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Children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) experience Social Cognition (SC) difficulties, which could be related to executive functioning. While motor interventions are common, there is limited knowledge about the impact of cognitive interventions on SC in this population. This study examined the relationship between SC and Executive Function (EF) skills and the effectiveness of an EF intervention that included some SC tasks for improving SC in children with CP. SC and EF domains were assessed in 60 participants with CP (30 females; 8-12 years). The relationship between SC and EF baseline scores was analyzed by bivariate correlations and contingency tables. Participants were matched by age, sex, motor ability, and intelligence quotient and randomized into intervention or control groups. The intervention group underwent a 12-week home-based computerized EF intervention. Analysis of covariance was used to examine differences in SC components between groups at post-intervention and 9 months after. Significant positive correlations were found between the SC and EF scores. The frequencies of impaired and average scores in SC were distributed similarly to the impaired and average scores in EFs. The intervention group showed significant improvements in Affect Recognition performance post-intervention, which were maintained at the follow-up assessment, with a moderate effect size. Long-term improvements in Theory of Mind were observed 9 months after., Conclusions: This study highlights the association between SC and EFs. A home-based computerized cognitive intervention program improves SC in children with CP. Including SC tasks in EF interventions may lead to positive short- and long-term effects for children with CP., Clinical Trial Registration: NCT04025749 retrospectively registered on 19 July 2019., What Is Known: • Executive functions and social cognition are associated with social and community participation in people with cerebral palsy. • A home-based computerized cognitive intervention can improve the executive functioning of children with cerebral palsy., What Is New: • Social cognition performance is related to core and higher-order executive functions. • A home-based computerized executive function intervention, including social cognition tasks, has positive short- and long-term effects on social cognition skills in children with cerebral palsy., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Children with cerebral palsy (CP) often show executive function (EF) impairments that are key to quality of life. The aim of this study was to assess whether a home-based computerized intervention program improves executive functions (EFs) compared to usual care. Sixty participants (30 females) with CP (8-12 years old) were paired by age, sex, motor ability, and intelligence quotient score and then randomized to intervention and waitlist control groups. The intervention group received a 12-week home-based computerized EF intervention (5 days/week, 30 min/day, total dose 30 h). Core and higher-order EFs were assessed before, immediately after, and 9 months after completing the intervention. The intervention group performed better than the waitlist control group in the three core EFs (immediately and 9 months after the intervention): inhibitory control (F = 7.58, p = 0.13 and F = 7.85, p = 0.12), working memory (F = 8.34, p = 0.14 and F = 7.55, p = 0.13), and cognitive flexibility (F = 4.87, p = 0.09 and F = 4.19, p = 0.08). No differences were found between the groups in higher-order EFs or EF manifestations in daily life., Conclusions: A home-based computerized EF intervention improved core EFs in children with CP, but further research is needed to identify strategies that allow the transfer of these improvements to everyday life., Trial Registration: NCT04025749 retrospectively registered on 19 July 2019., What Is Known: • One in two children with cerebral palsy has an intellectual impairment. Visual perception and executive functions are the most reported specific cognitive deficits. • The majority of interventions for cerebral palsy focus on motor impairments, but only a few randomized controlled trials have explored the effect of interventions on executive functions., What Is New: • A home-based computerized cognitive intervention can improve the core executive functions of children with cerebral palsy. • Short- and long-term effects on core executive functions have been found., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

This systematic review aimed at investigating those interventions that impact on cognitive functioning in children and adults with cerebral palsy (CP). A systematic database search was conducted and twenty-eight studies suitable for inclusion were identified, of which only nine were randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Among all the studies included, ten were multi-modal (cognitive and physical tasks), eleven physical, five cognitive, and two alternative and augmentative communication interventions. The evidence suggests that multi-modal and physical interventions improve general cognitive functioning. Multi-modal and cognitive interventions have an impact on visual perception. Both interventions, together with physical interventions have an effect on a specific executive function domain (inhibitory control), and only cognitive interventions improved other executive function domains such as working memory. However, no RCT assessed the effects of all executive function domains. Few studies have looked at interventions to improve memory and language, and there is a scarcity of long-term research. Future RCTs must be of higher quality and better account for age and sex differences, as well as the clinical heterogeneity of CP. To date, there is evidence that multi-modal, cognitive or physical interventions have an impact on general cognitive functioning, visual perception and executive functions in children with CP, which may support their cognitive development.The protocol was registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO): CRD42020152616., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

