Karen Waldie
The University of Auckland, Psychology, Faculty Member
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BiographyDr Karen Waldie is a Professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Auckland (https://unidirecto... moreBiographyDr Karen Waldie is a Professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Auckland (https://unidirectory.auckland.ac.nz/profile/k-waldie). Her research is in the area of developmental neuropsychology and focuses on the neural bases, and long-term outcomes, of neurodevelopmental disorders. She was born in Victoria, BC Canada, and received her BSc at the University of Victoria. She received her MSc and PhD (1998) at the University of Calgary and went on to become a research fellow with the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study (DMHDS). She became a member of the University of Auckland academic faculty in 2001. She is a Principal Investigator with the Centre for Brain Research, Minds for Minds (http://www.mindsforminds.org.nz/), the Movincog.org initiative (http://www.movincog.org/), Growing Up in New Zealand (www.growingup.co.nz), the Auckland Birthweight Collaborative (ABC) study, and the Auckland Comorbidity Study.Research interestsDr Karen Waldie’s research interests can be broadly categorized into those that rely on acute cross-sectional experimental techniques, and those which rely on data collected from longitudinal studies. Her experimental work combines techniques from cognitive neuroscience (e.g., functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG)) and clinical neuropsychology. Her involvement with three national longitudinal studies reflects her interest in life-span development as well as the precursors and determinants of neurodevelopmental disorders. She is a member of numerous professional societies and has published over 130 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. H-Index =36 edit
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Approximately half the world's population can now speak more than one... more
Approximately half the world's population can now speak more than one language. Understanding the neural basis of language organisation in bilinguals, and whether the cortical networks involved during language processing differ from that of monolinguals, is therefore an important area of research. A main issue concerns whether L2 (second language) is processed using the same neural mechanisms that mediate L1 (first language) processing. Moderating factors include the age of L2 acquisition and the level of proficiency. Here we used a lexical decision task with five conditions during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate language processing in eight late proficient bilinguals when using Macedonian (L1) and English (L2). Bilinguals had greater bilateral activation during both L1 and L2 processing, and therefore weaker language lateralisation, compared to matched control English monolinguals. A greater amount of overall activation was also seen in bilinguals, especially during L2 conditions. Late proficient bilinguals living in their L2 environment employ a more extensive neural network than monolinguals when processing their second language.
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Cognitive Science, Decision Making, Cognition, Adolescent, Cerebral Laterality, and 15 moreBilingualism, Brain Mapping, Humans, Cerebral Cortex, Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Female, Comparative Analysis, Adult, Age of Acquisition, Analysis of Variance, Hemisphere, BOLD, Diagnostic Tests, Functional Laterality, and Acoustic Stimulation
The corpus callosum is the large band of fibers that connects the two cerebral hemispheres of the brain. Individuals who have had the fibers of these tracts surgically severed by callosotomy are able to draw two different spatial figures... more
The corpus callosum is the large band of fibers that connects the two cerebral hemispheres of the brain. Individuals who have had the fibers of these tracts surgically severed by callosotomy are able to draw two different spatial figures simultaneously using the left and right hands, without evidence of interactions in the spatial planning processes. Paradoxically, tasks (e.g., tying shoes) that appear to depend on spatial interactions between the left and right hands, each of which is controlled by a separate cerebral hemisphere, pose little difficulty. How can this be? In the study reported here, we observed that well-learned cooperative actions of the hands remain intact in 2 callosotomy patients, whereas actions novel to these patients are virtually impossible for them to produce without visual guidance. We infer that duplicate memory engrams of well-learned actions can be accessed by both cerebral hemispheres without callosal mediation, whereas callosal interactions are necessa...
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Psychology, Cognitive Science, Developmental Psychology, Audiology, Writing, and 15 moreMedicine, Brain and Cognition, Humans, Child, Computer User Interface Design, Behavioral Research, Reference Values, Neurosciences, Case Control Studies, Bisection method, Functional Laterality, Psychomotor Performance, Child preschool, Attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity, and Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Being born small for gestational age (SGA) is a putative risk factor for the development of later cognitive and psychiatric health problems. While the inter-uterine environment has been shown to play an important role in predicting birth... more
Being born small for gestational age (SGA) is a putative risk factor for the development of later cognitive and psychiatric health problems. While the inter-uterine environment has been shown to play an important role in predicting birth weight, little is known about the genetic factors that might be important. Here we test the hypothesis that neurotransmitter-regulating genes implicated in psychiatric disorders previously shown to be associated with SGA (such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) are themselves predictive of SGA. DNA was collected from 227 SGA and 319 appropriate for gestational age children taking part in the Auckland Birthweight Collaborative Study. Candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms in genes regulating activity within dopamine, serotonin, glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid pathways were genotyped. Multiple regression analysis, controlling for potentially confounding factors, supported nominally significant associations between SGA and single nucleotide polymorphisms in COMT, HTR2A, SLC1A1 and SLC6A1. This is the first evidence that genes implicated in psychiatric disorders previously linked to SGA status themselves predict SGA. This highlights the possibility that the link between SGA and psychiatric disorders such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder may in part be genetically determined - that SGA marks pre-existing genetic risk for later problems.
