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A type II endoleak is the most common complication during surveillance after endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR), and a patent inferior mesenteric artery (IMA) is a known risk factor for an endoleak. The effect of routine IMA embolisation prior to EVAR on overall outcome is unknown. The aim of the study was to compare two strategies: routine attempted IMA embolisation prior to EVAR (strategy in centre A) and leaving the IMA untouched (strategy in centre B). Patients were treated with EVAR in two centres during the period 2005 – 2015, and the data were reviewed retrospectively. The primary endpoints were re-intervention rate due to type II endoleaks and the late IMA embolisation rate. Secondary endpoints included EVAR related re-intervention, sac enlargement, aneurysm rupture, and open conversion rates. Strategy A was used to treat 395 patients. The IMA was patent in 268 (67.8%) patients, and embolisation was performed in 164 (41.5%). The corresponding figures for strategy B were 337 patients with 279 (82.8%) patent IMAs, two (0.6%) of which were embolised. The mean duration of follow up was 70 months for strategy A and 68.2 months for strategy B. The re-intervention rates due to a type II endoleak were 12.9% and 10.4%, respectively (p =.29), with no significant difference in the rate of re-interventions to occlude a patent IMA (2.0% and 4.7%, respectively; p =.039). The EVAR related re-intervention rate was similar, regardless of strategy (24.1% and 24.6%, respectively; p =.93). Significant sac enlargement was seen in 20.3% of cases treated with strategy A and in 19.6% treated with strategy B (p =.82). The rupture and conversion rates were 2.5% and 2.1% (p =.69) and 1.0% and 1.5% (p =.40), respectively. The strategy of routinely embolising the IMA does not seem to yield any significant clinical benefit and should therefore be abandoned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2010.05.003 Byline: Toni Cunillera (b)(d), Matti Laine (d), Estela Camara (b), Antoni Rodriguez-Fornells (a)(c) Keywords: Speech segmentation; Word-to-world mapping; Statistical learning; Language learning; Audio-visual speech Abstract: How are adult second language learners able to segment words and map them to referents in the new language? The present study explores this unresolved issue by using a new multimodal learning paradigm that tracks the first steps in learning new words and their mappings to visual referents. It encompasses a continuous audiovisual stream in which transitional probability of syllables is the only acoustic cue available to segment the stream into words, and a visual stream of object images that accompanies the novel words. The objects are systematically varied in terms of constancy of word-picture association and meaningfulness. The results indicated good word-referent mapping and word segmentation after short exposure to the audiovisual stream. Mapping words with pictures was more effective when the visual referents were meaningful objects. In word segmentation, the consistency of the word-picture association affected segmentation performance. The effect of associative strength on segmentation performance was most prominent with meaningful objects, albeit associative strength did not interact significantly with meaningfulness. The present results suggest that word segmentation and word-referent mapping are closely related processes: word segmentation is affected by the consistency of the mapping relationship and both segmentation and mapping can be accomplished under the same short exposure. Author Affiliation: (a) Institucio Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avancats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain (b) Department of Basic Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain (c) IDIBELL, University of Barcelona, 08907, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain (d) Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Abo Akademi University, FIN-20500 Abo, Finland Article History: Received 11 November 2009; Revised 27 May 2010

Morphology is an important part of language processing but little is known about how adult second language learners acquire morphological rules. Using a word-picture associative learning task, we have previously shown that a brief exposure to novel words with embedded morphological structure (suffix for natural gender) is enough for language learners to acquire the hidden morphological rule. Here we used this paradigm to study the brain signatures of early morphological learning in a novel language in adults. Behavioural measures indicated successful lexical (word stem) and morphological (gender suffix) learning. A day after the learning phase, event-related brain potentials registered during a recognition memory task revealed enhanced N400 and P600 components for stem and suffix violations, respectively. An additional effect observed with combined suffix and stem violations was an enhancement of an early N2 component, most probably related to conflict-detection processes. Successful morphological learning was also evident in the ERP responses to the subsequent rule-generalization task with new stems, where violation of the morphological rule was associated with an early (250–400 ms) and late positivity (750–900 ms). Overall, these findings tend to converge with lexical and morphosyntactic violation effects observed in L1 processing, suggesting that even after a short exposure, adult language learners can acquire both novel words and novel morphological rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective This study investigated the diameter of internal iliac artery (IIA) aneurysms (IIAAs) at the time of rupture to evaluate whether the current threshold diameter for elective repair of 3 cm is reasonable. The prevalence of concomitant aneurysms and results of surgical treatment were also investigated. Methods This was a retrospective analysis of patients with ruptured IIAA from seven countries. The patients were collected from vascular registries and patient records of 28 vascular centers. Computed tomography images taken at the time of rupture were analyzed, and maximal diameters