Response Latency Research Articles

A machine-learning method isolating changes in wrist kinematics that identify age-related changes in arm movement

Normal aging often results in an increase in physiological tremors and slowing of the movement of the hands, which can impair daily activities and quality of life. This study, using lightweight wearable non-invasive sensors, aimed to detect and identify age-related changes in wrist kinematics and response latency. Eighteen young (ages 18–20) and nine older (ages 49–57) adults performed two standard tasks with wearable inertial measurement units on their wrists. Frequency analysis revealed 5 kinematic variables distinguishing older from younger adults in a postural task, with best discrimination occurring in the 9–13 Hz range, agreeing with previously identified frequency range of age-related tremors, and achieving excellent classifier performance (0.86 AUROC score and 89% accuracy). In a second pronation–supination task, analysis of angular velocity in the roll axis identified a 71 ms delay in initiating arm movement in the older adults. This study demonstrates that an analysis of simple kinematic variables sampled at 100 Hz frequency with commercially available sensors is reliable, sensitive, and accurate at detecting age-related increases in physiological tremor and motor slowing. It remains to be seen if such sensitive methods may be accurate in distinguishing physiological tremors from tremors that occur in neurological diseases, such as Parkinson’s Disease.

Tone-burst elicited auditory brainstem responses in full-term and pre-term infants

Objective To investigate the reliability of tone-burst auditory brainstem response (TB-ABR) latencies and thresholds in pre-term and full-term infants. Design TB-ABRs to 500 Hz and 4000 Hz tone-burst stimuli were recorded at two-week intervals over the first six weeks of life in a group of full-term infants (40–46 weeks gestational age [GA]) and over ten weeks (36–46 weeks gestation) in a group of preterm infants. Linear mixed model analyses evaluated within-subject changes and the effects of the subject group, age at assessment, and stimulus frequency on ABR latency and threshold. Study sample Twenty-four infants participated. Nine were full-term (GA: 39–41 weeks) and fifteen were healthy pre-term (GA: 28–34 weeks) at birth. Results TB-ABR wave V latencies at 70 dBnHL decreased throughout the study (p < 0.001) in pre-term babies for both test frequencies by approximately 0.5 ms. There were, however, no group or GA (at birth) effects indicating that response latency normalized in these children by the due date. Similarly, TB-ABR threshold levels in the premature group were elevated (p = 0.001) by approximately 5 dB in pre-term evaluation but were equivalent to those of full-term participants in the post-term assessment period. Conclusions In healthy, pre-term infants, tone-burst ABR testing is reliable from 36 weeks gestation.

A novel segmented random search based batch scheduling algorithm in fog computing

In fog computing, batch scheduling is an important and challenging task aiming at reducing the response latency. Response time includes the scheduling time, execution time and other factors such as network latency. However, the majority of the existing batch scheduling algorithms primarily focus on minimizing the execution time of tasks for IoT devices, ignoring the algorithms' scheduling time. This contributes to suboptimal overall response time, which is a critical quality-of-service (QoS) indicator and significantly impacts performance. Optimizing both execution and scheduling time is therefore crucial for achieving minimum response time, improving QoS, and alleviating load-balancing issues. This work introduces a novel approach for the load-balancing difference variable and uses dimensionality reduction techniques for dynamic task organization. The main contribution comprises two distinctive algorithms: the Pre-allocation Minimum Completion Time (PMT) algorithm and the Segmented Random Search Fog Computing Batch Scheduling Algorithm (SRS). These algorithms are designed to address the inherent characteristics of the problem. To evaluate the performance and applicability of batch scheduling algorithms, we establish a model incorporating compliance and application performance indicators. We introduce the Logical Recursive Indirect Comparison Analysis method to assess and evaluate batch scheduling algorithms. Simulation results demonstrate the exceptional effectiveness of the SRS algorithm. It exhibits a remarkable improvement in comprehensive performance indices, ranging from 139.10% to 261.18%, and optimization quality enhancement rates of 64.25%–154.13% compared to classical standard optimization algorithms. Compared with advanced algorithms, the SRS algorithm also outperforms, with optimization quality improvement rates of 22.74% and 71.11% compared to AEOSSA and CHMPAD.

