Verbal Processing Research Articles

Presentation of Racial Discrimination: A Transitivity Analysis of Meghan Markle’s Interview at The Oprah Winfrey Show

The transitivity analysis of Meghan Markle’s interview at “The Oprah Winfrey Show” has been carried out to see how the experience of racial discrimination has been presented in language. It is descriptive-qualitative research where Hallidayan Transitivity Model, from SFG, has been employed to explore the meanings construed in utterances. SFG looks at the functions of language and transitivity deals with experiences narrated and conveyed through language. The analysis of the data reveals that the utterances construe an experience of racism as Meghan had a Black American identity. Her unborn child was mocked for his/her complexion, and was denied security, title, and an equal status in the Royal family. She also experienced bullying at the international level through international media and had to leave the UK. The most dominant processes found through the analysis are mental and verbal processes. The mental processes show that she understood, perceived, and therefore got affected by racism. The verbal clauses show that she was bullied, verbally, and questioned by the family. While the material and behavioural processes show her effective response towards racism and discrimination based on that racism, while the relational clauses identify it. The language is highly objective since circumstances are used thereby bringing validity and detail to her experiences.

중국의 비즈니스 광고와 공익 광고의 동성체계(Transitivity) 연구

Objectives The purpose of this paper is to compare the transitivity of business advertising language and public service advertising language in China from the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistics. Business advertising is a genre that aims to persuade consumers and is highly embedded with consumer sensibilities, while public service advertising is a genre that best reflects the social concerns and changes of an era or country.
 Methods According to SFL, there are six types of Process Types in the transitivity: material process, mental process, relational process, existential process, behavioral process, and verbal process. By analyzing Chinese advertising language according to the differences in process types, we can identify the characteristics of business advertising, the characteristics of public service advertising, the differences between business advertising and public service advertising, and the changes in the transitivity at the level of Chinese-Korean translation. Our findings on these issues are as follows.
 Results First, business advertising is characterized by a large number of material and mental processes. In particular, mental processes are more prevalent in advertising for alcohol, beverages, and food products. Due to the nature of the industry, advertising for alcohol, beverages, and food products mainly use the senses of sight and taste to recommend products to the audience. This is likely due to the fact that business advertisements use concise language to arouse consumers' desire to buy and generate profits for companies. Second, unlike the high use of mental processes in business advertising, they are very low in public service advertising, and material processes are most prevalent in public service advertising. The prevalence of material processes in public service advertising is likely due to the fact that they are related to the interests of the people as a whole and emphasize the communication purpose of persuasion and appeal to gain the cooperation of the general public. Third, we also examined the changes in the transitivity during the translation process from Chinese to Korean. By comparing the transitivity of the original and translated advertising, we found three types of changes: addition, reduction, and conversion. Through the presentation of major cases of translation variation, we examined the characteristics of each variation and the reasons for its occurrence.
 Conclusions The systematic functional linguistic characteristics of Chinese advertising derived from the above analyses would help readers to understand the characteristics of Chinese advertising language, and may also be helpful for those who study Chinese advertising language, develop Chinese slogans, or teach Chinese slogans.

Cognitive processes associated with working memory in children with developmental language disorder

The current study examined how individual differences in language, nonverbal, and attention abilities relate to working memory in children with developmental language disorder (DLD) relative to age-matched typically developing (TD) peers using an interference-based model of working memory as our theoretical framework. Our experimental paradigm involved varying the domain (verbal/nonverbal) of recall items and an interference processing task, testing effects of interference. We examined the relative importance of language, nonverbal, and attention skills in predicting working memory performance by using Bayesian leave-one-out cross-validation to compare models with varied combinations of these skills as predictors. We then statistically tested selected models. Selected models were similar between groups for nonverbal, but not verbal, working memory. Language, nonverbal, and attention skills were associated with performance regardless of whether the working memory task was verbal or nonverbal for the DLD group, yet only attention was associated with verbal working memory for the TD group. A broader set of cognitive processes was involved in verbal recall in children with DLD than in TD peers, potentially reflecting diminished specialization of cognitive processes underlying language. The interference-based model of working memory accounted for interrelationships among language, processing speed, and inhibition of interference, revealing new insights into verbal processing.

