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Previous studies demonstrated that dual-task impairments are higher in children than in young adults. A previous study systematically assessed the sources of these larger dual-task impairments by identifying age-related differences in capacity limitations during dual-task processing. Capacity limitations in central cognitive processes were present in both age groups, while perceptual capacity limitations were larger in children than in young adults. However, the literature lacks further confirmations and explanations for increased dual-task impairments in children. Moreover, this previous study was not informative regarding age-related differences in potential capacity limitations during central cognitive processing in relation to limitations during motor processing. Therefore, in a German context, the present study investigated children (N = 32) and young adults (N = 32) by combining visual (Task 1) and auditory (Task 2) sensorimotor tasks, separated by a varying stimulus onset asynchrony, in dual tasks of the psychological refractory period (PRP) type. Performance differences were assessed by manipulations of task difficulty in Task 1. The results replicated the finding of increased dual-task impairments in children compared with young adults. Furthermore, the manipulations in the PRP dual task resulted in similar effects in both age groups. Thus, these findings confirmed the presence of capacity limitations during central cognitive processing, while there were no processing limitations in motor processing between children and young adults.

The cognitive advantage (CA) hypothesis claims that multilingualism promotes the development of several basic cognitive capacities. A large number of empirical findings support this hypothesis, but recently there have also been numerous contradictory findings and methodological objections. The present paper extends the investigation of possible cognitive advantages from basic cognitive (executive) functions to broader cognitive competencies such as cognitive flexibility. A promising candidate for this is 'flexibility of goal adjustment' (FGA), a capacity of developmental regulation that solves problems through flexible adaptation processes. In a study with N = 119 monolingual and multilingual adults we found the predicted positive correlation between multilingualism and FGA. However, the mediator function of executive capacities entailed in the CA hypothesis operationalised as Stroop and flanker tasks could not be demonstrated.

Children with ADHD show deficits in executive functioning, especially the ability to inhibit inadequate responses, and deficits in motivational processes due to dopaminergic dysfunctions. There is evidence that rewards can foster inhibition in children with ADHD. However, most studies examined a wide age range of children above 7 years of age, so almost nothing is known about inhibition and reward effects on inhibition in younger children. The primary goals of the present study were a) to examine response inhibition in young children with ADHD in a relatively narrow age range (5-8 years) in comparison to children without ADHD b) to investigate whether performance in an inhibition task can be fostered by rewards in this young age group. For this purpose, children with ADHD (n = 20) and control children (n = 20) were recruited from schools as well as pediatric, psychiatric, and psychological practices in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Children conducted a Go/NoGo task under a non-rewarded and a rewarded condition. Our findings demonstrate a generally decreased response inhibition in ADHD as compared to control children. Rewards led to improvements in response inhibition in both groups of children. However, in contrast to control children whose ability to inhibit increased with practice in both conditions, children with ADHD inhibition decreased over the course of the non-rewarded condition but was raised by the prospect of a reward at the start of the reward condition. Thus, it seems that already at this young age, German children without ADHD are better able to keep their inhibition ability up over time than children with ADHD.

The current study investigated the effects of metacognitive and executive function (EF) training on childhood EF (inhibition, working memory [WM], cognitive flexibility, and proactive/reactive control) and academic skills (reading, reasoning, and math) among children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Children (N = 134, M[subscript age] = 8.70 years) were assigned randomly to the three training groups: (a) metacognitive training of basic EF processes (meta-EF), (b) training of basic EF processes (basic-EF), and (c) active controls (active control). They underwent 16 training sessions over the course of 2 months. No effects of EF and/or metacognitive training were found for academic outcomes. However, both meta-EF and basic-EF groups demonstrated greater gains than the active control group on proactive control engagement and WM, suggesting that EF training promotes a shift to more mature ways of engaging EF. Our findings suggest minimal near- and far-transfer effects of metacognitive training but highlight that proactive engagement of EF can be promoted through EF training in children.

Self-regulatory abilities have been shown to be closely linked to academic success. There are a variety of measurement tools to assess self-regulated learning in pupils and students. Crucially, preschool age marks a sensible period for the maturation of self-regulated learning (SRL) and related abilities such as executive-control functions (EF). This is why the development of a direct instrument that fits the special characteristics of this age cohort is important. An adapted version of Zimmermann's (2000) process model may serve as a theoretical basis. This pilot study intends to develop and evaluate a direct, quantitative measurement tool to assess SRL in an 'online manner'. The measurement tool was tested in 183 preschoolers of German kindergartens. After a detailed item analysis, reliability was estimated and concurrent validity was examined. Statistical analysis indicates a satisfactory reliability for the measurement tool as a whole. Additionally, validity is supported by (small) significant overall correlations with the external measure as well as EF measure. Nevertheless, the need for the optimization of the instrument is clear and the study has important implications for further research. In general, the results demonstrate that it is both plausible and possible to assess SRL in preschoolers directly at child level.

Children face increased demands for interpersonal as well as learning-related social skills, especially by the vulnerable stage of school entry, due to the more structured setting, new academic requirements, and the fact that children are supposed to interact successfully within a larger and heterogeneous peer group. Although a plethora of social-emotional learning (SEL) programs for elementary school students have been developed, there is a lack of empirically evaluated programs suitable for implementation in field-based settings, especially in Germany. The universal-selective, school-based prevention program Papilio-6to9 aims at facilitating the transition from preschool to elementary school, improving social-emotional competences, and preventing behavior and emotional problems. As a universal-selective prevention program, Papilio-6to9 includes all children in elementary school classes regardless of risk factors (universal prevention) whereby also children with risk factors are targeted without being stigmatised (selective prevention). The program targets elementary school children aged about six to nine and their teachers who receive a three-day training followed by two collegial supervisions to implement the program in and during regular school classes. Papilio-6to9 is part of an approach combining findings from developmentally appropriate practice, positive psychology, social-emotional learning, and developmentally appropriate prevention, and aligns with the early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs Papilio-U3 and Papilio-3to6. Program development followed the Intervention Mapping Approach (IMA) in order to provide a theoretical framework, transparency of a theoretical and empirical appropriate program development, implementation, and evaluation plan. Program efficacy is planned to be evaluated in a field-based setting using a randomized controlled trial design with an intervention and waiting control group.

Previous research findings indicate that young children from East Asia outperform their counterparts from Europe and North America on executive function (EF) tasks. However, very few cross-national studies have focused on EF development during middle childhood. The current study assessed the EF performance of 170 children in grades 2 and 4 from Hong Kong (n = 80) and Germany (n = 90) in a cross-sectional design. Children completed tasks assessing the main components of EF, namely inhibition (child-friendly Stroop task), updating (Object Span task), and shifting (Contingency Naming task). Results of multilevel models showed that all three EF measures differentiated well between younger and older children across the full sample. However, contrary to our hypothesis and previous research, we did not find any significant differences in EF performance between children from Hong Kong and Germany at primary school age. Our findings highlight the possibility that issues related to the measurement of EF and features specific to Hong Kong and Germany underlie our results.

