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Papers - KITA, Yosuke

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The Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (AMAS): Applicability and Utility in a Sample of Japanese Elementary School Children

Yoshifumi Ikeda, Yosuke Kita, Riko Takagi, Kento Suzuki, Irene Cristina Mammarella, Sara Caviola, Silvia Lanfranchi, Francesca Pulina, David Giofrè

International Journal of Psychology (Wiley) 60 ( 2 ) 2025.02

Accepted, ISSN 0020-7594

ABSTRACT

Math anxiety negatively affects math performance and future career choices in math‐related fields. Various tools assess math anxiety, but the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (AMAS) is noteworthy for its ease of administration and good psychometric properties. This study evaluates the AMAS's applicability and utility in a sample of approximately 170 Japanese elementary‐school children. Findings indicate that the Japanese version of the AMAS has very good internal consistency, good test–retest reliability and validity, both convergent and concurrent. Results from a multigroup analysis showed that the scale shows no gender bias, although girls scored higher on the AMAS despite similar performance to boys on a standardised math test. These findings highlight the AMAS's potential as a screening tool for math anxiety in young children.

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Difficulties in perceptual-motor coordination of reaching behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Ken Kikuchi, Manami Honda, Yusuke Baba, Yosuke Kita, Takahiro Higuchi

Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior 180 111 - 125 2024.11

Accepted, ISSN 00109452

Increased risk of injury from collisions with objects is an important issue in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purpose of the present study was to examine whether impaired perceptual-motor coordination may underlie the high frequency of collisions. Specifically, we hypothesized that collisions are likely to occur frequently in children with ASD due to their difficulty with body-related spatial perception and their inadequate motor planning, due to their detail-focused processing style, i.e., a tendency to focus attention on specific details rather than on the overall context. To evaluate impairment of perceptual-motor coordination in children with ASD, an original action selection task was developed to assess (a) body-related spatial perception and (b) predictive attentional properties for planning the subsequent movements based on the measures of hand movement and gaze behavior. Twenty-six children (13 diagnosed as ASD and 13 with typical development [TD]) completed the task, and their parents completed a questionnaire regarding their child's susceptibility to injury. Results showed that children with ASD displayed inaccurate body-related spatial perception and inadequate motor planning under conditions that induced their detail-focused processing style. In addition, analyses of gaze behavior reflected the characteristics of a detail-focused processing in children with ASD. This was correlated with the severity of ASD and the measure of motor planning. The present findings suggest that difficulty with perceptual-motor coordination, resulting in part from the detail-focused processing style, might contribute to susceptibility to injury in children with ASD. We consider that our evaluation of the difficulty with perceptual-motor of individuals with ASD provides a framework for understanding their high rate of collision-related injuries and could inform strategies for preventing these injuries.

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ひらがな読み検査に基づく読字困難の過剰判定と検査基準値の検証

奥村安寿子, 北村柚葵, 櫻井晴子, 白川由佳, 大山帆子, 稲垣真澄, 浅野倫子, 北洋輔

脳と発達 ((一社)日本小児神経学会) 56 ( 6 ) 420 - 426 2024.11

Last author, Accepted, ISSN 0029-0831

【目的】ひらがな読み検査は,発達性読み書き障害の診断と治療に不可欠である.その一方で,現行の検査では低学年において読字困難の過剰判定をもたらす危険性がある.本研究では,小学校1,2年生における同検査の大規模データを収集し,実態解明,過剰判定の検証,ならびに新たな基準値の探索と現行基準との比較検討を目的とした.【方法】公立小学校の1年生511名,2年生422名にひらがな読み検査を実施し,音読時間を現行基準と比較した.次に,現行基準に基づく,各学年の異常判定率を検証した.さらに,3年生までの縦断追跡データから新基準値を作成し,1,2年生の異常判定率を検証するとともに,縦断追跡経過を現行基準と比較した.【結果】1,2年の音読時間は現行基準よりも大幅に長く,現行基準に基づく異常判定率は1年生で47.0%,2年生で30.3%に達した.新基準は,現行基準よりも大幅に寛容な値となり,異常判定率は両学年で7%前後となった.縦断追跡経過の比較では,現行基準下で対象児の半数近くが読字困難に分類されたのに対し,新基準下では約15%に低下し,過剰判定の改善が示された.【結論】ひらがな読み検査の現行基準は,1,2年生の実態よりも厳格であり,読字困難を過剰判定する危険性が極めて高いことが示された.新基準は,医学診断および教育的介入の両面でより適切と考えられ,今後は学年基準値の修正を進めていく必要がある.(著者抄録)

Association between Motor Skills, Occupational Performance, and Mental Health in Japanese Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Cross-Sectional Correlational Study

Masanori Yasunaga, Hideki Miyaguchi, Chinami Ishizuki, Yosuke Kita, Akio Nakai

Children (MDPI AG) 11 ( 8 ) 899 - 899 2024.07

Background: Motor skills have been linked to executive functions (EFs) in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). However, the traits of other neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder, remain overlooked. Therefore, this study explored the association between motor skills, occupational performance, and mental health in older kindergarten children with DCD and other NDDs. Overall, 95 participants aged 5–6 years were included in this study and divided into four groups: DCD traits (DCD-t), DCD-t + NDD traits (DCD-t + NDD-t), NDD-t-only, and typically developing children. Motor skills, EFs, and mental health were assessed using the DCD Questionnaire (DCDQ-J) and Movement Assessment Battery for Children—Second Edition, School Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (S-AMPS), and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), respectively. The DCD-t + NDD-t group exhibited a strong correlation between the S-AMPS motor skill score and the DCDQ-J fine motor skill score (r = 0.88, p < 0.001) and between the total DCDQ-J score and the SDQ Total Difficulties Score (r = −0.94, p < 0.001). The findings indicate that children with DCD-t and NDD-t are more likely to experience EF and mental health problems than those with DCD-t only.

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Overdiagnosis of reading difficulties based on a Hiragana reading test and the proposal of a new norm

Okumura Y., Kitamura Y., Sakurai H., Shirakawa Y., Oyama H., Inagaki M., Asano M., Kita Y.

No To Hattatsu 56 ( 6 ) 420 - 426 2024

ISSN 00290831

Objective:While the Hiragana reading test is essential for the diagnosis and treatment of developmental dyslexia in Japan, the current norm may overdiagnose reading difficulties, especially among lower graders. The present study aimed to verify the current norm and the extent of overdiagnosis based on a large sample of first graders(G1)and second graders(G2). In addition, more appropriate norm was explored using longitudinal data. Methods:A total of 511 and 422 students enrolled in G1 and G2 at public elementary schools, respectively, completed the Hiragana reading test. First, we compared the reading time distributions between the present sample and the current norm. Second, the diagnosis rate of reading difficulty was examined for each grade. Finally, a new norm was established for the Hiragana reading test based on a three-year longitudinal data, which were contrasted with the current norm with respect to diagnosis rate and longitudinal trajectory. Results:Reading times in the present G1 and G2 samples were considerably longer than the current norm. Diagnosis rate of reading difficulty reached as high as 47.0% in G1 and 30.3% in G2. The longitudinally established new norm was more moderate and led to diagnosis rate of around 7% for both grades. In a comparison of three-year trajectory, nearly half of the students were classified as having reading difficulties, at least once based on the current norm, whereas the use of new norm dropped the classification rate to around 15% and improved overdiagnosis. Conclusions:The current norm of the Hiragana reading test was overly strict for both G1 and G2 graders, which indicates that there is a high risk of overdiagnosing reading difficulties. The new norm was suggested to be more useful for both medical diagnosis and educational intervention. Therefore, it is necessary to modify grade norms of the Hiragana reading test.

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Effects of Dopaminergic Neurotransmission and Neural Activity Involved in Motor Response Inhibition on Motor Coordination Function

YUKA SHIRAKAWA, YOSUKE KITA, KOTA SUZUKI, YOSHIMI KAGA, YUZUKI KITAMURA, HIDEYUKI OKUZUMI, MASUMI INAGAKI

Japanese Journal of Physiological Psychology and Psychophysiology (Japanese Society for Physiological Psychology and Psychophysiology) 41 ( 2 ) 120 - 131 2023.12

Accepted, ISSN 0289-2405

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Preimplantation genetic testing using comprehensive genomic copy number analysis is beneficial for balanced translocation carriers.

Aya Yamazaki, Tomoko Kuroda, Nami Kawasaki, Keiichi Kato, Keiko Shimojima Yamamoto, Takeshi Iwasa, Akira Kuwahara, Yuka Taniguchi, Toshiyuki Takeshita, Yosuke Kita, Mikio Mikami, Minoru Irahara, Toshiyuki Yamamoto

Journal of human genetics (Journal of Human Genetics) 69 ( 1 ) 41 - 45 2023.10

Accepted, ISSN 14345161

Balanced chromosomal translocation is one of chromosomal variations. Carriers of balanced chromosomal translocations have an increased risk of spontaneous miscarriage. To avoid the risk, preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) using comprehensive genomic copy number analysis has been developed. This study aimed to verify whether and how embryos from couples in which one partner is a balanced translocation carrier have a higher ratio of chromosomal abnormalities. A total of 894 biopsied trophectoderms (TEs) were obtained from 130 couples in which one partner was a balanced translocation carrier (Robertsonian translocation, reciprocal translocation, or intrachromosomal inversion) and grouped as PGT-SR. Conversely, 3269 TEs from 697 couples who experienced recurrent implantation failure or recurrent pregnancy loss were included in the PGT-A group. The transferable blastocyst ratio was significantly lower in the PGT-SR group, even when bias related to the sample number and patient age was corrected. Subgroup analysis of the PGT-SR group revealed that the transferable blastocyst ratio was higher in the Robertsonian translocation group. Because the PGT-SR group had a higher proportion of untransferable embryos than the PGT-A group, PGT using comprehensive genomic copy number analysis was more beneficial for balanced translocation carriers than for infertility patients without chromosomal translocations. The frequencies of de novo aneuploidies were further analyzed, and the frequency in the PGT-SR group was lower than that in the PGT-A group. Therefore, we could not confirm the existence of interchromosomal effects in this study.

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The Structure of Working Memory and Its Relationship with Intelligence in Japanese Children

Yoshifumi Ikeda, Yosuke Kita, Yuhei Oi, Hideyuki Okuzumi, Silvia Lanfranchi, Francesca Pulina, Irene Cristina Mammarella, Katie Allen, David Giofrè

Journal of Intelligence (MDPI AG) 11 ( 8 ) 167 - 167 2023.08

Accepted

There is a host of research on the structure of working memory (WM) and its relationship with intelligence in adults, but only a few studies have involved children. In this paper, several different WM models were tested on 170 Japanese school children (from 7 years and 5 months to 11 years and 6 months). Results showed that a model distinguishing between modalities (i.e., verbal and spatial WM) fitted the data well and was therefore selected. Notably, a bi-factor model distinguishing between modalities, but also including a common WM factor, presented with a very good fit, but was less parsimonious. Subsequently, we tested the predictive power of the verbal and spatial WM factors on fluid and crystallized intelligence. Results indicated that the shared contribution of WM explained the largest portion of variance of fluid intelligence, with verbal and spatial WM independently explaining a residual portion of the variance. Concerning crystallized intelligence, however, verbal WM explained the largest portion of the variance, with the joint contribution of verbal and spatial WM explaining the residual part. The distinction between verbal and spatial WM could be important in clinical settings (e.g., children with atypical development might struggle selectively on some WM components) and in school settings (e.g., verbal and spatial WM might be differently implicated in mathematical achievement).

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Interaction during online classes fosters engagement with learning and self-directed study both in the first and second years of the COVID-19 pandemic

Claudia Gherghel, Shoko Yasuda, Yosuke Kita

Computers & Education (Elsevier BV) 200 104795 - 104795 2023.07

Last author, Corresponding author, Accepted, ISSN 0360-1315

Maintaining students’ learning engagement was a challenge in emergency online education during the pandemic. In this study, we investigated the predictors (social interaction) and outcomes (self-directed study) of engagement in online learning during the first and second years of the COVID-19 pandemic. First-year Japanese university students (N = 1167) enrolled in online classes during 2020 and 2021 responded to a questionnaire measuring perceived opportunities for social interaction during online classes, engagement with online learning, and extracurricular self-directed study time. Multi-group path analysis revealed that social interaction during online classes exhibited a positive indirect effect on self-directed study time through emotional and behavioral engagement with online learning. The positive indirect effect was significant in both the first and second years of the pandemic. The results suggest that increasing the number of opportunities for social interaction during online classes may exhibit spillover effects on learning outside the online classroom.

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Pre-movement gating of somatosensory evoked potentials in Tourette syndrome

Kimura K., Murase N., Nagao Y., Nozaki M., Fukumizu M., Kita Y., Hayashi M., Hoshino K.

Brain and Development (Brain and Development) 45 ( 6 ) 324 - 331 2023.06

ISSN 03877604

Objective: Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurobehavioral disorder characterized by motor and vocal tics. Simple tics are purposeless involuntary movements that spontaneously resolve during middle adolescence. Complex tics appear to be semi-voluntary movements that may become intractable when associated with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). Sensory tics or urges preceded by tics suggest sensorimotor processing impairment in TS. We aimed to clarify its pathophysiology by exploring the pre-movement gating (attenuation) of somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs). Methods: We examined 42 patients (aged 9–48 years), 4 of whom underwent follow-up assessment, along with 19 healthy controls. We defined patients with only simple tics as TS-S and patients with complex tics as TS-C. Pre-movement gating of SEPs was assessed using a previously described method. Frontal N30 (FrN30) amplitudes were compared between pre-movement and resting states. The gating ratio of pre-movement/resting amplitude of the FrN30 component was assessed: the larger the ratio, the less the gating. Results: The gating ratio for TS-C patients was larger than that of TS-S patients and healthy controls, but a statistical difference between TS-S and TS-C appeared after 15 years and over (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in the gating ratio between TS-S patients and healthy controls. The gating ratio was related to the severity of OCD (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Sensorimotor processing was preserved for simple tics but impaired in complex tics, specifically after middle adolescence. Our study supports an age-dependent dysfunction of both motor and non-motor cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical circuits in complex tics. SEP gating seems promising as a tool for assessing age-dependent sensorimotor disintegration in TS.

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Cognitive Orientation to Daily Occupational Performance: A Randomized Controlled Trial Examining Intervention Effects on Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder Traits.

Yasunaga M, Miyaguchi H, Ishizuki C, Kita Y, Nakai A

Brain Sciences. (Brain Sciences) 13 ( 5 ) 721 2023

Accepted

Children with traits of developmental coordination disorder (DCD-t) may experience occupational performance problems that go unrecognized and therefore may not be adequately supported. The cognitive orientation to daily occupational performance (CO-OP) approach has been effective in interventions for developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Based on an open-label, randomized controlled trial design, this study evaluated the effects of CO-OP on the occupational performance and motor skills of older kindergarten children with DCD-t using the School Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (S-AMPS) and the Movement Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition. Children with a total DCDQ score of less than 40 or M-ABC2 scores in the 5th to 16th percentile were considered to have DCD-t. Furthermore, children with DCD-t and S-AMPS process skills less than 0.7 were considered to have DAMP (Deficits in Attention, Motor control and Perception)-t. After 3 months of CO-OP intervention, the performance and motor skills of children with DCD-t improved significantly. However, there were no significant changes noted in the motor skills of children with DAMP-t, although their occupational performance improved. These results suggest that CO-OP is effective even for older kindergarten children with DCD-t. However, further improvement of the CO-OP approach or a different strategy is required for children with ADHD comorbidity.