There has been a comprehensive development over the last few years of low intensity intervention programs that are implemented within a user context and that are made up of everyday life activities, and it has been necessary to adapt the necessary methodological channels in order to guarantee an adequate resolution pathway. The mixed method perspective offers a suitable framework, and observational methodology - in itself considered mixed method - is appropriate for studying the implementation and evaluation of low intensity intervention programs, allowing the development of the QUAL-QUAN-QUAL stages that correspond to the connect integration pathway of mixed methods. In this work it was applied to a single case, in a low intensity intervention, retrieving valuable information obtained, but systematizing it and applying quantitizing to the qualitative data that was treated quantitatively in a rigorous manner. The aim was to analyze the psychotherapist-patient interaction in psychoanalytic psychotherapy, in which we sought to identify which of the therapist's techniques stimulated actions of reciprocal social interaction in the child, and which techniques inhibited non reciprocal social interactions. The observational design was nomothetic, follow-up, and multidimensional. The patient was a 4-year-old boy with a diagnosis of severe autism spectrum disorder. We used an ad hoc observation instrument combining a field format and a category system. Interobserver agreement was analyzed quantitatively by Cohen's kappa using the free QSEQ5 software program. Polar coordinate analysis was carried out using the free program HOISAN 2.0. Polar coordinate analysis allows us to obtain an inter-relational map of the connections detected between focal behavior established in each case and the different categories. The results provide objective evidence - backed up by the application of polar-coordinate-based data analysis - that within a framework of psychoanalytic psychotherapy, the techniques of "verbalization" and "vocalization" significantly activate reciprocal social interaction behaviors and inhibit non-social reciprocal behaviors in a child with severe autism spectrum disorder with no language. On the other hand, direct gaze promotes the child's withdrawal. The results are of key importance as they show the therapist behaviors most useful for promoting social interaction in a child with severe autism., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Arias-Pujol, Mestres, Miralbell, Bachs and Anguera.)

Apolipoprotein E (APOE) has an important role in the multiple trajectories of cognitive aging. However, environmental variables and other genes mediate the impact of APOE on cognition. Our main objective was to analyze the effect of APOE genotype on cognition and its interactions and relationships with sex, age, lipid profile, C-reactive protein, and Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) genotype in a sample of 648 healthy participants over 50 years of age with a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. Our results showed that APOE ε2 carriers performed better in the Verbal Memory (p = .002) and Fluency Domains (p = .001). When we studied the effect of sex, we observed that the beneficial effect of APOE ε2 on the normalized values of these cognitive domains occurred only in females (β = 0.735; 95% confidence interval, 0.396-1.074; p = 3.167·10-5 and β = 0.568; 95% confidence interval, 0.276-0.861; p = 1.853·10-4, respectively). Similarly, the sex-specific effects of APOE ε2 were further observed on lipidic and inflammation biomarkers. In the whole sample, APOE ε2 carriers showed significantly lower levels of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and C-reactive protein. These differences were found only among females. Furthermore, total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol mediated the protective effect of APOE ε2 on cognition in the whole sample and total cholesterol in females, providing candidate physiological mechanisms for the observed genetic effects. Our results show that the neuroprotective role of APOE ε2 in cognition varies with sex and that the lipidic profile partially mediates this protection. Age-related cognitive and functional decline is a continuous biological process with different cognitive trajectories (1). Complex interactions between heritability, environmental influence, and cognitive functions in aging have been highlighted (2). In particular, genetic differences explain around 15%-25% of the variance in life expectancy (3). Therefore, the identification of susceptibility genes and their biological effects on cognitive aging is required to establish interindividual differences in this process and promote early personalized interventions to delay cognitive decline and minimize the financial burden of aging in the health care system., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Aim: To comprehensively describe intellectual and executive functioning (EF) in people with dyskinetic cerebral palsy (DCP), by comparing their performance with that of: 1) age- and sex-matched typically developing controls (TDC); and 2) participants with spastic cerebral palsy (SCP) matched for age, sex, term/preterm and gross motor function classification system (GMFCS)., Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted by the University of Barcelona in collaboration with five institutions. Participants were people with DCP (n = 52; 24 females, median age 20.5 y: 5mo, interquartile range [IQR] = 13.75 y: 7mo; GMFCS I-V). As comparison groups, participants with SCP (n = 20; 10 females, median age = 20.5 y: 5.5mo, IQR = 13.75 y 9mo; GMFCS I-V) and TDC (n = 52; 24 females, median age = 20 y: 4mo, IQR = 12 y 7mo) were included. Intelligence and EF were assessed using common tests in all participants., Results: Both CP groups had lower intelligence than TDC and performed poorer in almost all EF tasks. Intelligence was higher in DCP than SCP (z = -2.51, p = 0.01). Participants with DCP also performed significantly better in goal-setting tasks (z = 2.27, p = 0.03) and information processing (z = -2.54, p = 0.01) than those with SCP., Conclusion: People with DCP present lower general intellectual functioning and poorer EF across multiple domains than typically developing controls. People with DCP have higher general intellectual functioning and better EF than people with SCP when levels of motor severity are similar., (Copyright © 2019 European Paediatric Neurology Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Coronary heart disease (CHD) has been linked with cognitive decline and dementia in several studies. CHD is strongly associated with blood pressure, but it is not clear how blood pressure levels or changes in blood pressure over time affect the relation between CHD and dementia-related pathology. The aim of this study was to investigate relations between CHD and cortical thickness, gray matter volume and white matter lesion (WML) volume on MRI, considering CHD duration and blood pressure levels from midlife to three decades later. The study population included 69 elderly at risk of dementia who participated in the Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging and Dementia (CAIDE) study. CAIDE participants were examined in midlife, re-examined 21 years later, and then after additionally 7 years (in total up to 30 years follow-up). MRIs from the second re-examination were used to calculate cortical thickness, gray matter and WML volume. CHD diagnoses were obtained from the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register. Linear regression analyses were adjusted for age, sex, follow-up time and scanner type, and additionally total intracranial volume in GM volume analyses. Adding diabetes, cholesterol or smoking to the models did not influence the results. CHD was associated with lower thickness in multiple regions, and lower total gray matter volume, particularly in people with longer disease duration (>10 years). Associations between CHD, cortical thickness and gray matter volume were strongest in people with CHD and hypertension in midlife, and those with CHD and declining blood pressure after midlife. No association was found between CHD and WML volumes. Based on these results, long-term CHD seems to have detrimental effects on brain gray matter tissue, and these effects are influenced by blood pressure levels and their changes over time.

