IMPLICIT MEMORY IN CHILDREN WITH SPINA BIFIDA

提出的研究的总体目标是检查脊柱裂儿童的内隐记忆。脊柱裂对学习和记忆的影响还没有得到详细的研究，之前的大多数研究都是关于外显记忆的，这涉及到有意识的回忆，通常通过回忆或识别来衡量。相比之下，内隐记忆涉及有意识的回忆，通常是通过在没有有意识回忆的情况下的回忆或促进行为来衡量的，此前没有关于内隐记忆的研究。本研究旨在研究脊髓脊膜膨出和分流性脑积水儿童的内隐记忆，并将其与严重创伤性脑损伤儿童和骨科损伤儿童的标准对照组进行比较。每组将有32名8至15岁的儿童。他们将被分配一个碎片图像识别任务、一个语义决策任务和一个语义决策任务。这两个任务将提供三种不同形式的内隐记忆的测量：知觉启动、概念启动和技能学习。孩子们还将接受几项相关认知和学术技能的测试，这些测试与内隐记忆有潜在的关联。此外，两组脑部疾病患者将接受脑部MRI检查，以验证神经病理与内隐记忆缺陷之间的假设关系。基于在成人神经学人群中建立的脑行为关系，与兄弟姐妹相比，脊柱裂和分流性脑积水儿童以及创伤性脑损伤儿童预计会表现出技能学习方面的缺陷。与兄弟姐妹对照相比，脊柱裂和分流性脑积水患儿也可能表现出知觉启动缺陷，但没有概念启动缺陷。相比之下，创伤性脑损伤的儿童则表现出相反的模式，在概念启动上有缺陷，但在知觉启动上没有缺陷。在所有三组中，知觉和概念启动得分与抽象推理的测量呈正相关，技能学习得分与数学技能呈正相关。此外，在两组脑障碍患者中，MRI显示的区域异常可能与内隐记忆的特定缺陷有关。本研究将提高我们对脊柱裂儿童记忆功能的认识，并且从长远来看，也可能对康复和教育干预具有实际意义。

The overall goal of the proposed research is to examine implicit memory in children with spina bifida. The impact of spina bifida on learning and memory has not been studied in much detail, and most previous studies have been concerned with explicit memory, which involves conscious recollection and is typically measured through recall or recognition. In contrast, there are no previous studies of implicit memory, which involves conscious recollection and is typically measured through recall or facilitation of performance in the absence of conscious recollection. The proposed research is designed to study implicit memory in children with myelomeningocele and shunted hydrocephalus, as compared both to children with severe traumatic brain injuries and to a normative control group of children with orthopedic injuries. There will be 32 children between 8 and 15 years of age in each group. They will be administered a fragmented picture identification task and a semantic decision-making task and a semantic decision-making task. The two tasks will provide measures of three distinct forms of implicit memory: perceptual priming, conceptual priming, and skill learning. The children will also be administered several tests of related cognitive and academic skills, which are potential correlates of implicit memory. In addition, the two groups with brain disorder will undergo MRI of the brain, to validate the hypothesized relationships between neuropathology and implicit memory deficits. Based on brain-behavior relationships established in adult neurological populations, children with spina bifida and shunted hydrocephalus, as well as those with traumatic brain injuries, are expected to demonstrate deficits in skill learning when compared to sibling controls. Children with spina bifida and shunted hydrocephalus are also expected to show deficits in perceptual priming, but not conceptual priming, when compared to sibling controls. In contrast, children with traumatic brain injury are expected to show an opposite pattern, with deficits in conceptual priming but not perceptual priming. Across all three groups, perceptual and conceptual priming scores are expected to correlate positively with measures of abstract reasoning, and skill learning scores are expected to correlate positively with mathematical skills. In addition, in the two groups with brain disorder, regional abnormalities on MRI are expected to be associated with specific deficits in implicit memory. The proposed research will enhance our understanding of memory functioning in children with spina bifida, and in the long run also is likely to have practical implications for rehabilitative and educational intervention.