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Yuri Ozawa, Hiroshi Ozawa, Nobuko Sugiura, Yuka Shirakawa, Yosuke Kita

日本小児科学会雑誌 126 ( 11 ) 1489 - 1497 2022.11

Last author, Accepted

Modulation effects of the intact motor skills on the relationship between social skills and motion perceptions in children with autism spectrum disorder: A pilot study.

Kotoe Sakihara, Yosuke Kita, Kota Suzuki, Masumi Inagaki

Brain & development (Brain and Development) 45 ( 1 ) 39 - 48 2022.09

Accepted, ISSN 03877604

BACKGROUND: An individual with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has social skill, motor skill, and motion perception deficits. However, the relationship among them was not clarified. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of motor skills on social skills and motion perception. METHODS: Five typically developed children and fourteen children with ASD participated in our study. The N200 component, a brain activity indicating motion perception, was induced in mid-temporal (MT/V5) brain area by watching a random dot kinematograph, and was recorded using a scalp electroencephalogram. Furthermore, the social responsiveness scale (SRS) indicating the social skill deficit, the developmental coordination disorder questionnaire (DCDQ) estimating the developmental coordination disorder (DCD), and the movement assessment battery for children second edition (MABC-2) indicating motor skills were recorded in the children with ASD. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the modulation effects of motor skills on the relationship between social skills and motion perception. The dependent variable was the N200 latency, and the independent variables were SRS, MABC-2, and combined MABC-2 and SRS. RESULTS: The N200 latency was more delayed in children with ASD relative that in typically developed children. Intact balance ability modulated the relationship between social skills and N200 latency in children with ASD. Within the high balance ability, when the social skills worsened, the N200 latency was shortened. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report that intact motor skills could modulate the relationship between social skills and motion perception.

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Characteristics of shifting ability in children with mild intellectual disabilities: an experimental study with a task‐switching paradigm

Y. Kitamura, Y. Okumura, Y. Shirakawa, Y. Ikeda, Y. Kita

Journal of Intellectual Disability Research (Wiley) 66 ( 11 ) 853 - 864 2022.09

Accepted, ISSN 0964-2633

Background: Shifting enables flexible switch between tasks or mental sets. It is a component of the executive function that plays critical roles in human behaviour control. However, shifting ability in individuals with intellectual disability (ID) has not been well clarified because of the use of intellectually demanding tasks in previous studies. The present study invented a novel shifting task with minimal intellectual demands and aimed to clarify the characteristics of shifting in adolescents with ID. Methods: Adolescents with ID (n = 21) and chronological-age-matched (n = 10) and mental-age-matched controls (n = 33) performed a novel shifting task with simple rule switching (i.e. change in direction). Analyses focused on the switch cost or the increase in the reaction time associated with rule switching. Results: Two subtypes of adolescents with ID were found with respect to the switch cost: one that lacks it and another with an increased switch cost. The lack of a switch cost was unique to the subgroup adolescents with ID and was not indicated in the control group. Conclusions: The present study indicated that shifting in adolescents with ID does not depend solely on their intellectual function and is highly heterogeneous. This finding further implies that executive functions, including shifting, must be evaluated separately from their intellectual functions.

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神経発達症児における血清亜鉛値の検討

井之上寿美, 河野芳美, 河野千佳, 白木恭子, 塩田睦記, 雨宮馨, 中村由紀子, 杉浦信子, 小沢愉理, 北洋輔, 小沢浩

脳と発達 ((一社)日本小児神経学会) 54 ( 5 ) 356 - 358 2022.09

Accepted, ISSN 0029-0831

神経発達症児の血清亜鉛値について健常児の参照値と比較検討した。血清亜鉛値を測定した学齢期の神経発達症児63名(男児49名、女児14名)を患者群とし、先行研究において年齢分布が一致する380名の健常児のデータを用いて解析を行った。その結果、患者群のうち19名(30%)が亜鉛欠乏症、また39名(62%)が潜在性亜鉛欠乏、亜鉛値正常は5名(8%)であり、血清亜鉛値は健常児の参照値と比較して有意に低値であった(p<0.001)。患者群の診断内訳では、ADHD(36名、54%)と自閉スペクトラム症(22名、39%)の2疾患が大部分を占めたものの、血清亜鉛値は疾患間で有意な差はなく(p=0.32)、性差も認められなかった(p=0.95)。神経発達症児は亜鉛欠乏傾向にあると考えられ、疾患や性別による血清亜鉛値の明らかな違いはなかった。(著者抄録)

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation decreased effortful frontal activity for shifting in patients with major depressive disorder.

Yuka Shirakawa, Ryuichi Yamazaki, Yosuke Kita, Yuzuki Kitamura, Yasuko Okumura, Yuki Inoue, Yuki Matsuda, Fumitoshi Kodaka, Masahiro Shigeta, Shinsuke Kito

Neuroreport (NeuroReport) 33 ( 11 ) 470 - 475 2022.08

Accepted, ISSN 09594965

Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) exhibit several clinical symptoms including difficulties in flexible thinking. Flexible thinking mainly relies on a cognitive ability called shifting; however, the mechanisms underlying shifting in patients with MDD have not yet been clarified. Therefore, we conducted a preliminary intervention study to clarify the association between depression and shifting ability. We examined the hemodynamic responses in the frontal regions during the shifting task using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in 21 patients with MDD who were treated using high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Behavioral performance on the shifting task did not change between pre- and posttreatments, whereas patients who responded well to rTMS treatment showed a significant decrease in hemodynamic responses posttreatment. On the other hand, the poor responders did not show significant changes in the hemodynamic responses between pre- and posttreatments. These results suggest that the good responders were successfully remedied with rTMS treatment and did not need effortful activity in frontal regions for shifting, which made their brain activity more efficient.

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Need for revision of the ACMG/AMP guidelines for interpretation of X-linked variants.

Yoko Inoue, Osamu Machida, Yosuke Kita, Toshiyuki Yamamoto

Intractable & rare diseases research (Intractable and Rare Diseases Research) 11 ( 3 ) 120 - 124 2022.08

Accepted, ISSN 21863644

The guidelines provided by American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) and the Association of Molecular Pathology (AMP) (ACMG/AMP guidelines) suggest a framework for the classification of clinical variants. However, the interpretations can be inconsistent, with each definition sometimes proving to be ambiguous. In particular, there can be difficulty with interpretation of variants related to the X-linked recessive trait. To confirm whether there are biases in the interpretation of inherited traits, we reanalyzed variants reported prior to the release of the ACMG/AMP guidelines. As expected, the interpretation ratio as pathogenic or likely pathogenic was significantly lower for variants related to the X-linked recessive trait. Evaluation of variants related to the X-linked recessive trait, hence, need to consider whether the variant is identified only in males in accordance with the X-linked recessive trait. The ACMG/AMP guidelines should be revised to eliminate the bias revealed in this study.

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Detection of deviance in Japanese kanji compound words.

Yuka Egashira, Yoshimi Kaga, Atsuko Gunji, Yosuke Kita, Motohiro Kimura, Naruhito Hironaga, Hiroshige Takeichi, Sayuri Hayashi, Yuu Kaneko, Hidetoshi Takahashi, Takashi Hanakawa, Takashi Okada, Masumi Inagaki

Frontiers in human neuroscience (Frontiers Media SA) 16 913945 - 913945 2022.07

Accepted

Reading fluency is based on the automatic visual recognition of words. As a manifestation of the automatic processing of words, an automatic deviance detection of visual word stimuli can be observed in the early stages of visual recognition. To clarify whether this phenomenon occurs with Japanese kanji compounds—since their lexicality is related to semantic association—we investigated the brain response by utilizing three types of deviants: differences in font type, lexically correct or incorrect Japanese kanji compound words and pseudo-kanji characters modified from correct and incorrect compounds. We employed magnetoencephalography (MEG) to evaluate the spatiotemporal profiles of the related brain regions. The study included 22 adult native Japanese speakers (16 females). The abovementioned three kinds of stimuli containing 20% deviants were presented during the MEG measurement. Activity in the occipital pole region of the brain was observed upon the detection of font-type deviance within 250 ms of stimulus onset. Although no significant activity upon detecting lexically correct/incorrect kanji compounds or pseudo-kanji character deviations was observed, the activity in the posterior transverse region of the collateral sulcus (pCoS)—which is a fusiform neighboring area—was larger when detecting lexically correct kanji compounds than when detecting pseudo-kanji characters. Taken together, these results support the notion that the automatic detection of deviance in kanji compounds may be limited to a low-level feature, such as the stimulus stroke thickness.

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【神経疾患と表情】視線と表情の関連

北洋輔

脳神経内科 ((有)科学評論社) 97 ( 1 ) 7 - 12 2022.07

Lead author, Last author, Corresponding author, ISSN 2434-3285

Online education and the mental health of faculty during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.

Yosuke Kita, Shoko Yasuda, Claudia Gherghel

Scientific reports (Scientific Reports) 12 ( 1 ) 8990 - 8990 2022.05

Lead author, Corresponding author, Accepted

While the negative impact of the pandemic on students' mental health has been studied around the world, very little is known about the mental health of faculty and staff. This research aims to examine mental health among Japanese faculty members who taught online courses during the COVID-19 pandemic. We recruited 537 university faculty members and assessed their mental health using the World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5), both retrospectively (during the academic year before the onset of the pandemic) and during the pandemic. We also evaluated workload (number of online lectures taught and preparation time per class), difficulty in using information technology (IT) for online classes, and satisfaction with the university support service for online education. As a result, the WHO-5 score during the COVID-19 pandemic was significantly lower than before, and 33.5% of the faculty members were recognized as being at risk for mental illness during the COVID-19 pandemic. A binomial logistic regression analysis revealed two significant risk factors for mental illness-faculty members were more at risk for mental illness when they experienced difficulty in using IT for online classes, and were unsatisfied with the administrative support for online education. The deterioration of mental health during the COVID-19 was not predicted by workload, such as the number of online lectures and preparation time. These results suggest the importance of improving workplace support services, especially IT support, to prevent mental health deterioration among faculty teaching online.

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Laterality of prefrontal hemodynamic response measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy before and after repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation: A potential biomarker of clinical outcome.

Ryuichi Yamazaki, Yuki Inoue, Yuki Matsuda, Fumitoshi Kodaka, Yuzuki Kitamura, Yosuke Kita, Masahiro Shigeta, Shinsuke Kito

Psychiatry research (Psychiatry Research) 310 114444 - 114444 2022.04

Accepted, ISSN 01651781

The factors associated with the clinical outcomes of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) remain largely unexplored. Therefore, this study aimed to examine whether rTMS can change the functional laterality of the prefrontal hemodynamic response and whether baseline functional laterality can predict the clinical outcomes of rTMS using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). We included 19 patients with MDD who were treated with high-frequency rTMS. The verbal fluency task was used as the activation task. We calculated the laterality index (LI) based on the task-related oxygenation response in the frontal region. First, the LI was compared before and after rTMS treatment. Second, the reduction in the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score was compared between the rightward dominance group (pre-LI < 0) and the leftward dominance group (pre-LI ≥ 0). The findings showed a significant change in the LI after rTMS treatment. The rightward dominance group had a significantly greater reduction in MADRS score than the leftward dominance group. Subsequently, the laterality of the task-related hemodynamic response of the prefrontal region shifted leftward following left high-frequency rTMS treatment. Thus, the pre-LI calculated using fNIRS data is a possible predictor of rTMS outcomes in patients with MDD.

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Quality of life of children with neurodevelopmental disorders and their parents during the COVID-19 pandemic: a 1-year follow-up study.

Riyo Ueda, Takashi Okada, Yosuke Kita, Masatoshi Ukezono, Miki Takada, Yuri Ozawa, Hisami Inoue, Mutsuki Shioda, Yoshimi Kono, Chika Kono, Yukiko Nakamura, Kaoru Amemiya, Ai Ito, Nobuko Sugiura, Yuichiro Matsuoka, Chinami Kaiga, Yasuko Shiraki, Masaya Kubota, Hiroshi Ozawa

Scientific reports (Scientific Reports) 12 ( 1 ) 4298 - 4298 2022.03

Accepted

This study aimed to reveal changes in the quality of life (QOL) of children with neurodevelopmental disorders and their parents, and the interaction between their QOL and parental mental state during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Eighty-nine school-aged children and parents participated in surveys in May 2020 (T1) and May 2021 (T2). The parents completed questionnaires that assessed their QOL, depression, parenting stress, and living conditions. Children's temporary mood status was evaluated using the self-reported visual analog scale (VAS). Children's QOL and VAS at T2 were higher than their QOL at T1. Parents' QOL at T2 was lower than their QOL at T1. Severe parental depression at T1 had a synergistic effect on severe parenting stress and severe depressive state at T2. Additionally, children's high QOL at T1 had a synergistic effect on low parenting stress and children's high QOL at T2. Furthermore, children's low VAS scores and parents' low QOL at T2 were associated with deterioration of family economic status. Children and parents' QOL changed during the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Improvement in children's QOL was influenced by reduced maternal depressive symptoms. Public support for parental mental health is important to avoid decreasing QOL.

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Pre-elementary Children With Imperfect Letter-Name Knowledge Are at Great Risk of Reading Difficulty in First Grade: One-Year Longitudinal Study in Japanese Hiragana

Yasuko Okumura, Yosuke Kita, Yuzuki Kitamura, Hoko Oyama

Frontiers in Education (Frontiers Media SA) 7 2022.02

Accepted

While letter-naming ability is a well-known preschool predictor of the later acquisition of literacy, little is known about an appropriate benchmark (i.e., how many letter names children must know at a given age) and how it may vary among different writing systems. The present study aimed to establish a letter-naming benchmark in Japanese Hiragana for pre-elementary children (age 5 to 6 years) and examined whether this benchmark predicts risk or success in later reading development via a one-year longitudinal survey. Children (N = 291) were assessed once in their pre-elementary year for Hiragana-naming accuracy and once in their first-grade year for oral reading fluency. As a result, the ability to name 40 of 45 letters was determined to be an optimal cut-off, and failure to meet it strongly predicted a risk of deficient reading fluency in first grade. These findings support the notion that Japanese children without near-perfect mastery of Hiragana-naming in their pre-elementary year are at great risk of reading difficulty in first grade. In addition, possible contrasts between Hiragana- and alphabet-naming indicated a need for further research in different languages and scripts to establish appropriate goals and policies for this foundational skill of reading in early education.

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Serum zinc level in children with neurodevelopmental disease

Inoue H., Kono Y., Kono C., Shiraki Y., Shioda M., Amemiya K., Nakamura Y., Sugiura N., Ozawa Y., Kita Y., Ozawa H.

No To Hattatsu (No To Hattatsu) 54 ( 5 ) 356 - 358 2022

ISSN 00290831

The study aimed to compare serum zinc levels between children with neurodevelopmental disorders and healthy children. A total of 63 school-aged children（49 boys and 14 girls）with neurodevelopmental disorders were included in the patients group, and in the previous study, 380 healthy age-matched children constituted the control group. Zinc deficiency was found in 19 children（30%）, latent zinc deficiency in 39（62%）, and five patients（8%）had normal zinc levels. Serum zinc level in children with neurodevelopmental disorders was significantly lower than the control data for the healthy group（p＜0.001）. Most children with neurodevelopmental disorders had either attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder（36 patients, 54%）and autism spectrum disorder（22 patients, 39%）. There was no significant difference seen in the diseases（p＝0.32）and sex（p＝0.95）. Children with neurodevelopmental disorders tend to have a zinc deficiency. No significant serum zinc level differences were notes based on disease or sex.

