We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Spanish government through its Plan Nacional I+D+i (R+D+i National Research Plan, Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness), Grant PID2019-108419RB-100 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.130.39/50110001103, with the first author as the principal investigator. We also thank the Unidad de Audiovisuales ULL team for their participation in the production of the video.

The authors listed above certify that there are no financial interests or other conflicts of interest associated with the present study.

This study investigated the framework of a CBM in Spanish kindergarten students using a literature-informed model, examining how transcription skills and oral narrative abilities impact observable indicators throughout the academic year. The study highlights the lack of technology-driven CBM tools tailored for Spanish, hindering early writing progress assessment. To address this gap and emphasize the importance of identifying potential writing difficulties in young learners, a multimedia assessment protocol for kindergar...

The primary aim of this study is to introduce a multimedia assessment protocol for kindergarten students aimed at identifying potential writing difficulties and exploring its internal structure and diagnostic accuracy.
At the kindergarten level, writing marks the beginning of a child&#39;s literacy journey. It goes beyond scribbles and shapes, representing the foundation for communication and creative expression. The acquisition of writing skills is a matter of paramount concern because it requires the attention of parents, educators, children, and scholars alike. The World Health Organization (WHO)1 (2001) designated writing difficulties as a significant impediment to school participation, a pivotal component in a child&#39;s normative developmental trajectory. Writing, serving as an indispensable medium, empowers children to articulate their knowledge and thoughts, enabling their participation across a spectrum of academic endeavors2. However, this deceptively elementary undertaking is far from simplistic and encompasses many intricate processes. Children must invest time and diligence to acquire and refine this nuanced skill. The transition from ideation to orthographic representation necessitates the orchestration of cognitive, linguistic, and motor processes.
Numerous national reports have shed light on the prevalence of students failing to attain the requisite proficiency levels in writing. For instance, in Spain, the Instituto Nacional de Evaluaci&#243;n Educativa [National Institute for Quality and Evaluation] (INEE) unveiled the results of its assessment conducted during the 1999-2000 academic year for Primary and Secondary Education3. The evaluation revealed that students&#39; performance in writing not only fell below the expected standards but also underscored substantial shortcomings in classroom instruction and pedagogical preparation. Additionally, Spain&#39;s Ministry of Education issued a General Diagnostic Assessment Report in 2009, which further underscored the levels of foundational skills among fourth-year primary education students4. In Article 20.3 of Organic Law 2/2006, dated May 3, pertaining to Education (LOE), which was subsequently amended by Organic Law 8/2013, enacted on December 9, aimed at enhancing educational quality (LOMCE), the introduction of a diagnostic assessment for third-year primary education was established5. This legislative provision stipulated that &#39;educational institutions shall administer an individualized evaluation for all students upon completing the third year of primary education.&#39; The primary objective of this assessment was to ascertain the extent of proficiency in skills, competencies, and abilities encompassing oral and written expression, comprehension, calculation, and problem-solving. This evaluation was conducted to evaluate the acquisition of competence in linguistic communication and mathematical proficiency. The formulation of the General Framework for this assessment was a collaborative effort involving the active engagement of 14 educational authorities and the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sport (MECD). In 2010, in the comprehensive diagnostic assessment for secondary education (ESO), concerning the processes of written expression, a low score was obtained in the presentation of written work. It also underscored a disquieting educational landscape in Spain, particularly concerning language proficiency6.
Mastering the art of writing is a formidable challenge that demands intricate cognitive processing. There are two models of writing that have received significant conceptual support: The simple view of writing model (SVW)7,8 and the not-so-simple view of the writing model (NSVW)9,10. The latter, a revision of the previous one, postulates that transcription skills, such as handwriting fluency and spelling, collaborate with self-regulatory functions, including attention, goal setting, and revision, in addition to working memory, in the nuanced process of text generation. This process involves the dual tasks of idea generation and transforming those ideas into linguistic propositions intricately linked with oral language skills. Both transcription skills11,12 and oral language proficiency13,14,15 are robustly acknowledged as predictive factors in the early development of writing. Due to the intricate nature of writing, certain students encounter difficulties in attaining proficiency. Writing disabilities not only detrimentally impact self-efficacy and academic motivation but can also persist into adulthood, negatively influencing future workplace experiences and emotional well-being16,17. The DSM-V defines learning disabilities in writing as follows: With impairment in written expression (315.2 F81.81): skills in spelling, grammar, punctuation, clarity, and organization of written expression are affected. Additionally, the DSM-V specifies that in this disorder, the individual may add, delete, or substitute vowels or words. As a result, written work is often illegible or difficult to read. An impairment in writing skills significantly interferes with academic achievement or activities of daily living that require the composition of written text (APA, 2013)18.
