背景:神经发育障碍(NDD)导致个体难以学习事实,程序,或社交技能。NDD与几个基因有关,和一些动物模型已被用来识别潜在的治疗候选基于特定的学习范式的长期和联想记忆。在患有NDD的个体中,然而,到目前为止还没有使用这种测试,导致在将临床前结果转化为临床实践方面存在差距。
目的:我们的目的是评估NDD患者是否可以进行配对联想学习和长期记忆缺陷测试,如以前的动物模型所示。
方法:我们开发了一个基于图像的配对关联任务,可以使用基于Web的远程测试在不同的时间点执行,并评估了其在典型发育(TD)儿童中的可行性,以及NDD。我们包括2个任务:作为更简单的任务的对象识别和配对关联。训练后立即测试学习,第二天也进行长期记忆测试。
结果:我们发现,年龄在5-14岁的TD(n=128)和不同类型的NDD(n=57)的儿童可以使用记忆游戏完成测试。患有NDD的儿童在学习的第一天表现出识别和配对联想任务的缺陷,在5-9岁(分别为P<.001和P=.01)和10-14岁组(分别为P=.001和P<.001)中。TD或NDD个体对刺激的反应时间没有显着差异。与5-9岁组的TD儿童相比,NDD儿童的识别任务表现出更快的24小时记忆衰减。这种趋势对于配对的关联任务是相反的。有趣的是,我们发现,在10~14岁时,患有NDD的儿童的认知度得到改善,并与通常发育中的个体相匹配.与TD组相比,NDD组在10-14岁的配对关联任务中的保留缺陷也有所改善。
结论:我们表明,使用简单图片关联的基于网络的学习测试对于TD儿童是可行的,以及NDD。我们展示了基于网络的测试如何让我们训练孩子学习图片之间的关联,如即时测试结果和1天后完成的测试结果所示。这很重要,因为许多NDD学习缺陷模型都针对短期和长期记忆进行治疗干预。我们还证明,尽管存在潜在的混杂因素,例如自我报告的诊断偏见,技术问题,和不同的参与,记忆游戏显示典型发育中的儿童与NDD儿童之间存在显着差异。未来的实验将利用基于网络的测试的这种潜力,用于更大的队列,并与其他临床或临床前认知任务进行交叉验证。
BACKGROUND: Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) cause individuals to have difficulty in learning facts, procedures, or social skills. NDD has been linked to several genes, and several animal models have been used to identify potential therapeutic candidates based on specific learning paradigms for long-term and associative memory. In individuals with NDD, however, such testing has not been used so far, resulting in a gap in translating preclinical results to clinical practice.
OBJECTIVE: We aim to assess if individuals with NDD could be tested for paired association learning and long-term memory deficit, as shown in previous animal models.
METHODS: We developed an image-based paired association task, which can be performed at different time points using remote web-based testing, and evaluated its feasibility in children with typical development (TD), as well as NDD. We included 2 tasks: object
recognition as a simpler task and paired association. Learning was tested immediately after training and also the next day for long-term memory.
RESULTS: We found that children aged 5-14 years with TD (n=128) and with NDD of different types (n=57) could complete testing using the Memory Game. Children with NDD showed deficits in both
recognition and paired association tasks on the first day of learning, in both 5-9-year old (P<.001 and P=.01, respectively) and 10-14-year old groups (P=.001 and P<.001, respectively). The reaction times to stimuli showed no significant difference between individuals with TD or NDD. Children with NDD exhibited a faster 24-hour memory decay for the
recognition task than those with TD in the 5-9-year old group. This trend is reversed for the paired association task. Interestingly, we found that children with NDD had their retention for
recognition improved and matched with typically developing individuals by 10-14 years of age. The NDD group also showed improved retention deficits in the paired association task at 10-14 years of age compared to the TD group.
CONCLUSIONS: We showed that web-based learning testing using simple picture association is feasible for children with TD, as well as with NDD. We showed how web-based testing allows us to train children to learn the association between pictures, as shown in immediate test results and those completed 1 day after. This is important as many models for learning deficits in NDD target both short- and long-term memory for therapeutic intervention. We also demonstrated that despite potential confounding factors, such as self-reported diagnosis bias, technical issues, and varied participation, the Memory Game shows significant differences between typically developing children and those with NDD. Future experiments will leverage this potential of web-based testing for larger cohorts and cross-validation with other clinical or preclinical cognitive tasks.