P159 Development of digital neuropsychological battery: a use case in Indian SLE patients

Abstract Background/Aims While cognitive dysfunction and mood disorders are frequently reported as adverse effects of SLE, there is a scarcity of neuropsychological (NP) data for Asian SLE patients. Existing English-centric NP tests are inadequate for the linguistic and culturally diverse population. This study examines SLE's effects on mood and cognitive functions using an indigenously developed language-neutral digital NP test battery and validated anxiety, stress, depression and quality of life instruments. Methods We recruited SLE patients fulfilling 2012 SLE classification criteria as cases and caregivers (CG) and college students (CS) as controls aged above 18 years and at least 10th standard education. All participants provided written informed consent. Institutional ethics committees approved the study. The NP battery comprised five cognitive tasks: Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and modified versions of attention network test (ANT), sustained attention to response task (SART), picture naming and N-back, and five psychological tests (PHQ-9, GAD-7, STAI-T, PSS-4 and WHOQOL-BREF). Mann-Whitney test with conditional Bonferroni's corrections was used to compare cases with CG and CS. Results Total of 142 volunteers (age: median = 25.0, IQR = 9.0, cases [n = 82], CG [n = 40] and CS [n = 20]) participated in the study. Cases exhibited delayed response latencies in N-back, SART, and picture naming tasks compared to controls. They demonstrated reduced accuracy in all N-back conditions, with significant differences observed in hit rate, miss rate, false alarms, and d-prime scores compared to CS with effect size ranging from 0.298 to 0.736 (Table 1). However, the difference was only significant in the 2-back condition compared to CG. Cases displayed lower accuracy in SART Go trials (higher omission errors) than controls but better inhibition in SART No-Go trials (lower commission errors). No differences were observed in alerting, orienting and executive control functions. Cases showed significantly lower scores in MOCA than controls. Cases reported poorer psychological health through increased anxiety and stress levels and reduced WHO-quality of life scores compared to CG. Conclusion Contrary to earlier research that often relied on isolated cognitive assessments, our pioneering approach introduces a tailored test battery to establish cognitive baselines for Indian SLE patients. Disclosure P. Singhal: None. P. Srivastava: None. L. Rajasekhar: None. N. Samhitha: None.

Visual Field Tests: A Narrative Review of Different Perimetric Methods.

Visual field (VF) testing dates back to fifth century B.C. It plays a pivotal role in the diagnosis, management, and prognosis of retinal and neurological diseases. This review summarizes each of the different VF tests and perimetric methods, including the advantages and disadvantages and adherence to the desired standard diagnostic criteria. The review targets beginners and eye care professionals and includes history and evolution, qualitative and quantitative tests, and subjective and objective perimetric methods. VF testing methods have evolved in terms of technique, precision, user-friendliness, and accuracy. Consequently, some earlier perimetric techniques, often still effective, are not used or have been forgotten. Newer technologies may not always be advantageous because of higher costs, and they may not achieve the desired sensitivity and specificity. VF testing is most often used in glaucoma and neurological diseases, but new objective methods that also measure response latencies are emerging for the management of retinal diseases. Given the varied perimetric methods available, clinicians are advised to select appropriate methods to suit their needs and target disease and to decide on applying simple vs. complex tests or between using subjective and objective methods. Newer, rapid, non-contact, objective methods may provide improved patient satisfaction and allow for the testing of children and the infirm.

Recognizing and Looking at Masked Emotional Faces in Alexithymia.

