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A major health and societal challenge nowadays is how to ameliorate and/or delay the onset of cognitive decline in humans suffering from diverse pathologies. Often, solutions can be found in basic science conducted in the laboratory through the use of very well-known experimental procedures. In the present review article, we set out to present the main findings from a research line that uses an experimental procedure originally discovered in animal studies investigating associative learning, the differential outcomes procedure (hereafter the DOP). Here we review the main findings of the DOP that relate to the different processes involved in associative learning and memory from a neurophysiological perspective. We take a step forward to illustrate how the DOP can be applied to real life settings to address important issues such as treatment adherence. Briefly, we first show how the DOP can be adapted to enhance discriminative learning and memory retention in children of different ages, younger adults, and healthy as well as pathological aging. Next, we illustrate how the DOP can be a cost-effective approach to tackle health challenges such as adherence to medical prescriptions in older people suffering from multiple morbidities. Finally, we discuss digital, mobile-based applications using the DOP to promote autonomy in older adults. Future directions in the DOP applications to health issues are also presented.

The functional validity of the signal obtained with low-cost electroencephalography (EEG) devices is still under debate. Here, we have conducted an in-depth comparison of the EEG-recordings obtained with a medical-grade golden-cup electrodes ambulatory device, the SOMNOwatch + EEG-6, vs those obtained with a consumer-grade, single dry electrode low-cost device, the NeuroSky MindWave, one of the most affordable devices currently available. We recorded EEG signals at Fp1 using the two different devices simultaneously on 21 participants who underwent two experimental phases: a 12-minute resting state task (alternating two cycles of closed/open eyes periods), followed by 60-minute virtual-driving task. We evaluated the EEG recording quality by comparing the similarity between the temporal data series, their spectra, their signal-to-noise ratio, the reliability of EEG measurements (comparing the closed eyes periods), as well as their blink detection rate. We found substantial agreement between signals: whereas, qualitatively, the NeuroSky MindWave presented higher levels of noise and a biphasic shape of blinks, the similarity metric indicated that signals from both recording devices were significantly correlated. While the NeuroSky MindWave was less reliable, both devices had a similar blink detection rate. Overall, the NeuroSky MindWave is noise-limited, but provides stable recordings even through long periods of time. Furthermore, its data would be of adequate quality compared to that of conventional wet electrode EEG devices, except for a potential calibration error and spectral differences at low frequencies.

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper.

Published: October 31, 2018, Dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are two complex neuro-behaviorally disorders that co-occur more often than expected, so that reading disability has been linked to inattention symptoms. We examined 4 SNPs located on genes previously associated to dyslexia (KIAA0319, DCDC2, DYX1C1 and FOXP2) and 3 SNPs within genes related to ADHD (COMT, MAOA and DBH) in a cohort of Spanish children (N = 2078) that met the criteria of having one, both or none of these disorders (dyslexia and ADHD). We used a case-control approach comparing different groups of samples based on each individual diagnosis. In addition, we also performed a quantitative trait analysis with psychometric measures on the general population (N = 3357). The results indicated that the significance values for some markers change depending on the phenotypic groups compared and/or when considering pair-wise marker interactions. Furthermore, our quantitative trait study showed significant genetic associations with specific cognitive processes. These outcomes advocate the importance of establishing rigorous and homogeneous criteria for the diagnosis of cognitive disorders, as well as the relevance of considering cognitive endophenotypes.

first published online 13 December 2016, In one task-switching experiment, we compared bilinguals and monolinguals to explore the reliability of the bilingualism effect on the n-2 repetition cost. In a second task-switching experiment, we tested another group of bilinguals and monolinguals and measured both the n-1 shift cost and the n-2 repetition cost to test the hypothesis that bilingualism should confer a general greater efficiency of the executive control functioning. According to this hypothesis, we expected a reduced n-1 shift cost and an enhanced n-2 repetition cost for bilinguals compared to monolinguals. However, we did not observe such results. Our findings suggest that previous results cannot be replicated and that the n-2 repetition cost is another index that shows no reliable bilingualism effect. Finally, we observed a negative correlation between the two switch costs among bilinguals only. This finding may suggest that the two groups employ different strategies to cope with interference in task-switching paradigms.

Version of record online: 29 December 2016, The present research aims to assess literacy acquisition in children becoming bilingual via second language immersion in school. We adopt a cognitive components approach, assessing text-level reading comprehension, a complex literacy skill, as well as underlying cognitive and linguistic components in 144 children aged 7 to 14 (72 immersion bilinguals, 72 controls). Using principal component analysis, a nuanced pattern of results was observed: although emergent bilinguals lag behind their monolingual counterparts on measures of linguistic processing, they showed enhanced performance on a memory and reasoning component. For reading comprehension, no between-group differences were evident, suggesting that selective benefits compensate costs at the level of underlying cognitive components. Overall, the results seem to indicate that literacy skills may be modulated by emerging bilingualism even when no between-group differences are evident at the level of complex skill, and the detection of such differences may depend on the focus and selectivity of the task battery used.

Themechanisms underlying inhibition of return (IOR) are still under debate. Besides the probable implication of several processes in its generation, a reason for this uncertainty may be related to experimental factors affecting the presence, time course, and magnitude of IOR. Two of them may be related to the arrangement of the stimuli in the visual field that could cause possible interactions between IOR and response conflict effects (horizontal arrangements) or between IOR and perceptual asymmetries (vertical arrangement). The purpose of the present studywas to explore location and color cueing effects with a vertical arrangement of stimuli, free of S–R compatibility effects. To examine this possibility, a cue-back task with stimuli in the vertical meridian was employed. Targets could randomly and equiprobably appear at cued or uncued locations, or with cued or uncued color. These cueing effects were analyzed on behavior and ERPs separately for upper and lower visual fields (UVF and LVF). Under location cueing, behavioral responses were slower (spatial IOR) in both hemifields. In the ERPs, N1 reductions were observed in both visual fields although with different modulations in their latency and scalp distribution. In the P3 rising beginning, posterior negative deflections in the LVF (Nd) and anterior positive deflections (Pd) in the UVF were observed. Under color cueing, P3 amplitude was reduced in the UVF accompanied by no behavioral effects. These results suggest that different patterns of brain activation can be obtained in upper and lower visual fields under spatial- and non-spatial cueing conditions.