DSpace Repository :: Browsing by Author "Kana, Rajesh K."

Browsing by Author "Kana, Rajesh K."

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Context Matters: Examining Differences in Pragmatic Language in Relation to Executive Functions and Context
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2022) May, Kaitlyn E.; Scofield, Jason; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Pragmatic rule understanding requires selective attention and inhibition of irrelevant stimuli in favor of the desired outcome, suggesting a potential role for executive functions (EF) in flexibly applying pragmatics skills (PS) differentially by social contexts. To specify the relationship between EF and PS, the current work examines whether preschooler's identification of pragmatic requirements varies by their EF level, or by group membership, age, or authority level of the speaker. Ninety-five 4- to 6-year-olds completed an EF battery, language battery, false belief task, and pragmatics violations task. For the pragmatics violation task, children saw members of different social groups commit various types of pragmatic violations. They then judged whether a pragmatic violation had occurred and, if applicable, the seriousness of the pragmatic violation. Results indicate that EF contributes indirectly to PS scores when age is controlled for, moderated by language and theory of mind (ToM) skills. Overall, children with higher EF better identified pragmatic violations compared to children with lower EF, with some differences for specific maxims. Additionally, the results suggest differences in leniency offered to group members based on not just what type of pragmatic violation they committed but who committed it. Conversely, children's seriousness judgments varied by maxim, but not EF. Collectively, this study provides evidence of the role of EF in PS during preschool, evidencing that EF may support interpretation of increasingly complex social scenarios. Second, this study demonstrates how these judgments differ by the pragmatic rule violated and characteristics of the individual committing violation. These findings will inform how EF may assist children in everyday social interactions and may provide insight into how children's use of EF differs by context.
Evidence for Maintained Post-Encoding Memory Consolidation Across the Adult Lifespan Revealed by Network Complexity
(MDPI, 2019) McDonough, Ian M.; Letang, Sarah K.; Erwin, Hillary B.; Kana, Rajesh K.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Memory consolidation is well known to occur during sleep, but might start immediately after encoding new information while awake. While consolidation processes are important across the lifespan, they may be even more important to maintain memory functioning in old age. We tested whether a novel measure of information processing known as network complexity might be sensitive to post-encoding consolidation mechanisms in a sample of young, middle-aged, and older adults. Network complexity was calculated by assessing the irregularity of brain signals within a network over time using multiscale entropy. To capture post-encoding mechanisms, network complexity was estimated using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during rest before and after encoding of picture pairs, and subtracted between the two rest periods. Participants received a five-alternative-choice memory test to assess associative memory performance. Results indicated that aging was associated with an increase in network complexity from pre- to post-encoding in the default mode network (DMN). Increases in network complexity in the DMN also were associated with better subsequent memory across all age groups. These findings suggest that network complexity is sensitive to post-encoding consolidation mechanisms that enhance memory performance. These post-encoding mechanisms may represent a pathway to support memory performance in the face of overall memory declines.
In Between Depression and Decline: the Role of Intra-Individual Cognitive Variation
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2024) Lin, Shih-Hsuan; Allen, Rebecca S.
Intra-individual cognitive variability (IICV) is defined as the variation in cognitive performance within an individual at a single assessment. In the application of neuropsychological assessment, high IICV has been found to predict cognitive decline and dementia incidence among older adults. However, the role of depression in this predictive relationship between IICV and cognitive decline has not been explored. The current proposal investigated this mediational relationship using a diverse, longitudinal, archival data set from the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center. The hypotheses included: 1) high IICV would predict low and steep cognitive and functional decline, 2) high depression would predict low and steep cognitive and functional decline, and 3) IICV would mediate the relationship between depression and decline, both cognitively and functionally. Furthermore, reliable cognitive and functional decline was calculated with the Reliable Change Index (RCI) to mirror the dichotomous clinical diagnostic decision. Growth curve modeling and logistic regressions were employed to examine the hypotheses for the continuous and the categorical cognition and functional variables with separate models reporting results accounting for missingness, study effects, as well as non-normal data correction. While the cognitive outcome is based on a composite score summarizing performances from multiple cognitive domains, functional outcome is assessed by a self-report questionnaire inquiring multiple domains of instrumental functionality. Missingness was associated with the trajectory of cognitive decline but did not change the results. Results supported the main effect of IICV and depression on cognitive and functional decline. The hypothesized mediation in which IICV mediated the relation between depression and cognition/ functionality was not well supported by the data. On the contrary, the reverse path wherein depression mediated cognition/ functionality was statistically significant. Results from the dichotomized cognitive variable were comparable. However, applying the RCI to functionality measures did not yield clinically meaningful results, suggesting possible methodological issues. On clinical assessment and diagnosis, findings supported the clinical use of IICV. Scientifically, this study contributed to the literature on depression and dementia. Limitations of the current study were noted and ways to improve upon them for future endeavors were suggested.