Transitivity and Context of The Situation in The News Text

This study aims to describe the study of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) about the transitivity process system and the state of the news text situation. The source of data in this study is the news text in the Indonesian textbook published in 2021 at the junior high school /MTs class VII level. Data collection is carried out by reading and recording. This research is a descriptive research with a qualitative approach. Based on the findings and analysis of the study, several conclusions can be made. First, researchers found transitivity consists of five types of processes, namely material processes, mental processes, relational processes, verbal processes, and existential processes. Second, participants consist of recipients or clients. Third, circumcision consists of range, location, way, cause, environment, problem, role, inclusion, view. Fourth, the context of the situation consists of the terrain of discourse, the involvement of discourse, and the means of discourse.

Понятийная организация технического знания как результат эволюции когнитивного семиозиса

The paper considers the problem of conceptual organization of technical knowledge and technical terminology, which is relevant for general terminology and the theory of a technical term, analyzes the classification parameters of the key typical types of technical knowledge concepts and also examines the processes of semiotization and verbalization of technical and technological knowledge, the functional and derivational-semiotic specifics of technical terms that function in a scientific and technical text. An interpretation of technical and technological terms of various structural organization is proposed as a verbalized result of the evolution of technical knowledge and cognitive semiosis. The aim of the research is to present the foundations for the formation of the conceptual and categorical basis of a technical terminological system and a terminological cluster. The scientific novelty of the research lies in identifying the parameters of the conceptual organization of verbalized technical knowledge in the terminological cluster “Engineering and Technology”. It is the first time that a conceptual classification of the technical and technological epistemological continuum has been developed and presented; single-component and multi-component “hybrid” terms, which act as material markers and the result of the cognitive semiosis evolution, have been identified and described as the core elements in a technical terminological cluster; in addition, the term “technical concept” has been characterized taking into account various aspects of its structure and content from the cognitive perspective on the basis of multivariate analysis. The results obtained made it possible to show the stages of conceptual development, the classification features of a technical concept and its functions, the conditions and methods for systematizing scientific and technical concepts representing various aspects of technical knowledge for the first time. The results of the study can contribute to further development of modern technical terminology, the theory of technical semiotization and verbalization of knowledge.

Neurocognitive function outcomes in NRG/RTOG 0534, the SPPORT trial.

12022 Background: RTOG 0534 established the benefit of adding of short term androgen deprivation therapy (PBRT+STADT, Arm 2) to prostate bed salvage radiotherapy (PBRT, Arm 1), and demonstrated that elective pelvic lymph node irradiation combined with STADT (PBRT+STADT+PLNRT, Arm 3) results in further reductions in progression. Longitudinal monitoring of neurocognitive function (NCF) was conducted to evaluate the hypothesis that patients treated with STADT will demonstrate greater decline in NCF compared to patients receiving PBRT alone. Methods: Patients were administered the Clinical Trial Battery [Hopkins Verbal Learning Test – Revised (HVLT-R), Trail Making Test (TMT), and the Controlled Oral Word Association (COWA) test] by certified test administrators at baseline, and at 6 weeks (6w), 1 year (1yr), and 5 years after the end of RT (5yr). Raw NCF tests scores were converted to standardized z-scores adjusted for age and education when necessary. Analyses included z-score change and reliable change index (RCI) determined decline compared to baseline, and longitudinal mixed effect regression models using z-scores. To control for multiplicity, p < 0.025 is required for statistical significance. Results: Among the 1716 analyzable patients, 429 consented to NCF monitoring. There were no significant differences in sociodemographic or clinical characteristics between arms. NCF test completion was 82, 76, 63 and 30% at baseline, 6w, 1yr, and 5yr, respectively. RCI-based NCF deterioration was more frequent in Arm 3 compared to Arm 1 at 6 weeks on Delayed Recall (16% vs. 7%, p = 0.023). Patients in Arm 3 evidenced greater z-score decline compared to patients in Arm 1 at 6w on HVLT-R Total Recall [M(SD) Z-score∆ = -0.1(1.0) vs 0.2(0.9), (p = 0.020)] and Delayed Recall [M(SD) Z-score∆ = -0.4(1.5) vs 0.1(1.2), (p = 0.012)]. Mixed effects models identified statistically significant differences in z-scores between Arm 3 and 1 at 6w on Delayed Recall [-0.541 (SE 0.178, p = 0.002)]. A statistically significant difference was observed between Arm 2 and 1 at 6w on TMTB [1.498 (SE 0.626, p = 0.017) favoring Arm 2]. Between arm differences were not seen at any other time point, or on other NCF outcomes. Conclusions: Compared to patients treated with PBRT alone, patients treated with PBRT+STADT+PLNRT exhibited greater worsening in episodic verbal learning and memory processes at 6 weeks after the end of RT, while patients treated with PBRT+STADT exhibited greater improvement in processing speed. The absence of long term or progressive cognitive decline associated with STADT-containing regimens is promising but limited by substantial missing data at year 5. FUNDING This project was supported by grants 10CA180868 (NRG Oncology Operations), U10CA180822 (NRG Oncology SDMC), CTEP from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Clinical trial information: NCT00567580 .