of the ruptured IIA and other aortoiliac arteries were measured. Data on the type of surgical treatment, mortality at 30 days, and follow-up were collected. Results Sixty-three patients (55 men and 8 women) were identified, operated on from 2002 to 2015. The patients were a mean age of 76.6 years (standard deviation, 9.0; range 48-93 years). A concomitant common iliac artery aneurysm was present in 65.0%, 41.7% had a concomitant abdominal aortic aneurysm, and 36.7% had both. IIAA was isolated in 30.0%. The mean maximal diameter of the ruptured artery was 68.4 mm (standard deviation, 20.5 mm; median, 67.0 mm; range, 25-116 mm). One rupture occurred at <3 cm and four at <4 cm (6.3% of all ruptures). All patients were treated, 73.0% by open repair and 27.0% by endovascular repair. The 30-day mortality was 12.7%. Median follow-up was 18.3 months (interquartile range, 2.0-48.3 months). The 1-year Kaplan-Meier estimate for survival was 74.5% (standard error, 5.7%). Conclusions IIAA is an uncommon condition and mostly coexists with other aortoiliac aneurysms. Follow-up until a diameter of 4 cm seems justified, at least in elderly men, although lack of surveillance data precludes firm conclusions. The mortality was low compared with previously published figures and lower than mortality in patients with ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning a new language is an incremental process that builds upon previously acquired information. To shed light on the mechanisms of this incremental process, we studied the on-line neurophysiological correlates of the so-called anchor word effect where newly learned words facilitate segmentation of novel words from continuous speech. Higher segmentation performance was observed for speech streams embedded with newly learned anchor words. The anchor words elicited an enhanced Stimulus-preceding negativity (SPN) component considered to be an index of expectation for incoming relevant information. Moreover, we confirmed a previously reported N400 amplitude increase for the to-be-segmented novel words, indicating a bottom-up learning process whereby new memory representations for the novel words emerge. We propose that the anchor word effect indexed by SPN reflects an expectation for an incoming novel word at the offset of the anchor word, thus facilitating the segmentation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We explored functional brain changes with positron emission tomography (PET) in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients and elderly normal controls by employing an episodic memory task that included two successive encoding trials of semantically related word-pairs and final retrieval. Both groups demonstrated significant learning across the two trials. The control group showed predominantly left frontal activity during encoding, and right frontal plus left temporal activity during retrieval. However, the MCI patients recruited partly different brain regions. They failed to activate right frontal and left temporal areas during retrieval, and failed to show any different activation for encoding on the first and second trials, whereas the controls activated a region of posterior cingulate. There was indication of compensatory increases in rCBF of the occipital cortex during incremental learning and the left frontal lobe during retrieval in the patients. These results suggest different episodic memory processing in the MCI group, and a possible over-reliance on semantic processing. Subtle functional changes occur in the pre-Alzheimer brain before there are marked structural or behavioural abnormalities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Event-related desynchronization (ERD) and event-related synchronization (ERS) of the 1–20 Hz EEG frequencies were studied using wavelet transforms in young (n = 10, mean age 22) and elderly subjects (n = 10, mean age 65) performing an auditory Sternberg memory task with words as stimuli. In both age groups, encoding of the four-word memory set elicited ERS in the theta and alpha frequency range. Theta ERS, and ERD in the alpha and beta bands were observed during retrieval. During encoding, the elderly showed greater alpha ERS and smaller theta ERS. During retrieval, smaller alpha ERD and theta ERS was found in the elderly subjects. Also, in the elderly, beta ERD was elicited in the late time window during retrieval. The statistically significant differences between the age groups were more marked during retrieval than during encoding. The results indicate that although the two groups performed equally well behaviorally in the task and the elderly subjects were cognitively intact, normal aging affects oscillatory theta, alpha and beta responses particularly during retrieval from working memory. The ERD/ERS patterns of the elderly resemble those of children found in a recent study, which might suggest that those memory-related brain processes that evolve later in childhood are the first to be affected in older age. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

To study neural correlates of category-specific processing, we measured relative cerebral blood flow changes by PET (oxygen-15) in young healthy subjects while they produced exemplars of animals or artefacts to written subcategory prompts. In comparison to a baseline (word reading), production of animal names elicited increased rCBF in the right inferior temporal region. This fits to recent lesion data on semantic impairment with animals, as well as imaging data on object recognition and semantic retrieval. In our study, it may represent an involvement of visual imagery in generation of animal names. In contrast, production of artefact names elicited increased rCBF in frontoparietal regions previously related to attention and mental effort. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Examines the nature of the morpheme-based lexical access route and its relation to the full-form route by studying recognition of written Finnish nouns. Elicitation of a processing cost by true case-inflection; Observation of a processing cost for morphologically ambiguous nouns and for pseudoambiguous nouns; Inhibitory nature of the relationship between the two lexical access routes.