Alexithymia is a clinically relevant personality construct characterized by difficulties identifying and communicating one's emotions and externally oriented thinking. Alexithymia has been found to be related to poor emotion decoding and diminished attention to the eyes. The present eye tracking study investigated whether high levels of alexithymia are related to impairments in recognizing emotions in masked faces and reduced attentional preference for the eyes. An emotion recognition task with happy, fearful, disgusted, and neutral faces with face masks was administered to high-alexithymic and non-alexithymic individuals. Hit rates, latencies of correct responses, and fixation duration on eyes and face mask were analyzed as a function of group and sex. Alexithymia had no effects on accuracy and speed of emotion recognition. However, alexithymic men showed less attentional preference for the eyes relative to the mask than non-alexithymic men, which was due to their increased attention to face masks. No fixation duration differences were observed between alexithymic and non-alexithymic women. Our data indicate that high levels of alexithymia might not have adverse effects on the efficiency of emotion recognition from faces wearing masks. Future research on gaze behavior during facial emotion recognition in high alexithymia should consider sex as a moderating variable.

Evaluation of Masseteric Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials in Patients With Migraine.

Masseter vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (mVEMP) involve the connection between the vestibular complex and trigeminal nerve nuclei. Given the theory that migraine is caused by increased activation of the trigeminal nerve, it is believed that mVEMP responses may have influenced in migraine patients. The study included 20 individuals with migraine and 20 healthy controls. Latency, amplitude, and interaural amplitude asymmetry ratio of mVEMP responses recorded in migraine patients were compared with control group. Considering the mVEMP normalization study conducted by Başöz et al. (2021) in a similar age group and in the same clinic, latency prolongation and amplitude decrease were observed in subjects with migraines. Migraine is considered a central pathology, as shown in the cervical and ocular VEMP (cVEMP/oVEMP) literature. No difference was observed in the interaural amplitude asymmetry ratio, which is important in peripheral pathologies. Additionally, when the number of pathological ears was examined in order to understand the total exposure, it was observed that the number of pathological ears was significantly higher in the migraine group. In future studies, using mVEMP together with cVEMP and oVEMP tests, which allow evaluation of otolith organs and vestibular nuclei, will be valuable in determining the lesion location. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.25607901.

TMHD: Twin-Bridge Scheduling of Multi-Heterogeneous Dependent Tasks for Edge Computing

As an efficient computing paradigm, Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) is essential in assisting mobile devices with real-time complex tasks such as big data analytics. In MEC, application tasks consist of multiple dependent subtasks, and the way to process tasks ensuring lower response latency through efficient scheduling orders is of relevant importance. Most existing research on scheduling sorts the dependent tasks out by simple topological ordering, which leads to idle and wasteful resources. For such, we propose a Twin-Bridge Scheduling of Multi-Heterogeneous Dependent Tasks for Edge Computing (TMHD), with two state embedding layers for multi-dependent tasks that reconstruct the model of dependent tasks to find the optimal scheduling paths and concurrently make the best offloading decisions. Considering the limitations of local edge-end model training, we upload the trained models to the cloud periodically for local model aggregation update, speeding up the model convergence whilst guaranteeing the training accuracy and demonstrating the convergence of multi-model aggregation. Compared with existing dependent task processing methods, TMHD reduces the average task processing time on four different datasets by 18.68 ms, 71.79 ms, 70.99 ms, and 64.32 ms, which are shown to be effective in reducing the response time of the device task.

To attract a moth: Wind tunnel and field testing of plant odor and light stimuli and their combination for Ostrinia nubilalis

AbstractThe European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hubner), relies on multimodal sensory information to find food, mates, mating and ovipositional grounds. Successful phytosanitary monitoring demands for the bait for the field traps to obtain the most reliable representation of pest abundance. Attraction to light and blend of key components of host plant odor, was tested both in the laboratory and field conditions. Ultraviolet light, which was the most effective in the wind tunnel experiments, was further tested in the field alone and in combination with bisexual lure. Bisexual lure, being attractive in the lab, as well as in the field, did not improve responses to ultraviolet in both experimental designs. All three baits attracted significantly more females than males in the field. Wind tunnel experiments revealed that ultraviolet elicited the shortest response latencies either alone or paired with the odor bait. The lack of synergistic effect between attractive light and odor stimuli is an important issue for pest monitoring. The possible reasons for the observed lack of synergy are the hierarchy of behavioral responses to different stimuli or the intensities of both stimuli are critically important for attractivity of combined stimulus and differ from separately presented ones.

Epileptic spasms relapse is associated with response latency but not conventional attributes of post-treatment EEG.