Studies of switching between tasks and studies of error commission have both provided solid behavioral measures of executive control. Nonetheless, a gap remains between these strands of research. In three experiments we sought to reduce this gap by assessing the impact of task errors on N-2 repetition costs, an effect supposedly related to task-set inhibition. Based on previous literature reporting a task-switch benefit following task errors, due to incidental learning of the erroneously executed task-set, we predicted N-2 repetition costs to be decreased after task errors in Trial N-2, relative to correct responses. Furthermore, we predicted this effect to be present only when corrective control mechanisms would not have the time to build up on the post-error trial (i.e., following fast post-error trial only). This hypothesis was tested in a three-tasks paradigm using incongruent stimuli, under the assumption that errors on such trials are partly due to task confusions. Consistent with our predictions, N-2 repetition costs following N-2 errors were found to be reduced when responses in Trial N-1 were fast but were present when the N-1 response was slow. Taken together, our results suggest that task execution leads to associative strengthening of the corresponding task-set, irrespective of response accuracy, and that such automatic strengthening can be counteracted by slowly acting control mechanisms.

Accidents caused by human errors illustrate the fragility of cognitive processing and its coordination by executive functions against stress. To better understand how core executive functions change over time, influence each other, and are affected by chronic stress exposure, a prospective cohort study was conducted from 2016 to 2019. Five hundred sixteen German adults aged 25-55 years (mean age/education age: 38.0/11.3 years, 67% females, 94% occupied, 20% smokers) completed at least one internet-based biannual assessment of response inhibition, updating, and set shifting using a Go/NoGo, spatial 2-Back, and Number-Letter task, respectively. Chronic stress exposure was indicated by self-reports on the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and hair cortisol concentrations (HCC). Statistical analyses were performed by multivariatestochastic differential equation modeling. All indicators of executive functions (task-specific RTs in target trials or their contrast to nontarget trials) and chronic stress showed intraindividual stability over time (12% to 63% of their variance was attributable to trait influences). With respect to lagged mutual associations, faster Go/NoGo target RTs predicted faster Number-Letter target RTs later in time, while faster Number-Letter target RTs predicted higher HCC later in time (both with maximum effect sizes of d [approximately equal to] 0.1 standard deviations). However, PSS was not predictive of later HCC and vice versa. None of the chronic stress indicators significantly predicted indicators of executive functions at subsequent time points. These findings suggest that set shifting is capable of modulating the body's physiological response to chronic stress exposure, whereas executive functions appear comparably robust against chronic stress exposure.

During preschool age, three precursors to self-regulated learning (SRL) can be identified: general self-regulation ability, speech competence, and executive functioning. There is evidence for a large interindividual heterogeneity in these precursors which may have an impact on the development of SRL. This study (a) examined heterogeneity in SRL precursors by identifying different SRL precursor profiles and (b) examined the influence of the SRL precursor profiles on the benefit of an SRL intervention and the developmental time course of SRL. A latent profile analysis was conducted with 230 preschoolers. Four SRL precursor profiles were identified. In a sample of 191 preschoolers, we examined if these profiles showed differences in the benefits accrued from an SRL intervention. Higher general self-regulation ability and speech competence resulted in a large increase in SRL. The results confirmed the heterogeneity in SRL precursor abilities in preschoolers and suggested such precursors can influence the development of SRL.

Background: Studies have reported positive effects of physical activity on cognitive executive functions, such as inhibitory control and creativity. These studies predominantly compared scenarios of sports participation vs. no sports participation or reduced sports to simple aerobic exercises. However, whether the type or intensity of physical activity matters has not been clarified. Purpose: This study investigates creativity development in sports study programs, which fully capture the real-world physical and mental involvement of students, by comparing two study programs representing different approaches on how to accumulate knowledge and expertise in sports. In the divergence-oriented study program (DOSP), students participate in variety of noncompetitive sports throughout their studies. In the convergence-oriented study program (COSP), students focus on optimizing performance in a well-defined area of competitive sports. The hypothesis that divergent learning experiences in sports have a more positive influence on creativity than convergent learning experiences was tested. Method: Cognitive inhibitory strategies (Ruff Figural Fluency Test) and creativity (Figural Torrance Test of Creative Thinking) were compared in sport students from DOSP (n=33) and COSP (n=35). To examine the study period's influence, students were tested at the beginning and end of their studies. Findings: Creativity scores of DOSP students significantly increased in four out of five creativity measures (fluency, originality, elaboration, and resistance to premature closure) within two years, while those of COSP students declined significantly. However, both student groups incorporated significantly more cognitive strategies to fulfill the tasks. DOSP students used these strategies to produce more responses (fluency), leading to original and elaborated responses, while COSP students produced significantly fewer errors. Conclusions: The claim that physical activity has a generally positive influence on fluency does not correspond to our findings. We, therefore, conclude that not physical activities per se, rather the divergent learning experiences in sports positively influence creativity. Since fluency only improved in DOSP, we predict that fluid thinking benefits vastly from divergent learning experiences. Furthermore, we found evidence that the mechanism of high fluency in the divergent study group is partly related to cognitive inhibitory strategies. Therefore, study program coordinators should redesign sport curricula based on process-oriented learning opportunities in sports. This includes a shift away from early specialization and toward broad-based education and versatility training to prepare students to better adapt to the ever-changing societal needs. To enable teachers to promote students' creative potential, study program coordinators alongside universities must support teachers in receiving adequate training to shift from being controllers to facilitators in favor of promoting process-orientation and active, self-regulated knowledge construction in students.

Research Findings: Children differ in their ability to adapt to elementary school. Yet, the family factors that foster a successful transition to elementary school are less well understood. Family cohesion as an indicator of a positive emotional climate within families may play an important role for children's ability to adapt to school. Thus, using data from the German National Education Panel Study (NEPS), in a 2-year longitudinal study conducted with a cohort of 357 5 to 7-year-old children and their parents from Germany, we have investigated the role of family cohesion in students' learning-related behaviors and math competency during the transition to elementary school. Results indicated that the relationship between family cohesion in kindergarten and students' second grade math competency was significantly mediated by students' learning-related behaviors in first grade. Results highlight the importance of a positive family climate in early life for the development of children's learning-related behaviors and their later academic success in mathematics. Practice or Policy: Family cohesion is a process-oriented indicator of the family context, which is more malleable than family demographics or socioeconomic status. Therefore, family cohesion might be an important element to consider in intervention programs designed to improve children's early learning-related skills and math competency.