The present meta-analytic study examined brain activation changes following working memory (WM) training, a form of cognitive training that has attracted considerable interest. Comparisons with perceptual-motor (PM) learning revealed that WM training engages domain-general large-scale networks for learning encompassing the dorsal attention and salience networks, sensory areas, and striatum. Also the dynamics of the training-induced brain activation changes within these networks showed a high overlap between WM and PM training. The distinguishing feature for WM training was the consistent modulation of the dorso- and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC/VLPFC) activity. The strongest candidate for mediating transfer to similar untrained WM tasks was the frontostriatal system, showing higher striatal and VLPFC activations, and lower DLPFC activations after training. Modulation of transfer-related areas occurred mostly with longer training periods. Overall, our findings place WM training effects into a general perception-action cycle, where some modulations may depend on the specific cognitive demands of a training task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People with aphasia (PWA) present with language deficits including word retrieval difficulties after brain damage. Language learning is an essential life-long human capacity that may support treatment-induced language recovery after brain insult. This prospect has motivated a growing interest in the study of language learning in PWA during the last few decades. Here, we critically review the current literature on language learning ability in aphasia. The existing studies in this area indicate that (i) language learning can remain functional in some PWA, (ii) inter-individual variability in learning performance is large in PWA, (iii) language processing, short-term memory and lesion site are associated with learning ability, (iv) preliminary evidence suggests a relationship between learning ability and treatment outcomes in this population. Based on the reviewed evidence, we propose a potential account for the interplay between language and memory/learning systems to explain spared/impaired language learning and its relationship to language therapy in PWA. Finally, we indicate potential avenues for future research that may promote more cross-talk between cognitive neuroscience and aphasia rehabilitation. • Some people with aphasia (PWA) show functional language learning (LL) abilities. • Language processing, short-term memory and lesion site seem to modulate LL in PWA. • Preliminary findings suggest a link between LL and language therapy gains. • Mechanisms involved in this LL-treatment response association need to be elucidated. • The study of language/memory-learning systems may inform aphasia rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We studied how subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), early Alzheimer''s disease (AD) and age-matched controls learned and maintained the names of unfamiliar objects that were trained with or without semantic support (object definitions). Naming performance, phonological cueing, incidental learning of the definitions and recognition of the objects were tested during follow-up. We found that word learning was significantly impaired in MCI and AD patients, whereas forgetting patterns were similar across groups. Semantic support showed a beneficial effect on object name retrieval in the MCI group 8 weeks after training, suggesting that the MCI patients’ preserved semantic memory can compensate for impaired episodic memory. The MCI group performed equally well as the controls in the tasks measuring incidental learning and recognition memory, whereas the AD group showed impairment in this respect. Both the MCI and the AD group benefited less from phonological cueing than the controls. Our findings indicate that word learning is compromised in both MCI and AD, whereas long-term retention of newly learned words is not affected to the same extent. Incidental learning and recognition memory seem to be well preserved in MCI. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The present review focuses on event-related potential (ERP) studies that have addressed two fundamental issues in bilingualism research, namely the processing of a first versus a second language in the bilingual brain and the issue of control of two languages. A major advantage of the ERP technique is its high temporal resolution that enables the study of task-related neural activity at the millisecond level. For example, ERP studies of bilingualism have shown that developmental changes in the ability to discriminate native and foreign speech sounds can experimentally be traced by the presence or absence of a specific ERP component (the mismatch negativity). They have also revealed latency delays in a semantic-related ERP component (the N400) in bilinguals compared to monolinguals, as well as in bilinguals reading in their L1 or L2 language. These studies have also highlighted the importance of L2 proficiency level and age of acquisition on bilingual language processing. Moreover, ERP studies have pointed out potential mechanisms of avoidance of interference between languages (the NoGo N200 effect). The present review aims to describe and integrate the main results of the selected ERP studies on bilingualism and to provide an overview of how different ERP components can be used to address important theoretical questions in this field. Finally, we