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How should time abroad be spent? Effects of social interaction and out-of-class study time while abroad on foreign language proficiency and use

Claudia Gherghel, Shoko Yasuda, Yosuke Kita

Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (Informa UK Limited) Epub ahead of print ( 5 ) 1 - 15 2021.12

Last author, Accepted, ISSN 0143-4632

We investigated the effects of social interaction and out-of-class study time on foreign language proficiency and use among two hundred students from a Japanese university who studied abroad for one month. Participants’ use of English and English proficiency were measured before and after the programme. Interaction with people from other cultures and out-of-class study time while abroad were also reported. Based on social interaction and out-of-class study time, students were grouped into four clusters: an Unengaged cluster, with low levels of interaction and out-of-class study time; a Balanced cluster, with average levels of both interaction and study time; a Studious cluster, with high out-of-class study time but low interaction levels; and a Communicative cluster, with high interaction levels but low study time. Analyses of clusters’ main effects revealed that overall, the Studious group had higher English proficiency, and the Balanced and Communicative groups reported higher use of English than the Unengaged group. While English proficiency increased to the same degree in all four groups, the Balanced group gained more in English use compared to the Unengaged group after study abroad. The results suggest the importance of how students spend their time abroad in promoting foreign language use.

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The quality of life of children with neurodevelopmental disorders and their parents during the Coronavirus disease 19 emergency in Japan

Riyo Ueda, Takashi Okada, Yosuke Kita, Yuri Ozawa, Hisami Inoue, Mutsuki Shioda, Yoshimi Kono, Chika Kono, Yukiko Nakamura, Kaoru Amemiya, Ai Ito, Nobuko Sugiura, Yuichiro Matsuoka, Chinami Kaiga, Masaya Kubota, Hiroshi Ozawa

Scientific Reports (Springer Science and Business Media LLC) 11 ( 1 ) 3042 - 3042 2021.12

Accepted

<title>Abstract</title>This study aimed to reveal how the COVID-19 stay-at-home period has affected the quality of life (QOL) of children with neurodevelopmental disorders and their parents and to identify possible factors that enabled them to maintain their QOL. We enrolled 136 school-aged children (intellectual quotient ≥ 50) and their parents and administered QOL questionnaires to assess the maladaptive behavior of the children; depression, anxiety, and stress of the parents; and activities of their daily lives. The relationship between their QOL and clinical features was examined. The decrease in QOL of children and parents was associated with the mother’s limited job flexibility. Decreased QOL was also associated with changes in the sleep rhythms of the children. Maladaptive behaviors in children were associated with parental stress. However, maintained QOL of some families who faced these same conditions of job stress and sleep disorders was associated with less parental stress, less parental depression and anxiety, and milder maladaptive behavior in children. Both mothers with limited job flexibility and changes in the sleep rhythm of children were associated with reduced QOL of children and their parents. Low parental stress was associated with decreased maladaptive behavior in children and with maintained QOL of the family.

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Motor Ability and Mental Health of Young Children: A Longitudinal Study

Shogo Hirata, Yosuke Kita, Kota Suzuki, Yuzuki Kitamura, Hideyuki Okuzumi, Mitsuru Kokubun

Frontiers in Education (Frontiers Media SA) 6 2021.11

Accepted

This study used a longitudinal method to investigate relations between motor abilities and mental health in young children. We analyzed longitudinal data of 38 Japanese children who were 3–6 years old. We administered the Movement Assessment Battery for Children–Second edition (MABC2) and Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) at 3–4 years and 5–6 years of age: MABC2 was used to evaluate each child’s motor ability; SDQ was used to assess the degree of their mental health difficulties and prosocial behavior. Logistic regression results indicated that the MABC2 score at 3–4 years can predict the risk of motor skill impairments at 5–6 years (adjusted odds ratio was 0.354). Motor ability assessed at 3–4 years, however, did not predict the risk of mental health problems at 5–6 years. Analyses of longitudinal quantitative changes in motor ability and mental health confirmed these results. Mental health problems that occurred at 5–6 years were related only to individual SDQ score differences at 3–4 years. The MABC2 total score at 3–4 years was not related to later prosocial behavior. Boys tended to obtain a lower MABC2 score at 5–6 years. Girls tended to obtain a higher SDQ prosocial score at 5–6 years. Results of this study suggest that motor skill impairment and SDQ-measured mental health are independent characteristics in young Japanese children aged 3–6 years.

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Effect of anti‐attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication on clinical seizures and sleep EEG: A retrospective study of Japanese children with ADHD

Hisako Yamamoto, Eiji Nakagawa, Yousuke Kita, Yoshimi Kaga, Masumi Inagaki

Neuropsychopharmacology Reports (Wiley) 41 ( 4 ) 511 - 521 2021.10

Accepted, ISSN 2574-173X

AIMS: Patients with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often exhibit basic or paroxysmal wave abnormalities on electroencephalography (EEG). Methylphenidate (MPH), an anti-ADHD stimulant, has been reported to lower the seizure threshold. However, there have been no reports comparing EEG changes before and after administration of the central nervous system (CNS) stimulant MPH, or atomoxetine (ATX) hydrochloride, a non-CNS stimulant. In this study, we investigated changes in sleep EEG before and after the administration of ADHD treatment drugs. METHOD: With the approval of the ethics committee, the medical records of 28 children with ADHD (23 men and 5 women) who gave consent were retrospectively investigated. The appearance of sudden abnormal waves during a 10-minute sleep EEG recording was measured in 0.1-second units, and the duration of these waves was calculated as the paroxysmal index (PI). RESULTS: Paroxysmal index did not differ significantly between patients who received MPH and those who received ATX. In addition, there were no exacerbations of clinical seizures. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that ADHD medications do not have an adverse effect on epileptic seizures or abnormal sleep EEGs.

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Oral support for patients with severe motor and intellectual disabilities.

Tatsuya Nakamura, Yosuke Kita, Junpei Fujimoto, Koichi Ayuzawa, Hiroshi Ozawa

Pediatrics international : official journal of the Japan Pediatric Society (Pediatrics International) 64 ( 1 ) 2021.10

Accepted, ISSN 13288067

BACKGROUND: Oral support during feeding was clinically provided to patients with severe motor and intellectual disabilities (SMID) for the prevention of dysphasia. The present study anatomically and functionally investigated the advantages of oral support. METHODS: A videofluoroscopic swallowing study was conducted on nine patients with SMID (age = 5-41 years; mean age = 15.0; four males, five females) and twenty-four healthy adults (age = 26-67 years; mean age = 44.3; 16 males, eight females). The movements of the hyoid bone and mandible during pharyngeal swallowing were tracked, and the pharyngeal residues were evaluated. The temporal and spatial features of the movements were compared between patients with and without oral support as well as healthy adults. RESULTS: The mandible moved downward earlier and showed larger displacement in the patients with SMID. The patients also had insufficient anterior displacement of the hyoid, which was associated with pharyngeal residue. This displacement was enhanced, and the pharyngeal residue decreased with oral support. CONCLUSIONS: Oral support to hold the mandible successfully improved hyoid excursion and reduced pharyngeal residue during swallowing, which is a simple and reliable strategy for the prevention of dysphasia in patients with SMID.

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Hyoid bone movement during swallowing and mechanism of pharyngeal residue in patients with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities.

Tatsuya Nakamura, Yosuke Kita, Junpei Fujimoto, Koichi Ayuzawa, Hiroshi Ozawa

International journal of pediatric otorhinolaryngology (International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology) 149 110849 - 110849 2021.10

Accepted, ISSN 01655876

OBJECTIVES: Dysphagia is linked to mortality risk among patients with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD); the present study therefore aimed to clarify the characteristics of hyoid movements during swallowing and to examine the mechanism of dysphagia in patients with PIMD. METHODS: A retrospective video fluoroscopic swallowing study was conducted on 43 patients with PIMD (mean age = 25.4; 25 males, 18 females) and 24 healthy adults (mean age = 44.3; 16 males, 8 females). The movements of the hyoid bone and mandible were tracked frame by frame in the video footage, and their range of movements and trajectories were analyzed. RESULTS: Most patients showed atypical movement trajectories of the hyoid, such as insufficient anterior movement and increased range of mandibular downward movement, compared with normal adults. Moreover, the mechanism of dysphagia was revealed by structural equation modeling, indicating that insufficient anterior movement could lead to pharyngeal residue in the pyriform sinus. CONCLUSION: The insufficient anterior movement of the hyoid could be caused by weak ventral suprahyoid muscles and atypical head and neck posture characteristic of patients with PIMD. It may be useful to predict pharyngeal residue from the range of hyoid movements and trajectories for the prevention of aspiration.

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Medication Effects on Learning Attitudes in Children with ADHD

SUGIURA Nobuko

Psychiatria et neurologia paediatrica japonica (Japanese Society of Pediatric Psychiatry and Neurology) 61 ( 3 ) 239 - 245 2021.10

Accepted, ISSN 0559-9040

Medication effects in children with ADHD are clinically assessed based on behavioral observation. Since the medication also possibly affects academic performance, the present study examined school grades before and after medication. Thirty-nine children with ADHD participated in this study who were continuously treated with medications. Their official school grades were collected and analyzed before and after medication. The grades were collected from primary school children. After medication, primary school children with ADHD showed significant improvement of school grades (relating to interest, willingness, and attitude) in Japanese, mathematics, and physical education. They did not show any change in other subjects. ADHD medication helped the primary school children to have a positive attitude towards learning, resulting in positive evaluation from the teacher and improvement of academic performance.

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Clinical profile of reading ability and reading and writing achievement of children with borderline full-scale intellectual quotient: a prospective study.

Riyo Ueda, Yoshimi Kaga, Yosuke Kita, Eiji Nakagawa, Takashi Okada, Masumi Inagaki

BMC pediatrics (BMC Pediatrics) 21 ( 1 ) 389 - 389 2021.09

Accepted

BACKGROUND: Poor reading ability is one of the common causes of low academic performance. In previous studies, children with dyslexia were found to demonstrate poor academic achievement due to poor reading ability. However, the relationship between academic achievement and reading ability in children with a borderline full-scale intellectual quotient (FSIQ) is unknown. This study aimed to clarify the clinical characteristics of children with borderline FSIQ and poor reading ability, and differentiate these characteristics from those of children with higher FSIQ and poor reading ability. METHODS: A total of 126 children (aged 6-15 years) identified as having low academic performance were enrolled. The reading ability of children was assessed through their performance on the hiragana (Japanese syllabary) reading task, while their reading and writing achievement was assessed through their reading and writing score on the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition. Children were categorized into two groups based on their FSIQ score (FSIQ > 85 and 85 ≥ FSIQ ≥ 70). Reading ability in children was evaluated by referring to the linear relationship between FSIQ and the standard deviation value of reading tasks in typically developing children. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to examine clinical characteristics between higher and lower FSIQ groups. Associations between reading and writing achievement, reading ability, and ages of children were assessed using Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficients for the higher and lower FSIQ groups. RESULTS: Poorer reading and writing achievement was associated with poorer reading ability in the higher FSIQ group. Conversely, poorer reading and writing achievement and poor reading ability were associated with older age in the lower FSIQ group. CONCLUSIONS: Poor reading and writing achievement were associated with older age, not with poor reading ability in the lower FSIQ group. Children with lower FSIQ need appropriate educational interventions based on independent assessments to further their academic achievement and reading ability. Moreover, they need more frequent evaluations of their academic achievement than do children with higher FSIQ and poor reading ability since they are more likely to be at a lower academic achievement level at an older age.

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短期留学中の行動パターンが第二言語習得に与える影響

Gherghel Claudia, 安田晶子, 北洋輔

Mori Arinori Institute for Higher Education and Global Mobility Working Paper Series No.WP2021-02 1 - 15 2021.07

Last author, Corresponding author

オンライン授業に関する教員の認識と姿勢－教員向けアンケート調査に基づいて－

北洋輔, 安田晶子, Gherghel Claudia

Mori Arinori Institute for Higher Education and Global Mobility Working Paper Series No.WP2021-01 1 - 34 2021.05

Lead author, Corresponding author

大学入学者選抜が学業成績に与える影響：入試得点および入試区分に着目した分析

Gherghel Claudia, 安田晶子, 北洋輔

Mori Arinori Institute for Higher Education and Global Mobility Working Paper Series No.WP2020-02 1 - 2 2021.03

Last author, Corresponding author

Assessment and diagnosis of developmental dyslexia in Japanese-English bilingual children A case series study

Yasuko Okumura, Yoshimi Kaga, Masumi Inagaki, Yosuke Kita

No To Hattatsu (Japanese Society of Child Neurology) 53 ( 2 ) 111 - 117 2021

ISSN 00290831

Objective: Reading and writing difficulties in children with a multilingual background are often considered to be a consequence of limited language proficiency rather than developmental dyslexia (DD) or intellectual disabilities. However, since these latter conditions are also prevalent in a multilingual population, the present study explored the assessment and diagnosis of DD. through a case-series study of Japa-nese-English bilingual children. Methods: The participants were four school-aged Japanese-English bilingual children (Cases 1-4) with reading and writing difficulties as a major complaint. They were tested for cognitive abilities (IQ) and both oral language and basic literacy skills in Japanese and English, and we made a diagnosis of a specific learning disorder based on DSM-5. Results: Full-scale IQ and oral language abilities in both Japanese and English were within the normal range for all cases. Regarding basic literacy skills, three of them (' nr 1, 3, 4) showed difficulties from the level of Hiragana reading while one (Case 2) showed difficulties in kanji. Two children who used English at school also showed severe difficulties in alphabet naming (Case 3) and oral text reading (Cases 3, 4). Based on these res«,us, Cases 1, 3, and 4 were diagnosed as having a specific learning disorder in both reading and writing, while Case 2 was diagnosed as ha + disorder mainly in writing. Conclusions: The evaluation of basic literacy skills (e. g., letter, word, and simple text reading) were shown to be particularly useful for assessing DD in multilingual children. While assessment and diagnosis in similar cases that involve multipl-guages pose many challenges in practice, approaches that can be used to identify innate specific learning disorders despite the complex environmental and linguistic background are needed.

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Psychological Status Associated With Low Quality of Life in School-Age Children With Neurodevelopmental Disorders During COVID-19 Stay-At-Home Period.

Frontiers in psychiatry (Frontiers in Psychiatry) 12 676493 - 676493 2021

Accepted

Background: This study seeks to ascertain how the COVID-19 stay-at-home period has affected the quality of life (QOL) of children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) who had experienced sleep schedules alteration and clarify what psychological status predicted low QOL in children with and without altered sleep patterns. Materials and Methods: Study participants were 86 children between 8 and 17 years of age (mean age, 11.7 years; 70 boys, 16 girls; mean intellectual quotient, 83.6). QOL was evaluated using the self-assessment KINDLR. Participants answered questions regarding depression and anxiety on a visual analog scale (VAS) for temporary mood. Their parents answered questionnaires regarding their maladaptive behaviors and differences in sleep patterns before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The student's t-test was performed to examine the presence or absence of sleep changes in the children, which affected QOL, temporary mood, and maladaptive behaviors. Multiple or simple linear regression analyses were also performed to identify the psychogenic factors that significantly affected decreased QOL for each group with and without changes in sleep schedule. Results: During the COVID-19 stay-at-home period, 46.5% of participants experienced changes in sleep patterns. These changes were associated with decreased QOL as well as internalized symptoms. The decreased QOL of children with sleep patterns changed was predicted by a high level of depression. In addition, low QOL in children with unchanged sleep patterns was predicted by a high level of depression and low current mood status. Conclusions: Almost half of the participants experienced a poor sleep schedule during the stay-at-home period. These alterations in sleep patterns were associated with a low QOL. The QOL of children with a stable life schedule was affected not only by depressive tendencies but also temporary moods. Therefore, they need to live a fulfilling life to maintain their QOL. However, the QOL of children with poor sleep patterns was affected only by depressive tendencies. Hence, clinicians need to ensure that children with NDDs are well-diagnosed with depression and treated for sleep problems.