A previous study found that task shifting and fluid intelligence, but not working memory capacity (WMC) and prior knowledge, influenced the worked example effect (Schwaighofer, Bühner, & Fischer, 2016). To increase confidence in these findings, we report a preregistered extended replication study of Schwaighofer et al.'s investigation. University students (N = 231, M[subscript age] = 22.40 [SD = 4.33], 87% women) solved statistical problems with textbook materials presented on a laptop in one of four conditions in a 2 × 2 factorial between-subjects design. We compared worked examples versus problem-solving (replication) and with versus without time pressure (extension). Time pressure was added to test whether learners in the original study were able to offload WMC demands, which would explain why the WMC moderation was not found. Results showed that the advantage of worked examples over problem-solving decreased with increasing prior knowledge, suggesting that problem-solving becomes eventually more effective than worked example study. Similarly, the benefit of worked examples over problem-solving decreased with increasing shifting ability of a learner. However, contingencies on WMC or fluid intelligence were not detected. Our extension analysis indicated that the worked example effect was also not contingent on WMC even when learners were under time pressure. These findings underline the important role that task shifting might play in scaffolded learning environments and suggest that trading in the focus on WMC for a broader perspective on cognitive architecture provides novel explanations for instructional effectiveness. Our study further highlights the importance of more customized instructional support.

In a longitudinal study (N = 54), we investigated the developmental relation between children's implicit and explicit theory of mind and executive functions. We found that implicit false belief understanding at 18 months was correlated with explicit false belief understanding at 4 to 5 years of age, with the latter being closely related to second-order false belief understanding at 5 years of age. Also, replicating a number of studies, explicit first- and second-order false belief understanding, in contrast to implicit false belief understanding, were related to executive functioning. This indicates that executive functions play a role in standard explicit false belief tasks, but not in implicit false belief understanding. We argue that spontaneous, implicit false belief understanding does not require conscious control, whereas explicit false belief understanding is based on conscious, reflective processing. In sum, we suggest a developmental enrichment account of theory of mind development, with belief processing becoming increasingly reflective and controlled with advancing age.

In the present study we investigated which role manipulated (i.e., experimentally induced) and perceived (i.e., self-reported) self-control depletion plays in students' (N = 176 seventh graders) achievement-related experiences and behaviour during a test of English as a foreign language, while controlling for trait self-control. Our successful experimental manipulation of self-control depletion revealed that there were no effects on any of the students' outcome variables. However, students who reported high self-control depletion immediately after the experimental manipulation were less motivated to work on the subsequent test, reported more distracting thoughts, showed lower performance, and felt more depleted at the end of the test session. Trait self-control turned out to be a protective and supportive factor for most of our outcome variables. Our results provide evidence that the perceived and not the manipulated level of self-control depletion is a predictor of achievement-related behaviour in tests on English as a foreign language.

The present study aims at exploring: (a) the role of the educational setting in the acquisition of aspect and executive functions (i.e. updating) skills, (b) the acquisition of the aspectual features in Greek-German bilingual children and (c) the impact of updating on the acquisition of aspect. Imperfective aspect has been found to be acquired later than perfective in previous studies. Moreover, a bilingual educational setting seems to enhance not only cognitive but also linguistic abilities. The participants of the present study are Greek-German bilingual children, who attend a bilingual or a Greek dominant educational setting. They were tested in two baseline tasks, two linguistic tasks and an executive function, updating, task. The findings reveal that bilinguals who attend a monolingual educational setting performed similarly to the monolingual control group on aspect, whereas bilinguals who attend a bilingual educational setting scored lower than the monolinguals. In the updating task, the students of the bilingual educational setting scored higher than the other groups. Overall, our findings suggest that the bilingual educational setting seems to boost executive function (updating) skills, while the acquisition of aspect is affected by vocabulary knowledge.

It has been suggested that due to functional similarity, sortal object individuation might be a primordial form of psychological essentialism. For example, the relative independence of identity judgment from perceived surface features is a characteristic of essentialist reasoning. Also, infants engaging in sortal object individuation pay more attention to kind than surface feature information when judging the identity of objects (e.g.). Indeed, previous research found that 14-month-old infants can judge trans-temporal identity even in complete absence of kind-specific surface features. Here, we used another more demanding non-linguistic paradigm to test the limits of these abilities in 14-, 18-, 23- and 36-month-old infants, comparing their performance to recent great ape data. Particularly, we presented infants with two food kinds, whose surface features were then fully transformed to make them look identical. If reasoning according to essentialist principles, participants should select the preferred item despite superficial manipulations. However, only 36-month-olds reliably tracked the preferred item after superficial manipulations. This suggests that, although basic psychological essentialism may emerge early in infancy, more complex forms require domain-general cognitive prerequisites, which only develop in more protracted form.

Introduction: In this study, executive function of school-aged children with visual impairments (that is, those who are blind or have low vision) is examined in the context of behavioral problems and communicative competence. Methods: Teachers assessed the executive function of a sample of 226 visually impaired students from mainstream schools and schools for students who are visually impaired, using a German version of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF-D) and a questionnaire measuring communicative competence and behavioral problems (German version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; SDQ-D). Results: The results showed highly significant differences in all domains of executive function: the visually impaired students consistently scored more poorly compared to a normative sample of sighted children, even when visually impaired students with additional disabilities were not taken into account. A regression analysis revealed the significance of executive function for behavioral problems among students with visual impairments. Discussion: The findings demonstrate that a wide range of executive function domains that are significant for socioemotional development are not sufficiently developed in many visually impaired students. This lack of development seems to be particularly true for students who attend special schools. Implications for Practitioners: In educational concepts for visually impaired students, a specific and early focus on competencies such as attention shifting and emotional understanding seems to be necessary, especially in the context of inclusion. Moreover, reinforcing communicative competence might also enhance the development of executive function and help to reduce behavioral problems.

In contrast to classical phonological span tasks, which require verbal recall, those used in self-reliant, group-administrable working memory measurement contain a visuospatial response format. As a consequence, these tasks involve recoding, executive, and visual search requirements in addition to encoding and storage processes. To examine age-dependent effects of these special requirements, tablet-based word and digit span tasks with a visuospatial response format were compared to corresponding tasks with a verbal response format in first and second graders, third and fourth graders, and adults (N = 105). Whereas children's performance was impaired by the visuospatial response format, adults' performance was not. Whether the arrangement of stimuli in the visuospatial response format--either variable or fixed--has differential effects on performance in children and adults (N = 434) was examined in a second experiment. No substantial differences between variable and fixed response format were found in any of the age groups. Possible underlying mechanisms for age-dependent effects of response format and the role of executive functions and visual search in automatized phonological span tasks are discussed.