suggest potential research directions to clarify unresolved issues and to advance this emerging field of research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Event-related desynchronization (ERD) and event-related synchronization (ERS) of the 1–30 EEG frequencies were studied in eight early Finnish–Swedish bilinguals during an auditory bilingual Sternberg memory task using Finnish–Swedish cognates as stimuli. Only subtle differences between languages were expected, since cognates have been assumed to have shared conceptual representations in the bilingual memory. Encoding elicited theta and alpha frequency ERS and beta frequency ERD responses in both languages. Retrieval elicited theta ERS and alpha and beta ERD responses. Some statistically significant differences between encoding and retrieval in Finnish versus Swedish emerged: greater theta and alpha ERS responses were observed during encoding in Swedish than during encoding in Finnish. During between-language retrieval, later-appearing theta ERS and alpha ERD responses were elicited as compared to within-language retrieval. These delayed oscillatory responses might reflect the involvement of central executive attentional functions in relation to language switching. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Objective: Event-related desynchronization (ERD) and synchronization (ERS) were studied during an auditory–verbal working memory task in patients suffering from Parkinson''s disease (PD). Methods: PD patients (n=7, mean age 59) at a mild stage of the disease volunteered in the study. A group of healthy subjects (n=10, mean age 61) served as control group. ERD and ERS of the 1–25Hz EEG frequencies were studied using wavelet transforms during memory encoding and retrieval. Results: Both groups performed equally well on the memory task. Statistically significant differences in ERD/ERS responses were observed in posterior electrodes during encoding of the memory set due to the fact that alpha (∼10–15Hz) ERS was elicited in the controls, but not in the PD group. In broad frequency bands (∼6–25Hz) ERD responses were observed in both groups during memory retrieval. A pre-stimulus alpha ERS seen in the control group was absent in the PD group. Conclusions: The results of this preliminary study indicate that Parkinson''s disease might affect brain oscillatory responses in the alpha frequency range in the encoding phase of auditory–verbal working memory. Significance: The ERD/ERS patterns may reflect neurophysiological alterations in the processes underlying working memory deficits in PD. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Studies have indicated that video gaming is positively associated with cognitive performance in select cognitive domains, but the magnitudes of these associations have been called into question, as they have frequently been based on extreme groups analyses that have compared video gamers with non-gamers. When including the whole range of participants, and not just extreme cases, these effects were observed to reduce markedly (Unsworth et al., 2015). To further study this issue, we compared the associations between video gaming and aspects of working memory (WM) performance in an extreme groups design to those of a design that includes the full range of participants in a large adult sample (n = 503). WM was measured with three composite scores (verbal WM, visuospatial WM, n-back). The extreme groups analyses showed that video gamers performed better than non-gamers on all three WM measures, while the whole sample analyses indicated weak positive associations between the time spent playing video games and visuospatial WM and n-back performance. Thus, study design modulated the effects, but two of the three associations between WM and video gaming were consistent across both analysis techniques. A separate study confirmed that our questionnaire-based estimate of gaming hours was reliable when compared with one-week diaries of videogame playing. While the present cross-sectional results preclude causal inferences, possible mechanisms of WM – videogame playing associations and future research directions are discussed. Overall, our results indicate that cognition – videogame playing relationships, albeit weak, are not solely due to recently discussed methodological artefacts concerning the particular analytical approach and survey reliability. • Video gaming is associated with working memory performance in our cross-sectional design. • Study design modulated the strength of the associations. • An extreme groups design yielded stronger effects as compared with a whole-group design. • People are relatively accurate at estimating their video game playing time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies that have investigated associations between working memory (WM) and the Big Five personality traits have yielded mixed results, with some finding statistically significant associations while others have not. The aim of the current study was twofold. First, we systematically reviewed previous studies on WM-Big Five associations. Second, we investigated associations between three WM composites (numerical-verbal WM, visuospatial WM, n-back) and the Big Five in a large-scale study on adults ( n  = 503). Here we controlled for possible confounding caused by the way WM is operationalized, the content domain of the WM tasks (verbal vs. spatial), and sample size. The systematic review revealed that the majority of earlier studies show no association