Relapse of epileptic spasms after initial treatment of infantile epileptic spasms syndrome (IESS) is common. However, past studies of small cohorts have inconsistently linked relapse risk to etiology, treatment modality, and EEG features upon response. Using a large single-center IESS cohort, we set out to quantify the risk of epileptic spasms relapse and identify specific risk factors. We identified all children with epileptic spasms at our center using a clinical EEG database. Using the electronic medical record, we confirmed IESS syndrome classification and ascertained treatment, response, time to relapse, etiology, EEG features, and other demographic factors. Relapse-free survival analysis was carried out using Cox proportional hazards regression. Among 599 children with IESS, 197 specifically responded to hormonal therapy and/or vigabatrin (as opposed to surgery or other second-line treatments). In this study, 41 (21%) subjects exhibited relapse of epileptic spasms within 12 months of response. Longer duration of IESS prior to response (>3 months) was strongly associated with shorter latency to relapse (hazard ratio = 3.11; 95% CI 1.59-6.10; p = 0.001). Relapse was not associated with etiology, developmental status, or any post-treatment EEG feature. This study suggests that long duration of IESS before response is the single largest clinical predictor of relapse risk, and therefore underscores the importance of prompt and successful initial treatment. Further study is needed to evaluate candidate biomarkers of epileptic spasms relapse and identify treatments to mitigate this risk. Relapse of infantile spasms is common after initially successful treatment. With study of a large group of children with infantile spasms, we determined that relapse is linked to long duration of infantile spasms. In contrast, relapse was not associated with the cause of infantile spasms, developmental measures, or EEG features at the time of initial response. Further study is needed to identify tools to predict impending relapse of infantile spasms.

Post-reinforcement pauses during slot machine gambling are moderated by immersion.

The post-reinforcement pause (PRP) is an operant effect in which response latencies increase on trials following the receipt and consumption of reward. Human studies demonstrate analogous effects in electronic gambling machines that utilise random ratio reinforcement schedules. We sought to identify moderators of the human PRP effect, hypothesising that the magnitude of gamblers' PRPs is moderated by the type of reinforcing outcome (genuine wins vs. losses-disguised-as-wins [LDWs] vs. free-spin bonus features) and individuals' level of gambling immersion, a cognitive state linked to problem gambling. Experienced slot machine users (N = 53) played a real slot machine for 20 min. The dependent variable was defined as the time delay in the initiation of each bet ("Spin Initiation Latency"; SIL). Using 80% of trials, a linear model was fit regressing SIL on the independent variables (outcome type, immersion, and outcome-by-immersion interaction), and a larger group of covariates (participant ID, trial number, winnings, etc.) selected using double-robust LASSO-regularised regression. The previously unseen 20% of cases were used to validate the model. Positively reinforcing outcome types (wins, LDWs, bonus spins) showed significantly larger SILs than losses, indicating a PRP effect. Immersion did not predict response latencies, but win-by-immersion and LDW-by-immersion interactions indicated that pauses were greater among more immersed participants. The small number of free-spin bonus features showed similar trends that were not statistically significant. These results indicate that gamblers immersed in play remained sensitive to in-game reinforcement (contrary to a prevailing account), and provide guidance for researchers bridging laboratory research and real-world behaviour.

Stair Climbing Improves Cognitive Switching Performance and Mood in Healthy Young Adults: A Randomized Controlled Crossover Trial

Although stair-climbing intervals provide a simple mode of physical activity that can be easily carried out in naturalistic settings and incorporated into the daily lives of a significant proportion of the global population, addressing physical inactivity issues, very little research has focused on the psychological benefits of stair climbing. To address this, the current prospectively registered randomized controlled crossover trial tested whether brief bouts of stair climbing (6 × 1 min intervals) elicit immediate subsequent improvements in cognitive performance and mood in a sample of healthy young adults (final sample: n = 52, 50% female, age range 18–24 years), with consideration of sex, physical activity habits, and exercise intensity as potentially relevant variables. Compared to a no-exercise control session, following the stair climbing participants exhibited superior cognitive switching performance and reported feeling more energetic and happy. In addition, linear regression analyses linked higher stair-climbing intensity (indicated by heart-rate data) to faster response latencies. None of the effects depended on sex or physical activity habits, which implies that males and females can benefit irrespective of their current physical activity habits. Collectively, these results demonstrate that interval stair climbing can confer immediate psychological benefits, providing further evidence in support of stair climbing as a promising means to address physical inactivity issues. TRN: ACTRN12619000484145, Date of registration: 25/03/2019.

