Browsing by Subject "communication"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Exploring Communication Ability in Individuals With Angelman Syndrome: Findings From Qualitative Interviews With Caregivers.
    (American journal on intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2023-05) Zigler, Christina K; Lucas, Nicole; McFatrich, Molly; Gordon, Kelly L; Jones, Harrison N; Berent, Allyson; Panagoulias, Jennifer; Evans, Paula; Reeve, Bryce B
    Communication deficits have a substantial impact on quality of life for individuals with Angelman syndrome (AS) and their families, but limited qualitative work exists to support the necessary content of measures aiming to assess communication for these individuals. Following best practices for concept elicitation studies, we conducted individual qualitative interviews with caregivers and clinicians to elicit meaningful aspects of communication for individuals with AS. Caregivers were able to discuss their child's specific communication behaviors within a large number of expressive, receptive, and pragmatic functions via numerous symbolic and non-symbolic modalities. These results aligned well with published literature on communication in AS and will be used to inform the design of a novel caregiver-reported measure. Future studies on communication in individuals with AS should focus on gathering quantitative data from large samples of diverse caregivers, which would allow for estimations of the frequency of specific behaviors across the population.
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    Female swamp sparrows do not show evidence of discriminating between the songs of peak-aged and senescent males
    (Ethology, 2021-01-01) Zipple, MN; Peters, S; Searcy, WA; Nowicki, S
    Sexual selection theory predicts that females face contrasting selection pressures when choosing the age of their mate. On the one hand, older males have demonstrated their ability to survive and they may be more experienced than younger males. At the same time, however, younger males are expected to have accumulated fewer deleterious mutations in their germline as compared to older males. These contrasting pressures on female preference may result in a preference for intermediate-aged males. A preference for males of a particular age can only be expressed, however, if females are able to identify males of different ages. We have previously shown that male swamp sparrows display age-related changes in vocal quality, such that males display sharp increases in vocal quality in early adulthood, followed by gradual senescent declines thereafter. We have also shown that territorial males discriminate these within-individual differences, giving stronger aggressive responses to songs of peak-aged males than to those of senescent males. Here, we use a copulation solicitation assay to test whether females also discriminate these within-signaler markers of senescence in song. Contrary to our prediction, females did not show any evidence of discriminating between songs recorded from peak-aged males as compared to songs from the same males following song senescence. We suggest that this difference in demonstrated discrimination between males and females may be the result of the two sexes attending to different song characteristics.
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    Patient-provider communication, self-reported medication adherence, and race in a postmyocardial infarction population.
    (Patient Prefer Adherence, 2015) Zullig, Leah L; Shaw, Ryan J; Shah, Bimal R; Peterson, Eric D; Lindquist, Jennifer H; Crowley, Matthew J; Grambow, Steven C; Bosworth, Hayden B
    OBJECTIVES: Our objectives were to: 1) describe patient-reported communication with their provider and explore differences in perceptions of racially diverse adherent versus nonadherent patients; and 2) examine whether the association between unanswered questions and patient-reported medication nonadherence varied as a function of patients' race. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of baseline in-person survey data from a trial designed to improve postmyocardial infarction management of cardiovascular disease risk factors. RESULTS: Overall, 298 patients (74%) reported never leaving their doctor's office with unanswered questions. Among those who were adherent and nonadherent with their medications, 183 (79%) and 115 (67%) patients, respectively, never left their doctor's office with unanswered questions. In multivariable logistic regression, although the simple effects of the interaction term were different for patients of nonminority race (odds ratio [OR]: 2.16; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.19-3.92) and those of minority race (OR: 1.19; 95% CI: 0.54-2.66), the overall interaction effect was not statistically significant (P=0.24). CONCLUSION: The quality of patient-provider communication is critical for cardiovascular disease medication adherence. In this study, however, having unanswered questions did not impact medication adherence differently as a function of patients' race. Nevertheless, there were racial differences in medication adherence that may need to be addressed to ensure optimal adherence and health outcomes. Effort should be made to provide training opportunities for both patients and their providers to ensure strong communication skills and to address potential differences in medication adherence in patients of diverse backgrounds.
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    Sounds and beyond: multisensory and other non-auditory signals in the inferior colliculus.
    (Frontiers in neural circuits, 2012-01) Gruters, Kurtis G; Groh, Jennifer M
    The inferior colliculus (IC) is a major processing center situated mid-way along both the ascending and descending auditory pathways of the brain stem. Although it is fundamentally an auditory area, the IC also receives anatomical input from non-auditory sources. Neurophysiological studies corroborate that non-auditory stimuli can modulate auditory processing in the IC and even elicit responses independent of coincident auditory stimulation. In this article, we review anatomical and physiological evidence for multisensory and other non-auditory processing in the IC. Specifically, the contributions of signals related to vision, eye movements and position, somatosensation, and behavioral context to neural activity in the IC will be described. These signals are potentially important for localizing sound sources, attending to salient stimuli, distinguishing environmental from self-generated sounds, and perceiving and generating communication sounds. They suggest that the IC should be thought of as a node in a highly interconnected sensory, motor, and cognitive network dedicated to synthesizing a higher-order auditory percept rather than simply reporting patterns of air pressure detected by the cochlea. We highlight some of the potential pitfalls that can arise from experimental manipulations that may disrupt the normal function of this network, such as the use of anesthesia or the severing of connections from cortical structures that project to the IC. Finally, we note that the presence of these signals in the IC has implications for our understanding not just of the IC but also of the multitude of other regions within and beyond the auditory system that are dependent on signals that pass through the IC. Whatever the IC "hears" would seem to be passed both "upward" to thalamus and thence to auditory cortex and beyond, as well as "downward" via centrifugal connections to earlier areas of the auditory pathway such as the cochlear nucleus.
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    Validation of the Observer-Reported Communication Ability (ORCA) Measure for Individuals With Angelman Syndrome.
    (American journal on intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2023-05) Zigler, Christina K; Lin, Li; McFatrich, Molly; Lucas, Nicole; Gordon, Kelly L; Jones, Harrison N; Berent, Allyson; Panagoulias, Jennifer; Evans, Paula; Reeve, Bryce B
    There is a critical need for high-quality clinical outcome assessments to capture the important aspects of communication ability of individuals with Angelman syndrome (AS). To center the perspective of caregivers, our team developed the novel Observer-Reported Communication Ability (ORCA) measure using best practice guidelines, with the goal of developing a measure that could be administered to caregivers directly without the need for a certified administrator for use in clinical trials. To refine the draft measure, we conducted two rounds of cognitive interviews with 24 caregivers and a quantitative study including 249 caregivers. The results from both studies support the overall content validity, construct validity, and the reliability of the ORCA measure for individuals with AS > 2 years old for use in research contexts. Future work should explore the responsiveness of ORCA measures to changes over time in a diverse sample.