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Improvement of brain function after surgery in infants with posterior quadrant cortical dysplasia

Riyo Ueda, Masaki Iwasaki, Yosuke Kita, Hiroshige Takeichi, Takashi Saito, Eiji Nakagawa, Kenji Sugai, Takashi Okada, Masayuki Sasaki

Clinical Neurophysiology (Clinical Neurophysiology) in press ( 2 ) 332 - 337 2021

Accepted, ISSN 13882457

OBJECTIVE: To reveal whether neurodevelopmental outcome of infants after epilepsy surgery can be quantitatively assessed by electroencephalography (EEG) functional connectivity analysis. METHODS: We enrolled 13 infants with posterior quadrant dysplasia aged <2 years who were treated using posterior quadrantectomy and 21 age-matched infants. EEG was performed both before and one year after surgery. Developmental quotient (DQ) was assessed both before and 3 years after surgery. The phase lag index (PLI) of three different pairs of electrodes in the nonsurgical hemisphere, i.e., the anterior short distance (ASD), posterior short distance (PSD), and long distance (LD) pairs, were calculated as indices of brain connectivity. The relationship between the PLI and DQ was evaluated. RESULTS: Overall, 77% infants experienced seizure freedom after surgery. The beta- and gamma- range PLI of PSD pairs increased preoperatively. All these pairs normalized postoperatively. Simple linear regression analysis revealed a significant relationship between the postoperative DQ and the postoperative beta-band PLI of ASD pairs. CONCLUSION: Preoperative abnormal hyper-connectivity was normalized to the control level after surgery. The postoperative hyperconnectivity was associated with long-term neurodevelopmental improvement. SIGNIFICANCE: PLI quantifies neurodevelopmental improvements after posterior quadrantectomy.

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Utilizing the self-assessment of school life to find children's concerns

Hiroshi Ozawa, Yosuke Kita

No To Hattatsu (Japanese Society of Child Neurology) 53 ( 1 ) 63 - 65 2021

ISSN 00290831

We examined the usefulness of the self-assessment of school life for children who have difficulty verbalizing their concerns. Eighty-six students were asked to answer their "concerns about their school life by using open questions and self-assessment of school life. Compared to open questions, there were significantly more children who were able to verbalize their concerns by the self-assessment of school life, and it was considered that the verbalization of concerns was promoted by the quantification process of their own school life.

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学校生活における「困った気持ち」をみつけるための学校自己採点法の活用

小沢浩, 北洋輔

脳と発達 in press 2021

Last author, Accepted

多言語環境児における発達性ディスレクシアの評価と診断:日本語−英語バイリンガル症例のケースシリーズ研究

奥村安寿子, 加賀佳美, 稲垣真澄, 北洋輔

脳と発達 ((一社)日本小児神経学会) in press ( 2 ) 111 - 117 2021

Accepted, ISSN 0029-0831

【目的】多言語環境にある小児の読み書き困難は、学習機会の少なさといった環境要因が原因とされやすいが、発達性読み書き障害や知的能力障害などに基づく場合もある。本研究では、日本語-英語のバイリンガル症例に両言語による基礎的な読み書き評価を適用し、多言語環境児における発達性読み書き障害の評価・診断のあり方を検討した。【方法】読み書きの困難を主訴として医療機関を受診した、日本語-英語バイリンガル児4名に標準化知能検査、英語の口頭言語能力評価、および両言語の基礎的な読み書き検査を実施し、DSM-5による限局性学習症の読字・書字表出困難の診断を行った。【結果】全般的な知的発達水準と口頭言語能力は、全例で正常範囲内にあった。日本語の読み書き検査では、症例1、3、4がひらがな読字から、症例2が漢字で困難を示した。学校言語が英語の2名では、アルファベットの呼称(症例3)と英語の文章音読(症例3、4)にも重篤な困難が認められた。これらより、症例1、3、4は読字および書字表出、症例2は書字表出に特異的な困難がある発達性読み書き障害と診断された。【結論】文字や単語の基礎的な読み書き検査は、多言語環境児の診断的評価に有用であった。複数言語での評価は実施面の課題が多いが、中核症状である正確性・流暢性低下、および言語歴や学習時間等との乖離の把握により、環境要因では説明しがたい生得的な限局性学習症を特定できる。(著者抄録)

Selection of screening items for stuttering: A preliminary study

Yuki Hara, Mari Higashikawa, Wakana Hata, Yuri Sasaki, Takeshi Murakami, Yoko Mizuto, Yosuke Kita, Ikuyo Ishizaka

The Kitasato Medical Journal 2020.10

Accepted

Adaptive behavior and its related factors in children with focal epilepsy.

Riyo Ueda, Yoshimi Kaga, Yosuke Kita, Masaki Iwasaki, Eri Takeshita, Yuko Shimizu-Motohashi, Akihiko Ishiyama, Takashi Saito, Eiji Nakagawa, Kenji Sugai, Masayuki Sasaki, Masumi Inagaki

Epilepsy & behavior : E&B 108 107092 - 107092 2020.07

Accepted

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to clarify the strengths and weaknesses in adaptive behavior in children with focal epilepsy and show children-associated factors related to adaptive behavior. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-three children with focal epilepsy aged 5-18 years with intellectual quotient (IQ) ranging from 67 to 135 were enrolled in this study. Adaptive behavior was evaluated using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale, 2nd edition (VABS-II). The children performed continuous performance test and tests of reading, writing, and IQ; parents answered questionnaires regarding attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Participants were categorized into four groups based on IQ and adaptive behavior scores for statistical comparisons. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Children with low adaptive behavior were more likely to show a reduction in daily living skills, and those with both low adaptive behavior and IQ were more likely to show a reduction in daily living skills and communication. Lower adaptive behavior was related to more severe autistic symptoms, lower academic achievement in children with IQ > 85, and lower executive function in children with IQ ≤ 85. There was a qualitative difference of cognitive dysfunction in adaptive behavior between both groups. CONCLUSIONS: There were differences in VABS-II domain and subdomain characteristics between children with focal epilepsy and those with ASD; however, it was more difficult for children with more severe ASD and coexisting focal epilepsy to show age-equivalent adaptive behavior.

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Executive dysfunction in medication-naïve children with ADHD: A multi-modal fNIRS and EEG study

Yoshimi Kaga, Riyo Ueda, Miho Tanaka, Yosuke Kita, Kota Suzuki, Yasuko Okumura, Yuka Egashira, Yuka Shirakawa, Shota Mitsuhashi, Yuzuki Kitamura, Eiji Nakagawa, Yushiro Yamashita, Masumi Inagaki

Brain and Development (Elsevier BV) 42 ( 8 ) 555 - 563 2020.06

Accepted, ISSN 0387-7604

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Circadian rhythm at age 3-4 months is associated with risk of autism spectrum disorder

Kyoko Hoshino, Yuri Nagao, Kazue Kimura, Masaharu Hayashi, Yosuke Kita

日本小児科学会雑誌 124 ( 5 ) 819 - 824 2020.05

Accepted

Reduced Nogo-P3 in adults with developmental coordination disorder (DCD).

Kota Suzuki, Yosuke Kita, Yuka Shirakawa, Yuka Egashira, Shota Mitsuhashi, Yuzuki Kitamura, Hideyuki Okuzumi, Yoshimi Kaga, Masumi Inagaki

International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology 153 37 - 44 2020.04

Accepted

Nogo-N2 is associated with the premotor cognitive process that precedes motor response (e.g., conflict monitoring), whereas Nogo-P3 is related to the inhibition of the actual motor response. We examined the influence of motor clumsiness of developmental coordination disorder (DCD) on components of the event-related potential in a Go/Nogo task. Participants were healthy adults (N = 81) that were classified into control and DCD groups based on the Movement Assessment Battery for Children Second Edition. We manipulated the difficulty in stopping a response by varying the frequency of Nogo stimuli in a response task into rare (20%) and frequent (80%) conditions, and Nogo-N2 and Nogo-P3 were calculated from electroencephalograms (EEGs) during the Go/Nogo tasks. The commission error rate in the rare condition was significantly higher in the DCD group than in the control group, indicating that motor clumsiness decreases task performance. There were no differences in Nogo-N2 between DCD and control groups. However, Nogo-P3 in the rare condition was reduced in the DCD group compared to the control group. These results suggest that the influence of motor clumsiness is limited to the cognitive process after the initiation of the actual motor response.

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Discrepancy between musical ability and language skills in children with Williams syndrome.

Yuzuki Kitamura, Yosuke Kita, Yasuko Okumura, Yoshimi Kaga, Hideyuki Okuzumi, Yuji Ishikawa, Miho Nakamura, Masumi Inagaki

Brain & development 42 ( 3 ) 248 - 255 2020.01

Accepted

BACKGROUND: Children with Williams syndrome (WS) show a marked interest in music, a characteristic often explored in clinical settings. However, the actual musical abilities of patients with WS remain debatable due to some of the relevant data being derived from experimental tasks that require a verbal response, despite the known language impairments in WS. The present study aimed to examine musical ability in children with WS using a newly invented pitch discrimination task with minimal involvement of language and clarify its relationship with language skill. METHODS: Eleven children with WS participated in the study. We used a novel pitch discrimination task that required minimal language use. Two piano tones were presented sequentially, and children were asked to give a non-verbal response as to whether the second tone was higher than, lower than, or the same as the first tone. RESULTS: Pitch discrimination performance in children with WS was lower than the level predicted for their chronological age (CA), even in the non-verbal task. Pitch discrimination ability and verbal mental age (VMA) were shown to be dissociated, such that children with WS with a lower skill level for language showed an unexpectedly higher level of pitch discrimination ability and vice versa. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated reduced musical ability with respect to CA in children with WS. The dissociation between musical ability and language skills may indicate unique developmental relationships that differ from those in normal children. These findings provide new evidence to support the importance of assessing actual musical ability in WS prior to implementing interventional music therapy.

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Postoperative improvement of executive function and adaptive behavior in children with intractable epilepsy

Riyo Ueda, Yoshimi Kaga, Yosuke Kita, Miho Tanaka, Masaki Iwasaki, Eri Takeshita, Yuko Shimizu-Motohashi, Akihiko Ishiyama, Takashi Saito, Eiji Nakagawa, Kenji Sugai, Masayuki Sasaki, Takashi Okada, Masumi Inagaki

Brain and Development (Brain and Development) 43 ( 2 ) 280 - 287 2020

ISSN 0387-7604

© 2020 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology Introduction: An alteration in postoperative cognitive function varies according to the patients’ background characteristics, such as etiology, focus, and seizure duration. Accurate prediction and assessment of postoperative cognitive function is difficult in each patient. Adaptive behavior could describe the typical performance of daily activities and represents the ability to translate cognitive potential into real-world skills. We examined the relationship between alterations of executive function (EF) and adaptive behavior in school children undergoing surgery for intractable epilepsy. Methodology: We enrolled 31 children with focal resection or corpus callosotomy for intractable epilepsy [mean age at surgery, 12.5 years; 16 boys; mean intellectual quotient, 73.3]. We surveyed answered questionnaires on attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and adaptive behavior using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale, 2nd edition (VABS-II), and performed continuous performance tests (CPTs) on children pre- and postoperatively. Result: ADHD and ASD symptoms improved after epilepsy surgery. The omission error (OE) in the CPT variable improved after epilepsy surgery, especially in children with a shorter preoperative period. Improved ASD symptoms led to an increased score of the coping skills subdomain. The reduced OE observed after surgery also increased the score of the community skills subdomain. Conclusion: Improvement in EF and ASD symptoms resulted in better adaptive behavior postoperatively. These results were important for the pre- and postoperative evaluation and re-evaluation of children with epilepsy requiring special education and related services.

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The influence of motor skills on the choices of action in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

Kita Yosuke, Shirakawa Yuka, Suzuki Kota, Egashira Yuka, Kaga Yoshimi, Kitamura Yuzuki, Nishimura Yuki, Yamashita Yushiro, Inagaki Masumi

NO TO HATTATSU (The Japanese Society of Child Neurology) 52 ( 1 ) 5 - 10 2020

Accepted, ISSN 0029-0831

Objective: The present study investigated motor skills in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and its influence on their choices of action, which provided basic findings for prevention of unintentional injury in their living conditions. Methods: A case-control study was performed with 51 typically developing (TD) children and 35 children with ADHD. Their motor skills were evaluated by The Movement Assessment Battery for Children—Second Edition (MABC-2). We conducted an experimental task regarding the choices of action, in which the subjects were asked to pass through the rope by either stepping over or passing under it. We compared the scores of the MABC-2 and the performance in the experimental task among the subject groups, then identified the factors which would affect their choices of action. Results: Children with ADHD showed lower performance on their total MABC-2 score than did the TD children. In particular, their ball and gross motor skill performances were impaired compared with those of the TD children. In the experimental task, children with ADHD tried to pass under the rope set at a low height while the TD children stepped over the rope at the same level. The height of the rope that subjects chose to pass under was predicted by the attention performance of the subjects, but not by their motor skill performance. Conclusions: Japanese children with ADHD had impaired gross motor skills as well as difficulties in item-based motor skills. Moreover, their choices of action seemed inefficient, which was affected by severe inattention toward both the environment and their body schema. Thus, we should consider attention performance as well as motor skill performance in prevention of unintentional injuries.

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漢字熟語の逸脱検出時の脳磁場反応

江頭優佳, 加賀佳美, 軍司敦子, 北洋輔, 木村元洋, 廣永成人, 金子裕, 高橋秀俊, 花川隆, 稲垣真澄

日本生体磁気学会誌 (日本生体磁気学会) 33 ( 1 ) 164 - 166 2020

ISSN 0915-0374

就学前の発達性協調運動障害(DCD)早期発見のためのチェックリストと活用マニュアルの完成顕在化しにくい発達障害を早期に抽出するアセスメントツールの開発研究から

斉藤まなぶ, 北洋輔, 大里絢子, 三上美咲, 小枝周平, 三上珠希, 稲垣真澄, 中村和彦

日本児童青年精神医学会総会抄録集 ((一社)日本児童青年精神医学会) 60回 P14 - 3 2019.12

Accepted

Prevalence estimates of neurodevelopmental disorders in Japan: A community sample questionnaire study.

Yosuke Kita, Fumiko Ashizawa, Masumi Inagaki

Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences in press 2019.10

Accepted, ISSN 1323-1316

AIM: Prevalence estimates of neurodevelopmental disorders have been calculated by questionnaire surveys scored by a single rater, which introduces inherent rater biases. The present study aimed to estimate the prevalence and comorbidity rates of four neurodevelopmental disorders based on both parent and teacher rating scales. METHODS: We performed a community sample survey recruiting 3852 children aged 6 to 9 years. Parents and teachers evaluated clinical conditions in children using questionnaire-style scales. These scales with cut-off values were used to estimate the prevalence and comorbidity rates of attention deficit hyperactive disorder, autism spectrum disorder, specific learning disorder (or developmental dyslexia), and developmental coordination disorder. RESULTS: The prevalence estimates were separately confirmed according to the raters. Some estimates were higher than those in previous studies conducted in other countries. We also found a large disagreement between the parent and teacher rating scores. Moreover, the degree of agreement between two raters varied depending on the severity of the child's clinical condition. CONCLUSION: These estimates are the first findings based on evaluating children by two different raters. The prevalence and comorbidity estimates are informative for researchers and clinicians of pediatric neurology. The disagreements between two different raters raise questions about previous estimates of neurodevelopmental disorders.