The effects of acute normobaric hypoxia on standing balance while dual-tasking with and without visual input.

To investigate the influence of acute normobaric hypoxia on standing balance under single and dual-task conditions, both with and without visual input. 20 participants (7 female, 20-31years old) stood on a force plate for 16, 90-s trials across four balance conditions: single-task (quiet stance) or dual-task (auditory Stroop test), with eyes open or closed. Trials were divided into four oxygen conditions where the fraction of inspired oxygen (FIO2) was manipulated (normoxia: 0.21 and normobaric hypoxia: 0.16, 0.145 and 0.13 FIO2) to simulate altitudes of 1100, 3,400, 4300, and 5200m. Participants breathed each FIO2 for ~ 3min before testing, which lasted an additional 7-8min per oxygen condition. Cardiorespiratory measures included heart rate, peripheral blood oxygen saturation, and pressure of end tidal (PET) CO2 and O2. Center of pressure measures included total path length, 95% ellipse area, and anteroposterior and mediolateral velocity. Auditory Stroop test performance was measured as response accuracy and latency. Significant decreases in oxygen saturation and PETO2, and increased heart rate were observed between normoxia and normobaric hypoxia (P < 0.0001). Total path length was higher at 0.13 compared to 0.21 FIO2 for the eyes closed no Stoop test condition (P = 0.0197). No other significant differences were observed. These findings suggest that acute normobaric hypoxia has a minimal impact on standing balance and does not influence auditory Stroop test or dual-task performance. Further investigation with longer exposure is required to understand the impact and time course of normobaric hypoxia on standing balance.

Blockchain Based Decentralized and Proactive Caching Strategy in Mobile Edge Computing Environment.

In the mobile edge computing (MEC) environment, the edge caching can provide the timely data response service for the intelligent scenarios. However, due to the limited storage capacity of edge nodes and the malicious node behavior, the question of how to select the cached contents and realize the decentralized security data caching faces challenges. In this paper, a blockchain-based decentralized and proactive caching strategy is proposed in an MEC environment to address this problem. The novelty is that the blockchain was adopted in an MEC environment with a proactive caching strategy based on node utility, and the corresponding optimization problem was built. The blockchain was adopted to build a secure and reliable service environment. The employed methodology is that the optimal caching strategy was achieved based on the linear relaxation technology and the interior point method. Additionally, in a content caching system, there is a trade-off between cache space and node utility, and the caching strategy was proposed to solve this problem. There was also a trade-off between the consensus process delay of blockchain and the caching latency of content. An offline consensus authentication method was adopted to reduce the influence of the consensus process delay on the content caching. The key finding was that the proposed algorithm can reduce latency and can ensure the security data caching in an IoT environment. Finally, the simulation experiment showed that the proposed algorithm can achieve up to 49.32%, 43.11%, and 34.85% improvements on the cache hit rate, the average content response latency, and the average system utility, respectively, compared to the random content caching algorithm, and it achieved up to 9.67%, 8.11%, and 5.95% increases, successively, compared to the greedy content caching algorithm.

Methodological considerations for behavioral studies relying on response time outcomes through online crowdsourcing platforms

This perspective paper explores challenges associated with online crowdsourced data collection, particularly focusing on longitudinal tasks with time-sensitive outcomes like response latencies. Based on our research, we identify two significant sources of bias: technical shortcomings such as low, variable frame rates, and human factors, contributing to high attrition rates. We explored potential solutions to these problems, such as enforcing hardware acceleration and defining study-specific frame rate thresholds, as well as pre-screening participants and monitoring hardware performance and task engagement over each experimental session. With this discussion, we intend to provide recommendations on how to improve the quality and reliability of data collected via online crowdsourced platforms and emphasize the need for researchers to be cognizant of potential pitfalls in online research.