Motor resonance in adolescents and young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2011) Travers, Brittany Gail; Klinger, Mark R.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Motor resonance is motor activation that occurs in the body when one observes or thinks about movement. Motor resonance is thought to assist in automatic imitation, the development of language (i.e., watching others speak helps a person learn to move their mouth to form the words), the development of empathy (i.e., watching others get hurt makes a person automatically flinch), and the development of motor ability (i.e., watching someone ride a bike should help a person ride it later), all of which have been reported to be impaired in persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Thus, the phenomenon of motor resonance may relate in important ways to the social, language, affective, and motor atypicalities commonly observed in persons with ASD. The present study used social stimuli (e.g., videos of hand movements), nonsocial stimuli (e.g., videos of a tire spinning), and language stimuli (e.g., sentences about movement) to examine the presence of motor resonance in individuals with ASD. Tweny-six individuals with ASD and 26 age-and-IQ-matched individuals with typical development (between the ages of 16 and 30) completed a motor resonance computer game in which each video or sentence portrayed a clockwise or counter-clockwise movement. Participants were instructed to respond to the stimuli by rotating a joystick either clockwise or counter-clockwise in response to a colored square presented on the screen. Because motor resonance facilitates responses in the same direction as the observed movement (congruent condition) and inhibits responses in the opposite direction of the observed movement (incongruent condition), quicker congruent responses compared to incongruent responses indicate the presence of motor resonance. The results indicated that individuals with ASD demonstrated a similar pattern of motor resonance compared to individuals with typical development. However, the degree of motor resonance was negatively correlated with current social symptom severity of the ASD group, suggesting that those with more severe social ASD symptoms demonstrated less motor resonance. Contrary to hypotheses, motor resonance was not related to empathy in either group. However, postural sway in persons with ASD was related to both empathy and autism symptom severity.
Neural bases of implicit learning in young adults with asd and their parents
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2012) Klein, Christopher Lee; Klinger, Mark R.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
It is theorized that the implicit learning impairments seen in persons with ASD may be due to a more general underlying neural dysfunction evidenced by diminished activation in the basal ganglia, specifically the caudate nucleus, and diminished communication between areas of the brain in persons with ASD, specifically the caudate and medial temporal cortex. This study examined the relationship between implicit learning deficits in individuals with ASD and parents of persons with ASD and associated differences in brain activation. Twelve high-functioning children and adolescents with ASD and 17 age and verbal ability matched typically developing controls, 10 parents of participants with ASD, and 9 parents of typically developing participants completed an artificial grammar learning task while in an fMRI scanner. Behaviorally, participants with ASD showed significantly less grammar learning than typically developing participants. Additionally, parents of participants with ASD showed significantly less grammar learning than parents of typically developing participants. Activation analyses contrasting the neural response to grammatical versus nongrammatical stimuli revealed less activation in the areas of the anterior cingulate and caudate for participants with ASD compared to typically developing participants. Similar differences in these areas were also found in the parent groups. Results indicated that diminished activation in the caudate nucleus and cingulate cortex may underlie differences in implicit learning.
Neural responses to viewing human faces in autism spectrum disorder: A quantitative meta-analysis of two decades of research
(Pergamon, 2021) Ammons, Carla J.; Winslett, Mary-Elizabeth; Kana, Rajesh K.; University of Alabama Birmingham; Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA); Emory University; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
The human face communicates a wealth of socially relevant information such as person identity, emotion, and intention. A consistent behavioral finding in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is reduced attention to or difficulty drawing meaning from faces. However, neumimaging research into the neural correlates of face processing differences in ASD has returned mixed results. While many studies find hypo-activation or hypo-connectivity of core and extended face network regions, others show hyper-activation, equal activation, or even activation shifted to object-selective fusiform gyrus (FG) regions in ASD during face processing. This study consolidates two decades of literature to reveal common and consistent patterns of brain activation when viewing human faces in ASD. It also addresses whether face processing in ASD is routinely shifted to object-centric regions of the FG. To do so, we conducted an extensive search of the neuroimaging literature according to PRISMA guidelines. Peak activation coordinates from a final set of 23 studies, yielding a sample of 713 participants (338 ASD), were included for quantitative meta-analysis using Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE). ASD within-group results across studies revealed a single activation cluster in the left FG, which presented laterally to the mid-fusiform sulcus (MFS). Typically developing groups displayed common activations across core and extended face network regions. Exploratory analysis of between group findings from the literature did not yield significant results. Overall, our results suggest that individuals with ASD consistently activate at least one typical face network region, the left FG, when processing faces and this activation is not routinely shifted to object-centric areas of the FG.