The assessment protocol targets key components such as alphabet copying, phonological awareness, name writing, expressive vocabulary, and oral narrative skills. Alphabet copying is defined as the process of having children reproduce letter forms by tracing, copying, or writing over models of individual alphabet letters. This task relies predominantly on motor reproduction skills rather than long-term memory, with enhanced performance correlating with the automation of motor reproduction routines19. Phonological awareness, on the other hand, assesses children&#39;s understanding of the sound structure of language. Specifically, it involves the explicit knowledge that words can be segmented into a sequence of phonemes and that phonemes can be blended into words20. Name writing, according to Puranik and Lonigan21, is defined as the ability to reproduce one&#39;s own name in writing, which is considered an important developmental milestone in early literacy and the first step toward mastering the alphabetic principle. Expressive vocabulary refers to the words a child can use to communicate their thoughts, feelings, and ideas through spoken language. It is a crucial aspect of language development in early childhood22. Finally, oral narrative skills encompass the ability of young children to understand, produce, and convey stories through spoken language. This involves sequencing events in a logical order, providing relevant details, and using appropriate language structures to recount personal experiences or fictional tales23. These skills are typically assessed by having children retell stories or generate narratives based on picture prompts, with measures evaluating elements such as story structure, use of evaluative language, temporal and causal connections, and overall coherence24.
Early assessment protocols are crucial for detecting students at risk of writing disabilities before the problem develops. Extensive research has shown that early detection leads to a better prognosis. In the context of the Response to Intervention (RTI) model, Curriculum-Based Measurements (CBMs) are often used for universal screening and progress monitoring because they are quick, practical, reliable, valid, accurate, and sensitive to the time of measurement25,26,27. The CBM process involves evaluation at three distinct points during the course (normally in autumn, winter, and spring). This process allows us to identify students at risk and decide whether the intervention should be modified or if the progress is acceptable. However, there is limited scientific literature on early detection tools for the writing processes compared to other academic areas, such as reading or mathematics28.
Technological advances in education 
The use of touchscreen tablets among young children is increasing in the home and early childhood education centers29. A review of the most recent scientific literature highlights the relevance and advantages of CBMs generated through the use of digital means (i.e., tablets)30. In recent years, the usability and applicability of CBMs have garnered significant attention. This is associated with inquiries into the successful implementation of progress monitoring tools within educational practice31. In this context, the significance of modern digital media in the educational domain is gaining recognition32. A curriculum-based assessment tool with the dual purpose of screening and progress monitoring utilizing tablet technology would offer numerous advantages for educators33,34,35. With this type of digital medium (i.e., tablets), the advantages outweigh the disadvantages of conducting assessments aimed at early detection of learning difficulties (i.e., screening) in the core academic areas of reading, writing, and mathematics, as well as assessments designed to monitor students&#39; learning progress in these academic domains. This is attributed to the fact that digital assessments (whether conducted via computers or tablets) lead to increased time efficiency. Particularly concerning assessment data collection, presentation, and documentation tasks typically performed by teachers, these processes can be automated and executed far more efficiently in terms of resource utilization36. Moreover, providing support for data interpretation becomes much more straightforward. In addition, research indicates that tablet-based assessments are well received by teachers and result in greater learning gains37,38. In contrast, despite the potential advantages of tablet-based assessments, researchers have highlighted several drawbacks that should be considered. Bremer and Tillmann39 emphasize the significant costs associated with acquiring and maintaining tablets, as well as concerns about exacerbating existing inequalities in access to technology. Additionally, tablets often have limited processing power, storage capacity, and input capabilities compared to laptops, which can hinder their functionality for demanding computational tasks or extended typing39. These limitations may impact the effectiveness of tablet-based assessments, particularly in scenarios requiring advanced data analysis or extensive written responses. Furthermore, technical challenges such as reduced processing power, storage constraints, input difficulties, small screen size, connectivity issues, battery limitations, and compatibility concerns with assessment software or platforms can hinder their usability40,41. Moreover, engagement and distraction risks pose significant concerns, as digital assessments may struggle to maintain children&#39;s focus during testing42. Careful consideration of these factors is crucial when utilizing tablets for educational evaluation.
