OBJECTIVE: Studies on adolescent alcohol use and cognition are often unable to separate the potential causal effects of alcohol use on cognition from shared etiological influences, including genetic influences or other substance use comorbidities also known to be associated with cognition, such as nicotine use. The present study aimed to fill this gap and clarify the relationship between adolescent alcohol use and young adult cognition by accounting for both measured and unmeasured confounders.
METHODS: A random effects model accounting for nesting in families was used to control for measured confounders. Next, co-twin comparisons were conducted within the full sample and in monozygotic twin pairs (MZ) to control for unmeasured genetic and environmental confounders shared by co-twins.
METHODS: Participants were 812 individuals (58.6% female, 361 complete pairs, 146 MZ pairs) from the longitudinal FinnTwin12 study in Finland.
METHODS: Adolescent alcohol use was indexed with measures of frequency of use and intoxication averaged across ages 14 and 17. Cognitive outcomes were measured at average age 22 and included Trail Making Test, California Stroop test, Wechsler Adult Intelligence subtests (Vocabulary, Block Design, Digit Symbol), Digit Span subtest of Wechsler Memory Scale, Mental Rotation Test and Object Location Memory test. Covariates included sex, parental education, general cognitive ability, current alcohol use and nicotine use.
RESULTS: Greater frequency of alcohol use and frequency of intoxication across adolescence was associated with decreased vocabulary scores in the co-twin control [freq: stnd beta = -0.12, 95% confidence interval (CI) = -0.234, -0.013] and MZ only co-twin control models (freq: stnd beta = -0.305, 95% CI = -0.523, -0.087; intox: stnd beta = -0.301, 95% CI = -0.528, -0.074).
CONCLUSIONS: In Finland, there appears to be little evidence that adolescent alcohol use causes cognitive deficits in young adulthood, except modest evidence for association of higher adolescent alcohol use with lower young adult vocabulary scores.

OBJECTIVE: The authors evaluated the impact of the timing of epilepsy surgery on postoperative neurocognitive outcomes in a cohort of children followed in the multiinstitutional Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) Autism Center of Excellence Research Network (TACERN) study.
METHODS: Twenty-seven of 159 patients in the TACERN cohort had drug-refractory epilepsy and underwent surgery. Ages at surgery ranged from 15.86 to 154.14 weeks (median 91.93 weeks). Changes in patients\' first preoperative (10-58 weeks) to last postoperative (155-188 weeks) scores on three neuropsychological tests-the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL), the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, 2nd edition (VABS-2), and the Preschool Language Scales, 5th edition (PLS-5)-were calculated. Pearson correlation and multivariate linear regression models were used to correlate test outcomes separately with age at surgery and duration of epilepsy prior to surgery. Analyses were separately conducted for patients whose seizure burdens decreased postoperatively (n = 21) and those whose seizure burdens did not (n = 6). Regression analysis was specifically focused on the 21 patients who achieved successful seizure control.
RESULTS: Age at surgery was significantly negatively correlated with the change in the combined verbal subtests of the MSEL (R = -0.45, p = 0.039) and predicted this score in a multivariate linear regression model (β = -0.09, p = 0.035). Similar trends were seen in the total language score of the PLS-5 (R = -0.4, p = 0.089; β = -0.12, p = 0.014) and in analyses examining the duration of epilepsy prior to surgery as the independent variable of interest. Associations between age at surgery and duration of epilepsy prior to surgery with changes in the verbal subscores of VABS-2 were more variable (R = -0.15, p = 0.52; β = -0.05, p = 0.482).
CONCLUSIONS: Earlier surgery and shorter epilepsy duration prior to surgery were associated with greater improvement in postoperative language in patients with TSC. Prospective or comparative effectiveness clinical trials are needed to further elucidate surgical timing impacts on neurocognitive outcomes.