Transitivity and Modality Analysis of Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’s Speeches on Handling COVID-19

Speech is one of the communication media that can be used to convey certain ideas and intentions of the speaker. The current study aims to analyze the use of transitivity and modality in Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’s speeches on handling COVID-19 and interpret their meanings. Data comprises the transcripts of two speeches delivered at the media briefing on COVID-19 on 11 March 2020 and 1 April 2021 available on the World Health Organization website (www.who.int). The transcripts were then examined and evaluated using Halliday’s (1994) transitivity theory and Halliday's (1994) and Lock’s (1996) modality theories. The results reveal that the speeches made use of material, relational, mental, behavioral, verbal, and existential processes of transitivity, as well as potentiality/ability, obligation, usuality, inclination, and probability of modality. Depending on the contexts of speech, the use of transitivity and modality indicates certain interpretations of meaning. Moreover, this study contributes best practices to health socialization during the pandemic and gives a great impact on the public’s better understanding of how to properly handle COVID-19.

Representing Processes in Toni Morrison's "Sula": A Critical Stylistic Analysis

Ideology is not confined to news articles, political debates and speeches, or even promotional advertisements, it can be found in all types of texts, including literary texts. Literary language has become one of the most effective techniques used by writers to convey a sublime rhetorically-oriented message or an idea to readers. Although Toni Morrison is one of the most renowned authors of fiction in today's world, yet only a small number of studies have addressed her novels from a linguistic perspective. Hence, the study in hand aims to examine how the exploitation of linguistic resources—verbs, in particular—helps to construct certain ideologies. The study applies one of Jeffries' (2010) tools of analysis, namely 'Representing Actions/Events/States', informed by Simpson's (2004) framework of the transitivity system. The type and frequency of the verbal process and the linguistic context in which those processes are produced construct different identities for the character in question.

How to get more views

Abstract The study aims to examine how the interactional and interactive linguistic aspects are utilized to qualify the discoursal propositions of Arabic clickbaits to secure viewers’ responsive clicks to thumbnails. To this end, one hundred Arabic YouTube clickbait headlines were selected from five Arabic channels that are owned by independent unofficial entertainment institutions. The data came from a period of one year covering 2021. The data covered different domains such as crafts, sports, entertainment, and science. To examine how the headlines are constructed, we drew on two complementary theoretical frameworks, namely, Machin and Mayer’s (2012) framework of verbal processes and participants, and Hyland’s (2005) interactional and interactive meta-discourse framework. It was found that clickbait creators structured their texts interactionally using more enticing attitude and engagement markers, and self-mentions to emphasize a closer relationship with the viewers so as to persuade them to click the baits. This tendency was further heightened by the frequent use of interactive compositional selections attained by deliberately leaving parts of the headlines opaque realized by the frequent use of consecutive dots, cataphoric markers, and viewer-attitude connective signals. Likewise, the discoursal process selection has never been neutral, as clickbait writers frequently used negative mental and material processes to spark viewers’ curiosity to react and click the bait. YouTube clickbait headlines can have the effect of frustrating viewers and/or decreasing their satisfaction. Thus, this research will hopefully contribute to the detection and isolation of clickbaits as a step required to raise viewers’ awareness of the enticing headlines and as a further step to demote them.

