View clinical trials related to Executive Dysfunction.
Filter by:The goal of this 13-year follow up of a randomized control trial is to study the effect of maternal choline supplementation on offspring cognition in adolescence. The main question[s] it aims to answer are: Does a higher dose of maternal choline choline (930 mg/d day supplementation) lead to improved cognition in adolescence including hippocampal-dependent episodic memory and executive functioning when compared to lower dose supplementation (480 mg/d). In this follow-up of a clinical trial participants will complete online cognition testing and emotion testing.
Executive function (EF) skills are a set of essential cognitive abilities that enable individuals to demonstrate their knowledge and talents, effectively complete tasks and navigate social interactions through flexible regulation of their thinking, behavior and emotions. EF is strongly linked to academic readiness and long-term educational outcomes. Children's EF is impacted by poverty-related experiences and is also impaired in the increasing number of children with developmental and emotional disabilities. Interventions targeting EF skills hold particular promise for improving children's educational trajectories by leveraging brain plasticity in the preschool period. We will directly target EF skills in preschoolers with poor EF. This project will address a key source of the achievement gap by meeting the needs of children at the highest risk, those who: 1) show early signs of EF impairment; 2) live in low-income communities and 3) are at risk for developmental and emotional disabilities (DD/ED). The intervention is a downward extension of Unstuck and On Target for elementary school (UOT; Cannon, Kenworthy, Alexander, Werner, & Anthony, 2018), an EF intervention shown to be effective at increasing children's learning behaviors, as delivered by school staff. The research team will partner with key stakeholders to revise and iteratively refine UOT-P through a development trial, utilizing participant, teacher and parent feedback. The results of this trial will be leveraged to enable the team to apply for future federal funding for a randomized comparative effectiveness trial (NIH, Institute of Educational Sciences, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute).
Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a behavioural and neurodevelopmental disorder that can affect behavioural, emotional, academic, social, and cognitive functions and is not age-appropriate. The prevalence of ADHD among school children is reported to be 3%-11%. Children with ADHD have difficulties paying attention to details, concentrating, completing tasks and following instructions, among other social and academic challenges. In children with ADHD, insufficient activity in the prefrontal regions of the brain has been evidenced, which is linked to executive function skills. Such children have difficulties in performing executive functions that require a high level of cognitive skills, such as self-control and regulation, as well as sequencing and planning tasks. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 (DSM-5) addresses executive dysfunction as a characteristic of ADHD. At the same time, 45%-70% of these children show problems in motor skills. Motor problems associated with ADHD, such as manual dexterity, bilateral coordination, and postural balance, can lead to difficulty in everyday living tasks, such as eating and writing, as well as social adaptability, academic skills, and peer interactions. For this reason, motor skill problems along with symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, should be addressed as part of the treatment strategy. ADHD has an impact on a child's independence for daily activities. As a result, child-specific occupational therapy approaches are critical for the sensory, motor, and cognitive areas that affect children's occupational performance in basic and instrumental activities of daily living, participation, rest and sleep, play, and leisure.
This study will test the effectiveness of a school-based cognitive behavioral executive function (EF) intervention, Unstuck & On Target High School (UOT:HS), for transition-age youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). UOT:HS was designed to be embedded in high schools and delivered by school staff to improve generalization of skills, increase access to mental health care, and fill a gap in evidence-based approaches to support postsecondary transition. UOT:HS targets flexibility and planning skills and focuses on key functions needed for adult success across 25, 1-hour lessons. School staff will be trained to deliver UOT:HS, study staff will provide ongoing check-ins, and parents will be offered home extensions for each lesson and two trainings to generalize skills to the home environment. Behavioral and parent-report data will be collected prior to intervention, post-intervention, and at 4-to-6-month follow-up.
Attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder. The common diagnostic of ADHD is based on psychiatric examination and interview. So far, there is not any other diagnostic tool for ADHD nowadays. Therefore, virtual reality (VR) technology can be used as a stimulus, replacing real stimuli, recreating experiences, which are in the real world would be impossible. Consequently, ADHD-VR diagnostic tool development should be started to justify the ADHD diagnosis in psychiatric out-patient clinical services.
FACT 4 Child is a follow up study of mothers who participated in the Folic Acid Clinical Trial (NCT01355159) and their children at 4-6 years of age to determine the effect of high dose folic acid supplementation on social impairments associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), and deficiencies in a range of executive function and emotional and behavioural problems in young children, and the risk of death.