Executive functions (EFs) may help children to regulate their food-intake in an "obesogenic" environment, where energy-dense food is easily available. There is mounting evidence that overweight is associated with diminished hot and cool EFs, and several longitudinal studies found evidence for a predictive effect of hot EFs on children's bodyweight, but longitudinal research examining the effect of cool EF on weight development in children is still scarce. The current 3-year longitudinal study examined the effect of a latent cool EF factor, which was based on three behavioral EF tasks, on subsequent mean levels and 3-year growth trajectories of body-mass-index z-scores (zBMI). Data from a large sample of children, with zBMI ranging from normal weight to obesity (n = 1474, aged 6-11 years at T1, 52% girls) was analyzed using structural-equation modeling and linear latent growth-curve modeling. Cool EF at the first wave (T1) negatively predicted subsequent zBMI and zBMI development throughout the 3-year period in middle childhood such that children with better EF had a lower zBMI and less steep zBMI growth. These effects were not moderated by the children's age or gender. In conclusion, as early as in middle childhood, cool EFs seem to support the self-regulation of food-intake and consequently may play a causal role in the multifactorial etiology of overweight.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of healthy aging on the ability to suppress grammatically illicit antecedents during pronoun resolution. Method: In 2 reading-based acceptability-judgment experiments, younger and older speakers of German read sentences containing an object pronoun and 2 potential antecedent noun phrases, only 1 of which was a grammatically licit antecedent. Using a gender-mismatch paradigm, we compared to what extent younger and older speakers were sensitive to feature (mis)matches between the pronoun and either of the 2 antecedents. All participants were fluent readers of German and had finished at least secondary education. Results: Experiment 1 used a self-paced reading paradigm. Older speakers showed greater sensitivity than younger ones to mismatching licit antecedents, but no group showed any evidence of interference from an intervening competitor antecedent. In Experiment 2, we increased the processing demand by using paced word-by-word stimulus presentation and longer sentences. Here, older participants showed reduced sensitivity, in comparison with younger people, to mismatching licit antecedents. Unlike our younger participants, they showed signs of distraction by the presence of a linearly closer but grammatically inappropriate antecedent when no appropriate antecedent was available. Conclusion: Together, our results show that older (but not younger) speakers' ability to compute intrasentential referential dependencies is vulnerable to increased task demands. We briefly discuss a potential role for executive functions, such as interference control.

Event-based prospective memory (PM) is the ability to remember to perform an intention in response to an environmental cue. Recent microstructure models postulate four distinguishable stages of successful event-based PM fulfillment. That is, (a) the event must be noticed, (b) the intention must be retrieved, (c) the context must be verified, and (d) the intended action must be coordinated with the demands of any currently ongoing task (e.g., Marsh, Hicks, & Watson, 2002b). Whereas the cognitive processes of Stages 1, 2, and 3 have been studied more or less extensively, little is known about the processes of Stage 4 so far. To fill this gap, the authors manipulated the magnitude of response overlap between the ongoing task and the PM task to isolate Stage-4 processes. Results demonstrate that PM performance improves in the presence versus absence of a response overlap, independent of cue saliency (Experiment 1) and of demands from currently ongoing tasks (Experiment 2). Furthermore, working-memory capacity is associated with PM performance, especially when there is little response overlap (Experiments 2 and 3). Finally, PM performance benefits only from strong response overlap, that is, only when the appropriate ongoing-task and PM response keys were identical (Experiment 4). They conclude that coordinating ongoing-task and PM actions puts cognitive demands on the individual which are distinguishable from the demands imposed by cue-detection and intention-retrieval processes.

Worked examples have proven to be effective for knowledge acquisition compared with problem solving, particularly when prior knowledge is low (e.g., Kalyuga, 2007). However, in addition to prior knowledge, executive functions and fluid intelligence might be potential moderators of the effectiveness of worked examples. The present study examines the roles of the executive functions of working memory capacity and shifting, as well as the role of fluid intelligence for knowledge acquisition in the presence or absence of worked examples. Seventy-six university students learned to solve statistical problems either with worked examples or through problem solving (the absence of worked examples). Results showed that shifting and fluid intelligence, but not prior knowledge and working memory capacity, moderated the effect of the presence of worked examples on knowledge acquisition. The higher the shifting ability and fluid intelligence were, the lower was the benefit of worked examples compared with problem solving. Learning environments did not differ with respect to cognitive load, and cognitive load was not correlated with working memory capacity, but it was correlated with fluid intelligence. These findings suggest that other important cognitive functions, such as shifting and fluid intelligence, might be more important than prior knowledge or working memory when worked examples are compared with problem solving. Future research can further examine whether the relative contribution of the different functions is likely to depend on the characteristics of the respective tasks--that is, whether a task puts a high or low demand on these cognitive functions.

This report investigates tool learning and its relations to executive functions (EFs) in toddlers. In Study 1 (N = 93), 18-, 20-, 22-, and 24-month-old children learned equally well to choose a correct tool from observation, whereas performance based on feedback improved with age. Knowledge transfer showed significant progress after 22 months of age: Older children ignored irrelevant features more easily and adjusted their behavior more flexibly. Study 2 (N = 62) revealed that spontaneous transfer in 22- to 24-month-olds was related to set-shifting skills and response inhibition. Flexible adaptation to feedback correlated with working-memory capacity. These findings suggest that toddlerhood is a highly dynamic phase of tool learning and that EFs are related to transfer performance at this age.

Background: Children born very preterm (VP <32 weeks gestation) and/or with very low birth weight (VBLW <1500 g; subsequently VP/VLBW) have been previously reported to have more cognitive impairment and specific executive functioning problems than term children; however, it remains unclear whether these problems persist into adulthood. This study aimed to examine general intelligence (IQ) and executive functioning (EF) of adults born VP/VLBW in comparison to term controls. Additionally, the effects of smallness for gestational age (SGA) and family socioeconomic status (SES) at birth were investigated. Methods: The Bavarian Longitudinal Study is a geographically defined prospective cohort study of neonatal at-risk children born in 1985/86 in Southern Germany. A total of 217 VP/VLBW and 197 controls completed the battery of IQ and EF tests at 26 years of age. Results: VP/VLBW adults scored significantly lower than controls in IQ and EF. There was a 1.16 standard deviation (SD) unit difference between the VP/VLBW and controls in Full-Scale IQ. VP/VLBW adults were found to have general and multiple cognitive problems rather than specific deficits in EF. SGA was not a significant predictor of cognitive impairment. Family SES had a significant impact on general intelligence in both VP/VLBW and term controls. The SES effects amounted to 1.13 SD units between individuals born into high versus low SES. Conclusions: No narrowing of cognitive deficits between VP/VLBW and term control adults to previous childhood assessments at 6 years of age was found. VP/VLBW adults do not outgrow their cognitive problems despite many receiving special educational support in childhood. Low family SES at birth has similar additive adverse effects on cognitive performance in VP/VLBW and term offspring.