Identity Formation Through Verbal Processes in Toni Morrison's "Beloved"

لا ينحصر وجود المعتقدات أو الأفكار التي يشاطرها مجتمع معين ، والمعروفة ب "الإيديولوجية" على أنواع معينة من النصوص، كالمقالات الإخبارية أو الخطب أو المناظرات السياسية، أو حتى الإعلانات التجارية ؛ بل يمكن أن يتعدى ذلك إلى جميع أنواع النصوص، سواء كانت تلك النصوص أدبية أو غير أدبية. فقد أصبح الأدب على مر التاريخ أحد أكثر الوسائل الكتاب فاعلية للتعبير عن رسالة أو فكرة بلاغية ذات دلالة معينة وإيصالها للجمهور. تم أخذ عينة الدراسة الحالية من الرواية الخيالية والمعنونة "بِلُڤد". على الرغم من حقيقة أن رواية "بِلُڤد" هي من تأليف الروائية طوني موريسون ، والتي تعد واحدة من أبرز كتاب روايات الخيال في عصرنا، إلا أن قلة قليلة من المختصين في هذا المجال قد تناولوا رواياتها من وجهة نظر لغوية. وبناءً على ذلك ، تهدف الدراسة الحالية إلى التحقق من كيفية مساهمة استخدام الموارد اللغوية ، والأفعال تحديداً ، في رسم هوية الشخصية الرئيسية ، "سيث". اعتمادا على نموذج سيمبسون (2004) للتعددية الفعلية ، استخدمت الدراسة واحدة من الوظائف المفاهيمية النصية الخاصة للأسلوبية النقدية الخاص بالمؤلفة جيفريز (2010) ، والمسماة ب 'تمثيل الأفعال ذات النشاط الجسدي/الأفعال التي تصف الأحداث /الأفعال التي تصف حالة ما' لتحليل البيانات. وخلصت الدراسة إلى أنه هناك صور مختلفة تم رسمها للشخصية محل البحث. وقد وجدت الدراسة أيضًا أن السياق اللغوي الذي يتم فيه إصدار تلك الأفعال لا يقل أهمية عن عدد ونوع العمليات الفعلية والمشاركين في تلك العمليات في بناء هوية سيث.

“And Jesus began to teach”: A Transitivity Analysis of The Parable of the Sower

Religious discourse offers significant value for linguistic analysis. Functional analysis of religious texts provides a lexico-semantic approach to interpreting these discourses, though it remains underexplored in the literature. To fill this gap, the study undertook a functional analysis of the Parable of the Sower within the framework of transitivity. A mixed-method approach was employed. The text was taken from the Modern English Version (MEV) (Mark 4:1-20). The process types and their participants and the worldview of the parable were analysed within the framework. The material process type dominated the text, occurring 42 times. This was followed by the relational, mental, verbal and behavioural process types. The actor participant dominated the data. The text is highly action-oriented with the world of the text concerned with happenings, movements and tangible actions. The worldview of the parable could be described as: the nature of Christians upon receiving the word and instructions towards bearing fruits. Enthusiasm, materialism, double-minded and being stressed characterize the nature of Christians upon receiving the word while commitment, focus, steadfastness and faithfulness represent the instructions towards seed bearing. The textual and interpersonal metafunctions of language should be employed to consolidate the findings presented in this paper.