Overall, in light of the information presented in this report, the feasibility of CBMs utilizing tablets in the classroom appears promising and is increasingly needed in a digital society. This assertion is further substantiated by findings indicating that many children are gaining access to tablets both at school and at home43. In recent years, several tablet-based apps have been developed for the assessment of early literacy skills44,45,46. Neumann et al.46evaluated the psychometric properties of tablet-based literacy assessments, focusing on both validity and reliability. They tested an app designed to assess expressive and receptive literacy skills in a sample of 45 children aged 3 to 5 years. The children used the app on a tablet to complete assessments related to alphabet and word recognition skills. The results indicated that tablet-based assessments utilizing both expressive and receptive response formats offer a valid and reliable way to measure early literacy skills in young children. The purpose of the study conducted by Chu and Krishnan44 was to develop and determine the validity of a computerized tool called the Quantitative Assessment of Prewriting Skills (QAPS) for assessing the pattern of children&#39;s copying to measure their visual-motor skills. The authors demonstrated that the QAPS is feasible and adequate for measuring and distinguishing the drawing skills of typically developing children and children with visual motor deficits. Similarly, Dui et al.45 designed a novel tablet-based app, Play Draw Write, which was tested among healthy children with mastered handwriting (third graders) and those at a preliterate age (kindergartners). Their findings provide evidence for the effectiveness of tablet technology in quantitatively evaluating handwriting production. Additionally, they propose that a tablet-based application holds the potential for identifying handwriting difficulties at an early stage. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that none of these studies have evaluated the diagnostic accuracy required for identifying children at risk of writing-related learning disabilities. Therefore, there is a need for precise classification data to validate the effectiveness of such a screening tool. The classification accuracy of a screening tool is determined by how well it identifies students as at risk or not at risk compared to a later writing outcome. Researchers often report the area under the curve (AUC), a measure of overall classification accuracy. The AUC serves as a diagnostic performance index by combining sensitivity and specificity into a single measure. It classifies students as at-risk or not at-risk, using their performance on another standardized test as the criterion. The following intervals were used to interpret the AUC: high, AUC &#62; .90; good, AUC &#62; .80-.90; moderate, AUC = .70-.79; and low, AUC= .50-.6947.
Screening tools and their respective cutoff scores for risk determination must balance sensitivity and specificity, meaning that increasing sensitivity tends to decrease specificity and vice versa. Sensitivity represents the proportion of students identified as at risk on the screening tool and at risk on the outcome measure (true positives) from all students who scored at risk on the outcome measure (true positives plus false negatives). Essentially, a high sensitivity value indicates that fewer students at risk are missed during the screening process. If the screening tool lacks sensitivity and fails to identify these students, they will not receive the necessary intervention. Conversely, specificity represents the proportion of students accurately identified as not at risk by both the screening tool and the outcome measure (true negatives) among all students classified as not at risk by the outcome measure (including true negatives and false positives). Increased specificity leads to a reduction in false positives. Schools prioritize minimizing false-positive identifications during screening because excessive identification of students as at risk39 (i.e., identifying a large number of false positives) strains resources allocated for intervention services. Although there is no universally agreed-upon standard for acceptable values of these indices, achieving high sensitivity values in universal screening is paramount importance48,49.
Over the past few years, various paper-and-pencil screening instruments have been designed to assess writing proficiency among Spanish-speaking students at the kindergarten and elementary school levels. Specifically, the Indicadores de Progreso de Aprendizaje en Escritura (IPAE) serves a tailored CBM for elementary grades50. In contrast, the Early Grade Writing Assessment in Kindergarten (EGWA-K) specifically targets kindergarten students, providing a Spanish standardized test that assesses fundamental literacy skills. It includes tasks such as transcribing words from images, segmenting pseudowords into phonemes, writing freely chosen words, and narrating a story based on a drawing. These diverse tasks demonstrate high reliability and validity in evaluating early writing abilities51.
However, to our knowledge, no technology-based CBM tools have yet been developed for Spanish language assessment for screening and monitoring learning progress in early-age writing. Recognizing the importance of identifying young children who may struggle with writing and the lack of computerized tools for the Spanish-speaking population, this study aimed to introduce a multimedia assessment protocol for kindergarten students and explore its internal structure and diagnostic accuracy.