In transparent orthographies like German, isolated learning disabilities in either reading or spelling are common and occur as often as a combined reading and spelling disability. However, most issues surrounding the cognitive causes of these isolated or combined literacy difficulties are yet unresolved. Recently, working memory dysfunctions have been demonstrated to be promising in explaining the emergence of literacy difficulties. Thus, we applied a 2 (reading disability: yes vs. no) × 2 (spelling disability: yes vs. no) factorial design to examine distinct and overlapping working memory profiles associated with learning disabilities in reading versus spelling. Working memory was assessed in 204 third graders, and multivariate analyses of variance were conducted for each working memory component. Children with spelling disability suffered from more pronounced phonological loop impairments than those with reading disability. In contrast, domain-general central-executive dysfunctions were solely associated with reading disability, but not with spelling disability. Concerning the visuospatial sketchpad, no impairments were found. In sum, children with reading disability and those with spelling disability seem to be characterized by different working memory profiles. Thus, it is important to take both reading and spelling into account when investigating cognitive factors of literacy difficulties in transparent orthographies.

Psychological research has documented again and again marked performance decrements whenever humans perform 2 or more tasks at the same time. In fact, the available evidence seems to suggest that any type of behavior is subject to such limitations. The present experiments employed the psychological refractory period (PRP) paradigm to identify a clear exception to this rule: Unconditioned reflexes do escape dual-task interference, whereas intended simple responses, so called "prepared reflexes," do not. Beyond this empirical novelty, we discuss the findings in broader terms of human action control. In particular, we suggest that the (non)susceptibility to dual-task interference may provide a clear empirical delineation between goal-directed behavior (i.e., actions) and other, not goal-directed behavior.

Background: Inhibitory control (IC) has been regarded as a neuropsychological basic deficit and as an endophenotype of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Implicated here are mediation processes between etiological factors and ADHD symptoms. We thus analyze whether and to what extent executive IC and delay aversion (DA; i.e., reward-related IC) performance mediate the associations of familial, prenatal, and psychosocial risks with ADHD symptoms. Methods: The study sample consisted of 130 preschool children (3-6 years; 50% boys), including 20% ("n" = 26) with a positive family history of ADHD (familial risk). Prenatal risks were mainly taken from medical records. Psychosocial risks were assessed by a structured interview. ADHD symptoms were assessed by structured interviews and questionnaires completed by parents and teachers. A set of neuropsychological tasks on IC and DA was conducted with the children. Results: Familial, prenatal, and psychosocial risks were significantly associated with ADHD symptoms. IC and DA also correlated significantly with ADHD symptoms. While the familial risk significantly correlated with IC and DA, psychosocial and prenatal risks were only weakly associated with these measures. The link between the familial risk and ADHD symptoms was partially mediated by IC and DA. Conclusions: The results indicate different neuropsychological pathways related to "positive family history of ADHD" and prenatal risks. Given a cross-validation in future studies, the results underscore the endophenotypic character of IC and DA in preschool ages. (Contains 4 tables, 2 figures, and 1 note.)

Using a novel variant of dichotic selective listening, we examined the control of auditory selective attention. In our task, subjects had to respond selectively to one of two simultaneously presented auditory stimuli (number words), always spoken by a female and a male speaker, by performing a numerical size categorization. The gender of the task-relevant speaker could change, as indicated by a visual cue prior to auditory stimulus onset. Three experiments show clear performance costs with instructed attention switches. Experiment 2 varied the cuing interval to examine advance preparation for an attention switch. Experiment 3 additionally isolated auditory switch costs from visual cue priming by using two cues for each gender, so that gender repetition could be indicated by a changed cue. Experiment 2 showed that switch costs decreased with prolonged cuing intervals, but Experiment 3 revealed that preparation did not affect auditory switch costs but only visual cue priming. Moreover, incongruent numerical categories in competing auditory stimuli produced interference and substantially increased error rates, suggesting continued processing of task-relevant information that often leads to responding to the incorrect auditory source. Together, the data show clear limitations in advance preparation of auditory attention switches and suggest a considerable degree of inertia in intentional control of auditory selection criteria. (Contains 3 tables and 3 figures.)