Objective: Research demonstrates that college educated, English language dominant bilinguals underperform relative to English speaking monolinguals on tests of verbal ability. We investigated whether accepting responses in their two languages would reveal improved performance in bilinguals, and whether such improvement would be of sufficient magnitude to demonstrate the same performance level as monolinguals. Method: Participants were college students attending the same university. Spanish-English bilinguals were compared to English speaking monolinguals on the Bilingual Verbal Ability Tests (BVAT), which include Picture Vocabulary, Oral Vocabulary, and Verbal Analogies. Results: When given the opportunity to respond in Spanish to items failed in English, bilinguals obtained significantly higher scores on all three subtests, and their performance matched that of monolinguals on Oral Vocabulary and Verbal Analogies. Conclusion: An \"either-language\" scoring approach may enable optimal measurement of verbal abilities in bilinguals. We provide normative data for use in applying the either-language scoring approach on subtests of the BVAT. We discuss the findings in the context of clinical assessment.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition frequently associated with structural cerebellar abnormalities. Whether cerebellar grey matter volumes (GMV) are linked to verbal impairments remains controversial. Here, the association between cerebellar GMV and verbal abilities in ASD was examined across the lifespan. Lobular segmentation of the cerebellum was performed on structural MRI scans from the ABIDE I dataset in male individuals with ASD (N=144, age: 8.5-64.0 years) and neurotypical controls (N=188; age: 8.0-56.2 years). Stepwise linear mixed effects modeling including group (ASD vs. neurotypical controls), lobule-wise GMV, and age was performed to identify cerebellar lobules which best predicted verbal abilities as measured by verbal IQ (VIQ). An age-specific association between VIQ and GMV of bilateral Crus II was found in ASD relative to neurotypical controls. In children with ASD, higher VIQ was associated with larger GMV of left Crus II but smaller GMV of right Crus II. By contrast, in adults with ASD, higher VIQ was associated with smaller GMV of left Crus II and larger GMV of right Crus II. These findings indicate that relative to the contralateral hemisphere, an initial reliance on the language-nonspecific left cerebellar hemisphere is offset by more typical right-lateralization in adulthood.

The main aim of this study, with two repeated measurements, was to analyze the development of autobiographical memory in a sample of 78 Spanish participants at ages 5 (Time 1; M = 62.43 months, range: 50-74 months) and 12 (Time 2; M = 142.71 months, range: 132-155 months). Data were collected on autobiographical memory and verbal functions. We analyzed the relation between language and autobiographical memory specificity from a longitudinal perspective and assessed the indirect effect of vocabulary in the relationship between age and specific memory at both temporal moments. The results showed that language skills were positively related with autobiographical memory specificity at preschool age, but not at the second measurement. Furthermore, vocabulary scores appear to mediate the relationship between age and autobiographical specificity when children are in the preschool years, but not later. These findings agree with previous research that consider preschool age to be a crucial period for the development of autobiographical memory and its relations with language, but once basic command of language is acquired, linguistic differences impact much less on individual differences in autobiographical specificity.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is defined as a neurodevelopmental disorder largely investigated in the neurologic field. Recently, neuroimaging studies have been conducted in order to investigate cerebral morphologic alterations in ASD patients, demonstrating an atypical brain development before the clinical manifestations of the disorder. Cortical Thickness (CT) and Local Gyrification Index (LGI) distribution for ASD children were investigated in this study, with the aim to evaluate possible relationship between brain measures and individual characteristics (i.e., IQ and verbal ability). 3D T1-w sequences from 129 ASD and 58 age-matched Healthy Controls (HC) were acquired and processed in order to assess CT and LGI for each subject. Intergroup differences between ASD and HC were investigated, including analyses of 2 ASD subgroups, split according to patient verbal ability and IQ. When compared to HC, ASD showed increased CT and LGI within several brain areas, both as an overall group and as verbal ability an IQ subgroups. Moreover, when comparing language characteristics of the ASD subjects, those patients with verbal ability exhibit significant CT and LGI increase was found within the occipital lobe of right hemisphere. No significant results occurred when comparing ASD patients according to their IQ value. These results support the hypothesis of abnormal brain maturation in ASD since early childhood with differences among clinical subgroups suggesting different anatomical substrates underlying an aberrant connectivity.

