Detecting cognitive states during learning tasks is an essential component in neurocognitive experiments for assessing and enhancing the cognitive performance of individuals. Studies have demonstrated that mental state recognition systems utilizing brain signals are proficient in the automated monitoring of learners’ cognitive states. The current study focuses on developing an efficient individualized and cross-subject cognitive state assessment model based on Electroencephalography (EEG) patterns during learning tasks. For this study, EEGs of 20 healthy subjects were recorded during a resting state followed by a learning task and examined EEG activations patterns in a wide perspective of feature types and rhythms. The extracted features included time-domain features such as Hjorth parameters, Wavelet-based features, and Spectral entropy. Three classifiers, Support Vector Machine, k-Nearest Neighbor, and Linear Discriminant Analysis were employed to recognize the mental state. A new EEG-based attention index using band ratios is proposed and is demonstrated as an effective predictor for recognizing attentive reading. The proposed model can yield recognition performance with an accuracy of 92.9% in the subject-dependent approach and 77.2% in the subject-independent approach with the Support Vector Machine Classifier. The findings are useful for the design and development of neurofeedback systems that monitor and enhance the cognitive performance in healthy individuals, as well as in individuals with cognitive deficits.

Background: Needs of children with specific learning disability (SLD) should be noticed and answered in the regular school. Objective: We aimed to find out the knowledge among school teachers about neurological factors that affect SLD. Our secondary objective was to find the effect of short-term teaching on their knowledge. Materials and Methods: We chose an observational study design. A total of 51 teachers of standard 1-7, from a Central board of Secondary Education school, an Indian Certificate of Secondary Education school and a state syllabus school participated. They were grouped as pre-primary, primary, and middle school. The participants were trained at their respective schools. The training program consisted of didactic lectures, case discussions, and group discussions about SLD from a multidisciplinary perspective, spanning over 3 days. A total of two questionnaires were administered to the teachers; one before and one after the 3 days training. Results: The mean scores obtained by the pre-primary teachers before and after training were 3.69 and 5.69, respectively (significant at 1% level of significance). The primary school teachers scored a mean of 3.44 before training and 5.11 after, with statistically significant improvement. In the pre-and post-test scores of middle school teachers (4.29 and 5.35), though improvement in knowledge was seen, it was not statistically significant. Conclusion: The fact that a short-term teaching program for teachers regarding the neurological aspects of SLD was effective, underscores need for regular teaching programs for all teachers. It would be ideal if the knowledge is imparted in the curriculum during basic teacher training so that all answers would be right prior to the in-service training.

Early identification of Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) is essential not only for effective remediation of their problems but would also prevent the problems from aggravating. The role of general education teachers in early identification becomes crucial, as they are the ones who first identify the academic and behavioral issues of school children. The main aims of the study are to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and current practices pertaining to SLD, among pre-primary, primary, and secondary school teachers in public schools from Trivandrum, India, to find whether there exists any relation between years of teaching experience and awareness on SLD and to assess the effect of a short-term training program on the knowledge, attitude, and practices of school teachers. In conclusion, short-term training programs of a multi-disciplinary nature are found to be effective in bringing about improvements with both pre-primary and primary teacher's knowledge factor, but such training is maximally beneficial for improving attitude and practice of teachers in the primary level.