Introduction: With age, sensory, cognitive, and motor abilities decline, and the risk for neurodegenerative disorders increases. These impairments influence the quality of life and increase the need for care, thus putting a high burden on society, the economy, and the healthcare system. Therefore, it is important to identify factors that influence healthy aging, particularly ones that are potentially modifiable through lifestyle choices. However, large-scale studies investigating the influence of multi-modal factors on a global description of healthy aging measured by multiple clinical assessments are sparse. Methods: We propose a machine learning model that simultaneously predicts multiple cognitive and motor outcome measurements on a personalized level recorded from one learned composite score. This personalized composite score is derived from a large set of multi-modal components from the TREND cohort, including genetic, biofluid, clinical, demographic, and lifestyle factors. Results: We found that a model based on a single composite score was able to predict cognitive and motor abilities almost as well as a classical flexible regression model specifically trained for each single clinical score. In contrast to the flexible regression model, our composite score model is able to identify factors that globally influence cognitive and motoric abilities as measured by multiple clinical scores. The model identified several risk and protective factors for healthy aging and recovered physical exercise as a major, modifiable, protective factor. Discussion: We conclude that our low parametric modeling approach successfully recovered known risk and protective factors of healthy aging on a personalized level while providing an interpretable composite score. We suggest validating this modeling approach in other cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the interpretation of object-initial sentences in German-speaking children. We addressed the following questions: (1) Which morphosyntactic cues do children deploy to process object-initial sentences? (2) Which executive function (EF) abilities support them during this task? This study examined the effect of case and number agreement morphology in 4;6-year-old German-speaking children (N = 27) on their interpretation of unambiguous S(ubject)-V(erb)-O(bject) and OVS sentences by combining an offline (sentence-picture matching) and an online (looking-while-listening) paradigm. Participants' working memory and cognitive control abilities were assessed by means of a (forward) digit-span test and a flanker task. Case-marked OVS sentences were processed more accurately than number-marked ones, although both conditions were less accurate than SVO sentences. We found a comprehension facilitation driven by higher cognitive control skills that enhances, specifically the interpretation of the more demanding number cue in OVS structures already in 4;6-year-olds. Higher working memory skills are generally associated with children's processing skills as they support the correct parsing of all online conditions and of both SVO and OVS in the offline case condition. We conclude that while case-marking appears to be processed more reliably than number by preschoolers, also number information alone can be processed, especially by children with higher cognitive control skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cancer-related cognitive dysfunction (CRCD) is a major functional disorder in patients with cancer. This central nervous dysfunction is found in up to 60% of patients after tumour therapy, often significantly limits the quality of life, and significantly impedes participation in working life. For this reason, diagnosis and treatment of CRCD are of central importance. This narrative review is intended to provide an overview and support for practical clinical care with regard to diagnostics and therapeutic options. Summary: In Germany, CRCD has received insufficient attention in clinical practice due to the lack of guidelines for diagnosis and therapy. The pathophysiology is complex and cannot be explained by chemotherapeutic treatment alone. In addition to the tumour disease as such and the tumour therapy, psychological factors such as anxiety and depression as well as sleep disorders also play a significant role. Today, it is known that in addition to age, molecular genetic changes also have an effect on cognitive function. Morphologically, CRCD can be located in the frontal cortex and hippocampus. In addition to easy-to-use screening instruments such as the visual analogue scale, validated questionnaires such as the Questionnaire of Subjectively Experienced Deficits in Attention (FEDA) developed in Germany are also available. These allow the suspected diagnosis to be substantiated and the patient to be referred to further neurological, neuropsychological, or psycho-oncological diagnostics. Within the framework of further neuropsychological diagnostics, the International Cognition and Cancer Task Force (ICCTF) recommends testing learning, memory, processing speed, and executive functions. From the authors' point of view, a step-by-step diagnosis is recommended in order to avoid overdiagnosis. In clinical practice, graduation according to the "Common Terminology Criteria for Adversity Events" (CTCAE Version 5.0) is suitable for assessing the degree of severity. Cognitive training should be behaviourally oriented and include regular practice of cognitive skills to restore attention, psychomotor speed, memory, and executive functions. The best evidence is currently found for web-based training programmes that can be used by the patient at home. There is also evidence for mindfulness training and physical exercises. In particular, the combination of these three therapeutic elements currently seems to be the optimal treatment strategy for CRCD. Key Messages: Cognitive dysfunction should be given much more attention in the clinical care of cancer patients. Diagnostic tools for this purpose and evidence-based therapeutic interventions are available. In the future, networks should be created that allow for better care of patients with CRCD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive communication disorders (CCDs) are a hallmark of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Difficulties may be relatively subtle, becoming especially evident in complex communication situations which place a higher cognitive demand on the person affected. To date, no standardised, ecologically valid assessment tool for detecting these subtle CCDs exists for German. The Functional Assessment of Verbal Reasoning and Executive Strategies (FAVRES; (MacDonald, 2005)), available in English and Canadian-French, is designed to detect subtle CCDs after acquired brain-injury (ABI) using real-life scenarios. This study aims to translate and adapt the FAVRES into German as well as to gather reference data on the performance of neurologically healthy adults. Furthermore, the study conducts a first evaluation of age- and education-specific performance trends and interrater-reliability. Results are compared with the normative data of the original English version and the French-Canadian translation. In addition, an exploratory multiple case analysis of the feasibility of the FAVRES-DE and its capability to detect subtle CCDs on a sample of four adults with TBI is conducted. The original version of the FAVRES was translated and adapted based on the ITC-Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests (2016). The resulting German version, the FAVRES-DE, was completed by 60 neurologically healthy adults (32 women) and four adults with chronic CCD after TBI (≥ 6 months post onset) in a pilot cross-sectional study. The FAVRES-DE was feasible with all participants. Age and education had significant influence on the performance of the neurologically healthy group, whose results were comparable to the original version and to the French-Canadian normative study, but analyses revealed differences in several subscores. Two of the four participants with TBI exhibited a significantly lower performance than the control group. Analyses of interrater-reliability revealed a high level of agreement between three independent raters. The FAVRES-DE seems to be a sensitive measure to identify CCDs after TBI. The challenges of detecting subtle CCDs are exemplified by one of the TBI cases. Further validation and psychometric testing of the FAVRES-DE on a representative dataset is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Assessments of executive functions (EFs) with varying levels of perceptual information or action fidelity are common talent-diagnostic tools in soccer, yet their validity still has to be established. Therefore, a longitudinal development of EFs in high-level players to understand their relationship with increased exposure to training is required.Methods: A total of 304 high-performing male youth soccer players (10-21 years old) in Germany were assessed across three seasons on various sport-specific and non-sport-specific cognitive functioning assessments.Results: The posterior means (90% highest posterior density) of random slopes indicated that both abilities predominantly developed between 10 and 15 years of age. A plateau was apparent for domain-specific abilities during adolescence, whereas domain-generic abilities improved into young adulthood.Conclusion: The developmental trajectories of soccer players' EFs follow the general populations' despite long-term exposure to soccer-specific training and game play. This brings into question the relationship between high-level experience and EFs and renders including EFs in talent identification questionable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cognitive integrity is a fundamental driver of health. The exact structure of strategies against cognitive impairment is still under debate. Objective: To compare the short-term effects of a multicomponent cognitive training (BrainProtect) with those of general health counseling (GHC) on cognitive abilities and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in healthy adults in Germany. Methods: In this parallel randomized controlled trial (RCT), 132 eligible cognitively healthy adults (age ≥50 years, Beck Depression Inventory ≤9/63; Montreal Cognitive Assessment ≥26/30) were randomized to either GHC (N = 72) or to intervention with BrainProtect (intervention group, IG; N = 60). IG participants received 8 weekly sessions of 90 min of the group-based BrainProtect program focusing on executive functions, concentration, learning, perception, and imagination, plus nutritional and physical exercise units. Before and after intervention, all participants underwent neuropsychological testing and HRQoL evaluation, blinded for pretest. Results: No significant training effect was observed for the primary endpoint of global cognition as assessed by CERAD-Plus-z Total Score (p = 0.113; ηp2 = 0.023). Improvements in several cognitive subtests were shown in the IG (N = 53) compared to the GHC (N = 62) without adverse events. Differences reached significance for verbal fluency (p = 0.021), visual memory (p = 0.013), visuo-constructive functions (p = 0.034), and HRQoL (p = 0.009). Significance was lost after adjustment, though several changes were clinically relevant. Conclusion: BrainProtect did not significantly impact global cognition in this RCT. Nevertheless, the results of some outcomes indicate clinically meaningful changes, so that a strengthening of the cognitive performance by BrainProtect cannot be excluded. Further studies with larger sample size are needed to confirm these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies have examined the role of socio-economic status on physical activity, obesity, and cognitive performance in youth or older adults, but few studies have examined the role of neighborhood socio-economic status (NSES) on motor or cognitive performance in kindergarten children. This study aimed to examine whether lower NSES (measured by the social data atlas) was associated with lower motor and inhibitory control performance in kindergarten children. One hundred twenty-nine preschoolers were recruited from eight kindergartens in low and high NSES areas in Stuttgart, one of Germany's largest metropolitan areas. Motor functioning (Movement Assessment Battery for Children, MABC-2; Manual Dexterity, Aiming and Catching, and Balance) and inhibitory control (Flanker Task, Go/NoGo Task) were assessed in a sample of 3- to 6-year-old children within a cross-sectional study. Children from a low NSES background showed the expected difficulties in inhibitory control and motor performance, as indicated by poorer performance than children from a high NSES background. Sex-specific analysis revealed girls from low NSES areas to have the lowest fine motor control; children with low NSES reach a Developmental Coordination Disorder at-risk status of 13% (boys and girls), in contrast to children with high SES (boys 9.1%, girls 0.0%). Motor performance and inhibitory control correlated positively with regard to the group from a low NSES background. Researchers and practitioners are advised to develop a more nuanced picture of motor and academic achievement in heterogeneous neighborhoods when designing early intervention programs, particularly with regard to sex differences, with the most significant disadvantage to girls with lower NSES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented on researchers and practitioners for exchanging new ideas and practical experiences in a variety of domains. Topics include integrating real and virtual objects and Virtual Reality (VR) applications immersing users into purely virtual environments; and cognitive difficulties associated with dyslexia persisting into adulthood.