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Effects of motor clumsiness on ERP components due to response inhibition

Suzuki Kota, Kita Yosuke, Shirakawa Yuka, Egashira Yuka, Kaga Yoshimi, Kitamura Yuzuki, Mitsuhashi Shota, Aragaki Kanako, Okuzumi Hideyuki, Inagaki Masumi

The Proceedings of the Annual Convention of the Japanese Psychological Association (The Japanese Psychological Association) 83 2A-050 - 2A-050 2019.09

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Is the motor skills checklist appropriate for assessing children in Japan?

Kita Y, Ashizawa F, Inagaki M

Brain & development 41 ( 6 ) 483 - 489 2019.06

Accepted, ISSN 0387-7604

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Predictive factors of success in neurofeedback training for children with ADHD

Yasuko Okumura, Yosuke Kita, Mikimasa Omori, Kota Suzuki, Akira Yasumura, Ayako Fukuda, Masumi Inagaki

DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROREHABILITATION (TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC) 22 ( 1 ) 3 - 12 2019.01

Accepted, ISSN 1751-8423

Introduction: Neurofeedback (NF) training aims the enhancement of self-regulation over brain activities. While it is largely recognized as an effective treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the existence of non-learners has also been reported. The present study explored pre-training assessment indices that could predict learners prior to NF training. Methods: Twenty-two children with ADHD participated in slow cortical potential (SCP) NF training and completed pre- and post-training assessments. Participants were classified into learners or non-learners based on their progress in the SCP regulation, and pre-training indices that differentiate the two groups were examined by decision tree analysis. Results and Discussion: The learner rate in NF training was 45.5%. Learners were predicted by pre-training cognitive and neurophysiological measures regarding Stroop tasks, which suggested relatively intact executive function as their characteristics. Given that NF training is not universally effective for children with ADHD, further studies are necessary to establish application criteria.

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Developmental changes in pitch discrimination ability during childhood

Yuzuki KITAMURA, Yosuke KITA, Yasuko OKUMURA, Masumi INAGAK, Hideyuki OKUZUMI, Yuji ISHIKAWA

Journal of Music Perception and Cognition (The Japanese Society for Music Perception and Cognition) 印刷中 ( 1 ) 3 - 12 2019

Accepted, ISSN 1342-856X

Pitch discrimination is the ability to distinguish differences in pitch and it is important for playing musical instruments and listening to music. However, owing to the limited verbal abilities of young children, not much is known about developmental changes in pitch discrimination during childhood. Therefore, the present study examined pitchdiscrimination abilities in preschool and early elementary school children using non-verbal responses. It was found that an ability to recognize the same pitch improved among preschoolers (4-5 years) and kindergarteners (5-6 years), while high-low pitch discrimination improved between first- and second-graders. In addition, musical experience improved pitchdiscrimination performance, but only among second-graders. These results suggest that the development of pitch discrimination during childhood involves both gradual natural acquisition and continuous musical experiences.

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発達性読み書き障害の早期発見に向けた行動観察項目の開発

北洋輔, 芦沢文子, 稲垣真澄

小児保健研究印刷中 2019

Accepted

漢字熟語認知における逸脱を反映する脳磁場反応

江頭優佳, 加賀佳美, 軍司敦子, 北洋輔, 木村元洋, 廣永成人, 金子裕, 高橋秀俊, 花川隆, 稲垣真澄

日本生体磁気学会誌 (日本生体磁気学会) 32 ( 1 ) 140 - 141 2019

ISSN 0915-0374

Assessing Learning Difficulties in a Child with Limited Japanese Proficiency : A Case Report of Academic-Skill and Cognitive Assessments in a Swedish-Speaking Girl

奥村安寿子, 北洋輔, 加賀佳美

コミュニケーション障害学 (日本コミュニケーション障害学会) 印刷中 ( 3 ) 99 - 112 2019

Accepted, ISSN 1347-8451

重症心身障害児者の嚥下時舌骨運動の特徴：健常成人との比較．

中村達也, 北洋輔, 藤本淳平, 甲斐智子, 稲田穣, 鮎澤浩一, 小沢浩

日本摂食嚥下リハビリテーション学会雑誌 22 ( 3 ) 205 - 213 2018.12

Accepted

運動の不器用さと抑制性の事象関連電位の関係

江頭優佳, 北洋輔, 鈴木浩太, 白川由佳, 加賀佳美, 北村柚葵, 三橋翔太, 新垣香菜子, 稲垣真澄, 奥住秀之

臨床神経生理学 ((一社)日本臨床神経生理学会) 46 ( 5 ) 445 - 445 2018.10

ISSN 1345-7101

遺伝子多型が抑制機能の事象関連電位に及ぼす影響

北洋輔, 鈴木浩太, 白川由佳, 江頭優佳, 加賀佳美, 北村柚葵, 三橋翔太, 新垣香菜子, 稲垣真澄, 奥住秀之

臨床神経生理学 ((一社)日本臨床神経生理学会) 46 ( 5 ) 446 - 446 2018.10

ISSN 1345-7101

Applicability of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (MABC-2) for Japanese children aged 3-6 years: a preliminary investigation emphasizing internal consistency and factorial validity.

Hirata S, Kita Y, Yasunaga M, Suzuki K, Okumura Y, Okuzumi H, Hosobuchi T, Kokubun M, Inagaki M, Nakai A

Frontiers in Psychology 9 ( 1452 ) 1452 - 1452 2018.08

Accepted

This study investigated the applicability of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children - Second Edition (MABC-2) for 3- to 6-year-old Japanese children, particularly addressing its internal consistency and factorial validity. The MABC-2 test set for 3- to 6-year-old children was administered to 252 children. Differences between Japanese children and those of the original normative sample (i.e. United Kingdom children) were investigated along with sex differences. The Japanese children aged 3-6 years were found to have higher Manual Dexterity and Balance component scores than children of the normative sample. Girls scored higher than boys on the Balance component. Results of several analyses showed good internal consistency of the MABC-2. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that a theoretical three-component model of the MABC-2 was not fitted to Japanese children aged 3-6 years. Instead, a new three-component model was postulated and discussed. The new three-component model of the MABC-2, with Manual Dexterity, Static Balance and Ball Skills, and Dynamic Balance, has high factorial validity in Japanese children aged 3-6 years.

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The relationship between the superior frontal cortex and alpha oscillation in a flanker task: Simultaneous recording of electroencephalogram (EEG) and near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)

Kota Suzuki, Yasuko Okumura, Yosuke Kita, Yuhei Oi, Haruo Shinoda, Masumi Inagaki

Neuroscience Research (Elsevier Ireland Ltd) 131 30 - 35 2018.06

Accepted, ISSN 1872-8111

Activity in the alpha band of the electroencephalogram (EEG) reflects functional inhibition of the cerebral cortex. The superior frontal cortex (SFC) is known to control alpha activity. Based on this relationship between SFC and alpha, we hypothesized that SFC controlled alpha mediates proactive control over interference. In this study, we examined the relationship between SFC and alpha in the flanker task by simultaneously recording EEG and near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Forty participants performed a flanker task with occasional (compatible 75%, incompatible 25%) and successive (incompatible 100%) conditions. In the occasional condition, larger SFC activity was related to pre-stimulus alpha enhancement under occipital electrodes. This is consistent with a model in which SFC enhances pre-stimulus alpha activity, leading to proactive control over interference. However, we could not detect a correlation between SFC activity and alpha activity in the successive condition. Active inhibition may have been reduced by a need to continuously inhibit brain regions associated with the irrelevant information. This may have reduced the role of the SFC in controlling alpha activity. Based on these findings, we postulate that there are two cerebral mechanisms of proactive control over interference.

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Right prefrontal cortex specialization for visuospatial working memory and developmental alterations in prefrontal cortex recruitment in school-age children

Kota Suzuki, Yosuke Kita, Yuhei Oi, Yasuko Okumura, Hideyuki Okuzumi, Masumi Inagaki

Clinical Neurophysiology (Elsevier Ireland Ltd) 129 ( 4 ) 759 - 765 2018.04

Accepted, ISSN 1872-8952

Objective: The right prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays an essential role in active processing within visuospatial working memory (VSWM). The aim of this study was to examine developmental changes in the recruitment patterns of the PFC during visuospatial memory tasks in school-age participants. Methods: We recruited 80 school-age children who were classified into three age groups: 7- to 8-year-old, 9- to 10-year-old, and 11- to 12-year-old children. We used near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to measure PFC activity during visuospatial memory task. Memory stimuli were presented either sequentially or simultaneously. Results: In all three groups, right-lateralized PFC activity was observed during sequential presentation, suggesting specialization of the right PFC for VSWM. During simultaneous presentation, right-lateralized PFC activity was not observed in 7- to 8-year-old children or 9- to 10-year-old children. In contrast, PFC activity was right-lateralized in 11- to 12-year-old children. Conclusions: We suggest that specialization of the right PFC for VSWM is already present before school-age, but widely distributed activity in response to visuospatial memory tasks changes to more focal activity in VSWM-specific regions during the early school years. Significance: Using NIRS, we showed developmental changes in the recruitment patterns of the PFC during visuospatial memory tasks.

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ABNORMAL FEEDBACK-RELATED NEGATIVITY FOR PARTNER'S ERRORS IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER

Yosuke Kita, Kota Suzuki, Yasuko Okumura, Shogo Hirata, Hideyuki Okuzumi, Masumi Inagaki

PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY (WILEY) 54 S87 - S87 2017.12

ISSN 0048-5772

PURE AND SHORT-TERM PHONICS-TRAINING IMPROVES PRINT-SPECIFIC ERP IN ENGLISH: A CASE STUDY OF A JAPANESE MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRL

Yasuko Okumura, Yosuke Kita, Masumi Inagaki

PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY (WILEY) 54 S125 - S125 2017.12

ISSN 0048-5772

Excessive hemodynamic activity in the superior frontal cortex during the flanker task in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Kota Suzuki, Yasuko Okumura, Yosuke Kita, Yuhei Oi, Yushiro Yamashita, Takaaki Goto, Masumi Inagaki

NEUROREPORT (LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS) 28 ( 13 ) 828 - 832 2017.09

Accepted, ISSN 0959-4965

Near-infrared spectroscopy studies in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have shown excessive prefrontal activity responsible for coping with interference. However, it is possible that the previous results were influenced by verbal, reading, and memory developments. The flanker task is an interference task that does not require a verbal response, reading, or memorization. We examined activity in the superior frontal cortex (SFC) during the flanker task in 12 children with ADHD and 14 children with typical development using near-infrared spectroscopy. SFC activity was significantly greater in children with ADHD than in those with typical development. The results showed excessive interference coping activity in children with ADHD irrespective of verbal, reading, and memory development. Moreover, SFC activity was positively correlated with the inattention subscale score of the ADHD rating scale. We suggest that children with ADHD need greater SFC activation to cope with interference, and the inefficient mechanism is demanding and hard to sustain, which causes inattention symptoms of children with ADHD.

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Training Attention to the Other’s Need Improves Helping Behaviors in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Behavioral Analysis Using a Two-dimensional Motion Capture System

Yosuke Kita, Atsuko Gunji, Ryusuke Sakuma, Takaaki Goto, Yasuko Okumura, Masumi Inagaki

Frontiers in Education (Frontiers Media SA) 2 ( 50 ) 1 - 7 2017.09

Accepted

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The Direct/Indirect Association of ADhD/ODD Symptoms with Self-esteem, Self-perception, and Depression in Early Adolescents

Yosuke Kita, Yuki Inoue

FRONTIERS IN PSYCHIATRY (FRONTIERS MEDIA SA) 8 137 2017.07

Accepted, ISSN 1664-0640

The present study aimed to reveal the influences of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms on self-esteem and self-perception during early adolescence and to clarify the spillover effect of self-esteem on depressive symptoms. ADHD symptoms in 564 early adolescents were evaluated via teacher-rating scales. Self-esteem and depressive symptoms were assessed via self-reported scales. We analyzed the relationships among these symptoms using structural equation modeling. Severe inattentive symptoms decreased self-esteem and hyperactive-impulsive symptoms affected self-perception for non-academic domains. Although these ADHD symptoms did not directly affect depressive symptoms, low self-esteem led to severe depression. ODD symptoms had a direct impact on depression without the mediating effects of self-esteem. These results indicated that inattentive symptoms had a negative impact on self-esteem and an indirect negative effect on depressive symptoms in adolescents, even if ADHD symptoms were subthreshold. Severe ODD symptoms can be directly associated with depressive symptoms during early adolescence.

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Mental Health Inventory for Infants: Scale Development and Japanese Infants' Characteristics

Maiko Suto, Yosuke Kita, Kota Suzuki, Masumi Inagaki, Chizuru Misago

JOURNAL OF CHILD AND FAMILY STUDIES (SPRINGER) 26 ( 6 ) 1546 - 1553 2017.06

Accepted, ISSN 1062-1024

Early detection and treatment promote positive outcomes in mental health problems among infants. This study developed a simple and reliable screening inventory for infants' mental health. Participants were 579 primary caregivers who had Japanese infants aged 2-6 years. Participants evaluated their children using the Mental Health Inventory for Infants (MHII; developed in this study), which contains 24 items. Exploratory factorial analysis identified the MHII factor structure; confirmatory factorial analysis examined its factorial validity. Internal consistency and criterion-related validity were also examined. Irritability (8 items), somatic symptoms (6 items), and signs of insecurity (4 items) were identified as factors in the MHII; each of these factors measures a critical aspect of infants' mental health. The MHII's internal consistency and scale homogeneity were acceptable; its criterion-related validity was supported. In this study, male infants exhibited greater irritability and less insecurity than females. The present results support the MHII's reliability and validity; additionally, they indicate that caregivers may use the MHII to quickly screen for three critical aspects of infants' mental health. We expect that the MHII will be used for early detection of mental health difficulties in infants to facilitate treatment.