between any of the personality traits and WM performance. As regards our empirical study, the only significant associations were the negative correlations between n-back WM updating performance and the Conscientiousness and Openness traits. This means that the more Conscientious or Open to experiences a participant reported being, the worse was the n-back performance. Overall, our study failed to show any robust relationships between WM performance and the Big Five personality traits. We discuss possible reasons for these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning a new language requires the identification of word units from continuous speech (the speech segmentation problem) and mapping them onto conceptual representation (the word to world mapping problem). Recent behavioral studies have revealed that the statistical properties found within and across modalities can serve as cues for both processes. However, segmentation and mapping have been largely studied separately, and thus it remains unclear whether both processes can be accomplished at the same time and if they share common neurophysiological features. To address this question, we recorded EEG of 20 adult participants during both an audio alone speech segmentation task and an audiovisual word-to-picture association task. The participants were tested for both the implicit detection of online mismatches (structural auditory and visual semantic violations) as well as for the explicit recognition of words and word-to-picture associations. The ERP results from the learning phase revealed a delayed learning-related fronto-central negativity (FN400) in the audiovisual condition compared to the audio alone condition. Interestingly, while online structural auditory violations elicited clear MMN/N200 components in the audio alone condition, visual-semantic violations induced meaning-related N400 modulations in the audiovisual condition. The present results support the idea that speech segmentation and meaning mapping can take place in parallel and act in synergy to enhance novel word learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We investigated the behavioral and brain responses (ERPs) of bilingual word recognition to three fundamental psycholinguistic factors, frequency, morphology, and lexicality, in early bilinguals vs. monolinguals. Earlier behavioral studies have reported larger frequency effects in bilinguals’ nondominant vs. dominant language and in some studies also when compared to corresponding monolinguals. In ERPs, language processing differences between bilinguals vs. monolinguals have typically been found in the N400 component. In the present study, highly proficient Finnish–Swedish bilinguals who had acquired both languages during childhood were compared to Finnish monolinguals during a visual lexical decision task and simultaneous ERP recordings. Behaviorally, we found that the response latencies were overall longer in bilinguals than monolinguals, and that the effects for all three factors, frequency, morphology, and lexicality were also larger in bilinguals even though they had acquired both languages early and were highly proficient in them. In line with this, the N400 effects induced by frequency, morphology, and lexicality were larger for bilinguals than monolinguals. Furthermore, the ERP results also suggest that while most inflected Finnish words are decomposed into stem and suffix, only monolinguals have encountered high frequency inflected word forms often enough to develop full-form representations for them. Larger behavioral and neural effects in bilinguals in these factors likely reflect lower amount of exposure to words compared to monolinguals, as the language input of bilinguals is divided between two languages. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Recent evidence on amusia suggests that our ability to perceive music might be based on the same neural resources that underlie other higher cognitive functions, such as speech perception and spatial processing. We studied the neural correlates of acquired amusia by performing extensive neuropsychological assessments on 53 stroke patients with a left or right hemisphere middle cerebral artery (MCA) stroke 1 week, 3 months, and 6 months after the stroke. In addition, structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed on all patients 1 week and 6 months post-stroke. Based on their performance on a shortened version of the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA), the patients were classified as amusic (n =32) or non-amusic (n =21). MRI results showed that the incidence of auditory cortex and frontal lobe damage was significantly higher in the amusic group than in the non-amusic group, but the two groups did not differ in respect to lesion laterality. Cognitively, amusia was associated with general deficits in working memory and learning, semantic fluency, executive functioning, and visuospatial cognition, as well as hemisphere-specific deficits in verbal comprehension, mental flexibility, and visuospatial attention (unilateral spatial neglect). Moreover, the recovery of music perception ability was related to the recovery of verbal learning, visuospatial perception and attention, and focused attention, especially in amusic patients. Together, these results suggest the ability to perceive music is closely linked to other higher cognitive functions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We investigated the neural correlates of morphological processing in two