University of Jyväskylä

About: University of Jyväskylä is a education organization based out in Jyvaskyla, Finland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Neutron. The organization has 8066 authors who have published 25168 publications receiving 725033 citations. The organization is also known as: Jyväskylän yliopisto & Kasvatusopillinen korkeakoulu.

Learning-induced neural plasticity of speech processing before birth

Abstract: Learning, the foundation of adaptive and intelligent behavior, is based on plastic changes in neural assemblies, reflected by the modulation of electric brain responses. In infancy, auditory learning implicates the formation and strengthening of neural long-term memory traces, improving discrimination skills, in particular those forming the prerequisites for speech perception and understanding. Although previous behavioral observations show that newborns react differentially to unfamiliar sounds vs. familiar sound material that they were exposed to as fetuses, the neural basis of fetal learning has not thus far been investigated. Here we demonstrate direct neural correlates of human fetal learning of speech-like auditory stimuli. We presented variants of words to fetuses; unlike infants with no exposure to these stimuli, the exposed fetuses showed enhanced brain activity (mismatch responses) in response to pitch changes for the trained variants after birth. Furthermore, a significant correlation existed between the amount of prenatal exposure and brain activity, with greater activity being associated with a higher amount of prenatal speech exposure. Moreover, the learning effect was generalized to other types of similar speech sounds not included in the training material. Consequently, our results indicate neural commitment specifically tuned to the speech features heard before birth and their memory representations.

Reliability of physical functioning measures in ambulatory subjects with MS.

Abstract: Background and Purpose. One of the primary reasons for measuring outcomes during rehabilitation is to determine the effect of physiotherapy. Repeated measurement situations are susceptible to several sources of error, including inconsistencies caused by the subject, the procedure, the instrument and the examiner. Therefore, the reliability of the measures needs to be examined. Method. The present study used a repeated-measures design. Two studies were undertaken to examine the test–retest and inter-rater reliability for physical functioning measures. The interval between the measurements was one week. The sample consisted of 19 ambulatory subjects with mutliple sclerosis (MS) in the test–retest and nine subjects in the inter-rater reliability study. The measures were selected to assess different domains of the World Health Organization International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health(WHO, 2001). Several parameters of the Box and Block Test (BBT), the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), the Kela Coordination test, the postural stability test, the timed 10-metre gait test, the six-minute walk test, the shoulder tug test, grip strength, maximal isometric force of the knee extensors, muscle endurance tests, the modified Ashworth Scale and passive straight leg raise test were examined in terms of reliability. Results. The intra-class coefficient (ICC) values for test–retest reliability were >0.80 in 17 of 23 parameters, and correspondingly so in 20 out of 26 parameters for inter-rater reliability. Poor reliability (defined as ICC ≤0.60) was obtained only for the patient classification index (PCI) of the six-minute walk test in the test–retest reliability study. In general, the coefficient of variation was good. A moderate amount of variability was discovered for the Kela Coordination test, and for postural stability and muscle endurance tests. The data obtained from the modified Ashworth Scale and the shoulder tug test were highly skewed and the percentage of agreement ranged between 63.9% and 93.4%. Conclusions.. The study revealed acceptable test–retest and inter-rater reliability of these measures in ambulatory subjects with MS, with the exception of the Modified Ashworth Scale and the shoulder tug test. Copyright © 2005 Whurr Publishers Ltd.