Verbal Processing Research Articles

Predictors of parental stress in families with gifted children: The role of cognitive and emotional challenges

This study examines the unique challenges of raising gifted children, focusing on two child-related risk factors for parental stress: cognitive asynchrony and stress management abilities. Path analysis revealed that poor stress management in children is associated with greater parental stress, as measured by the Difficult Child (DC) and Parent-Child Dysfunctional Interaction (PCDI) scales of the Parenting Stress Index. Cognitive discrepancies, particularly between Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI) and Processing Speed Index (PSI), were found to increase maternal stress but not paternal stress, highlighting a differential impact on parents. Additionally, the study identified a spillover effect, in which stress in one parent influences the other, amplifying family stress. These findings suggest that cognitive and emotional factors act as independent sources of stress, underscoring the need for interventions tailored to families of gifted children, with a focus on enhancing emotional competence to promote resilience and family well-being.

A meta-analysis of data-driven cognitive subgroups in bipolar disorder

The delineation of cognitive subgroups of bipolar disorder (BD) might be helpful for identifying biologically valid subtypes of this disorder. This meta-analysis identified peer-reviewed literature on studies investigating cognitive subgroups of BD with data-driven clustering methods. Relevant studies were searched in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. Random-effects meta-analysis was performed using R software. A total of 14 cross-sectional studies including euthymic or mildly symptomatic patients with BD were included in the current meta-analysis. The available studies have consistently supported a 3-cluster solution. The pooled prevalence of the severe-impairment, moderate-impairment, and major good-functioning groups were 23.1 % (95%CI, 18.5 %–27.7 %), 42.5 % (95%CI, 36.3 %–48.8 %), and 33.5 % (95%CI, 25.9 %–41.1 %) respectively. Compared to healthy controls, both the severe-impairment (g=−1.40 to −1.73) and moderate-impairment groups (g=−0.59 to −0.96) had significant deficits in all six cognitive domains (verbal memory, visual memory, executive functions, working memory, attention and processing speed). The good-performance subgroup had a small increase in the performance of executive functions (g=0.23) and normal functioning in all other domains. Compared to the good-performance subgroup, the severe-impairment subgroup was characterized by more severe functional impairment, more hospital admissions, a higher percentage of type I BD and antipsychotic use. The characteristics of the moderate-impairment subgroup were lying between the other two subgroups for most of the measures. The current findings support the existence of 3 cognitive subgroups in BD including severe-impairment and moderate-impairment groups which are associated with a more severe course of illness.

Analyzing Process Types in Nigerian Newspapers Political Headlines Using Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) Transitivity Approach

Purpose: This study aims to examine the use of process types in Nigerian political headlines using the transitivity approach within the framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). The purpose of the research is to understand how language is used to construct political narratives in Nigerian newspapers, focusing on the different process types—material, mental, relational, verbal, behavioral, and existential—that shape public perception of political events and actors. Methodology: The study adopts a qualitative method, analyzing 50 political headlines from five major Nigerian newspapers: Vanguard, Leadership News, Punch, Daily Trust, and The Guardian Nigeria. The headlines, selected from articles published between January 2024 and September 2024, are categorized and analyzed based on Halliday's transitivity framework. Findings: The findings reveal that material processes are the most frequently used, representing 48% of the headlines, followed by mental (32%), verbal (20%), and relational processes (10%). Existential and behavioral processes were minimally represented. These results suggest that political discourse in Nigeria is predominantly action- and belief-oriented, with a focus on tangible actions and the intentions of political figures. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: This study makes a unique contribution to theory by applying the SFL transitivity framework to Nigerian political headlines, expanding the understanding of how process types reflect political actions, intentions, and relationships. The findings have practical implications for media practitioners and politicians in crafting messages that effectively engage the public, emphasizing actions and beliefs to influence perception. From a policy perspective, the study suggests the need for greater media literacy to enable the public to critically assess political communication and its impact on public discourse.