structurally different languages within the same individuals. An interesting contrast is provided by Finnish and Swedish where most inflected Finnish nouns tend to show a processing cost (i.e., longer reaction times and higher error rates) compared to monomorphemic nouns, while most inflected Swedish nouns do not show such a cost. This has been taken as evidence for morphological decomposition in Finnish and full-form recognition of inflected nouns in Swedish. While most previous imaging studies had studied the two morphological processing routes (decomposition and storage) within the same language and often by comparing regular vs. irregular forms, we employed a cross-language setting and a direct contrast between morphologically complex vs. simple words. We subjected high-proficient Finnish–Swedish early bilinguals to a visual lexical decision task with inflected vs. monomorphemic Finnish and Swedish nouns while measuring their brain activation by fMRI. The participants showed an inflectional processing cost and related left fronto-temporal activation increases in Finnish but not in Swedish. This suggests a language-specific processing difference in the brain, possibly reflecting the structural difference between these two languages. In addition, the activations appeared in regions related to lexical-semantic and syntactic processing rather than visual word form processing. This is in line with previous studies in Finnish, suggesting that the morphological processing cost stems primarily from the later, semantic-syntactic stage. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The aim of the study was to investigate how the input modality affects the processing of a morphologically complex word. The processing of Finnish inflected vs. monomorphemic words and pseudowords was examined during a lexical decision task, using behavioral responses and event-related potentials. The stimuli were presented in two modalities, visually and auditorily, to two groups of participants. Half of the words and pseudowords carried a case-inflection. At the behavioral level, the inflected words elicited a processing cost with longer decision latencies and higher error rates. At the neural level, pseudowords elicited an N400 effect, which was more pronounced in the visual modality. Inflected words elicited an N400 effect in both modalities, which, however, differed in topography and latency. The N400 effect for inflected words most probably reflects access and possible integration of the stem and suffix. The results suggest that the inflectional processing cost stems from the later, lexical-semantic stage of processing in both modalities. The ERP responses to inflected pseudowords did not differ from the ERP responses to monomorphemic pseudowords in either modality, suggesting that combinatorial case-inflection processing requires a real word stem in order to proceed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Our objective was to study the neural correlates of naming of newly learned unfamiliar objects in subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and in age-matched controls, by using positron emission tomography (PET). Prior to the PET scanning, each subject underwent a 4-day long training period in which 40 names of rare unfamiliar objects were taught. The stimuli consisted of five categories: unfamiliar objects for which both the name and the definition (=semantic support) were given during training, unfamiliar objects with only the name given, unfamiliar objects with no information given, familiar objects and visual noise patterns. The unfamiliar objects mainly represented ancient domestic tools unknown to modern-day people. When naming newly learned objects trained without semantic support, the MCI group showed increased activation in the anterior cingulate when compared with the controls. Our results suggest that the naming of newly learned objects posed additional executive and attentional demands on the patients. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The temporal dynamics of processing morphologically complex words was investigated by recording event-related brain potentials (ERPs) when native Finnish-speakers performed a visual lexical decision task. Behaviorally, there is evidence that recognition of inflected nouns elicits a processing cost (i.e., longer reaction times and higher error rates) in comparison to matched monomorphemic words. We aimed to reveal whether the processing cost stems from decomposition at the early visual word form level or from re-composition at the later semantic–syntactic level. The ERPs showed no early effects for morphology, but revealed an interaction with word frequency at a late N400-type component, as well as a late positive component that was larger for inflected words. These results suggest that the processing cost stems mainly from the semantic–syntactic level. We also studied the features of the morphological decomposition route by investigating the recognition of pseudowords carrying real morphemes. The results showed no differences between inflected vs. uninflected pseudowords with a false stem, but differences in relation to those with a real stem, suggesting that a recognizable stem is needed to initiate the decomposition route. