Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in acquiring and performing motor coordination skills. This study investigated the effects of brain dopamine (DA) concentration based on gene polymorphism and neural activity related to motor response inhibition on motor coordination function in DCD. The study evaluated DA-related gene polymorphisms, event-related potentials related to motor response inhibition, and motor coordination skills in adult participants (n=97). The results indicated no motor coordination decrease when brain DA concentration was high. In contrast, we observed a reduced balance function when brain DA concentration and neural activity related to motor response inhibition decreased simultaneously. These results suggest that the two phenomena may be involved in the motor coordination deficits through separate mechanisms.

This study investigated the gaze patterns of deaf and hard-of-hearing children during a fingerspelling word-reading task that involved lipreading. Specifically, the study examined how gaze patterns varied based on the proximity of the fingerspelled words to the mouth and the words’ semantic content. The results indicated that when the fingerspelled words were presented at a distance from the mouth, the children focused their gaze on the fingers. However, the children tended to show similar gaze time to the fingers and face when the fingerspelled words were presented close to the mouth. This finding suggests that children shifted their gaze and integrated visual information from the fingers and the face when reading fingerspelling. Furthermore, children with higher hearing thresholds tended to gaze at the face longer than those with lower thresholds. These findings imply that such children use their acute peripheral vision to read fingerspelling while simultaneously capturing lip movements with their central vision.

This study examines the impact of normalized short-term conversations on individuals with severe motor and intellectual disabilities (SMIDs), mainly focusing on changes in heart rate as an indicator of their response. Existing literature has verified the effects of stimulation and activity in even the most severe bedridden cases of SMIDs, highlighting the importance of such interactions for their quality of life (QOL). Beyond special support events, regular communication with family and friends is crucial. In this study, we conducted trials to determine how daily, short-term interactions affect individuals with SMIDs, as evidenced by changes in their heart rate. A designated individual visited each participant’s room at a set time for five minutes three times a week over two weeks. We analyzed the relationship between the median beats per minute (bpm) and the number of trials. Results showed that the median bpm increased as the trials continued in two cases, while in the other two cases, it decreased. Regression analysis indicated significant effects in all cases, suggesting that normalized communication might influence the patients’ circadian rhythms. These findings underscore the importance of daily communication for bedridden individuals with SMIDs, even if brief.

We utilized the N1 component of event-related potential (ERP) during a flanker task featuring antecedent cues to elucidate the impact of these cues on interference control in children diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Results revealed that, within the typical development children (TD) group, the reaction time for congruent stimuli in the “anticipatory cue condition” with antecedent cues was significantly shorter compared to the “control condition” lacking such cues. Conversely, in the ADHD group, the reaction time for incongruent stimuli in the anticipatory cue condition was notably more prolonged than in the control condition. Additionally, the N1 amplitude in ERP was diminished for incongruent stimuli in the anticipatory cue condition compared to the control condition in the ADHD group. These findings suggest that children with ADHD employ a distinct interference control strategy from their TD peers, specifically adopting a more cautious response approach to incongruent stimuli. The attenuation of N1 amplitude may signify a decrease in early processing, potentially rendering them less susceptible to interference from incongruent stimuli.

This study uses a dual-task experiment and investigates the varied responses of people who stutter (PWS) to delayed auditory feedback (DAF). We engaged PWS (N=10) in a reading-aloud task under DAF while performing simple reaction tasks to tactile and auditory stimuli concurrently. We measured their cerebral blood flow using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to explore the mechanisms underlying speech disfluency. The study categorized the participants into two groups: those with increased dysfluency (dysfluent increase group, n=8) and those with decreased dysfluency (dysfluent decrease group, n=2) under DAF. Due to the uneven group sizes, we focused our cerebral blood flow analysis on the dysfluent increase group. During DAF, this group demonstrated activation in regions near the right superior frontal gyrus (SFG) and right superior parietal gyrus (SPG). These areas are associated with active attention allocation in tactile conditions. The findings suggest that the dysfluent increase group may prioritize attention on tactile stimuli, thereby diminishing their responsiveness to the altered auditory feedback of their speech. This selective attention might contribute to speech disfluency reduction under DAF.

This review examined prior studies on brain activity during inhibitory tasks executed by individuals diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). These meta-analytical studies have reported significant diminished Nogo-P3 in individuals with ADHD compared to those with typically developing (TD), with no significant difference observed in other brain activity metrics. Previous findings suggest heterogeneity in the origins, brain functionality, structures, and psychological characteristics of individuals with ADHD, despite the shared diagnostic symptoms. Studies have proposed that Nogo-P3 is influenced by factors associated with ADHD, such as arousal levels. The decline in Nogo-P3 in individuals with ADHD does not necessarily denote inferior inhibitory functions. Other indices may interpreted similarly to Nogo-P3. These indices may not have clinical value but could contribute to examining brain activity heterogeneity and deducing processes that underlie the behaviors characteristic of individuals with ADHD.

We often refer to negative mood states in daily life as “dark.” This is not merely a metaphor because psychological studies have reported that subjective brightness decreases with depression severity. Recent pattern electroretinogram (PERG) studies have reported lower retinal contrast gain in participants with higher depression scores. However, one study could not replicate this result, suggesting the need to improve the methodology. Past studies have averaged PERG values of both eyes when evaluating the relationship between the retinal contrast gain and depression scores. However, the PERG amplitudes differ between the dominant and nondominant eyes. Therefore, we separately assessed the relationship between depression scores and the average PERG of both eyes, the dominant eye and the nondominant eye. As a result, only the PERG-based contrast gain in the nondominant eye had a significant negative correlation with the Beck Depression Inventory score. This result suggests that measuring the PERG of the nondominant eye is more sensitive than the conventional method of using PERG to assess depression.

The concealed information test (CIT) assesses an individual’s knowledge of crime-related information by comparing responses to crime-relevant and irrelevant items. Previous research identified a reduction in nasal blood flow for crime-relevant items compared to irrelevant ones. This study aimed to replicate these findings by measuring nasal pulse volume in 16 participants. Additionally, it explored the impact of intentional concealment of the relevant item on nasal pulse volume. Consistent with earlier findings, participants who knew and concealed a relevant item exhibited smaller nasal pulse volumes than those for irrelevant items. However, no significant difference in nasal pulse volume was observed between items after participants disclosed their knowledge of the relevant item. These results suggest that nasal blood volume is reduced for relevant items in the CIT, but this effect appears contingent on the active concealment of knowledge about these items.

The autonomic-based concealed information test continuously measures physiological indices such as skin conductance, normalized pulse volume, heart rate, and respiration. This study proposes a hierarchical Bayesian model to analyze these physiological responses’ time series data. The proposed approach uses a state-space model that comprises observation equations with truncated normal distributions and state equations with hierarchical structures. We applied the proposed method to experimental data from 167 participants to illustrate the technique’s efficacy. This method allows us to visualize the magnitude of typical physiological responses in their respective units of measurement and individual differences, which had previously been overlooked in conventional analysis that requires standardization of observed data. Furthermore, this hierarchical state-space model can be easily adapted to various experimental designs.