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Spatial working memory encoding type modulates prefrontal cortical activity

Yuhei Oi, Yosuke Kita, Kota Suzuki, Yasuko Okumura, Hideyuki Okuzumi, Haruo Shinoda, Masumi Inagaki

NEUROREPORT (LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS) 28 ( 7 ) 391 - 396 2017.05

Accepted, ISSN 0959-4965

Spatial working memory (SWM) involves both simultaneous and sequential encoding, but the differences in their neural correlates are unclear. We investigated the differences in prefrontal cortex activity related to these SWM encoding types. We also examined the patterns of brain activity influencing individual visuospatial abilities (VSA). We conducted SWM tasks with two different conditions, sequential and simultaneous encoding, and examined hemodynamic activity in 39 healthy adults using nearinfrared spectroscopy. The bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was activated more strongly in the sequential condition compared with the simultaneous condition. This suggests that prefrontal cortex activity underlying SWM is modulated by the type of encoding. We also found that individuals with high VSA showed weaker activation in the right-dorsolateral prefrontal cortex compared with those with lower VSA during the simultaneous condition. This hypoactivation is thought to reflect neural efficiency in the individuals with high ability. These findings are expected to lead to a better understanding of neural substrates for SWM. Copyright (C) 2017 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS IN CLUMSY CHILDREN

北洋輔, 鈴木浩太, 平田正吾, 奥村安寿子, 崎原ことえ, 安永正則, 中井昭夫, 奥住秀之, 稲垣真澄

若手研究者のための健康科学研究助成成果報告書 = Research-aid report (明治安田厚生事業団) 32 23 - 28 2017.04

Accepted

Electroencephalographic Change of Non-affected Side of Hemimegalencephaly and Developmental Progress after Hemispherotomy

Takahashi Koji, Nakagawa Eiji, Takeshita Eri, Motohashi Yuko, Ishiyama Akihiko, Saito Takashi, Komaki Hirofumi, Sugai Kenji, Kita Yosuke, Takahashi Akio, Otsuki Taisuke, Sasaki Masayuki

Journal of the Japan Epilepsy Society (一般社団法人日本てんかん学会) 34 ( 3 ) 619 - 627 2017.01

Accepted, ISSN 0912-0890

Hemimegalencephaly is characterized by severe psychomotor impairment and intractable epilepsy, which is often requires a hemispherotomy. After hemispherotomy, epileptic discharges may sometimes occur in the non-affected hemisphere even when clinical seizures do not recur for a long time. We evaluated six cases of hemimegalencephaly after hemispherotomy with a seizure-free period lasting at least 36 months, which we could track using video-electroencephalography. Developmental age (DA) and developmental quotient (DQ) were evaluated using the developmental check- list (Kinder Infant Developmental Scale). We found the DQ declined and the total DA increased in all cases. To study the correlation between DA and epileptic discharges in the non-affected hemisphere, we measured the paroxysmal-index (PI) the number of one-second bins containing one or more epileptic discharges in the non-affected hemisphere, divided by the total number of seconds. The PI and DA data were collected at the same time during every regularly-scheduled evaluation. We calculated the rate of change of PI and DA. Interestingly, expressive language development and PI were negatively correlated when the PI increased at a rate above average. The receptive language DA and PI was not correlated. This finding suggests the expressive language development delay may worsen when epileptic discharges of non-affected side increase.

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Pure and Short-Term Phonics-Training Improves Reading and Print-Specific ERP in English: A Case Study of a Japanese Middle School Girl

Yasuko Okumura, Yosuke Kita, Masumi Inagaki

DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGY (ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD) 42 ( 4 ) 265 - 275 2017

Accepted, ISSN 8756-5641

Although phonics is the most frequently used approach in treating students with reading difficulties, its effects have not been fully clarified at either a behavioral or neurophysiological level. The present case study administered pure and short-term (i.e., 10minutes per day for five weeks) phonics-training to a 13-year-old Japanese girl with severe difficulty in learning English. As a result, a drastic improvement in reading accuracy was associated with the enhancement of print-specific N170 in event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by the trained words. The present finding indicates that phonics training can, by itself, remediate English reading and affect its neurophysiological bases.

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Prisoners of P values

Kita Yosuke

NO TO HATTATSU (The Japanese Society of Child Neurology) 49 ( 6 ) 386 - 386 2017

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Uniqueness of action monitoring in children with autism spectrum disorder: Response types and temporal aspects

Kota Suzuki, Yosuke Kita, Kotoe Sakihara, Shogo Hirata, Ryusuke Sakuma, Hideyuki Okuzumi, Masumi Inagaki

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGY (TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC) 39 ( 8 ) 803 - 816 2017

Accepted, ISSN 1380-3395

Background: Action monitoring, the process for evaluating the appropriateness of one's own actions, is reported to be atypical in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Method: We examined the characteristics of action monitoring in 11 children with ASD and 12 children with typical development (TD), analyzing stimulus-locked and response-locked event-related potential components (i.e., N2; error-related negativity, ERN; and error positivity, Pe) related to execution of a flanker task. Results: We found a smaller N2 amplitude in children with ASD than in those with TD. Children with ASD also had a larger amplitude of ERN for partial error responses (electromyographic activity corresponding to the inappropriate hand side before response execution) than did children with TD. Additionally, the ERN amplitude for the partial error response was correlated with the Autistic Mannerisms of the Social Responsiveness Scale. There were no significant differences in Pe amplitudes between children with ASD and those with TD. Conclusion: The results suggest that action monitoring in children with ASD is significantly different both before and after response execution. We hypothesized that the detail-focused processing style of ASD reduces the demands of action monitoring before response execution; however, autistic mannerisms evoke excessive concern regarding trivial mistakes after response execution.

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視空間性ワーキングメモリー課題における背外測前頭前皮質の活動の発達的変化 : 近赤外分光法による検討

鈴木浩太, 北洋輔, 大井雄平, 奥村安寿子, 奥住秀之, 稲垣真澄

認知神経科学 (認知神経科学会) 19 ( 2 ) 92_2 - 92_2 2017

ISSN 1344-4298

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A pediatric case of post-resuscitation encephalopathy with swallowing function improved by olfactory stimulation with black pepper

中村達也, 野村芳子, 加藤真希, 北洋輔, 鮎澤浩一, 小沢浩

日本重症心身障害学会誌 = Journal of severe motor and intellectual disabilities (日本重症心身障害学会) 41 ( 3 ) 445 - 449 2016.12

Accepted, ISSN 1343-1439

Neural oscillations in the temporal pole for a temporally congruent audio-visual speech detection task

Takefumi Ohki, Atsuko Gunji, Yuichi Takei, Hidetoshi Takahashi, Yuu Kaneko, Yosuke Kita, Naruhito Hironaga, Shozo Tobimatsu, Yoko Kamio, Takashi Hanakawa, Masumi Inagaki, Kazuo Hiraki

SCIENTIFIC REPORTS (NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP) 6 37973 2016.11

Accepted, ISSN 2045-2322

Though recent studies have elucidated the earliest mechanisms of processing in multisensory integration, our understanding of how multisensory integration of more sustained and complicated stimuli is implemented in higher-level association cortices is lacking. In this study, we used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to determine how neural oscillations alter local and global connectivity during multisensory integration processing. We acquired MEG data from 15 healthy volunteers performing an audio-visual speech matching task. We selected regions of interest (ROIs) using whole brain time-frequency analyses (power spectrum density and wavelet transform), then applied phase amplitude coupling (PAC) and imaginary coherence measurements to them. We identified prominent delta band power in the temporal pole (TP), and a remarkable PAC between delta band phase and beta band amplitude. Furthermore, imaginary coherence analysis demonstrated that the temporal pole and well-known multisensory areas (e.g., posterior parietal cortex and post-central areas) are coordinated through delta-phase coherence. Thus, our results suggest that modulation of connectivity within the local network, and of that between the local and global network, is important for audio-visual speech integration. In short, these neural oscillatory mechanisms within and between higher-level association cortices provide new insights into the brain mechanism underlying audio-visual integration.

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Applicability of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition to Japanese children: A study of the Age Band 2

Yosuke Kita, Kota Suzuki, Shogo Hirata, Kotoe Sakihara, Masumi Inagaki, Akio Nakai

BRAIN & DEVELOPMENT (ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV) 38 ( 8 ) 706 - 713 2016.09

Accepted, ISSN 0387-7604

Background: The diagnosis of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) requires a precise assessment of motor skills via a standardized tool such as the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (MABC-2). Although the MABC-2 has been widely used in English-speaking countries, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have examined its applicability to Japanese children. Thus, it has been difficult to diagnose DCD in Japan.
Aims: As a preliminary investigation preceding its formal standardization in Japan, we examined the applicability of the MABC-2.
Methods and procedures: Participants comprised 132 typically developing Japanese children who completed a test set of the MABC-2 for Age Band 2. We analyzed both internal consistency and factorial validity for our Japanese sample. We also included a comparison between our sample of Japanese children and the normative sample of the MABC-2, as well as an examination of gender differences.
Outcomes and results: Our results indicated acceptable internal consistency and scale homogeneity. High factorial validity, which has not been examined in other populations, was also confirmed for the test set. Moreover, we found differences in component scores between the Japanese and normative children with respect to Manual Dexterity and Balance. We also found that girls obtained superior Manual Dexterity and Balance scores compared with boys.
Conclusions and Implications: The present findings represent the first step towards the standardization of the MABC-2 in a Japanese population. (C) 2016 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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The Association between Children's Behavior and Parenting of Caregivers: A Longitudinal Study in Japan.

Suzuki K, Kita Y, Kaga M, Takehara K, Misago C, Inagaki M

Frontiers in public health (FRONTIERS MEDIA SA) 4 17 2016.02

Accepted, ISSN 2296-2565

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the association between children's behavior (i.e., prosocial and problematic behavior) and the parenting style (i.e., laxness and overreactivity) of their caregivers by using longitudinal data in the Japanese population. These data were collected when the children were 7.5 and 9 years. We proposed three hypotheses: children's behavior at 7.5 years will predict their behavior at 9 years; children's behavior at 7.5 years will predict the parenting of their caregivers; and the parenting style of caregivers will affect their children's behavior at 9 years. We evaluated children's behavior and parenting behavior using a strength and difficulties questionnaire and a parenting scale. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results of the SEM showed that children's behavior at 7.5 years predicted their behavior at 9 years. Children's problematic behavior at 7.5 years triggered over-reactive parenting in their caregivers at 9 years, which increased problematic behavior and decreased prosocial behavior in the children at 9 years. These findings indicate the association between children's behavior and the parenting style of caregivers in Japan.

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ADHD児におけるニューロフィードバック療法の効果予測

奥村安寿子, 北洋輔, 大森幹真, 鈴木浩太, 福田亜矢子, 安村明, 稲垣真澄

認知神経科学 (認知神経科学会) 18 ( 2 ) 86_2 - 86_2 2016

ISSN 1344-4298

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Influence of the development of gross motor skills on the feeding development in children with Down syndrome

中村達也, 鮎澤浩一, 北洋輔, 甲斐智子, 小沢浩

言語聴覚研究 (日本言語聴覚士協会 ; 2004-) 13 ( 1 ) 3 - 10 2016

Accepted, ISSN 1349-5828

ADHD児の空間性ワーキングメモリにかかわる脳血流動態の特徴

大井雄平, 北洋輔, 鈴木浩太, 奥村安寿子, 奥住秀之, 山下裕史朗, 稲垣真澄

認知神経科学 (認知神経科学会) 18 ( 2 ) 93_2 - 93_2 2016

ISSN 1344-4298

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Developmental trajectories of learning disorders from childhood to adulthood

北洋輔, 稲垣真澄

精神保健研究 = Journal of mental health : official journal of the National Institute of Mental Health, NCNP, Japan (国立精神・神経医療研究センター精神保健研究所) ( 29 ) 73 - 80 2016

Accepted, ISSN 0915-065X

Assessment of magnocellular function in patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension by means of visual evoked potential

Yamazaki Hiroko, Kita Yosuke, Kobayashi Tomoka, Kaga Makiko, Inagaki Masumi

Japanese Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology (一般社団法人日本臨床神経生理学会) 44 ( 1 ) 11 - 19 2016

Accepted

We recorded VEPs elicited with new developed low spatial frequency, high temporal frequency and low contrast visual stimuli (M stimuli) to evaluate magnocellular function in both 8 patients with glaucoma or 5 patients with ocular hypertension and 13 normal subjects. VEPs were recorded from Oz electrodes, and analyzed with complex demodulation methods. Peak amplitudes were plotted as a function of the log of the stimulus contrast. The VEP contrast thresholds were determined by a linear extrapolation to zero amplitude. VEP peak amplitudes with 10% and 15% contrast stimuli were lower and contrast thresholds were higher in glaucoma group and ocular hypertension group (p<0.05). Contrast thresholds of 6 out of 13 patients were higher than the normal range. M stimuli-elicited-VEPs may be useful to evaluate the early functional impairment in patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension.

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Lateralized frontal activity for Japanese phonological processing during child development

Takaaki Goto, Yosuke Kita, Kota Suzuki, Toshihide Koike, Masumi Inagaki

FRONTIERS IN HUMAN NEUROSCIENCE (FRONTIERS MEDIA SA) 9 417 2015.07

Accepted, ISSN 1662-5161

Phonological awareness is essential for reading, and is common to all language systems, including alphabetic languages and Japanese. This cognitive factor develops during childhood, and is thought to be associated with shifts in brain activity. However, the nature of this neurobiological developmental shift is unclear for speakers of Japanese, which is not an alphabetical language. The present study aimed to reveal a shift in brain functions for processing phonological information in native-born Japanese children. We conducted a phonological awareness task and examined hemodynamic activity in 103 children aged 7-12 years. While younger children made mistakes and needed more time to sort phonological information in reverse order, older children completed the task quickly and accurately. Additionally, younger children exhibited increased activity in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), which may be evidence of immature phonological processing skills. Older children exhibited dominant activity in the left compared with the right DLPFC, suggesting that they had already acquired phonological processing skills. We also found significant effects of age and lateralized activity on behavioral performance. During earlier stages of development, the degree of left lateralization appears to have a smaller effect on behavioral performance. Conversely, in later stages of development, the degree of left lateralization appears to have a stronger influence on behavioral performance. These initial findings regarding a neurobiological developmental shift in Japanese speakers suggest that common brain regions play a critical role in the development of phonological processing skills among different languages systems, such as Japanese and alphabetical languages.

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Cognitive-oriented group rehabilitation for clumsy children with autism spectrum disorder and their parents : A practical report

多辺田俊平, 相崎貢一, 北洋輔

作業療法 = Japanese occupationai therapy researh : JOTR (日本作業療法士協会 ; 1982-) 34 ( 3 ) 307 - 316 2015.06

Accepted, ISSN 0289-4920

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[Brain functions in developmental dyslexia].

Kita Y

No to hattatsu. Brain and development 47 ( 3 ) 194 - 197 2015.05

Accepted, ISSN 0029-0831

A preliminary study of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition on Japanese children: Age band 1

Suzuki K, Hirata S, Kita Y, Sakihara K, Inagaki M, Nakai A

Journal of Comorbidity 5 101 2015

Accepted

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Longitudinal change in motor skills in children with autism spectrum disorders

Hirata S, Kita Y, Suzuki K, Okuzumi H, Kokubun M, Nakai A

Journal of Comorbidity 5 83 2015

Accepted

A preliminary study of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition on Japanese children: Age Band 2

Kita Y, Hirata S, Suzuki K, Sakihara K, Inagaki M, Nakai A

Journal of Comorbidity 5 86 2015

Accepted

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脳機能における特徴

北洋輔

脳と発達 (The Japanese Society of Child Neurology) 47 ( 3 ) 194 - 197 2015

Accepted, ISSN 0029-0831

発達性ディスレクシア (developmental dyslexia ; DD) に関する脳機能研究について概観した. 脳機能研究は, 文字の読みそのものに関わる脳機能の検討と, 読みを支える認知的要因の検討の二つに大別され, 後者はDDの病態解明を目指すアプローチとされる. 我々は後者に着目し, 日本語話者のDDの病態解明に取り組んでいる. 音韻処理に関わる脳機能研究からは, 大脳基底核など日本語独自の病態が示唆される一方, 大細胞系視知覚に関わる研究からは, アルファベット語圏と共通する病態の存在も見出された. これらから, 日本語話者のDDの病態にいくつかのサブタイプが存在することが示唆されるとともに, 今後はサブタイプに応じた適切な治療や教育の選択が期待される.