Subcutaneous hydromorphone hydrochloride provides antinociception with transient adverse effects in four-toed hedgehogs (Atelerix albiventris).

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of hydromorphone administered SC in four-toed hedgehogs (Atelerix albiventris). 12 healthy adult hedgehogs. Hedgehogs underwent 2 randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled, complete crossover studies. Hind limb withdrawal latencies in response to an acute thermal noxious stimulus were measured to evaluate the antinociceptive efficacy of hydromorphone. Baseline latencies were obtained prior to injection and collected again at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, and 6 hours following injection. Based on pilot studies, single doses of SC hydromorphone at 0.15 and 0.3 mg/kg were evaluated for efficacy in crossover trials. Safety of single (0.15 and 0.3 mg/kg) and multiple doses of hydromorphone (0.3 mg/kg, SC, q 4 h, for 3 doses) was also assessed. In addition to monitoring behavior during latency measurements, animals were evaluated for overt sedation and daily changes in food intake, body weight, and running wheel activity for 6 days after injection to evaluate for adverse effects. Hydromorphone at 0.15 mg/kg provided antinociception lasting < 4 hours, and 0.3 mg/kg provided antinociception lasting < 6 hours. Hydromorphone produced transient abnormal behaviors at both doses, including vocalization, chewing motions of the jaw, and paw raising. There were no statistically significant differences in body weight or running wheel activity between treatments for single or multiple doses of hydromorphone. Three doses of 0.3 mg/kg hydromorphone (q 4 h) produced a statistically significant decrease (median, -9.7%; range, -64% to 10%) in 6-day total food intake. Subcutaneous hydromorphone (0.15 to 0.3 mg/kg) can be used for short-term antinociception with transient adverse effects in hedgehogs.

Response Latencies During Confrontation Picture Naming in Aphasia: Are Proxy Measurements Sufficient?

Anomia, or word-finding difficulty, is a prevalent and persistent feature of aphasia, a neurogenic language disorder affecting millions of people in the United States. Anomia assessments are essential for measuring performance and monitoring outcomes in clinical settings. This study aims to evaluate the reliability of response time (RT) annotation based on spectrograms and assess the predictive utility of proxy RTs collected during computerized naming tests. Archival data from 10 people with aphasia were used. Trained research assistants phonemically transcribed participants' responses, and RTs were generated from the onset of picture stimulus to the initial phoneme of the first complete attempt. RTs were measured in two ways: hand-generated RTs (from spectrograms) and proxy RTs (automatically extracted online). Interrater agreement was evaluated based on interclass correlation coefficients and generalizability theory tools including variance partitioning and the φ-coefficient. The predictive utility of proxy RTs was evaluated within a linear mixed-effects framework. RT annotation reliability showed near-perfect agreement across research assistants (φ-coefficient = .93), and the variance accounted for by raters was negligible. Furthermore, proxy RTs significantly and strongly predicted hand-annotated RTs (R2 = ~0.82), suggesting their utility as an alternative measure. The study confirms the reliability of RT annotation and demonstrates the predictive utility of proxy RTs in estimating RTs during computerized naming tests. Incorporating proxy RTs can enhance clinical assessments, providing additional information for cognitive measurement. Further research with larger samples and exploring the impact of using proxy RTs in different psychometric models could optimize clinical protocols and improve communication interventions for individuals with aphasia.

Depression: Biological Non-Pharmacological Interventions. A Review.