Competition during verbal creative processes influences on ERS/ERD

ABSTRACT Humans are social creatures, and many tasks in our daily lives are solved together. The two main forms of social interaction in problem solving could be defined as competition and cooperation. In our study, we compared the ERS/ERD when performing a creative task (Alternative Uses Test, AUT) and a control task (“naming the objects from the presented category”) under competitive conditions in dyads (22 dyads, m-m, f-f, 18–23 years old) compared to the performance of tasks individually. The number of answers given by subjects under competitive conditions was significantly lower than during the execution of the tasks individually. The solving of the creative task in competition versus individual performance was accompanied by EEG synchronization (9–30 hz) clusters: 140–1220 ms and 900–1780 ms after stimulus presentation; 13.5–30 hz (1800–1980 ms), reflecting the creative thinking mode, and expected cognitive, emotional answers’ assessment. The control task under competitive conditions was accompanied by pronounced synchronization of low frequencies in the frontal areas (2–7 hz, 0–1980 ms), due to a greater working memory load; synchronization clusters in broadband (10–30 hz, 100–320 ms, 400–860 ms) and in the beta EEG band (17–30 hz, 1140–1980 ms). The competitive conditions significantly modulated the brain activity underlying creative and non-creative cognitive task performance, and resulted in greater induced EEG synchronization.

Biopsychosocial Impact of Multiple Sclerosis in Omani Patients: A Multicenter Comparative Study.

Background/Objectives: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurological disorder characterized by various clinical presentations and manifestations that include biopsychosocial impediments. This study has three interrelated goals relevant to biopsychosocial functioning: (i) compare reasoning ability, neuropsychological functioning, affective range, and quality of life (QoL) between people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) and healthy controls; (ii) explore gender differences in reasoning ability and neuropsychological functioning, affective symptoms, and QoL among PwMS; and (iii) examine the relationship between QoL and cognitive performance in PwMS, focusing on those with inadequate vs. adequate QoL. Methods: This multicenter study was carried out among clinically stable PwMS (no relapse in the last two months) at follow-up in two tertiary care units in urban Oman. Healthy controls, matched for age and sex, were also recruited as a comparison group. Data were collected using cognitive batteries sensitive to current reasoning ability and conventional neuropsychological batteries designed to measure verbal learning, visual-spatial ability, and processing speed. The affective range (anxiety and depressive symptoms) and quality of life (QoL) were also evaluated. Results: The PwMS group scored lower on current reasoning ability, verbal learning, visual-spatial ability, and processing speed compared to the control group. The incidence of anxiety was higher in the PwMS group, but there were no statistically significant differences in depressive symptoms. No significant differences were found in cognitive variables between the two sexes, except in visual-spatial ability, where women outperformed men. PwMS with low QoL scored lower on attention and concentration indices than those with adequate QoL. According to QoL, no significant differences were observed in reasoning, verbal learning, or visual-spatial ability. Conclusions: The present sentinel study suggests that the Omani cohort with MS tends to have lower indices of current reasoning ability, visual and spatial memory, and cognitive speed compared to control subjects. Gender differences are minimal, except for visual-spatial abilities, where women outperform men. Quality of life significantly affects cognitive functioning. In general, the biopsychosocial impediment appears to be significant, indicating the need for comprehensive evaluation and care in the management of MS.

An Analysis of the Conceptual Function of Facing the Sea with Spring Blossoms

Since Facing the Sea with Spring Blossoms has attracted widespread attention, many scholars have formed four interpretations from various perspectives, namely: the poem conveys the love of life and the pursuit of happiness; the poem is a deathbed poem, expressing the poet's despair of earthly life; the poet is a sad and bitter soul in pursuit of happiness; the poem is the poet's choice between “existence or destruction.” Poetry is the poet's choice between "existence or destruction," and he finally chooses to give up earthly happiness. Systemic functional grammar was founded by Halliday, who believed that language has three meta-functions: conceptual function, communicative function, and textual function, which are linked to the transitivity system, mood system, and thematic system. Since its inception, Systemic Functional Grammar has been applied to many text analyses, demonstrating its powerful interpretative power. Guided by this theory, the author conducted a conceptual-functional analysis of Facing the Sea with Spring Blossoms and found that there are 25 processes in the poem, including nine material processes, five mental processes, six relational processes, three verbal processes, and two existential processes. The author analyzed the three types of processes that are more typical in this poem and drew the following conclusions: first, happiness is an important theme for the poet; second, the poem is opened by me (the poet) choosing between two kinds of happiness; third, the poet finally chooses non-earthly happiness, i.e., “I only wish to face the sea, with spring blossoms.”