A Transitivity Analysis of Two Political Articles: An Investigation of Gender Variations in Political Media Discourse

The purpose of the present study is to use transitivity analysis to investigate gender variations in political media discourse from the point of view of male and female columnists. To attain this purpose, this paper adopts a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of Halliday’s theory of transitivity process types. Literature shows that gender variation is one of the key elements affecting language. However, variation in gender studies, particularly in article writing, has not been recently addressed in relation to transitivity analysis. To scrutinize types of transitivity involving material, mental, relational, verbal, existential, and behavioral processes, qualitative and quantitative methods were deployed to achieve a deep understanding of transitivity process types. Paired Sample T-Test has also been employed to investigate whether there is a significant difference in gender variations pertaining to frequencies of process types of transitivity. The results revealed that the material process has been the most frequent process used by female and male political columnists and has highly dominated the discourse in both articles. In addition, the finding showed that there is no significant difference in gender variations pertaining to the frequencies of process types of transitivity. Analyzing participants’ roles and circumstances elements could provide more pertinent data for further research.

The interrelatedness of cognitive abilities in very preterm and full-term born children at 5.5 years of age: a psychometric network analysis approach.

Very preterm (VP) birth is associated with a considerable risk for cognitive impairment, putting children at a disadvantage in academic and everyday life. Despite lower cognitive ability on the group level, there are large individual differences among VP born children. Contemporary theories define intelligence as a network of reciprocally connected cognitive abilities. Therefore, intelligence was studied as a network of interrelated abilities to provide insight into interindividual differences. We described and compared the network of cognitive abilities, including strength of interrelations between and the relative importance of abilities, of VP and full-term (FT) born children and VP children with below-average and average-high intelligence at 5.5 years. A total of 2,253 VP children from the EPIPAGE-2 cohort and 578 FT controls who participated in the 5.5-year-follow-up were eligible for inclusion. The WPPSI-IV was used to measure verbal comprehension, visuospatial abilities, fluid reasoning, working memory, and processing speed. Psychometric network analysis was applied to analyse the data. Cognitive abilities were densely and positively interconnected in all networks, but the strength of connections differed between networks. The cognitive network of VP children was more strongly interconnected than that of FT children. Furthermore, VP children with below average IQ had a more strongly connected network than VP children with average-high IQ. Contrary to our expectations, working memory had the least central role in all networks. In line with the ability differentiation hypothesis, children with higher levels of cognitive ability had a less interconnected and more specialised cognitive structure. Composite intelligence scores may therefore mask domain-specific deficits, particularly in children at risk for cognitive impairments (e.g., VP born children), even when general intelligence is unimpaired. In children with strongly and densely connected networks, domain-specific deficits may have a larger overall impact, resulting in lower intelligence levels.

Religious Narratives during the Pandemic: Transitivity Analysis of Covid-19 Hoax Discourse on Indonesian Social Media

Many studies have been carried out on religious narratives that go hand in hand with the Covid-19 pandemic, but only focus on religious authority, religious attitudes and behavior, and the contributions of religious leaders. In fact, the religious dimension in the Covid-19 hoax circle is a form of social practice that contains a dialectical process. This article aims to reveal the hidden dialectical process in the lingual features of the Covid-19 hoax through Halliday’s transitivity analysis. This descriptive qualitative research data is in the form of lingual elements in the Covid-19 hoax content related to religious issues. Data was collected using documentation techniques on four website pages to fact-check Covid-19 news published throughout 2020-2021. Data collection was carried out by going through the stages of reading and observing, sorting, storing and printing, rereading, and determining research subjects. The data is then analyzed by taking the data reduction stage; display data; conclusion, and verification. The results showed that of the 121 data used as a corpus, 6 types of transitivity processes were found, namely (1) material processes, (2) mental processes, (3) relational processes, (4) verbal processes, (5) behavioral processes, and (6) existential process. The research findings provide a new perspective on the tendency of discourse producers to construct narratives about Covid-19 and religious issues. The research findings will have implications for efforts to educate the public about hoax issues around Covid-19. With the description of the exploitation of religious issues, it is hoped that the community will be aware and able to think critically in digesting information.