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視覚誘発電位を用いた大細胞系機能評価と読字能力の関連性

小林朋佳, 稲垣真澄, 山崎広子, 北洋輔, 加我牧子, 岡明

脳と発達 46 424 - 428 2015

Accepted

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Differential electrophysiological responses to biological motion in children and adults with and without autism spectrum disorders

Masahiro Hirai, Atsuko Gunji, Yuki Inoue, Yosuke Kita, Takashi Hayashi, Kengo Nishimaki, Miho Nakamura, Ryusuke Kakigi, Masumi Inagaki

RESEARCH IN AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS (ELSEVIER SCI LTD) 8 ( 12 ) 1623 - 1634 2014.12

Accepted, ISSN 1750-9467

Although atypical processing of biological motion (BM) in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been reported, the temporal profile of the neural response to BM is not well explored. In the current study, event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured in 12 individuals with ASD, aged 8-22 years, and 12 age- and gender-matched normal controls, to investigate the electrophysiological response to BM and a control visual stimulus. By introducing a novel experimental paradigm that can dissociate the electrophysiological responses to motion processing and the global shape processing of BM, we found that: (1) the timing of the response was preserved in ASD groups, whereas (2) the ERP response to BM was significantly enhanced compared with scrambled point-light motion (SM) in normal controls; the responses to both BM and SM were not significantly different in subjects with ASD. Because we did not find a significant group effect on the peak and mean amplitude induced by BM, it is presumed that this atypical response in individuals with ASD was due to over-sensitivity to the local motion signals. This experimental paradigm showed atypical local motion processing of BM in individuals with ASD. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Relationship between magnocellular function and reading skills in children: A study using visual evoked potentials

Tomoka Kobayashi, Masumi Inagaki, Hiroko Yamazaki, Yosuke Kita, Makiko Kaga, Akira Oka

No To Hattatsu (Japanese Society of Child Neurology) 46 ( 6 ) 424 - 428 2014.11

Accepted, ISSN 0029-0831

Objective: Developmental dyslexia (DD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. The magnocellular deficit theory is one of several hypotheses that have been proposed to explain the pathophysiology of DD. In this study, we investigated magnocellular system dysfunction in Japanese dyslexic children.
Methods: Subjects were 19 dyslexic children (DD group) and 19 aged-matched healthy children (TD group). They were aged between 7 and 16 years. Reversed patterns of black and white sinusoidal gratings generated at a low spatial frequency, high reversal frequency of 7.5 Hz, and low contrasts were used specifically to stimulate the magnocellular system. We recorded visual evoked potentials (VEP) from the occipital area and examined their relationship with reading and naming tasks, such as the time to read hiragana characters, rapid automatized naming of pictured objects, and phonological manipulation.
Results: Compared to the TD group, the DD group showed a significantly lower peak amplitude of VEPs through the complex demodulation method. Structural equation modeling showed that VEP peak amplitudes were related to the rapid automatized naming of pictured objects, and better rapid automatized naming resulted in higher reading skills. There was no correlation between VEP findings and the capacity for phonological manipulation.
Conclusions: VEPs in response to the magnocellular system are useful for understanding the pathophysiology of DD. Single phonological deficit may not be sufficient to cause DD.

Face recognition in children with autism spectrum disorders

Yosuke Kita

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY (ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV) 94 ( 2 ) 141 - 142 2014.11

Accepted, ISSN 0167-8760

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Psychometric properties of Japanese version of the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham, version-IV Scale-Teacher Form: A study of school children in community samples

Yuki Inoue, Keiko Ito, Yosuke Kita, Masumi Inagaki, Makiko Kaga, James M. Swanson

BRAIN & DEVELOPMENT (ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV) 36 ( 8 ) 700 - 706 2014.09

Accepted, ISSN 0387-7604

Background: Psychometric properties of The Japanese version of Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham IV scale (SNAP-IV)-Teacher Form were examined in this study. Method: Community samples of 1296 children (Grade 1-9, boys 52.9%) were collected from public elementary/middle schools in suburban areas. Teachers rated their children's behavior using Japanese version of SNAP-IV-Teacher Form and Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Results: A three-factor structure model, which was equivalent with AD/HD symptoms subscales (inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity) and oppositional-defiant disorder symptoms subscale was obtained and confirmed in an explorative/confirmative factorial analysis (Goodness-of-Fit Index = 0.913, Comparative Fit Index = 0.959, root mean square error of approximation = 0.056). The current version of the SNAP-IV-Teacher Form demonstrated good test retest reliability (intra-class correlation = 0.752-0.822), high internal consistency (Cronbach's a = 0.933-0.952), significant correlations with relevant subscales of Japanese version of SDQ, and typical effects of age and gender on those subscales. Conclusion: The current study indicates that the Japanese version of SNAP-IV-Teacher Form is a reliable and valid instrument for rating symptoms related to AD/HD and ODD. (C) 2013 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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Research on collaboration between speech-language-hearing therapists and elementary school teachers in special needs education

中村達也, 鮎澤浩一, 北洋輔

言語聴覚研究 (日本言語聴覚士協会 ; 2004-) 11 ( 3 ) 166 - 174 2014

Accepted, ISSN 1349-5828

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Face recognition in children with autism spectrum disorders : a review and future prospects

軍司敦子, 北洋輔, 稲垣真澄

精神保健研究 = Journal of mental health : official journal of the National Institute of Mental Health, NCNP, Japan (国立精神・神経医療研究センター精神保健研究所) ( 27 ) 63 - 71 2014

Accepted, ISSN 0915-065X

Altered brain activity for phonological manipulation in dyslexic Japanese children

Yosuke Kita, Hisako Yamamoto, Kentaro Oba, Yuri Terasawa, Yoshiya Moriguchi, Hitoshi Uchiyama, Ayumi Seki, Tatsuya Koeda, Masumi Inagaki

BRAIN (OXFORD UNIV PRESS) 136 ( Pt 12 ) 3696 - 3708 2013.12

Accepted, ISSN 0006-8950

Because of unique linguistic characteristics, the prevalence rate of developmental dyslexia is relatively low in the Japanese language. Paradoxically, Japanese children have serious difficulty analysing phonological processes when they have dyslexia. Neurobiological deficits in Japanese dyslexia remain unclear and need to be identified, and may lead to better understanding of the commonality and diversity in the disorder among different linguistic systems. The present study investigated brain activity that underlies deficits in phonological awareness in Japanese dyslexic children using functional magnetic resonance imaging. We developed and conducted a phonological manipulation task to extract phonological processing skills and to minimize the influence of auditory working memory on healthy adults, typically developing children, and dyslexic children. Current experiments revealed that several brain regions participated in manipulating the phonological information including left inferior and middle frontal gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus, and bilateral basal ganglia. Moreover, dyslexic children showed altered activity in two brain regions. They showed hyperactivity in the basal ganglia compared with the two other groups, which reflects inefficient phonological processing. Hypoactivity in the left superior temporal gyrus was also found, suggesting difficulty in composing and processing phonological information. The altered brain activity shares similarity with those of dyslexic children in countries speaking alphabetical languages, but disparity also occurs between these two populations. These are initial findings concerning the neurobiological impairments in dyslexic Japanese children.

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Self-Recognition in a Child With High-Functioning Autism

鈴木徹, 平野幹雄, 北洋輔

特殊教育学研究 = The Japanese journal of special education (日本特殊教育学会) 51 ( 2 ) 105 - 113 2013.07

Accepted, ISSN 0387-3374

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「読み書きの苦手な子」の実情と理解 (特集「読み書きが苦手な子」の理解と支援)

北洋輔, 稲垣真澄

教育と医学 (慶應義塾大学出版会) 61 ( 5 ) 368 - 379 2013.05

Accepted, ISSN 0452-9677

発達性読み書き障害の視覚情報処理機能障害の解明大細胞系刺激によるfMRI-脳波同時計測

山本寿子, 北洋輔, 小林朋佳, 山崎広子, 加我牧子, 稲垣真澄, 星野英紀, 花川隆

脳と発達 ((一社)日本小児神経学会) 45 ( Suppl. ) S380 - S380 2013.05

ISSN 0029-0831

Effects of the Mother's Acceptance of Her Maternal Role on the Association between the Child's Behavior and Maternal Depression

SUZUKI Kota, KITA Yosuke, KAGA Makiko, MISAGO Chizuru, TAKEHARA Kenji, INAGAKI Masumi

小児保健研究 (日本小児保健協会) 72 ( 3 ) 363 - 368 2013.05

Accepted, ISSN 0037-4113

Facial identity recognition in children with autism spectrum disorders revealed by P300 analysis: A preliminary study

Atsuko Gunji, Takaaki Goto, Yosuke Kita, Ryusuke Sakuma, Naomi Kokubo, Toshihide Koike, Kotoe Sakihara, Makiko Kaga, Masumi Inagaki

BRAIN & DEVELOPMENT (ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV) 35 ( 4 ) 293 - 298 2013.04

Accepted, ISSN 0387-7604

Background: To reveal the neural substrate of communication difficulties in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), we investigated the P300 component of event-related potentials (ERPs) as represented by the average of electroencephalography findings time-locked to events and behavior. Because the P300 amplitude influences attentional resource allocation during discrimination, the component elicited during perception of known and unknown faces should indicate familiarity processing. Methods and results: Nine typically developing children (TD) and nine children with ASDs participated in this study (Experiment 1). The P300 amplitude in TD children was significantly larger during familiar face perception than during unfamiliar face perception (p < 0.01). However, there was no evidence of familiarity effect in children with ASDs. In three children with ASDs, we also assessed the P300 amplitude during perception of a therapist's face one month before (baseline), a few days before and after social skills training (SST) sessions (Experiment 2). To evaluate the effect of familiarity on facial identity processing, we analyzed the therapist/unknown ratio of P300 amplitudes related to the face discrimination task as an index. The ratio was larger after SST sessions than before, but there was no difference in the ratio between baseline and before SST assessments. Conclusion: The P300 might be influenced by attentional resource allocation depending on the stage of learning face identification in children with ASDs. We speculate that this approach to evaluating brain responses during facial identity recognition could be used as a tool to clarify children's communication difficulties. (C) 2013 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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Deficits in magnocellular pathway in developmental dyslexia: A functional magnetic resonance imaging-electroencephalography study

Yamamoto H, Kita Y, Kobayashi T, Yamazaki H, Kaga M, Hoshino H, Hanakawa T, Inagaki M

Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science 3 168 - 178 2013

Accepted

Self-Recognition in a Child With High-Functioning Autism

SUZUKI Toru, HIRANO Mikio, KITA Yosuke, GOUKON Ayumu, NOGUCHI Kazuhito, HOSOKAWA Toru

The Japanese Journal of Special Education (The Japanese Association of Special Education) 51 ( 2 ) 105 - 113 2013

Accepted, ISSN 0387-3374

Many published articles have supported the assumption of "mindblindness", according to which difficulties in understanding others' mind states produce serious social-communication impairments in individuals with autism spectrum disorders. However, some studies have shown that performance on "theory of mind" tasks, which are thought to reflect one's abilities to represent others' mental states, does not predict social communication impairments in daily life. The present article proposes a hypothesis to replace the mindblindness assumption, based on study of a boy (11 years 5 months old) with high-functioning autism. "Theory of mind" tasks were examined, together with an attempt to analyze the boy's understanding of causal relations between his own and others' behavior and his own and others' states. The participant in the study could attribute the current states, including the mental states, of his own and others to others' past behavior, but he could not attribute them to his own past behavior. In other words, he could understand the causal relation between the current states of others and their past behavior, but could not do this in the case of his own past behavior. Although he passed "theory of mind" tasks, he showed many serious problems in his interactions with others. These findings suggest that if the self involved in social communication produces problems, difficulty in self-recognition may be another important factor in social-communication impairments. The discussion suggests that it would be important to focus on the effects of difficulties in self-recognition on social communication.

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Social Skills Training for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders : Developing Objective Assessments using Brain Function Measurement

北洋輔, 軍司敦子, 後藤隆章

東北大学大学院教育学研究科研究年報 (東北大学大学院教育学研究科) 61 ( 1 ) 127 - 143 2012.12

Accepted, ISSN 1346-5740

Social Skills Training for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders : Developing Objective Assessments using Brain Function Measurement.

北洋輔, 軍司敦子, 後藤隆章, 稲垣真澄, 細川徹

東北大学大学院教育学研究科研究年報 (東北大学大学院教育学研究科) 61 ( 1 ) 127 - 144 2012.12

Accepted, ISSN 1346-5740

Effects of a rich emotionally-satisfying childbirth experience of mothers on their later parental attitudes and behavior in school-age children

Kota Suzuki, Yosuke Kita, Yuki Inoue, Makiko Kaga, Chizuru Misago, Kenji Takehara, Masumi Inagaki

No To Hattatsu 44 ( 5 ) 368 - 373 2012.09

Accepted, ISSN 0029-0831

This study examined the effects of a rich, emotionally-satisfying childbirth experience (CBE) of mothers on the behavior of school-age children using longitudinal data measured from immediately to 7 years and 6 months after birth. The results of structural equation modeling revealed the following: 1) giving birth in a midwifery center enhances emotional satisfaction with CBE, 2) a rich CBE of mothers was associated with parental warmth, 3) parental warmth during early childhood increased prosocial behavior and reduced behavioral problems in school-age children, and 4) temperamentally difficulty in early childhood were linked to later behavioral problems in school-age children. Thus, a rich CBE and parental warmth were suggested to be factors contributing to the good behavior of school-age children.

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Effectiveness of social skills training for children with developmental disorders: Behavioral analysis using a two-dimensional motion capture system

Ryusuke Sakuma, Atsuko Gunji, Takaaki Goto, Yosuke Kita, Toshihide Koike, Makiko Kaga, Masumi Inagaki

No To Hattatsu 44 ( 4 ) 320 - 326 2012.07

Accepted, ISSN 0029-0831

The current study sought to develop a new behavioral analysis methods to evaluate the effects of social skills training (SST). SST is known to be an effective method to improve the social skills of children with behavioral problems. However, current evaluation methods involve behavioral rating scales that are heavily dependent on evaluators' particular experiences they have had. To quantitatively examine the behavioral effects of SST, we examined subjects' head-movements related to social behavior, using a two-dimensional motion capture system (Kissei Comtec, Japan). Four children (three male, one female, 7-8 years of age) with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) participated in 16 sessions of SST. Before and after SST, head-coordinates on a two-dimensional plane were calculated using their behavior during a pair task, measured by four digital cameras. After SST, the number of communication behaviors was increased compared to before SST. In addition, children looked longer at another child within 30 degrees of the central visual field. Time-series analysis of the visual field during the detection of another child revealed significant auto-correlation from about - 1.12 second, before to the beginning of communication behavior (p&lt
0.05). The results suggested mat our method can provide a quantitative index of characteristics related to skilled social behaviors. We conclude mat a two-dimensional motion capture system would be useful for visualization of the interventional effects of SST, which would supplement assessments by the conventional observational strategies.