The Transitivity of Jungkook Song Lyrics “Hate You”

A song is a series of poems that have a certain meaning. Through a song, listeners can feel different emotions. In a song, songwriters usually include their feelings into the lyrics, so that listeners can understand the meaning of the song. However, it is not uncommon for people to just listen to a song without understanding the meaning of the song. Therefore, this research discusses the transitivity system type process in Jungkook's song lyrics. This research is a descriptive qualitative research. The purpose of this research is to find out the most dominating type of transitivity process in the song "Hate You" by Jungkook BTS. The data used in this research are Jungkook's song lyrics. Based on the study results, 31 transitivity processes were identified in the lyrics of the song "Hate You" by Jungkook. The most widely used transitivity in Jungkook's song lyrics is the mental process consisting of affective, cognitive, and perceptive. They were followed by the material process as the second largest process with 8 data points. Then, in the third position, is the existential process with five data points. Furthermore, the behavioral process occupies the 4th position with 2 data points. And finally, there is one verbal process data. This shows that the theme raised in a song will affect the purpose of its transitivity.

Parietal memory network and memory encoding versus retrieval impairments in PD-MCI patients: A hippocampal volume and cortical thickness study.

The pathophysiology behind memory impairment in Parkinson's Disease Mild Cognitive Impairment (PD-MCI) is unclear. This study aims to investigate the hippocampal and cortical atrophy patterns in PD-MCI patients with different types of memory impairments, categorized as Retrieval Failure (RF) and Encoding Failure (EF). The study included 16 healthy controls (HC) and 34 PD-MCI patients, divided into RF (N = 18) and EF (N = 16) groups based on their Verbal Memory Processes Test (VMPT) scores, including spontaneous recall, recognition, and Index of Sensitivity to Cueing (ISC). Hippocampal subfields and cortical thicknesses were measured using the FreeSurfer software for automatic segmentation. Compared to the HC group, the EF group exhibited significant atrophy in the left lateral occipital region and the right caudal middle frontal, superior temporal, and inferior temporal regions (p⟨0.05). The RF group displayed significant atrophy in the left lateral occipital, middle temporal, and precentral regions, as well as the right pars orbitalis and superior frontal regions (p⟨0.05). Hippocampal subfield analysis revealed distinct volume differences between HC-EF and RF-EF groups, with significant reductions in the CA1, CA3, and CA4 subregions in the EF group, but no differences between HC and RF groups (p > 0.05). Gray matter atrophy patterns differ in PD-MCI patients with encoding and retrieval memory impairments. The significant hippocampal atrophy in the EF group, particularly in the CA subregions, highlights its potential role in disease progression and memory decline. Additionally, the convergence of atrophy in the lateral occipital cortex across both RF and EF groups suggests the involvement of the Parietal Memory Network (PMN) in PD-related memory impairment.

Relationship between duration of undiagnosed illness, clinical features and cognitive impairment in bipolar disorder

Purpose: It is believed that a delay in the diagnosis of bipolar disorder may adversely affect the clinical course and outcome. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between diagnostic delay and clinical variables, as well as neurocognitive and social cognitive disorders Materials and methods: Eighty-four patients with bipolar disorder in remission were included in the study. Participants were evaluated using a neuropsychological battery that assessed verbal memory and learning, visual memory and learning, verbal fluency, attention, processing speed, executive functions, working memory, and social cognition. Results: The duration of undiagnosed illness was longer in patients with bipolar II disorder, those without psychotic features, those with at least one suicide attempt, those whose first episode was depressive, and those currently on antidepressants. A significant positive correlation was found between the duration of undiagnosed illness and scores on the Controlled Oral Word Association Test, total number of episodes, hypomanic episodes, depressive episodes, and their respective durations. Conversely, a significant negative correlation was found between the duration of undiagnosed illness and both the number and duration of manic episodes. Conclusion: We found that a delay in diagnosis and treatment was associated with more recurrences in bipolar disorder, an increased number of depressive episodes, and at least one lifetime suicide attempt. However, the association between extended periods of untreated illness and poor clinical and functional outcomes did not align with cognitive impairment.

