The aim of this study was to determine whether musical expertise influences the detection of pitch variations in a foreign language that participants did not understand. To this end, French adults, musicians and nonmusicians, were presented with sentences spoken in Portuguese. The final words of the sentences were prosodically congruous (spoken at normal pitch height) or incongruous (pitch was increased by 35% or 120%). Results showed that when the pitch deviations were small and difficult to detect (35%: weak prosodic incongruities), the level of performance was higher for musicians than for nonmusicians. Moreover, analysis of the time course of pitch processing, as revealed by the event-related brain potentials to the prosodically congruous and incongruous sentence-final words, showed that musicians were, on average, 300 msec faster than nonmusicians to categorize prosodically congruous and incongruous endings. These results are in line with previous ones showing that musical expertise, by increasing discrimination of pitch—a basic acoustic parameter equally important for music and speech prosody—does facilitate the processing of pitch variations not only in music but also in language. Finally, comparison with previous results [Schön, D., Magne, C., & Besson, M. The music of speech: Music training facilitates pitch processing in both music and language. Psychophysiology, 41, 341–349, 2004] points to the influence of semantics on the perception of acoustic prosodic cues.

Research has shown that cognitive flexibility plays a critical role in students’ learning and academic achievement. However, the unique contribution of cognitive flexibility to academic achievement across schooling is not fully understood. Thus, this study tested whether cognitive flexibility explained a significant amount of variance in academic achievement (i.e., literacy and mathematics outcomes) across Grades 2, 4, and 6, above and beyond fluid intelligence, inhibitory control, working memory, attention, and planning. The sample included 243 second graders, 284 fourth graders, and 203 sixth graders. For Grades 4 and 6, we found that better performance on the flexibility score was associated with better academic outcomes after controlling for fluid intelligence, attention, inhibitory control, working memory, and planning. This effect was not observed for Grade 2. Our findings showed that cognitive flexibility is a key component for school achievement, particularly for older students.

Problems with executive functions (EF) are hallmark characteristics of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Therefore, this review analyzed the efficacy of cognitive training for EF in reducing ADHD symptomatology and improving educational, interpersonal, and occupational outcomes in children and adolescents with this disorder. A systematic search, using a PICO (population/participant, intervention/indicator, comparator/control, outcome) framework was carried out. From 2008 to 2018, resorting to EBSCOhost, the following databases were searched: Academic Search Complete, ERIC, MEDLINE with Full Text, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, and Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Twenty-two studies were included in this review. Of the 18 studies that reported performance-based measures of EF, 13 found improvements and five did not. Overall, 17 studies showed positive transfer effects on ADHD symptomatology, EF, academic improvement, reduced off-task behavior, and/or enhanced social skills. Of the nine studies that performed follow-up sessions, seven concluded that the treatment effects were maintained over time. In sum, results showed that cognitive training can be an effective intervention for children and adolescents with ADHD and might be a complementary treatment option for this disorder.

Serious games represent a promising avenue for intervention with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, a neurodevelopmental disorder marked by persistent challenges in social communication and the presence of restricted, repetitive behaviors. Despite this potential, comprehensive reviews on this subject are scarce. This systematic review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of serious games and their specific characteristics in enhancing social skills among children and adolescents with autism. Employing PICO strategies and adhering to PRISMA guidelines, we screened 149 studies initially identified through PubMed and EBSCOhost databases. Nine studies met inclusion criteria and found a positive influence of serious games on social skills and related domains, encompassing emotion recognition/encoding/decoding, emotional regulation, eye gaze, joint attention, and behavioral skills. Nevertheless, despite these promising results, the limited available evidence underscores the need for rigorous study designs to consolidate findings and integrate evidence-based intervention strategies.

The development of language skills requires a range of linguistic abilities and cognitive processes, such as executive functions (EFs, i.e., a set of skills involved in goal-directed activities which are crucial for regulating thoughts and actions). Despite progress in understanding the link between language and EFs, the need for more research on the extent and directionality of this link is undeniable. This study examined whether specific components of EFs account for a significant amount of variance in language abilities above and beyond gender, age, and nonverbal intelligence. The sample comprised 79 typically developing children attending the last year of preschool (M_age = 64.5 months, SD = 3.47). EFs were assessed through tasks that explored three predictor variables: inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. The language outcomes included receptive and expressive language. After controlling for age, gender, and nonverbal intelligence, findings showed that working memory and cognitive flexibility, respectively, explained an additional 16% and 19% of the variance. Inhibition skills did not increase the amount of explained variance in language outcomes. These results highlight the potential added importance of assessing working memory and cognitive flexibility in the prediction of language skills in preschool children.