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Face recognition in patients with autism spectrum disorders

Yosuke Kita, Masumi Inagaki

Brain and Nerve 64 ( 7 ) 821 - 830 2012.07

Accepted, ISSN 1881-6096

The present study aimed to review previous research conducted on face recognition in patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Face recognition is a key question in the ASD research field because it can provide clues for elucidating the neural substrates responsible for the social impairment of these patients. Historically, behavioral studies have reported low performance and/or unique strategies of face recognition among ASD patients. However, the performance and strategy of ASD patients is comparable to those of the control group, depending on the experimental situation or developmental stage, suggesting that face recognition of ASD patients is not entirely impaired. Recent brain function studies, including event-related potential and functional magnetic resonance imaging studies, have investigated the cognitive process of face recognition in ASD patients, and revealed impaired function in the brain's neural network comprising the fusiform gyrus and amygdala. This impaired function is potentially involved in the diminished preference for faces, and in the atypical development of face recognition, eliciting symptoms of unstable behavioral characteristics in these patients. Additionally, face recognition in ASD patients is examined from a different perspective, namely self-face recognition, and facial emotion recognition. While the former topic is intimately linked to basic social abilities such as self-other discrimination, the latter is closely associated with mentalizing. Further research on face recognition in ASD patients should investigate the connection between behavioral and neurological specifics in these patients, by considering developmental changes and the spectrum clinical condition of ASD.

Effectiveness of Social Skills Training for Children with Developmental Disorders: Behavioral Analysis Using a Two-Dimensional Motion Capture System

Sakuma Ryusuke, Gunji Atsuko, Goto Takaaki, Kita Yosuke, Koike Toshihide, Kaga Makiko, Inagaki Masumi

NO TO HATTATSU (The Japanese Society of Child Neurology) 44 ( 4 ) 320 - 326 2012

Accepted, ISSN 0029-0831

The current study sought to develop a new behavioral analysis methods to evaluate the effects of social skills training (SST). SST is known to be an effective method to improve the social skills of children with behavioral problems. However, current evaluation methods involve behavioral rating scales that are heavily dependent on evaluators' particular experiences they have had. To quantitatively examine the behavioral effects of SST, we examined subjects' head-movements related to social behavior, using a two-dimensional motion capture system (Kissei Comtec, Japan). Four children (three male, one female, 7-8 years of age) with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) participated in 16 sessions of SST. Before and after SST, head-coordinates on a two-dimensional plane were calculated using their behavior during a pair task, measured by four digital cameras. After SST, the number of communication behaviors was increased compared to before SST. In addition, children looked longer at another child within 30 degrees of the central visual field. Time-series analysis of the visual field during the detection of another child revealed significant auto-correlation from about -1.12 second. before to the beginning of communication behavior (p<0.05). The results suggested that our method can provide a quantitative index of characteristics related to skilled social behaviors. We conclude that a two-dimensional motion capture system would be useful for visualization of the interventional effects of SST, which would supplement assessments by the conventional observational strategies.

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豊かな出産体験が母親の養育態度と学童期における子どもの行動に与える影響

鈴木浩太, 北洋輔, 井上祐紀, 加我牧子, 三砂ちづる, 竹原健二, 稲垣真澄

脳と発達 44 368 - 373 2012

Accepted

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Developmental changes in rapid automatized naming and Hiragana reading of Japanese elementary school children

Tomoka Kobayashi, Masumi Inagaki, Atsuko Gunji, Kiyomi Yatabe, Yosuke Kita, Makiko Kaga, Takaaki Gotoh, Toshihide Koike

No To Hattatsu 43 ( 6 ) 465 - 470 2011.11

Accepted, ISSN 0029-0831

Two hundred and seven Japanese elementary school children aged from 6 (Grade 1) to 12 (Grade 6) years old were tested for their abilities to name numbers and pictured objects along with reading Hiragana characters and words. These children all showed typical development and their classroom teachers judged that they were not having any problems with reading or writing. The children were randomly divided into two groups, the first group was assigned to two naming tasks
the rapid automatized naming (RAN) of "numbers" and "pictured objects," the second group was assigned to two rapid alternative stimulus (RAS) naming tasks using numbers and pictured objects. All children were asked to perform two reading tasks that were written in Hiragana script : single mora reading task and four syllable word reading task. The total articulation time for naming and reading and performance in terms of accuracy were measured for each task. Developmental changes in these variables were evaluated. The articulation time was significantly longer for the first graders, and it gradually shortened as they moved through to the upper grades in all tasks. The articulation time reached a plateau in the 5th grade for the number naming, while gradual change continued after drastic change in the lower grades for the pictured object naming. The articulation times for the single mora reading and RAN of numbers correlated strongly. The articulation time for the RAS naming was significantly longer compared to that for the RAN, though there were very few errors. The RAS naming showed the highest correlation with the four syllable word reading. This study demonstrated that the performance in rapid automatized naming of numbers and pictures were closely related with performance on reading tasks. Thus Japanese children with reading disorders such as developmental dyslexia should also be evaluated for rapid automatized naming.

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Developmental changes in rapid automatized naming and Hiragana reading of Japanese elementary school children

Tomoka Kobayashi, Masumi Inagaki, Atsuko Gunji, Kiyomi Yatabe, Yosuke Kita, Makiko Kaga, Takaaki Gotoh, Toshihide Koike

No To Hattatsu (The Japanese Society of Child Neurology) 43 ( 6 ) 465 - 470 2011.11

Accepted, ISSN 0029-0831

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学習障害児の脳機能発達性読み書き障害児の非侵襲的脳機能評価

稲垣真澄, 小林朋佳, 北洋輔, 山崎広子, 矢田部清美, 加我牧子

臨床神経生理学 ((一社)日本臨床神経生理学会) 39 ( 5 ) 347 - 347 2011.10

ISSN 1345-7101

Self-face recognition in children with autism spectrum disorders: A near-infrared spectroscopy study

Yosuke Kita, Atsuko Gunji, Yuki Inoue, Takaaki Goto, Kotoe Sakihara, Makiko Kaga, Masumi Inagaki, Toru Hosokawa

BRAIN & DEVELOPMENT (ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV) 33 ( 6 ) 494 - 503 2011.06

Accepted, ISSN 0387-7604

It is assumed that children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have specificities for self-face recognition, which is known to be a basic cognitive ability for social development. In the present study, we investigated neurological substrates and potentially influential factors for self-face recognition of ASD patients using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). The subjects were 11 healthy adult men, 13 normally developing boys, and 10 boys with ASD. Their hemodynamic activities in the frontal area and their scanning strategies (eye-movement) were examined during self-face recognition. Other factors such as ASD severities and self-consciousness were also evaluated by parents and patients, respectively. Oxygenated hemoglobin levels were higher in the regions corresponding to the right inferior frontal gyrus than in those corresponding to the left inferior frontal gyrus. In two groups of children these activities reflected ASD severities, such that the more serious ASD characteristics corresponded with lower activity levels. Moreover, higher levels of public self-consciousness intensified the activities, which were not influenced by the scanning strategies. These findings suggest that dysfunction in the right inferior frontal gyrus areas responsible for self-face recognition is one of the crucial neural substrates underlying ASD characteristics, which could potentially be used to evaluate psychological aspects such as public self-consciousness. (C) 2010 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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History of autism spectrum disorders: historical controversy over the diagnosis

北洋輔, 細川徹

Annual report (東北大学大学院教育学研究科) 59 ( 2 ) 147 - 166 2011.06

Accepted, ISSN 1346-5740

Scanning strategies do not modulate face identification: eye-tracking and near-infrared spectroscopy study.

Yosuke Kita, Atsuko Gunji, Kotoe Sakihara, Masumi Inagaki, Makiko Kaga, Eiji Nakagawa, Toru Hosokawa

PloS one 5 ( 6 ) e11050 2010.06

Accepted, ISSN 1932-6203

BACKGROUND: During face identification in humans, facial information is sampled (seeing) and handled (processing) in ways that are influenced by the kind of facial image type, such as a self-image or an image of another face. However, the relationship between seeing and information processing is seldom considered. In this study, we aimed to reveal this relationship using simultaneous eye-tracking measurements and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in face identification tasks. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: 22 healthy adult subjects (8 males and 14 females) were shown facial morphing movies in which an initial facial image gradually changed into another facial image (that is, the subject's own face was changed to a familiar face). The fixation patterns on facial features were recorded, along with changes in oxyhemoglobin (oxyHb) levels in the frontal lobe, while the subjects identified several faces. In the self-face condition (self-face as the initial image), hemodynamic activity around the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) was significantly greater than in the familiar-face condition. On the other hand, the scanning strategy was similar in almost all conditions with more fixations on the eyes and nose than on other areas. Fixation time on the eye area did not correlate with changes in oxyHb levels, and none of the scanning strategy indices could estimate the hemodynamic changes. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We conclude that hemodynamic activity, i.e., the means of processing facial information, is not always modulated by the face-scanning strategy, i.e., the way of seeing, and that the right IFG plays important roles in both self-other facial discrimination and self-evaluation.

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発達性読み書き障害児の大細胞系機能評価と読字書字症状との関連低空間周波数サイン様縦縞刺激VEPによる検討

山崎広子, 北洋輔, 矢田部清美, 小林朋佳, 加我牧子, 稲垣真澄

脳と発達 ((一社)日本小児神経学会) 42 ( Suppl. ) S251 - S251 2010.05

ISSN 0029-0831

Relationship between clinical symptoms and Hiragana reading ability in children with difficulties in reading and writing: Usefulness of a clinical-symptoms-checklist

Yosuke Kita, Tomoka Kobayashi, Toshihide Koike, Tatsuya Koeda, Eiji Wakamiya, Toru Hosokawa, Makiko Kaga, Masumi Inagaki

No To Hattatsu 42 ( 6 ) 437 - 442 2010

Accepted, ISSN 0029-0831

We investigated the clinical symptoms of children with developmental dyslexia (DD) and evaluated the relationship between these symptoms and their Hiragana reading abilities. In order to detect the clinical symptoms of DD, we newly developed a clinical-symptoms-checklist (CL), which consisted of a total of 30 yes/no questions regarding symptoms linked to reading (15 questions) and writing (15 questions). Subjects were 98 Japanese school grade (1 to 9) children, aged 6 to 15 years old, with normal intelligence confirmed by the Wechsler Intelligence Test for Children (WISC-III) and they were divided into 2 groups according to their diagnosis. Twenty four children diagnosed as developmental dyslexia consisted the DD group, and the remaining 74 children were grouped in the non-DD group. CL showed significant construct validity (p&lt
0.05) and inner consistency (reading: α =0.82, writing: α =0.72) after deleting two questions from the originals. The number of questions checked in the CL reading subcategory significantly correlated with the Hiragana reading ability of articulation time in all Hiragana reading tasks (p&lt
0.001). More severe clinical symptoms and lower reading ability were observed in the DD group compared to the non-DD group. Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) analysis indicated that these two groups could be discriminated by the CL and the results of the reading task, and both sensitivity and specificity rate were approximately 80%. It was suggested that 7 or more positive checks in the CL and 2 or more abnormal scores in the reading tasks might discriminate DD from other conditions which cause difficulties in reading and writing in Japanese children.

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Emotion in Autism Spectrum Disorders: role of social experiences on emotional development in atypical brain development

北洋輔, 細川徹

心理学評論 (心理学評論刊行会) 53 ( 1 ) 140 - 150 2010

Accepted, ISSN 0386-1058

Relationship between Clinical Symptoms and Hiragana Reading Ability in Children with Difficulties in Reading and Writing : Usefulness of a Clinical-Symptoms- Checklist

KITA Yosuke, KOBAYASHI Tomoka, KOIKE Toshihide, KOEDA Tatsuya, WAKAMIYA Eiji, HOSOKAWA Toru, KAGA Makiko, INAGAKI Masumi

NO TO HATTATSU (The Japanese Society of Child Neurology) 42 ( 6 ) 437 - 447 2010

Accepted, ISSN 0029-0831

We investigated the clinical symptoms of children with developmental dyslexia (DD) and evaluated the relationship between these symptoms and their Hiragana reading abilities. In order to detect the clinical symptoms of DD, we newly developed a clinical-symptoms-checklist (CL), which consisted of a total of 30 yes/no questions regarding symptoms linked to reading (15 questions) and writing (15 questions). Subjects were 98 Japanese school grade (1 to 9) children, aged 6 to 15 years old, with normal intelligence confirmed by the Wechsler Intelligence Test for Children (WISC-III) and they were divided into 2 groups according to their diagnosis. Twenty four children diagnosed as developmental dyslexia consisted the DD group, and the remaining 74 children were grouped in the non-DD group. CL showed significant construct validity (p<0.05) and inner consistency (reading: α=0.82, writing: α=0.72) after deleting two questions from the originals. The number of questions checked in the CL reading subcategory significantly correlated with the Hiragana reading ability of articulation time in all Hiragana reading tasks (p<0.001). More severe clinical symptoms and lower reading ability were observed in the DD group compared to the non-DD group. Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) analysis indicated that these two groups could be discriminated by the CL and the results of the reading task, and both sensitivity and specificity rate were approximately 80%. It was suggested that 7 or more positive checks in the CL and 2 or more abnormal scores in the reading tasks might discriminate DD from other conditions which cause difficulties in reading and writing in Japanese children.

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Objective assessment of social-skill training for children with autism spectrum disorders: possibility of analysis for eye-movement patterns during face-recognition

北洋輔, 軍司敦子, 佐久間隆介

Journal of mental health (国立精神・神経医療研究センター精神保健研究所) ( 23 ) 81 - 87 2010

Accepted, ISSN 0915-065X

Interpersonal distance of children with autism spectrum disorders: a review

北洋輔, 稲垣真澄, 軍司敦子, 細川徹

Annual report (東北大学教育学部) 58 ( 1 ) 149 - 162 2009.12

Accepted, ISSN 1346-5740

新規のサイン様格子刺激によるVEPは大細胞系機能を反映しうる

山崎広子, 稲垣真澄, 北洋輔, 矢田部清美, 軍司敦子, 加我牧子

脳と発達 ((一社)日本小児神経学会) 41 ( Suppl. ) S191 - S191 2009.05

ISSN 0029-0831

読み書きにつまずきのある児童の症状とひらがな読み機能との関連

北洋輔, 稲垣真澄, 矢田部清美, 小林朋佳, 軍司敦子, 加我牧子

脳と発達 ((一社)日本小児神経学会) 41 ( Suppl. ) S196 - S196 2009.05

ISSN 0029-0831

Risk and protective factors for juvenile delinquencies in children with pervasive developmental disorders: Findings from life-story research

Yosuke Kita, Mari Tanaka, Takekatsu Kikuchi

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY (PSYCHOLOGY PRESS) 43 ( 3-4 ) 280 - 280 2008.06

Accepted, ISSN 0020-7594

我が国における自閉症児・者に対する「関わり」の検討--「関わり」の「選択モデル」の提唱と見立て

北洋輔, 横田晋務, 東海林渉

東北大学大学院教育学研究科教育ネットワークセンター年報 (教育ネットワークセンター) ( 8 ) 59 - 75 2008.03

Accepted

Juvenile Delinquency and Developmental Disabilities : Youth With Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

KITA Yosuke, TANAKA Mari, KIKUCHI Takekatsu

The Japanese Journal of Special Education (一般社団法人日本特殊教育学会) 46 ( 3 ) 163 - 174 2008

Accepted, ISSN 0387-3374

The present article, which aims to provide appropriate information and proper support for youth with developmental disabilities, reviews the literature on factors associated with instances of juvenile delinquency that were caused by the youth's developmental disabilities, focusing on what is known about juvenile delinquency in youth with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Recent studies have revealed 2 specific risk factors. One is a reflection of the individual's developmental disabilities, and the other is based on influences from the individual's environment. However, emphasizing only risk factors when providing support to youth and their families and guardians in relation to the youth's delinquency would mean that social significance has not been taken fully into consideration. The present authors contend that it is necessary to introduce the role of protective factors, and to focus on the youth's internal worlds, in order to accomplish a more comprehensive study of instances of juvenile delinquency that have been caused by the youth's developmental disabilities.

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