Catatonia and neurocognitive disorder in the context of schizophrenia spectrum disorders

Background. Currently, researchers are aiming to establish the relationship between neurocognitive disorder and other clinical manifestations of endogenous diseases and functional indicators of the patient’s adaptation to social life. According to some data, the development of cognitive disorders is associated with the severity of catatonic disorders in the clinical picture of various diseases, in particular the presence of catatonic symptoms determines the worst indicators of cognitive functioning in the case of schizophrenia.The aim. To study the clinical and psychopathological features of catatonic syndrome in connection with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, as well as its connection with neurocognitive disorder manifestations among patients with endogenous disorders.Methods. From September 2022 to March 2024, we conducted a prospective, multicenter study of patients (n = 69) suffering from paroxysmal schizophrenia with primary catatonic symptoms in the structure of attacks. Mental status, the severity of catatonic symptoms using Bush – Francis Catatonia Rating Scale, neurocognitive profile using a number of validated scales (Montreal Cognitive Scale, Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia, Frontal Assessment Battery) were assessed.Results. Neurocognitive disorder was revealed in all cases studied. It has been noted that, depending on the presence/absence of affective symptoms, various domains of the neurocognitive profile are affected. Thus, in patients without severe affective symptoms, auditory and verbal memory, attention, processing speed, and motor skills are impaired. In patients with pronounced affective disorders, processing speed, motor skills, and problem-solving behavior are affected.Conclusion. Based on the results of processing the material, it was revealed that the most pronounced neurocognitive disorders were found in case of the manifestation of paroxysmal paranoid schizophrenia in male patients with a relatively early onset of the disease and hypokinetic catatonic disorders. In the future, we are planning to compare these results with the results of control group of patients with endogenous diseases and without catatonia.

Asymptomatic pediatric presentation of S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase deficiency.

S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase deficiency is an autosomal recessive inborn error of metabolism affecting methylation by disrupting the methionine cycle. Its clinical spectrum spans from severe perinatal encephalomyopathy and liver failure to asymptomatic course in patients with isolated hypermethioninemia. We present two new cases of S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase deficiency from Pakistani origin clinically asymptomatic at presentation. Both siblings showed mild chronic liver failure and elevation of creatine kinase. The older patient presented at 6 years of age with isolated verbal processing difficulty and mild diffuse leukodystrophy, reversible 12 months after introduction of methionine dietary restriction. The patient showed subtle atrophy in the muscle MRI at the age of 7 years. S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase deficiency was confirmed with homozygous missense variant c.146G>A (p.Arg49His) in the AHCY gene, a genotype previously reported in Pakistani patients with mild presentation. Dietary methionine restriction decreased plasma methionine but not plasma S-adenosylhomocysteine and S-adenosylmethionine. This work expands the mild spectrum of S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase deficiency with no noticeable clinical symptoms in children, highlighting a specific hotspot variant from South Asia. This mild form of the disease is likely underdiagnosed and raises the question of therapeutic management to prevent long-term complications documented in the literature, such as hepatocellular carcinoma and myopathy in early adulthood.

Process Analysis on Business Advertisement Text Data: A Systemic Functional Analysis Approach

This research is motivated by the significance of advertisements in influencing consumer behavior through the use of persuasive and strategic language. Advertisements not only serve to inform but also to shape consumer perceptions and preferences through emotional and visually appealing messages. This study identifies a significant knowledge gap regarding how various advertising techniques interact with the psychological and social factors of consumers. The research methodology employed a Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) approach to analyze business advertisement texts published in print and digital media. The main findings indicate that business advertisement texts tend to be dominated by material processes focused on physical actions such as "buy," "use," and "get," which are effective in driving consumer behavior. Mental and relational processes also play significant roles in influencing thoughts and forming relationships between products and consumers. Additionally, the presence of verbal, existential, and behavioral processes enriches advertisement messages with direct communication, emphasis on the existence of products, and specific behavioral actions. This research highlights the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in analyzing advertisements to understand the complex interactions between advertisements and consumers' socio-psychological factors. The implications of this study provide practical guidance for marketing practitioners in designing more effective and impactful advertisements.