BACKGROUND EEG ACTIVITY MEDIATES ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN BDNF-VAL66MET POLYMORPHISM AND MEMORY DURING AGING

Significant heterogeneity in cognitive aging is explained by the influence of both genetic and environmental factors. BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) is a neurotropic factor involved in the processes of plasticity in the mature brain. Val66Met polymorphism is a functional polymorphism of the BDNF gene, which determines its association with the architectonics and functions of the brain and the efficiency of cognitive functions. The aim of this study was to identify the aging-related features of the relationship between Val66Met polymorphism and the efficiency of verbal memory processes, determined in the dichotic test, as well as with the background oscillatory activity of the brain, recorded with eyes closed in 52 EEG leads. The study involved 235 right-handed young Caucasians (YA, mean age 21.65 years, SD = 3.18) and 141 older (OA, 64.37 years, SD = 6.04). Genetic differences in memory parameters and endophenotypes of EEG activity were found only in OA individuals. In dichotic testing, subjects with the Val/Val genotype reproduced fewer words from the right ear compared to carriers of the Met allele. When analyzing the EEG, genetic differences were found in the focal indicators of asymmetry in the power of the delta, theta, beta 1 and 2 rhythms, and were due to the greater power of the rhythms in the central temporal sections of the right hemisphere compared to the left hemisphere in Val/Val, with the opposite ratio in carriers of the Met allele. For the beta 2 rhythm, similar differences in asymmetry were also characteristic of the parietal-occipital regions of the hemispheres. It was found that indicators of central temporal asymmetry are mediators in the association between BDNF gene polymorphism and memory efficiency. The data obtained for the first time show age-related differences in the effects of the Val/Met BDNF polymorphism on the efficiency of verbal memory and EEG power and suggest possible relationships between these genotype-associated parameters.

Associations between the Efficiency of Hemispheric Verbal Memory Processes and the BDNF Val66Met Polymorphism in Men and Women

Associations between the Efficiency of Hemispheric Verbal Memory Processes and the BDNF Val66Met Polymorphism in Men and Women

How Do Assimilation and Accommodation Occur in The Translation Process of Representation?

This study aims to describe the translation process of representation in mathematics education students’ solving of mathematical problems in the form of graphs. The translation process involves four activities: unpacking the source, preliminary coordination, constructing the target, and determining equivalence. The study was conducted on 65 students who took Calculus at three different universities in East Java Province, Indonesia. Research data in the form of answers to mathematical problems, video recordings, and interviews were analyzed based on the activity of the translation process within the accommodation and assimilation framework. Based on data analysis, the characteristics of the representation translation process are obtained in three categories, namely the symbolic-algebraic translation process (SA), the verbal translation process (V), and the symbolic-conceptual translation process (SC). When “unpacking the source” and “preliminary coordination,” SA looks difficult, so it changes the equations and graphs for completion several times. V verbally smoothly performs four translational process activities. However, subject V has doubts about the graph made after reading the question back. SC uses graph equations until it finds a solution in the form of a graph. However, after reflection, SC resolves the problem with the theory of monotony. It is important for the future teacher to understand the translation process of representation, especially given the difficulty students have solving mathematical problems. Prospective teachers are expected to be able to develop meaningful learning with various forms of representation so that students can connect their concepts to problem solving.

Effects of Nordic walking in Alzheimer’s disease: A single-blind randomized controlled clinical trial