IntroductionMajor depressive disorder stands as one of the most significant mental health issues in the general population. It impacts the patients’ quality of life and increases both morbidity and mortality. Response and tolerability to available pharmacological treatments are often inefficient, sometimes requiring extended periods to achieve acceptable remission through combinations or augmentations. Non-pharmacological approaches constitute an element in the therapeutic options for this mental disorder. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in non-pharmacological biological treatment interventions. Among the principal ones are Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT), Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), and Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS).ObjectivesThe aim of this paper is to review the current available literature to expand our knowledge about biological non-pharmacological treatment in depression, particularly ECT, TMS, DBS, and VNS.MethodsA qualitative review was conducted over the last 5 years, using the Medline database through PubMed. We selected studies in English or Spanish that met the objectives of the review, excluding references in other languages. The scientific evidence obtained was analyzed and synthesized.ResultsThere is growing evidence in this area. TMS, whose place in clinical guidelines remains unclear, is a less available treatment but might be considered in patients with moderate to severe depression who cannot receive pharmacological treatment. DBS, which shows good results in treatment-resistant major depressive disorder, achieves response rates greater than 50%. VNS has accumulated studies since its approval for treatment-resistant depression, showing some latency of response but demonstrating improvement persistence for at least two years, although some studies have not clearly shown a benefit. We also found studies demonstrating the effectiveness and favorable cost-benefit balance of ECT.ConclusionsThis review highlights the importance of increasing knowledge in these types of treatments. They have shown significant progress in recent years. We have a better understanding and use of the technique of ECT, while newer options have gained evidence in effectiveness over these years, with improvements facilitating their use in patients with treatment-resistant depression.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Graded phonological neighborhood effects on lexical retrieval: Evidence from Mandarin Chinese

How phonological neighborhood affects lexical retrieval can shed important light on lexical organization and processing. Yet these effects are unclear, particularly in Mandarin Chinese. This is likely because the working definition of phonological neighbors (i.e., the one-phoneme edit rule) used in Indo-European languages inadequately characterizes the phonological similarity among Mandarin words, which have simpler syllable structures and lexical tones. The current study proposes a graded Mandarin phonological neighborhood and investigates the impacts of near-to-distant Mandarin phonological neighbors on lexical retrieval. In Study 1, we investigated how Mandarin phonological similarity is influenced by the editing of lexical tone, constituent (onset/rime, initial/final) and phoneme. Native Mandarin speakers rated the similarity between the edited monosyllabic words. We found that constituent-edit neighbors were rated as the most dissimilar, followed by phoneme-edit neighbors, while tone-edit neighbors were the most similar. In Study 2, we calculated the constituent-, phoneme- and tone-edit phonological neighborhood densities and frequencies for 4,706 monosyllabic Mandarin words. We then utilized extant datasets to examine how the density and frequency of neighbors at varied distances, as well as of homophonic neighbors, impact response latencies in word naming, visual lexical decision, and picture naming tasks. The results showed that graded phonological neighbors had differential impacts on lexical retrieval efficiency: distant (constituent-edit) neighbors facilitated word retrieval, while near (phoneme-, tone-edit and homophonic) neighbors had inhibitory effects. We discuss these findings within an interactive activation and competition framework and suggest future directions to study the representation and processing of the Mandarin phonological lexicon.

Temporal Characteristics of Infant Vocalization during Interaction with Adults

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the temporal characteristics of infant vocalizations during interactions with adults in natural home environments.Methods: One day LENA (Language ENvironment Analysis) recordings were collected from 20 infants aged 6 and 12 months. The collected data were analyzed by selecting 20 5-mintue intervals in the order of highest CTCs (conversational turn counts). In the analysis unit of turn-taking, interactions in which the infant responded within 0.05 seconds to 3 seconds after the adult spoke directly to the infant were regarded as one analysis unit. The temporal characteristics of infant vocalization during interactions with adults were examined through infants’ Vocalization response ratio. The temporal characteristics of infant vocalization in interactions with adults were examined by the after adults’ infant-directed speech (IDS), latency of vocalization response and overlapping vocalization ratio.Results: Infants’ Vocalization response ratio following IDS in adults did not differ significantly between the two age groups. Infants’ Vocalization response latencies increased significantly with age from 6 to 12 months. Overlapping vocalization ratio showed a significant decrease with increasing age.Conclusion: This study supports that as infants grow, they acquire temporal turn-taking skills. It also suggests that the temporal characteristics of infant vocalizations during interactions with adults may be a useful to predict infants’ language development.