Architecture and anatomy of executive processes: evidence from verbal fluency and Trail Making Test in 2009 stroke patients.

The few voxel-wise lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM) studies aimed at identifying the anatomy of executive function are limited by the absence of a model and by small populations. Using Trail Making Test (TMT) and verbal fluency and a model of their architectures, our objective was to identify the key structures underlying two major executive processes, set-shifting and strategic word search. We applied a validated VLSM analysis to harmonized cognitive and imaging data from 2009 ischemic stroke patients as a part of the Meta VCI Map consortium. All contrast analyses used an adjusted threshold with 2000 Freedman-Lane permutations (p ≤ 0.05). The TMT parts A and B were associated with structures involved in visual-spatial processing, the motor system, the frontal lobes, and their subcortical connections. Set-shifting depended on the left dorsomedial frontal region. Both semantic and phonemic fluency tests depended on verbal output abilities and processing speed with similar slopes in different languages. The strategic search process depended on Broca's area, F2 and related tracts, temporal and deep regions. Lastly, the lesion map of set-shifting did not overlap with those of strategic word search processes. Our results identify the anatomical substrates of two main executive processes, revealing that they represent only a specific subpart of previously reported structures. Finally, our results indicate that executive functions depend on several specific, anatomically separable executive processes mainly operating in various parts of the frontal lobes.

Objective and subjective experiences of childhood maltreatment and their relationships with cognitive deficits: a cohort study in the USA

Cognitive deficits might contribute to the elevated risk of life-course psychopathology observed in maltreated children. Leading theories about the links between childhood maltreatment and cognitive deficits focus on documented exposures (objective experience), but empirical research has largely relied on retrospective self-reports of these experiences (subjective experience), and the two measures identify largely non-overlapping groups. We aimed to test the associations of objective and subjective measures of maltreatment with cognitive abilities within the same individuals. We studied a cohort of individuals from the US Midwest with both objective, court-documented evidence of childhood maltreatment and subjective self-reports of individuals' histories at age 29 years. Between the ages of 29 years and 41 years, participants were assessed with a comprehensive set of cognitive tests, including tests of general verbal intelligence (Quick Test and Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised [WRAT]), non-verbal intelligence (Matrix Reasoning Test [MRT]), executive function (Stroop Test and Trail Making Test Part B [TMT-B]), and processing speed (Trail Making Test Part A [TMT-A]). Participants were also assessed for psychopathology (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and Beck Anxiety Inventory). We tested the associations between objective or subjective measures of childhood maltreatment with cognitive functions using ordinary least squares regression. To test whether cognitive deficits could explain previously described associations between different measures of maltreatment and subsequent psychopathology, we re-ran the analyses accounting for group differences in the Quick Test. People with lived experience were not involved in the research or writing process. The cohort included 1196 individuals (582 [48·7%] female, 614 [51·3%] male; 752 [62·9%] White, 417 [34·9%] Black, 36 [3·8%] Hispanic) who were assessed between 1989 and 2005. Of the 1179 participants with available data, 173 had objective-only measures of childhood maltreatment, 492 had objective and subjective measures, 252 had subjective-only measures, and 262 had no measures of childhood maltreatment. Participants with objective measures of childhood maltreatment showed pervasive cognitive deficits compared with those without objective measures (Quick Test: β=-7·97 [95% CI -9·63 to -6·30]; WRAT: β=-7·41 [-9·09 to -5·74]; MRT: β=-3·86 [-5·86 to -1·87]; Stroop Test: β=-1·69 [-3·57 to 0·20]; TMT-B: β=3·66 [1·67 to 5·66]; TMT-A: β=2·92 [0·86 to 4·98]). The associations with cognitive deficits were specific to objective measures of neglect. In contrast, participants with subjective measures of childhood maltreatment did not differ from those without subjective measures (Quick Test: β=1·73 [95% CI -0·05 to 3·50]; WRAT: β=1·62 [-0·17 to 3·40]; MRT: β=0·19 [-1·87 to 2·24]; Stroop Test: β=-1·41 [-3·35 to 0·52]; TMT-B: β=-0·57 [-2·69 to 1·55]; TMT-A: β=-0·36 [-2·38 to 1·67]). Furthermore, cognitive deficits did not explain associations between different measures of maltreatment and subsequent psychopathology. Previous studies based on retrospective reports of childhood maltreatment have probably grossly underestimated the extent of cognitive deficits in individuals with documented experiences of childhood maltreatment, particularly neglect. Psychopathology associated with maltreatment is unlikely to emerge because of cognitive deficits, but might instead be driven by individual appraisals, autobiographical memories, and associated schemas. National Institute of Justice, National Institute of Mental Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute on Aging, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and National Institute for Health and Care Research.