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			<td>Indicadores de Progreso de Aprendizaje en Escritura para Educaci&#243;n Infantil (T-IPAE-EI)&#8220;</td>
			<td>Universidad de La Laguna</td>
			<td>&#160;&#174;Copyrigth, 2023&#160;&#160;</td>
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a tablet-based curriculum-based measurement protocol for kindergarten writing

Kindergarten writing involves acquiring fundamental skills, such as letter formation, phonemic awareness, and the gradual use of written language to express ideas. In this context, tablet-based curriculum assessments present new opportunities for teaching and evaluating these early writing abilities. To the best of our knowledge, there is currently no tool with these features available for Spanish-speaking children. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to present a tablet-based protocol for screening at-risk young writers. This tablet-based protocol is specifically designed for kindergarten-level education and serves as a curriculum-based assessment tool that focuses on evaluating early writing skills in young learners. This user-friendly application incorporates interactive tasks and exercises, including assessments of phonological awareness, name writing, alphabet letter copying fluency, and oral narrative skills. These comprehensive evaluations cover various aspects of writing. This application is meticulously aligned with kindergarten curriculum objectives, ensuring that assessments adhere to educational standards. By providing educators with a digital platform to assess and enhance students' writing skills, this tool empowers them to make data-driven decisions for effective instruction during the early stages of writing development. Moreover, it functions as a curriculum-based measurement (CBM), offers valuable support for identifying potential writing challenges in young learners and continuously monitoring their progress. This feature enables early intervention and tailored instruction to optimize writing skill development.

For this study, 336 Spanish kindergarten students (boys = 163, girls = 173; Mage = 5.3 years (63.6 months), SD = 0.29) were recruited from state and private schools in urban and suburban regions of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Children with special educational needs were excluded. This included children with sensory impairments, acquired neurological conditions, or other issues traditionally deemed exclusionary criteria for learning disabilities. This information was sourced from th...

This protocol presents the step-by-step method for using a writing-based, valid, and reliable application designed for kindergarten-level education. It operates as a curriculum-based assessment tool, specifically focusing on evaluating early writing skills in young learners.

A Tablet-Based Curriculum-Based Measurement Protocol for Kindergarten Writing

Kindergarten writing involves acquiring fundamental skills, such as letter formation, phonemic awareness, and the gradual use of written language to ...

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373 Views.  Universidad de La Laguna. This protocol presents the step-by-step method for using a writing-based, valid, and reliable application designed for kindergarten-level education. It operates as a curriculum-based assessment tool, specifically focusing on evaluating early writing skills in young learners.

Video: A Tablet-Based Curriculum-Based Measurement Protocol for Kindergarten Writing

A Fully Automated Rodent Conditioning Protocol for Sensorimotor Integration and Cognitive Control Experiments

Rodents have been traditionally used as a standard animal model in laboratory experiments involving a myriad of sensory, cognitive, and motor tasks. Higher cognitive functions that require precise control over sensorimotor responses such as decision-making and attentional modulation, however, are typically assessed in nonhuman primates. Despite the richness of primate behavior that allows multiple variants of these functions to be studied, the rodent model remains an attractive, cost-effective alternative to primate models. Furthermore, the ability to fully automate operant conditioning in rodents adds unique advantages over the labor intensive training of nonhuman primates while studying a broad range of these complex functions.
Here, we introduce a protocol for operantly conditioning rats on performing working memory tasks. During critical epochs of the task, the protocol ensures that the animal's overt movement is minimized by requiring the animal to 'fixate' until a Go cue is delivered, akin to nonhuman primate experimental design. A simple two alternative forced choice task is implemented to demonstrate the performance. We discuss the application of this paradigm to other tasks.

A fully automated protocol for rodent operant conditioning is proposed. The protocol relies on precise temporal control of behavioral events to investigate the extent to which this control influences neural activity underlying sensorimotor integration and cognitive control experiments.

Rodents have been traditionally used as a standard animal model in laboratory experiments involving a myriad of sensory, cognitive, and motor tasks. ...

