systematic review

Common elements: An innovative methodology for identifying effective interventions in early childhood education

Evidence-based education programmes, like many clinical interventions, are multi-faceted and can be expensive to implement. In this talk I will describe an alternative: distilling the common elements across many evidence-based programmes. Published programme manuals are selected through systematic review, then extensively coded and cross-referenced. Finally, the common elements that emerge are shared with practitioners as part of a ‘library’ of practices (rather than a holistic programme manual). Although the common elements methodology has been used in the prevention and intervention sciences, this project reflects the first attempt at applying this approach to early childhood education. I will describe the common elements methods and preliminary findings from our Nuffield-funded project, in collaboration with the Early Intervention Foundation. I will discuss the challenges and opportunities we have encountered, alongside our strategies for sharing evidence with practitioners in a digestible way.

Understanding the Assessment of Spatial Neglect and its Treatment Using Prism Adaptation Training

Spatial neglect is a syndrome that is most frequently associated with damage to the right hemisphere, although damage to the left hemisphere can also result in signs of spatial neglect. It is characterised by absent or deficient awareness of the contralesional side of space. The screening and diagnosis of spatial neglect lacks a universal gold standard, but is usually achieved by using various modes of assessment. Spatial neglect is also difficult to treat, although prism adaptation training (PAT) has in the past reportedly showed some promise. This seminar will include highlights from a series of studies designed to identify knowledge gaps, and will suggest ways in which these can be bridged. The first study was conducted to identify and quantify clinicians’ use of assessment tools for spatial neglect, finding that several different tools are in use, but that there is an emerging consensus and appetite for harmonisation. The second study included PAT, and sought to uncover whether PAT can improve engagement in recommended therapy in order to improve the outcomes of stroke survivors with spatial neglect. The final study, a systematic review and meta-analysis, sought to investigate the scientific efficacy (rather than clinical effectiveness) of PAT, identifying several knowledge gaps in the existing literature and a need for a new approach in the study of PAT in the clinical setting.

Analogical reasoning and metaphor processing in autism - Similarities & differences

In this talk, I will present the results of two recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses related to analogical reasoning and metaphor processing in autism, together with the results of a study that investigated verbal analogical reasoning and metaphor processing in the same sample of participants. Both metaphors and analogies rely on exploiting similarities, and they necessitate contextual processing. Nevertheless, our findings relating to metaphor processing and analogical reasoning showed distinct patterns. Whereas analogical reasoning emerged as a relative strength in autism, metaphor processing was found to be a relative weakness. Additionally, both meta-analytic studies investigated the relations between the level of intelligence of participants included in the studies, and the effect size of group differences between the autistic and typically developing (TD) samples. These analyses suggested in the case of analogical reasoning that the relative advantage of ASD participants might only be present in the case of individuals with lower levels of intelligence. By contrast, impairments in metaphor processing appeared to be more pronounced in the case of individuals with relatively lower levels of (verbal) intelligence. In our experimental study, we administered both verbal analogies and metaphors to the same sample of high-functioning autistic participants and TD controls. The two groups were matched on age, verbal IQ, working memory and educational background. Our aim was to understand better the similarities and differences between processing analogies and metaphors, and to see whether the advantage in analogical reasoning and disadvantage in metaphor processing is universal in autism.

Retest-Reliability of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation over the Healthy Human Motor Cortex: A Systematic Review

The influence of cardiovascular health in middle-aged adult populations on cognitive health in later life: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Activity alterations of various brain regions in Alcohol intoxicated drivers: a systematic review and Meta analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging studies

Dose-response analysis between smartphone addiction and sleep quality: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

The efficacy of Non-invasive Brain Stimulation techniques on Chronic Primary Pain disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The hyperactive nature of the rodent olfactory bulbectomy model: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Identification of Early Neurocognitive and Neuroanatomical Predictors of Language and Learning Disorders: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Reliability of Motor Evoked Potentials in Hand Muscles of Healthy Individuals: A Systematic Review

The role of Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) in spine cord injuries: A systematic review of the literature

A systematic review on the association of birth intervals and risk of autism spectrum and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders

A systematic review of the neural bases of emotional intelligence

Systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of sex on stroke outcomes in animal models of ischemic stroke

FENS Forum 2024