Introduction: Social interaction is associated with many effects on the psychological level of children such as mental health, self-esteem, and executive functions. Education Outside the Classroom (EOtC) describes regular curricular classes/lessons outside the school building, often in natural green and blue environments. Applied as a long-term school concept, EOtC has the potential to enable and promote social interaction. However, empirical studies on this topic have been somewhat scant. Methods: One class in EOtC (N = 24) and one comparison class (N = 26) were examined in this study to explore those effects. Statistical Actor-Oriented Models and Exponential Random Graph Models were used to investigate whether there are differences between EOtC and comparison class regarding changes over time in social interaction parameters; whether a co-evolution between social interaction during lessons and breaks and attendant social relatedness and friendships exists; whether students of the same gender or place of residence interact particularly often (homophily). Results: Besides inconsistent changes in social interaction parameters, no coevolutional associations between social interaction and social relatedness and friendships could be determined, but grouping was evident in EOtC. Both classes showed pronounced gender homophily, which in the case of EOtC class contributes to a fragmentation of the network over time. Discussion: The observed effects in EOtC could be due to previously observed tendencies of social exclusion as a result of a high degree of freedom of choices. It therefore seems essential that in future studies not only the quality of the study design and instruments should be included in the interpretation - rather, the underlying methodological-didactic concept should also be evaluated in detail. At least in Germany, it seems that there is still potential for developing holistic concepts with regards to EOtC in order to maximize the return on the primarily organizational investment of implementing EOtC in natural environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Age-related decline in cognitive-motor multitasking performance has been attributed to declines in executive functions and physical fitness (motor coordinative fitness and cardiovascular fitness). It has been suggested that those cognitive and physical resources strongly depend on lifestyle factors such as long-term regular physical activity and cognitive engagement. Although research suggests that there is covariation between components of executive functions and physical fitness, the interdependence between these components for cognitive-motor multitasking performance is not yet clear. The aim of the study was to examine the contribution and interrelationship between executive functions, motor coordinative fitness, and cardiovascular fitness on street crossing while multitasking. We used the more ecologically valid scenario to obtain results that might be directly transferable to daily life situation. Data from 50 healthy older adults (65–75 years, 17 females, recruited in two different cities in Germany) were analyzed. Participants' executive functions (composite score including six tests), motor coordinative fitness (composite score including five tests), and cardiovascular fitness (spiroergometry), as well as their street crossing performance while multitasking were assessed. Street crossing was tested under single-task (crossing a two-line road), and multitask conditions (crossing a two-line road while typing numbers on a keypad as simulation of mobile phone use). Street crossing performance was assessed by use of cognitive outcomes (typing, crossing failures) and motor outcomes (stay time, crossing speed). Linear mixed-effects models showed beneficial main effects of executive functions for typing (p = 0.004) and crossing failures (p = 0.023), and a beneficial main effect of motor coordinative fitness for stay time (p = 0.043). Commonality analysis revealed that the proportion of variance commonly explained by executive functions, motor coordinative fitness, and cardiovascular fitness was small for all street crossing outcomes. For typing and crossing failures (cognitive outcomes), the results further showed a higher relative contribution of executive functions compared to motor coordinative fitness and cardiovascular fitness. For stay time (motor outcome), the results correspondingly revealed a higher relative contribution of motor coordinative fitness compared to executive functions and cardiovascular fitness. The findings suggest that during cognitive-motor multitasking in everyday life, task performance is determined by the components of executive functions and physical fitness related to the specific task demands. Since multitasking in everyday life includes cognitive and motor tasks, it seems to be important to maintain both executive functions and physical fitness for independent living up to old age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The benefits of completing household chores appear to transfer beyond managing day‐to‐day living. It is possible that chore engagement may improve executive functions, as engagement in chores require individuals to plan, self‐regulate, switch between tasks, and remember instructions. To date, little research has been conducted on household chores and executive functions in children, for whom these skills are still developing. Methods: Parents and guardians (N = 207) of children aged 5–13 years (M = 9.38, SD = 2.15) were asked to complete parent‐report questionnaires on their child's engagement in household chores and their child's executive functioning. Results: Results of the regression model indicated that engagement in self‐care chores (e.g., making self a meal) and family‐care chores (e.g., making someone else a meal) significantly predicted working memory and inhibition, after controlling for the influence of age, gender, and presence or absence of a disability. For families with a pet, there was no significant relationship between engagement in pet‐care chores and executive function skills. Conclusion: We strongly recommend that further research explore the relationship between chores and executive functions. It is possible that parents may be able to facilitate their child's executive function development through encouraging participation in chores, whereas chore‐based interventions (e.g., cooking programmes) may also be used to target deficits in ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the drastic expansion of the games industry, psychological research is concerned with the question as to why certain genres might be more addictive than others. Besides specific games characteristics and motivational profiles of gamers, skills that are relevant to play certain games and genres might provide more insights for answering this question. An exploratory online survey was designed, asking for played genres, subjective relevance of required skills to play the game, gaming motives, and symptom severity. The analyses aimed at investigating which genres are associated with higher and lower symptoms of their players and the relationship between the relevance of skills required for certain genres and the symptom severity of players. In total, 727 data sets were collected. Descriptive results indicated that the most pronounced difference between genres associated with low and high symptom severity appeared among the indicated relevance of communicating with others, the social motive for gaming, and among the relevance of required executive function skills such as attentional vigilance. The communication skill is discussed as a vulnerability factor for maintaining problematic gaming behaviors despite the occurrence of negative consequences, whereas certain executive functions could be constitutional factors of the experience of a flow state. The association between flow and addictive gaming tendencies is a topic yet to be investigated in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive impairment and dementia are common non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD). To elucidate the potentially typical progression of cognitive decline in PD and its variation, we retrospectively surveyed neuropsychological data obtained at the Parkinson-Klinik Ortenau, Germany in the years 1996–2015. Many of the patients in the surveyed period were repeatedly admitted to our clinic and we were thus able to compile neuropsychological re-test data for 252 patients obtained at varying time intervals. Neuropsychological testing was conducted with the NAI (Nürnberger Alters-Inventar). This battery provides sub-tests that examine cognitive processing speed, executive function, working memory, and verbal/visual memory functions. The re-test time span varied across patients from below 1 year up to about 12 years. Most patients were seen twice, but some patients were tested up to eight times. The steepest rates of cognitive decline were observed for the NAI sub-tests Trail-Making, Maze Test, and Stroop-Word Reading/Color Naming. Intermediate rates of decline were found for Digit