Measurement of Fronto-limbic Activity Using an Emotional Oddball Task in Children with Familial High Risk for Schizophrenia

Adolescence is a critical developmental period where the early symptoms of schizophrenia frequently emerge. First-degree relatives of people with schizophrenia who are at familial high risk (FHR) may show similar cognitive and emotional changes. However, the neurological changes underlying the emergence of these symptoms remain unclear. This study sought to identify differences in frontal, striatal, and limbic regions in children and adolescents with FHR using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Groups of 21 children and adolescents at FHR and 21 healthy controls completed an emotional oddball task that relied on selective attention and the suppression of task-irrelevant emotional information. The standard oddball task was modified to include aversive and neutral distractors in order to examine potential group differences in both emotional and executive processing. This task was designed specifically to allow for children and adolescents to complete by keeping the difficulty and emotional image content age-appropriate. Furthermore, we demonstrate a technique for suitable fMRI registration for children and adolescent participants. This paradigm may also be applied in future studies to measure changes in neural activity in other populations with hypothesized developmental changes in executive and emotional processing.

This paper describes how to use the emotional oddball task and fMRI to measure brain activation in children and adolescents at familial high risk for schizophrenia (FHR).&#160;FMRI was used to measure differences in fronto-striato-limbic regions during an emotional oddball task. Children with FHR exhibited abnormal functional activation during adolescence.

Adolescence is a critical developmental period where the early symptoms of schizophrenia frequently emerge. First-degree relatives of people with ...

A Protocol for Housing Mice in an Enriched Environment

Environmental enrichment (EE) is a housing environment for mice that boosts mental and physical health compared to standard laboratory housing. Our recent studies demonstrate that environmental enrichment decreases adiposity, increases energy expenditure, resists diet induced obesity, and causes cancer remission and inhibition in mice. EE typically consists of larger living space, a variety of &#8216;toys&#8217; to interact with, running wheels, and can include a number of other novel environmental changes. All of this fosters a more complex social engagement, cognitive and physical stimulations. Importantly, the toy location and type of toy is changed regularly, which encourages the mice to adapt to a frequently changing and novel environment. Many variables can be manipulated in EE to promote health effects in mice. Thus these approaches are difficult to control and must be properly managed to successfully replicate the associated phenotypes. Therefore, the goal of this video is to demonstrate how EE is properly set up and maintained to assure a complex, challenging, and controlled environment so that other researchers can easily reproduce the protective effects of EE against obesity and cancer.

Environmental enrichment for mice requires a complex and challenging setup, as well as comprehensive husbandry and handling techniques to assure robust metabolic and anti-cancer effects in the mice. This protocol provides detailed procedures to reproduce the above mentioned effects in mice.

Environmental enrichment (EE) is a housing environment for mice that boosts mental and physical health compared to standard laboratory housing. Our recent ...

A Structured Rehabilitation Protocol for Improved Multifunctional Prosthetic Control: A Case Study

Advances in robotic systems have resulted in prostheses for the upper limb that can produce multifunctional movements. However, these sophisticated systems require upper limb amputees to learn complex control schemes. Humans have the ability to learn new movements through imitation and other learning strategies. This protocol describes a structured rehabilitation method, which includes imitation, repetition, and reinforcement learning, and aims to assess if this method can improve multifunctional prosthetic control. A left below elbow amputee, with 4 years of experience in prosthetic use, took part in this case study. The prosthesis used was a Michelangelo hand with wrist rotation, and the added features of wrist flexion and extension, which allowed more combinations of hand movements. The participant&#8217;s Southampton Hand Assessment Procedure score improved from 58 to 71 following structured training. This suggests that a structured training protocol of imitation, repetition and reinforcement may have a role in learning to control a new prosthetic hand. A larger clinical study is however required to support these findings.

As prosthetic development moves towards the goal of natural control, harnessing amputees&#8217; inherent ability to learn new motor skills may enable proficiency. This manuscript describes a structured rehabilitation protocol, which includes imitation, repetition, and reinforcement learning strategies, for improved multifunctional prosthetic control.

Advances in robotic systems have resulted in prostheses for the upper limb that can produce multifunctional movements. However, these sophisticated ...