Neural substrates of interpreting actions and emotions from body postures
(Oxford University Press, 2012) Kana, Rajesh K.; Travers, Brittany G.; University of Alabama Birmingham; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Accurately reading the body language of others may be vital for navigating the social world, and this ability may be influenced by factors, such as our gender, personality characteristics and neurocognitive processes. This fMRI study examined the brain activation of 26 healthy individuals (14 women and 12 men) while they judged the action performed or the emotion felt by stick figure characters appearing in different postures. In both tasks, participants activated areas associated with visual representation of the body, motion processing and emotion recognition. Behaviorally, participants demonstrated greater ease in judging the physical actions of the characters compared to judging their emotional states, and participants showed more activation in areas associated with emotion processing in the emotion detection task, whereas they showed more activation in visual, spatial and action-related areas in the physical action task. Gender differences emerged in brain responses, such that men showed greater activation than women in the left dorsal premotor cortex in both tasks. Finally, participants higher in self-reported empathy demonstrated greater activation in areas associated with self-referential processing and emotion interpretation. These results suggest that empathy levels and sex of the participant may affect neural responses to emotional body language.
Psychopathy, morality, and brain function in adolescence: a pilot study
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2016) Remmel, Rheanna Jane; Glenn, Andrea L.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Psychopathy is a serious psychological condition that has been associated with deficits in brain structure and functioning in adults, including altered functioning during the process of moral decision-making. Whether these same brain deficits are present in adolescents with psychopathic traits is not well understood. Using fMRI, the neural correlates of moral decision-making were examined in relation to psychopathic traits in youth. Whole brain analyses show that activity in a number of regions, including the temporal pole, postcentral gyrus, anterior cingulate, and middle frontal gyrus, while viewing moral images, was positively correlated with psychopathy scores measured using the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory. These results contradict previous findings in adults which have found decreased functioning in individuals with psychopathic traits in the orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala. These results suggest that there may be important differences in the neural correlates of psychopathy in adults and adolescents, and that it may be essential to consider the developmental changes that occur in the brain during adolescence to better understand the development of psychopathic traits.
The role of the broader autism phenotype in anxiety and depression in college-aged adults
(Frontiers, 2023) Kurtz, McKayla R.; Kana, Rajesh K.; Rivera, Daphne L.; Newman, Sharlene D.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa; Indiana University Bloomington
The current study examines the relationship between the presence of autistic traits and anxiety and mood disorders in young adults from different racial groups. A representative sample from a predominately white university (2,791 non-Hispanic White (NHW) and 185 Black students) completed the broad autism phenotype questionnaire (BAPQ), a measure of depression (Patient Health Questionnaire, PHQ-9), and anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder, GAD-7). Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to perform two multiple regression analyses to determine the association between race, BAPQ score and anxiety and depression symptoms. The current study found a stronger association between autistic traits had depression and anxiety symptoms in Black participants than did NHW participants. These findings underscore the association between autistic traits and anxiety and depression in Black communities, and the need for further studies on this topic area. Additionally, it highlights the importance of improving access to mental health care for this population.
Serving Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Age of COVID-19: Special Considerations for Rural Families
(Sage, 2023) Tomeny, Theodore S.; Hudac, Caitlin M.; Malaia, Evie A.; Morett, Laura M.; Tomeny, Kimberly R.; Watkins, Laci; Kana, Rajesh K.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
This position paper explores the needs of rural families of children, adolescents, and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during the age of COVID-19. Prior to COVID-19, literature portrays elevated stress in families of individuals with ASD and health and socioeconomic disparities for rural and underserved populations. These disparities were exacerbated due to COVID-19 and subsequent lockdowns and economic turmoil. Academic and adaptive skills training were particularly impacted due to school closures, with parents tasked with taking some responsibility for training these skills. Our goals for this article focus on special considerations for rural families regarding (a) neurobiological and developmental impacts of stressful experiences like COVID-19, (b) delineation of the impacts on individuals with ASD and other comorbid and related conditions, and (c) education and intervention needs during these times. Finally, we offer suggestions for future care during pandemic events, including recommendations for improving service delivery under such conditions.

Browsing by Author "Kana, Rajesh K."

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