Span, Word List—Immediate Recall, and Picture Test. Stroop Test—Interference, Word List—Delayed Recognition, and Figure Test exhibited the slowest decline rates. We did not observe a significant effect of age at diagnosis or gender on the rate of decline. In sum, this study retrospectively evaluated cognitive decline in a sample of patients with PD. Our data suggest a broad cognitive decline that particularly affects the cognitive capacities for processing speed, executive functions, and immediate memory functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Executive functions are pivotal for future academic and social functioning. Causal effects of physical activity on executive functions have been shown in adults. The primary objective of this study was to test the proof-of-concept (i.e., feasibility of implementation and acceptance) of a motor coordination intervention and a sedentary control condition in kindergartners and its preliminary effectiveness on subsequent executive function performance. Methods: The study used a two-group post-test only design. All children aged between 4 and 7 years old were eligible. One hundred and three children (46% girls; age: M = 5.71 years, 95% CI = 5.50 to 5.92) recruited in a middle-sized town in Germany were randomly assigned to a 20-min motor coordination intervention (n = 51) or a sedentary control condition (n = 52), both of which were conducted in a one-on-one experimenter-child setting in the university or kindergarten. A second blinded-to-condition experimenter assessed the executive function outcomes directly following the conditions. Proof-of-concept criteria were the implementation of the intervention with a moderate-to-vigorous physical activity level assessed via heart rate sensors, and with motor coordination demands, analyzed via video recordings; children's acceptance via self-reported enjoyment of the conditions; and the post-assessments of executive functions with a behavioral and computerized task. Results: The motor coordination intervention and the control condition were feasible in a one-on-one setting with kindergartners. The intervention revealed heart rate increases and challenging motor coordination tasks. Children in both conditions indicated they enjoy them. Performance in the two executive function tasks did not differ between children in the motor coordination intervention and the control condition. Conclusions: A one-on-one experimenter-child setting was feasible to deliver in kindergartners. Future intervention studies should consider pre-testing of executive functions and take into account children's characteristics as potential moderators, such as motor coordination skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Despite their separate research traditions, intelligence and executive functioning (EF) are both theoretically and empirically closely related to each other. Based on a subsample of 8- to 20-year-olds of the standardization and validation sample (N = 1540) of an internationally available instrument assessing both cognitive abilities, this study aimed at investigating a comprehensive structural model of intelligence and EF tasks and at gaining insight into whether this comprehensive model is applicable across sexes and age groups as well as to a subsample of participants with (borderline) intellectual disabilities (IQ ≤ 85, n = 255). The results of our exploratory factor analysis indicated one common EF factor that could be sufficiently integrated into the intelligence model within our confirmatory factor analyses. The results suggest that the EF factor can be added into the model as a sixth broad ability. The comprehensive model largely showed measurement invariance across sexes and age groups but did not converge within the subsample of participants with (borderline) intellectual disabilities. The results and implications are discussed in light of the current literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Isolated REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) is an early α-synucleinopathy often accompanied by incipient cognitive impairment. As executive dysfunctions predict earlier phenotypic conversion from iRBD to Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia, cognitive training focusing on executive functions could have disease-modifying effects for individuals with iRBD., Methods: The study CogTrAiL-RBD investigates the short- and long-term effectiveness and the feasibility and underlying neural mechanisms of a cognitive training intervention for individuals with iRBD. The intervention consists of a 5-week digital cognitive training accompanied by a module promoting a healthy, active lifestyle. In this monocentric, single-blinded, delayed-start randomized controlled trial, the intervention's effectiveness will be evaluated compared to an initially passive control group that receives the intervention in the second, open-label phase of the study. Eighty individuals with iRBD confirmed by polysomnography will be consecutively recruited from the continuously expanding iRBD cohort at the University Hospital Cologne. The evaluation will focus on cognition and additional neuropsychological and motor variables. Furthermore, the study will examine the feasibility of the intervention, effects on physical activity assessed by accelerometry, and interrogate the intervention's neural effects using magnetic resonance imaging and polysomnography. Besides, a healthy, age-matched control group (HC) will be examined at the first assessment time point, enabling a cross-sectional comparison between individuals with iRBD and HC., Discussion: This study will provide insights into whether cognitive training and psychoeducation on a healthy, active lifestyle have short- and long-term (neuro-)protective effects for individuals with iRBD., Trial Registration: The study was prospectively registered in the German Clinical Trial Register (DRKS00024898) on 2022-03-11, https://drks.de/search/de/trial/DRKS00024898 ., Protocol Version: V5 2023-04-24., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic progressive movement disorder with severe reduction in patients' health-related quality of life (HR-QoL). Motor and cognitive symptoms are especially linked with decreased PD patients' HR-QoL. However, the relationship of these symptoms to caregiver burden is relatively unclear. Influence of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment scale (MoCA) as a cognitive screening tool and Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson's disease Rating Scale MDS-UPDRS symptoms in relation to patients' HR-QoL and caregivers' burden was analyzed. PD patients (n = 124) completed MDS-UPDRS, MoCA, and the PD questionnaire 8 (PDQ-8) as a measure of quality of life. Caregivers (n = 78) were assessed by the PD caregiver burden inventory (PDCB). PDQ-8 and PDCB scores were regressed on MDS-UPDRS subscales and MoCA subscores. PDQ-8 correlated with attention (R2 0.1282; p < 0.001) and executive (R2 0.0882; p 0.001) MoCA subscores and all parts of the MDS-UPDRS. PDCB correlated most strongly with MDS-UPDRS part III motor symptoms (R2 0.2070; p < 0.001) and the MoCA attention subscore (R2 0.1815; p < 0.001). While all facets of PD symptoms assessed by the MDS-UPDRS relate to PD patients' quality of life, motor symptoms are the most relevant factor for the prediction of caregiver burden. In addition, patients' attentional symptoms seem to affect not only them, but also their caregivers. These findings show the potential of a detailed analysis of MDS-UPDRS and MoCA performance in PD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to clarify whether differences between German and Chinese studies using the standardized Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS), might be explained by differences in translated versions of ECAS, by patient demographic or clinical characteristics or by population-specific factors. Comparisons were performed on data from two previous studies in Germany and China. We found except for spelling task (p = 0.05), no differences between control groups of two countries were detected after adjusting for demographics. In contrast, differences were observed in scores on total ECAS, ALS-specific function such as different executive functions (all p < 0.01) and language (p = 0.02), even after correcting for demographic and clinical variables. Chinese ALS cohort performed worse in executive subfunction scores for sentence completion, alternation, social cognition, digit span and language comprehension; they performed better in spelling. Chinese ALS cohort more frequently exhibited disinhibition (p = 0.02), whereas German cohort more frequently exhibited loss of sympathy (p = 0.01) and stereotyped behavior (p = 0.03). Chinese and German ALS cohorts showed a distinctly different pattern in executive and language function. Most of the differences might be related to distinct differences between populations as only spelling might be affected by different language versions of ECAS. Socio-cultural factors might explain behavioral profile differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]