In the literature it is commonly reported that several spatial abilities decline with normal aging, even though such a decline is not uniform. So far, it is not yet clear which spatial components present a normal age-related decline, which ones are preserved and at what point the deficit is so severe to represent an index of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or a symptom of potential degenerative progression as in the early-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD). In particular, AD (from early onset) is characterised by impairments in constructive abilities, visuospatial intelligence, spatial short-term memory deficits, and disorders of spatial orientation (topographical disorientation). MCI indicates a condition, generally affecting older individuals, characterized by cognitive deficits including memory and/or non memory impairments and at high risk of progression to dementia. Three MCI subgroups have been distinguished and a very high risk of developing AD is associated to the amnestic MCI subtypes. Further, recent studies have suggested that the allocentric component of spatial memory might be taken as predictor of AD from MCI. Given the frequency of visuospatial deficits in early-stage AD, evaluation of visuospatial processes is a promising approach to find predictive markers of AD. Here we report a review of the literature exploring specific visuospatial components in normal aging, MCI, and AD. In this way we could shed some light on the role of these components in the progression from MCI to AD and pave the way for future studies.

Genetics, early experience, and culture shape caregiving, but it is still not clear how genetics, early experiences, and cultural factors might interact to influence specific caregiving propensities, such as adult responsiveness to infant cues. To address this gap, 80 Italian adults (50% M; 18-25 years) were (1) genotyped for two oxytocin receptor gene polymorphisms (rs53576 and rs2254298) and the serotonin transporter gene polymorphism (5-HTTLPR), which are implicated in parenting behaviour, (2) completed the Adult Parental Acceptance/Rejection Questionnaire to evaluate their recollections of parental behaviours toward them in childhood, and (3) were administered a Single Category Implicit Association Test to evaluate their implicit responses to faces of Italian infants, Japanese infants, and Italian adults. Analysis of implicit associations revealed that Italian infant faces were evaluated as most positive; participants in the rs53576 GG group had the most positive implicit associations to Italian infant faces; the serotonin polymorphism moderated the effect of early care experiences on adults’ implicit association to both Italian infant and adult female faces. Finally, 5-HTTLPR S carriers showed less positive implicit responses to Japanese infant faces. We conclude that adult in-group preference extends to in-group infant faces and that implicit responses to social cues are influenced by interactions of genetics, early care experiences, and cultural factors. These findings have implications for understanding processes that regulate adult caregiving.

In this study, a multisensory methodology is used to assess acoustic comfort aboard different real-world metros by means of subjective annoyance and cognitive performance measures. Two experimental conditions were compared: unimodal versus bimodal. Immersive virtual reality was used to simulate journeys aboard metro coaches. Participants performed four tasks (Rey Test, Verbal Fluency, Backward Counting and Auditory Words Discrimination) while listening to metro sounds (unimodal condition) or while listening to metro sounds within a virtual metro coach (bimodal condition). At the end of each journey, participants reported their degree of noise annoyance. The results showed that cognitive performances were worse in the bimodal than in the unimodal condition. Moreover, the bimodal condition affected negatively the capacity to discriminate words and to count backward. However, reported noise annoyance was higher in the unimodal than bimodal condition. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Parental beliefs are relevant to child development because they shape parenting behaviors and help to determine and regulate child cognitive and socioemotional growth. Here we investigated cross-cultural variation in Italian and U.S. mothers’ parental beliefs about their social and didactic interactions with their young children. To compare parental beliefs, the Parental Style Questionnaire (PSQ) was administered to samples of 273 Italian mothers and 279 U.S. mothers of 20-month-olds (55% male). To conduct substantive cross-cultural comparisons of beliefs, the measurement invariance of the PSQ was first established by hierarchical multi-group confirmatory factor analyses. The PSQ was essentially invariant across cultures. Italian mothers reported that they engaged in both social and didactic behaviors with their young children less frequently than U.S. mothers. Results of our study confirm that mothers in different cultures differentially value parental stimulation and its relevance for early child development.

Drawing ability is a complex cognitive process that involves different aspects of visuo-spatial skills. To date, the link between these functions has not been deeply investigated because of the absence of a standardized test that globally analyzes the basic aspects of visuo-spatial processes. The aim of this study was to examine the dimensionality, reliability, and validity of a new battery assessing basic visuo-spatial abilities implied in drawing tasks. A total of 370 children (aged 4-11 years) participated in the study. In order to analyze the psychometric properties of the battery subscales, data were analyzed with a Rasch model and compared with other standardized tests. For each subscale items were compared and ordered on the latent trait, and the misfitting items eliminated. The results of this study provide evidence for the reliability and validity of the battery, and indicate that the battery can be a valid tool for researchers interested in investigating the development of visuo-spatial abilities and the relationship between basic visuo-spatial abilities and general cognitive abilities.