children, including PT children. Nonetheless, in the context of the DTP, task ACC is crucial for the efficient adaptation to both local and global patterns.…”

“…As a second hypothesis (H2), we expected the DTP task to succeed in inducing ACC in all children. Specifically, we expected behavioral responses to conform to both trial-wise (local) and block-wise (global) stimulus predictability, respectively [ 23 , 41 , 43 , 47 ]. We also hypothesized (H3) between-group differences only in the ability to use global, rather than local, predictability to adjust behaviour.…”

Doing experimental psychological research in pandemic time: how alerting differently impacts online vs. lab setting

“…In line with the literature, we hypothesized to find (H1a) slower RTs in the online vs. lab setting (Bridges et al, 2020;Semmelmann & Weigelt, 2017), and (H1b) no significant differences in performance accuracy between the two settings (Semmelmann & Weigelt, 2017). We also expected to replicate in the online setting the effects of the paradigm previously found in the lab: (H2a) the local prediction effect, with faster RTs and lower accuracy in trials with long vs. medium and short SOA (Duma et al, 2020(Duma et al, , 2021Los, 2010;; (H2b) the global prediction effect, with faster RTs in fast blocks and slower RTs in slow blocks as compared to the uniform block (Duma et al, 2020(Duma et al, , 2021Los et al, 2017;; (H2c) the implicit learning effect, reflected by a positive delta score between slow and fast blocks (Duma et al, 2021;. Moreover, since the DTP task implicitly induces response speed changes between the blocks, it could be possible to find (H3) an interaction between block and setting (online vs. lab), with potentially slower RTs in the online setting especially in less arousing blocks (uniform, slow).…”