REPRESENTATION OF TIKTOK IN U.S. NEWS AFTER THE NO TIKTOK ON GOVERNMENT DEVICES ACT

TikTok, the most downloaded application in the world for three consecutive years since 2020, has been the target of various bans from governments and organisations. Despite widespread media coverage of such events, the representation of TikTok therein remains underexplored by linguists. This study therefore attempts to examine how TikTok is linguistically represented in U.S. television news after President Joe Biden signed the No TikTok on Government Devices Act into law. The Systemic Functional Linguistics, elaborated in Halliday and Matthiesen (2014), was employed as the analytical framework. The findings revealed that news coverage predominantly uses Material processes, followed by Relational processes. Mental and Verbal processes rank third and fourth, while Existential and Behavioural processes have rather low frequency. Regarding their subtypes, Identifying Relational and Cognitive Mental processes are more prevalent in negative representations, while Attributive Relational and Emotive Mental processes occur more often in positive representations. These transitivity patterns contribute to five main portrayals of TikTok, including “TikTok is a scrutiny and ban target”, “TikTok is a cybersecurity threat”, “TikTok is the Trojan horse of the Chinese Communist Party”, “TikTok is a must-have for many”, and “TikTok is a sales driving force”.

Use of Language By generative AI Tools in Mathematical Problem Solving: The Case of ChatGPT

Texts generated by artificial intelligence agents have been suggested as tools supporting students’ learning. The present research analyses the language of texts generated by ChatGPT when solving mathematical problems related to the quadratic equation. We use the functional grammar theoretical framework that includes three meta-functions: the ideational meta-function, the interpersonal meta-function and the textual meta-function. The results indicated that in at least one of six problem-solving tasks ChatGPT provided a mathematically incorrect answer. The processes appearing in ChatGPT texts, aiming at developing students’ understanding of mathematical concepts, included verbal, mental, existential, relational and behavioural processes but no material processes. Specifically, ChatGPT performed a mathematically incorrect existential process. ChatGPT generally used the first plural pronoun ‘we’ when describing the processes of solving mathematical problems, while it generally used the first-person singular pronoun when taking responsibility for a specific mistake or when expressing happiness for the actions of the user. Moreover, generally the text of the solution did not include direct imperatives but used ‘let us do’. The advancement of the ChatGPT textual solution was made usually through steps like ‘first’, ‘second’, etc. The research results indicated that the way ChatGPT responded to the mathematical problems would be useful in supporting learners’ understanding of ways to solve quadratic equations, but only if the teacher critically accompanies the student in the problem-solving process. Self-study with ChatGPT could lead to or confirm students’ mathematical misconceptions.

A theoretical model of emotional processing in visual artmaking and art therapy

Current theoretical models of emotional processing rely mainly on detecting emotional processing through verbal, conscious, and cognitive processes. However, artmaking can potentially reveal embodied and implicit processes that may otherwise remain hidden in verbal expression. This paper attempts to close the scholarly gap by introducing a novel art-based emotional processing model that integrates emotional processing and art therapy literature, incorporating emotional meaning-making, awareness, acceptance, and memory consolidation. The art-based EP model explains the processes through which art creation may benefit emotional processing. It also elucidates the ways in which art therapy can be used to enhance therapeutic outcomes.

Associations of polygenic risk scores differentiating attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder from autism spectrum disorder with cognitive and cortical alterations in Schizophrenia patients.