Protocol for Data Collection and Analysis Applied to Automated Facial Expression Analysis Technology and Temporal Analysis for Sensory Evaluation

We demonstrate a method for capturing emotional response to beverages and liquefied foods in a sensory evaluation laboratory using automated facial expression analysis (AFEA) software. Additionally, we demonstrate a method for extracting relevant emotional data output and plotting the emotional response of a population over a specified time frame. By time pairing each participant's treatment response to a control stimulus (baseline), the overall emotional response over time and across multiple participants can be quantified. AFEA is a prospective analytical tool for assessing unbiased response to food and beverages. At present, most research has mainly focused on beverages. Methodologies and analyses have not yet been standardized for the application of AFEA to beverages and foods; however, a consistent standard methodology is needed. Optimizing video capture procedures and resulting video quality aids in a successful collection of emotional response to foods. Furthermore, the methodology of data analysis is novel for extracting the pertinent data relevant to the emotional response. The combinations of video capture optimization and data analysis will aid in standardizing the protocol for automated facial expression analysis and interpretation of emotional response data.

A protocol for capturing and statistically analyzing emotional response of a population to beverages and liquefied foods in a sensory evaluation laboratory using automated facial expression analysis software is described.

We demonstrate a method for capturing emotional response to beverages and liquefied foods in a sensory evaluation laboratory using automated facial ...

A Protocol of Manual Tests to Measure Sensation and Pain in Humans

Numerous qualitative and quantitative techniques can be used to test sensory nerves and pain in both research and clinical settings. The current study demonstrates a quantitative sensory testing protocol using techniques to measure tactile sensation and pain threshold for pressure and heat using portable and easily accessed equipment. These techniques and equipment are ideal for new laboratories and clinics where cost is a concern or a limiting factor. We demonstrate measurement techniques for the following: cutaneous mechanical sensitivity on the arms and legs (von-Frey filaments), radiant and contact heat sensitivity (with both threshold and qualitative assessments using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS)), and mechanical pressure sensitivity (algometer, with both threshold and the VAS). The techniques and equipment described and demonstrated here can be easily purchased, stored, and transported by most clinics and research laboratories around the world. A limitation of this approach is a lack of automation or computer control. Thus, these processes can be more labor intensive in terms of personnel training and data recording than the more sophisticated equipment. We provide a set of reliability data for the demonstrated techniques. From our description, a new laboratory should be able to set up and run these tests and to develop their own internal reliability data.

The goal of this procedure is to demonstrate a battery of quantitative techniques for sensory and pain measurement in humans. The equipment and techniques described are commonly found in pain clinics or are easy to obtain.

Numerous qualitative and quantitative techniques can be used to test sensory nerves and pain in both research and clinical settings. The current study ...

The Unpredictable Chronic Mild Stress Protocol for Inducing Anhedonia in Mice

Depression is a highly prevalent and debilitating condition, only partially addressed by current pharmacotherapies. The lack of response to treatment by many patients prompts the need to develop new therapeutic alternatives and to better understand the etiology of the disorder. Pre-clinical models with translational merits are rudimentary for this task. Here we present a protocol for the unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS) method in mice. In this protocol, adolescent mice are chronically exposed to interchanging unpredictable mild stressors. Resembling the pathogenesis of depression in humans, stress exposure during the sensitive period of mice adolescence instigates a depressive-like phenotype evident in adulthood. UCMS can be used for screenings of antidepressants on the variety of depressive-like behaviors and neuromolecular indices. Among the more prominent tests to assess depressive-like behavior in rodents is the sucrose preference test (SPT), which reflects anhedonia (core symptom of depression). The SPT will also be presented in this protocol. The ability of UCMS to induce anhedonia, instigate long-term behavioral deficits and enable reversal of these deficits via chronic (but not acute) treatment with antidepressants strengthens the protocol&#39;s validity compared to other animal protocols for inducing depressive-like behaviors.

Here we present the unpredictable chronic mild stress protocol in mice. This protocol induces a long-term depressive-like phenotype and enables to assess the efficacy of putative antidepressants in reversing the behavioral and neuromolecular depressive-like deficits.

Depression is a highly prevalent and debilitating condition, only partially addressed by current pharmacotherapies. The lack of response to treatment by ...