Background: Low vitamin D status is associated with poorer cognitive function in older adults, but little is known about the potential impact on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers and brain volumes. The objective of this study was to examine the relations between plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and cognitive impairment, CSF biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and structural brain tissue volumes., Methods: A total of 75 patients (29 with subjective cognitive impairment, 28 with mild cognitive impairment, 18 with AD) referred to the Memory Clinic at Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden were recruited. Plasma 25(OH)D, CSF levels of amyloid β (Aβ(1-42)), total-tau, and phosphorylated tau, and brain tissue volumes have been measured., Results: After adjustment for several potential confounders, the odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for cognitive impairment were as follows: 0.969 (0.948-0.990) per increase of 1 nmol/L of 25(OH)D and 4.19 (1.30-13.52) for 24(OH)D values less than 50 nmol/L compared with values greater than or equal to 50 nmol/L. Adjusting for CSF Aβ(1-42) attenuated the 25(OH)D-cognition link. In a multiple linear regression analysis, higher 25(OH)D levels were related to higher concentrations of CSF Aβ(1-42) and greater brain volumes (eg, white matter, structures belonging to medial temporal lobe). The associations between 25(OH)D and tau variables were not significant., Conclusions: This study suggests that vitamin D may be associated with cognitive status, CSF Aβ(1-42) levels, and brain tissue volumes., (© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

The aim was to investigate the relationship between blood markers of vascular dysfunction with brain microstructural changes and cognition. Eighty-six participants from the Barcelona-Asymptomatic Intracranial Atherosclerosis (AsIA) neuropsychology study were included. Subjects were 50-65 years old, free from dementia and without history of vascular disease. We assessed correlations of blood levels of inflammatory biomarkers (C-reactive protein [CRP] and resistin) and fibrinolysis inhibitors (plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 [PAI-1] and A-lipoprotein (Lp (a)) with fractional anisotropy (FA) measurements of diffusion tensor images (DTI), regional gray matter (GM) volumes and performance in several cognitive domains. Increasing levels of C-reactive protein and PAI-1 levels were associated with white matter (WM) integrity loss in corticosubcortical pathways and association fibers of frontal and temporal lobes, independently of age, sex and vascular risk factors. PAI-1 was also related to lower speed and visuomotor/coordination. None of the biomarkers were related to gray matter volume changes. Our findings suggest that inflammation and dysregulation of the fibrynolitic system may be involved in the pathological mechanisms underlying the WM damage seen in cerebrovascular disease and subsequent cognitive impairment., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Vascular risk factors (VRF) have been related to cognitive deficits and an increased risk of dementia. Cognitive impairment is considered to be one of the earliest manifestations of cerebrovascular disease. In Spain there is a high prevalence of VRF, but also one of the lowest incidences of cerebrovascular disease in Europe. This is the first study that investigates the relationship between VRF and cognition in a Spanish sample., Methods: A total of 90 people aged between 50-65 years with a low-to-moderate cardiovascular risk underwent a neuropsychological evaluation. None of them had a history of cardiovascular disease. The battery included tests assessing executive, attentional, mnesic, visuospatial and motor-speed/coordination functions. We used correlation and inter-groups comparison to relate VRF to multiple cognitive domains0120., Results: Higher stroke risk was significantly related to a lowered profile in visuo-constructive functions and motor-speed/coordination. Moreover, the group with moderate cardiovascular risk showed a lower performance in visuoconstructive functions compared to the low-risk group. After statistical adjustment for age, sex and years of scholarship VRF were only related to motor-speed/coordination., Conclusions: In healthy, middle-aged adults, VRF are related with impairment in two cognitive domains. This effect is slight and tends to appear in people with moderate cardiovascular risk.