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous disorder that shares genetic factors with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A genome-wide association study (GWAS) differentiating ADHD from ASD was performed recently. In this study, we investigated whether polygenic risk scores (PRSs) differentiating ASD from ADHD are associated with cognitive impairments and alterations in cortical structures in SCZ patients. Based on the GWAS data (9,315 ASD and 11,964 ADHD patients), PRSs differentiating ADHD from ASD (indicating a greater risk of ADHD and a lower risk of ASD) were calculated for SCZ patients (n = 168). Cognitive performance, including verbal comprehension (VC), perceptual organization (PO), working memory (WM), and processing speed (PS), was assessed using the WAIS-III (n = 145). The surface areas and cortical thicknesses of 34 bilateral brain regions were extracted using FreeSurfer (n = 126). We examined the associations of these PRSs with cognitive performance and cortical structures in SCZ patients. Among the four cognitive domains, a higher PRS, indicating a greater risk of ADHD, was associated with impaired WM in SCZ patients (beta=-0.21, p = 0.012). A lower PRS, indicating a greater risk of ASD, was associated with decreased surface areas of the left medial orbitofrontal (beta = 0.21, p = 8.29 × 10- 4), left entorhinal (beta = 0.21, p = 0.025), left postcentral (beta = 0.18, p = 7.52 × 10- 3), right fusiform (beta = 0.17, p = 6.64 × 10- 3), and left fusiform cortices (beta = 0.17, p = 7.77 × 10- 3) in SCZ patients. A higher PRS, indicating a greater risk of ADHD, was associated with decreased cortical thickness in the bilateral transverse temporal regions (left, beta=-0.17, p = 0.039; right, beta=-0.17, p = 0.045). Our study revealed a relationship between genetic factors that differentiate ADHD patients from ASD patients and both cortical structure and cognitive performance in SCZ patients. These findings suggest that the heterogeneity of SCZ might be partly derived from genetic factors related to neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders other than SCZ.

IRB Consent Guidelines: Potential Barriers to Diversity in Research.

Despite initiatives aimed at improving study participation and inclusion among ethnic and racially minoritized and marginalized populations, participation remains low. While necessary to ensure ethical practice in human participant research, certain Institutional Review Board (IRB) guidelines may introduce additional barriers in research involving these populations. This work outlines guidelines pertaining to consent translation for non-English speaking populations and offers discussion on a greater emphasis for more inclusive methods for marginalized communities. The University of Wisconsin's IRB approved alternative oral consent processes after the community partner determined that standard translation processes would be inefficient. Researchers used translated consent materials for four different ethnic groups (Hmong, Karen, Karenni, and Burmese). We provided recorded consents in each respective language to participants before study participation and obtained verbal consent prior to study participation at the study location. We experienced time and resource constraints in both access to translators and the consent-translation process itself. Furthermore, many participants were unable to read in their native language making standard written consent processes both difficult and impractical. Oral discussion and verbal consent processes were efficient. Adjustments to consent-related guidelines may prevent and eliminate time and resource-related barriers in consent processes. In eliminating such barriers, subsequent improved efficiency in both study design and study promotion areas can work to better promote diversity in research among populations that emphasize oral language and in instances where literacy rates in written non-English language may be lower.

Transitivity Analysis of Luh Ayu Manik's Narrative Text: Unveiling Character and Action Dynamics

This study investigates the depiction of characters in the narrative text Luh Ayu Manik – Tresna ring Alas through the application of transitivity processes within the framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics. Utilizing a qualitative approach, the research analyzes various linguistic processes—including Material, Mental, Relational, Behavioral, and Verbal—to examine how these processes portray the main character and supporting characters. The findings reveal that Luh Ayu Manik is depicted as proactive and courageous through Material processes, introspective and empathetic through Mental processes, and responsible and caring through Relational processes. Her perseverance is emphasized through Behavioral processes, while her leadership is demonstrated through Verbal processes. Additionally, the analysis uncovers the complex roles of supporting characters such as Made Anjasmara and Ketut Suprabawa Kabinawa, who are portrayed as brave and strategic in their actions. Meanwhile, the antagonistic characters, the thieves, are depicted through destructive actions and complex emotional responses, highlighting their role as significant threats to the environment. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of character development and narrative dynamics, demonstrating the effectiveness of transitivity analysis in uncovering detailed character attributes and interactions.