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The aim of the current study was to assess modality-specific brain oscillatory responses during cognitive processing. Brain oscillatory ERD/ERS responses of the 4- to 30-Hz EEG frequency bands were examined during lexical decision where the task is to identify whether the presented stimulus is a word or a pseudoword. Seven subjects performed the task with visual stimuli and twelve subjects with auditory stimuli. Visual stimuli elicited greater theta ERS responses as compared to the auditory stimuli. Both stimulus modalities elicited alpha and beta frequency ERD, these being greater for the auditory stimuli. Auditory stimuli elicited also later emerging beta ERS responses, absent for the visual stimuli. The lexicality effects (words vs. pseudowords) were greater for the auditory than for the visual stimuli. When studying brain oscillatory correlates of cognitive processing, the stimulus modality matters. Some effects may arise and some vanish depending on in which modality a cognitive experiment is being conducted. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The present study tracked the naming-related brain activity by positron emission tomography (PET) when successfully learned unfamiliar objects were named. Ten Finnish-speaking subjects participated in the study. Prior to the PET scan, each subject underwent a 4-day long training period in which 40 names of rare unfamiliar objects were taught. The stimulus categories were as follows: unfamiliar but real objects for which both the name and the definition were given during training, only the name was given, no information was given. In addition, familiar objects and visual noise patterns were used. The unfamiliar items mainly represented ancient domestic tools unknown to modern-day people. As semantic support did not affect the PET results, all trained items were pooled together. The trained objects vs. familiar objects contrast revealed rCBF increases in the left inferior frontal cortex (Broca''s area), the left anterior temporal area, and the cerebellum. Likewise, the trained objects vs. unfamiliar objects (for which no information was given) contrast revealed more extensive left frontal (roughly Broca''s area) and cerebellar rCBF increases, while anterior temporal activation was bilateral. Familiar objects, contrasted with both visual noise patterns and a rest condition, elicited activation increases in expected areas, i.e., bilateral occipital regions and the fusiform gyrus. Our results indicate that the naming of newly learned objects recruits more extensive brain areas than the naming of familiar items, namely a network that includes left-dominant frontotemporal areas and cerebellum. Its activity is tentatively related to enhanced lexical–semantic and lexical–phonological retrieval, as well as associative memory processes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The present study describes PET, MRI, and neuropsychological findings in 90-year-old monozygotic female twins, who have remained discordant for probable Alzheimer’s disease (AD) for at least 7 years. These findings were compared with those of healthy persons composing the reference group (seven women, three men; the mean±S.D. age: 73.3±3.3 years). Twins’ life histories were remarkably similar, except for continuous NSAID use of the unaffected twin for decades. The regional cerebral glucose metabolic rates (rCMRgluc) and all but two CERAD test scores of the affected twin were more than 2 S.D. below the mean values of the reference group. These values were normal in the unaffected twin. The affected twin had moderate hippocampal and temporoparietal atrophy, whereas the hippocampi were intact, and cortical atrophy was mild in the unaffected twin. These findings indicate that the twins were discordant for AD, even though they had reached the age in which the prevalence of AD is high among women. Our results further address the influence of environmental factors on the onset of AD, especially the possible protective effect of anti-inflammatory medication. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Strategies generated during training predict training gains. • These self-generated strategies stabilize early on. • Externally given strategy elicits only fleeting training task gain. • Working memory training represents cognitive skill learning. Cognitive mechanisms underlying the limited transfer effects of working memory (WM) training remain poorly understood. We tested in detail the Strategy Mediation hypothesis, according to which WM training generates task-specific strategies that facilitate performance on the trained task and its untrained variants. This large-scale pre-registered randomized controlled trial (n = 258) used a 4-week adaptive WM training with a single digit n-back task. Strategy use was probed with open-ended strategy reports. We employed a Strategy training group (n = 73) receiving external strategy instruction, a Traditional training group (n = 118) practicing without strategy instruction, and Passive controls (n = 67). Both training groups showed emerging transfer to untrained n-back task variants already at intermediate test after 3 training sessions, extending to all untrained n-back task variants at posttest after 12 training sessions. The Strategy training group outperformed the Traditional training group only at the beginning of training, indicating short-lived strategy manipulation effects. Importantly, in the Traditional training group, strategy evolvement modulated the gains in the trained and untrained n-back tasks, supporting the Strategy Mediation hypothesis. Our results concur with the view of WM training as cognitive skill learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]