Research about the Flynn effect, the secular rise in IQ, is heavily based on conscript data from successive male birth cohorts. This inevitably means that two distinct phenomena are mixed: fertility differences by IQ group (\'compositional Flynn effect\'), and any difference between parents and children (\'within-family Flynn effect\'). Both will influence trends in cognitive ability. We focused on the latter phenomenon, exploring changes in cognitive abilities during adolescence within one generation, and between two successive generations within the same family. We identified determinants and outcomes in three linked generations in the Stockholm Multigenerational Study. School and conscript data covered logical/numerical and verbal scores for mothers at age 13, fathers at 13 and 18, and their sons at 18. Raw scores, and change in raw scores, were used as outcomes in linear regressions. Both parents\' abilities at 13 were equally important for sons\' abilities at 18. Boys from disadvantaged backgrounds caught up with other boys during adolescence. Comparing fathers with sons, there appeared to be a positive Flynn effect in logical/numeric and verbal abilities. This was larger if the father had a working-class background or many siblings. A Flynn effect was only visible in families where the father had low general cognitive ability at 18. We conclude that there is a general improvement in logical/numeric and verbal skills from one generation to the next, primarily based on improvement in disadvantaged families. The Flynn effect in Sweden during the later 20th century appears to represent a narrowing between social categories.

Using spatial cues such as shape, orientation, and pattern aids visuospatial working memory because it allows strategies that reduce the load on this cognitive resource. One such strategy, namely taking advantage of patterned spatial distributions, remains understudied to date. This strategy demands keeping track of already-searched locations and excluding them from further search and so correlates with visuospatial working memory. The use of such strategies should, in principle, develop in early childhood, but because most studies focus on chunking, the development of other strategies reducing the load on working memory is understudied in young children. Therefore, in this study we tested whether children aged 2 to 4.5 years (N = 97) could take advantage of spatial cues in their search and whether this ability correlated with their age, verbal ability, and visuospatial working memory. The results showed that the ability to use a patterned spatial distribution (searching a row of locations from one side to the other instead of a random search) significantly improved with visuospatial working memory but not with age or verbal ability. These results suggest that visuospatial abilities may rapidly develop from 2 to 4.5 years of age, and given their impact on later mathematic achievement, demand increased attention in cognitive developmental research and early childhood education.

Williams syndrome (WS) is a rare genetic syndrome. As with all rare syndromes, obtaining adequately powered sample sizes is a challenge. Here we present legacy data from seven UK labs, enabling the characterisation of cross-sectional and longitudinal developmental trajectories of verbal and non-verbal development in the largest sample of individuals with WS to-date. In Study 1, we report cross-sectional data between N = 102 and N = 209 children and adults with WS on measures of verbal and non-verbal ability. In Study 2, we report longitudinal data from N = 17 to N = 54 children and adults with WS who had been tested on at least three timepoints on these measures. Data support the WS characteristic cognitive profile of stronger verbal than non-verbal ability, and shallow developmental progression for both domains. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal data demonstrate steeper rates of development in the child participants than the adolescent and adults in our sample. Cross-sectional data indicate steeper development in verbal than non-verbal ability, and that individual differences in the discrepancy between verbal and non-verbal ability are largely accounted for by level of intellectual functioning. A diverging developmental discrepancy between verbal and non-verbal ability, whilst marginal, is not mirrored statistically in the longitudinal data. Cross-sectional and longitudinal data are discussed with reference to validating cross-sectional developmental patterns using longitudinal data and the importance of individual differences in understanding developmental progression.

Children who experience household dysfunction often report more developmental problems and lower educational attainment. A question, however, is whether these lower outcomes are caused by the household dysfunction itself, or by other (pre-existing) factors, such as growing up in poverty. Based on the extended family stress model, we derived hypotheses on the consequences of household dysfunction for child development. Furthermore, we considered the mediating and moderating role of parents\' financial resources in the impact of household dysfunction on children\'s development. We studied these relationships while rigorously accounting for differential selection into experiencing household dysfunction using data from the British Millennium Cohort Study and employing descriptive and fixed-effects analyses. We found that children who experienced household dysfunction after age 5 already had more behavioural problems prior to these experiences. This underscores the importance of accounting for differential selection into experiencing household dysfunction. We also found that household dysfunction beginning after age 5 led to more behavioural problems but did not impact children\'s verbal ability. Parents\' financial resources declined after household dysfunction, particularly among high-income households. However, we found only weak evidence of a mediating effect of financial resources, and larger declines in financial resources did not translate into larger consequences of household dysfunction among children from high-income households. Financial resources thus mainly seemed to play an important role for selection into experiencing household dysfunction.