Non-pharmacological approaches, including exercise programs, have been proposed to improve cognitive function and behavioral symptoms, such as depression, agitation, or aggression, in the management of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Indeed, physical inactivity is one of the main modifiable risk factors in patients with AD, as well as in the development of cardiovascular diseases and related pathologies.Although Nordic Walking (NW), a particular type of aerobic exercise, is known to benefit the health of aging populations, there is little evidence that patients with AD may benefit from this non-pharmacological treatment. In this context, we performed a pilot study in 30 patients with mild/moderate AD to evaluate whether NW influences different cognitive domains, including executive functions, visual-spatial abilities, and verbal episodic memory. To this aim, 15 patients (Control group, CG) underwent reality orientation therapy, music therapy, motor, proprioceptive and postural rehabilitation, and 15 patients (experimental group, EG) in addition to the activities performed by the CG also had the NW with a frequency of twice a week. Neuropsychological assessments and evaluations of daily activities and quality of life were performed at baseline and after 24 weeks. Twenty-two patients, including 13 in the CG and nine in the EG completed the activity program after 24 weeks. The EG showed a significant improvement in the Frontal Assessment Battery, Rey's auditory Verbal Learning Test Delayed Recall, Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices, and completion time for the Stroop Word-Color Interference test, compared to the CG. NW was able to improve cognitive domains like visual-spatial reasoning abilities, verbal episodic memory, selective attention, and processing speed in AD patients. These results, if confirmed by further studies with a larger number of patients and a longer training period, may prospect NW as a safe and likely useful strategy to slow down cognitive impairment in mild/moderate AD.

Cognitive and Behavioral Outcome of Pediatric Low-Grade Central Nervous System Tumors Treated Only with Surgery: A Single Center Experience.

The present mono-institutional report aimed to describe the cognitive and behavioral outcomes of low-grade central nervous system (CNS) tumors in a cohort of children treated exclusively with surgical intervention. Medical records from 2000-2020 were retrospectively analyzed. We included 38 children (mean age at first evaluation 8 years and 3 months, 16 females) who had undergone presurgical cognitive-behavioral evaluation and/or at least 6 months follow-up. Exclusion criteria were a history of traumatic brain injury, stroke, cerebral palsy or cancer-predisposing syndromes. The sample presented cognitive abilities and behavioral functioning in the normal range, with weaknesses in verbal working memory and processing speed. The obtained results suggest that cognitive and behavioral functioning is related to pre-treatment variables (younger age at symptoms' onset, glioneuronal histological type, cortical location with preoperative seizures), timing of surgery and seizure control after surgery, and is stable when controlling for a preoperative cognitive and behavioral baseline. Younger age at onset is confirmed as a particular vulnerability in determining cognitive sequelae, and children at older ages or at longer postsurgical follow-up are at higher risk for developing behavioral disturbances. Timely treatment is an important factor influencing the global outcome and daily functioning of the patients. Preoperative and regular postsurgical cognitive and behavioral assessment, also several years after surgery, should be included in standard clinical practices.

The effectiveness of family-centered sensory motor empowerment program on intellectual capacity of students with Down syndrome

Introduction: The limitations and challenges faced by children with Down syndrome are primarily attributed to their cognitive abilities. A comprehensive review of the available evidence indicates that timely family-centered interventions are the most effective approach to addressing these issues. Aim: The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of a family-centered sensory motor empowerment program on the intellectual capacity of students diagnosed with Down syndrome. Method: The research method employed in this study was semi-experimental, utilizing a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The population of interest was all students diagnosed with Down syndrome in Kashan city during the 2021-2022 academic year. A convenience sampling method was used to select 30 participants, aged between 8 and 12 years, who were assigned to either the experimental or control group. The experimental group underwent an intervention consisting of 11 weekly sessions, with each session lasting for 2 hours. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (2003) was used as the primary assessment tool. The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 26.0 and MANCOVA was employed as the statistical analysis technique. Results: Based on the results, the family-centered sensory motor empowerment program demonstrated a statistically significant increase in the total intellectual capacity score (P<0.01), as well as in subscales of verbal comprehension (P<0.03), working memory (P<0.01), and processing speed (P<0.01). However, the program had no significant impact on the perceptual reasoning subscale (P>0.30). Conclusion: In conclusion, the findings suggest that the family-centered sensory motor empowerment program can enhance the intellectual capacity of children with Down syndrome by strengthening their sensory and motor abilities, as well as improving their relationships with family members. Therefore, this intervention can be recommended as a viable approach to increasing the intellectual capacity in this population.