A Conditioned Place Preference Protocol for Measuring Incubation of Craving in Rats

A major cause of repeated relapses is a craving for the drug. Drug craving increases progressively during the abstinence period, a phenomenon termed incubation of drug craving. Here, we describe a morphine conditioned place preference (CPP) protocol for measuring the incubation of craving in rats. In this protocol, a CPP paradigm mainly employing somatosensory cues is used to establish a long-term reward memory of morphine. A three-chamber CPP box that differs in the texture of the chamber floor is constructed. First, the animals are tested for their baseline preference to the two side chambers for three consecutive days. Then, they are injected intraperitoneally with morphine/saline and put into their non-preferred/preferred chamber for 45 min. After 6 days of conditioning, their preference to the side chambers is tested for 15 min at different time points after the last conditioning session. With this paradigm, the reward memory of morphine could last for at least 18 days. To test whether the above-mentioned protocol can model increased craving, the number of entrances into the two side chambers are counted during the abstinence period. The results show that the entrances increased, suggesting that the CPP paradigm could mimic the incubation of craving. Future studies can employ this model to study neural mechanisms underlying long-term memory and incubation of craving.

Here, a morphine conditioned place preference (CPP) protocol is described to measure incubation of craving in rats.

A major cause of repeated relapses is a craving for the drug. Drug craving increases progressively during the abstinence period, a phenomenon termed ...

A Chronic Immobilization Stress Protocol for Inducing Depression-Like Behavior in Mice

Depression is not yet fully understood, but various causative factors have been reported. Recently, the prevalence of depression has increased. However, therapeutic treatments for depression or research on depression is scarce. Thus, in the present paper, we propose a mouse model of depression induced by movement restriction. Chronic mild stress (CMS) is a well-known technique to induce depressive-like behavior. However, it necessitates a complex procedure consisting of a combination of various mild stresses. In contrast, chronic immobilization stress (CIS) is a readily accessible chronic stress model, modified from a restraint model that induces depressive behavior by restricting movement using a restrainer for a certain period. To evaluate the depressive-like behaviors, the sucrose preference test (SPT), the tail suspension test (TST), and the ELISA assay to measure stress marker corticosterone levels are combined in the present experiment. The described protocols illustrate the induction of CIS and evaluation of the changes in behavior and physiological factors for the validation of depression.

This article provides a simplified and standardized protocol for induction of depressive-like behavior in chronically immobilized mice by using a restrainer. In addition, behavior and physiological techniques to verify induction of depression are explained.

Depression is not yet fully understood, but various causative factors have been reported. Recently, the prevalence of depression has increased. However, ...

Universal Screening for Prevention of Reading, Writing, and Math Disabilities in Spanish

The purpose of this study was to describe a Spanish protocol that includes reading, writing, and math Curriculum-Based Measures (CBMs) aimed at early detection of students at risk of presenting learning disabilities (LD). Early identification of LD is a critical component of the Response to Intervention (RtI) model. In early grades, the screening of foundational skills mentioned above can provide a data-based guideline for identifying students requiring a more intensive response-based intervention before starting elementary school. We designed different CBMs based on indicators of basic early reading, writing, and math skills [Indicadores de Progreso de Aprendizaje en Lectura, Escritura y Matem&#225;ticas, IPAL, IPAE, and IPAM respectively]&#160;that aim to fulfill the twofold objective of universal screening and evaluation of the Spanish students&#8217; progress. For reading, IPAL includes alphabetic principle, phonological awareness, concepts about print, and riddles in kindergarten. In first and second grades, IPAL includes alphabetic principle, nonsense words fluency, maze sentences, and oral reading fluency. In addition, it includes phonemic segmentation for first grade and prosody for second grade. For writing, IPAE includes copying letters, writing allographs, dictated letters, dictated words with arbitrary spelling, dictated words with rule-based spelling, dictated nonsense words, dictated sentences, writing sentences, and writing a story for first-third grades. Finally, for math, IPAM includes number comparison, missing number, number identification, quantity array, and counting aloud for kindergarten, and number comparison, multi-digit computation, missing number, single-digit computation, and place value for first-third grades.

This work presents a protocol to administrate Spanish Curriculum-Based Measures for the early detection of reading, math, and writing difficulties. These tools could help practitioners and applied researchers working in the context of the Response to Intervention model.

The purpose of this study was to describe a Spanish protocol that includes reading, writing, and math Curriculum-Based Measures (CBMs) aimed at early ...