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Psychology, Intelligence, Medicine, Pregnancy, Humans, and 15 moreChild, Female, Male, Longitudinal Studies, Genotype, Single Nucleotide Polymorphism, Methionine, Age Factors, Gestational Age, Child preschool, Mother child relations, Child behavior disorders, Valine, Medical and Health Sciences, and In Utero
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As screens become even more embedded in the everyday lives of young children, understanding the predictors of screen time becomes increasingly important. Our study investigated the predictors of total screen time on a weekday for children... more
As screens become even more embedded in the everyday lives of young children, understanding the predictors of screen time becomes increasingly important. Our study investigated the predictors of total screen time on a weekday for children at two years of age using data from the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal (GUiNZ) study. Our selection of variables was informed by previous research into the predictors of screen time for children aged up to three years, as well as the wider literature on parenting and children’s media exposure. We hypothesised that parenting behaviours related to the home media environment would be the most important variables overall. These included coviewing, exposure of children to adult-directed content, TV environment and rules restricting the amount of time that children can spend watching TV, DVD or video. A model including mother, partner and child variables (N = 3081) was tested using GLM Poisson regression in SPSS. Results demonstrated that children’s higher use of screen media on a weekday was significantly associated with exposure to a moderate to high or heavy TV environment compared to a low TV environment, exposure to adult-directed TV or DVDs, having no rules about how much time the child can spend viewing TV or videos or DVDs, the child being of Asian ethnicity compared to European ethnicity, and the child not attending childcare regularly. Higher coviewing with the child was significantly negatively, or inversely, associated with screen time. We consider practice implications for children’s screen time, study limitations, and recommendations for future research.
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The non-associative, Darwinian theory of fear acquisition proposes that some individuals fail to overcome biologically-relevant fears (e.g. height) because they (1) do not have sufficient safe exposure to the relevant stimuli early in... more
The non-associative, Darwinian theory of fear acquisition proposes that some individuals fail to overcome biologically-relevant fears (e.g. height) because they (1) do not have sufficient safe exposure to the relevant stimuli early in life or (2) are poor habituators who have difficulty 'learning not to fear'. These two hypotheses were tested in a longitudinal birth cohort study. Study 1 found evidence for reduced exposure to height stimuli in childhood for individuals with a fear of heights compared to study members without fear. Study 2 found evidence for higher levels of stress reactivity (a proxy for habituation) in childhood and adolescence among 18-year-old height phobics compared to study members with dental phobia and those with no fear. The results were discussed in relation to recent findings suggesting that some evolutionary-relevant fears may appear in the absence of traumatic 'learning' experiences. The merits of adding a fourth, non-associative pathway to Rachman's [Rachman, S. (1977)]. The conditioning theory of fear acquisition: a critical examination. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 15, 375-387) three pathways model of fear acquisition were briefly considered.
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Developmental Psychology, Fear, Adolescent, Classical Conditioning, Habituation, and 15 moreHumans, Child, Behaviour, Business and Management, Female, Instinct, Male, Fear conditioning, Associative learning, Longitudinal Studies, Birth Cohort, Learning Experience, Cohort Studies, Behaviour Therapy, and Child preschool
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Objective The objective of this study was to assess the validity of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in a cohort of New Zealand children followed from birth to the age of eleven. The study also aimed to assess the stability of... more
Objective The objective of this study was to assess the validity of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in a cohort of New Zealand children followed from birth to the age of eleven. The study also aimed to assess the stability of the child data in relation to behavioural outcomes during this period. Methods Children in the Auckland Birthweight Collaborative Study were assessed at approximately 3½, 7 and 11 years of age. At all time-points parents completed the parent version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and the children themselves completed the self-report version at 11 years of age. The validity and internal consistency were assessed using exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach’s alpha, and McDonald’s Omega. Cross tabulations and Chi-square statistics were used to determine whether Total Difficulty scores, as per accepted cut-offs, remained stable over time (between normal and abnormal/borderline categories). Results The factor structure remained relativ...
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The long-term impact of a father’s involvement in offspring development is understudied. The current study investigated the relations between early paternal engagement (i.e., the amount of time fathers engaged in one-to-one activity with... more
The long-term impact of a father’s involvement in offspring development is understudied. The current study investigated the relations between early paternal engagement (i.e., the amount of time fathers engaged in one-to-one activity with their child), paternal accessibility (i.e., fathers’ physical proximity to their children) and later child behavioral difficulties. Data were obtained from five phases of the Auckland Birthweight Collaborative (ABC) longitudinal cohort study: at the study children’s birth; at 12 months; 3.5 years; 7 years; and 11 years of age. Moderated linear regression analyses revealed that there was a negative, long-term effect of paternal departure from the family household (i.e., reduced paternal accessibility) by 3.5 years of age on children’s total behavioral difficulties and conduct problems scores, but only if departed fathers had been highly engaged during the child’s first year of life. These findings suggest that the relationship between paternal access...
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Socio-emotional competence and executive function both work together to meet the demands of the everyday environment. While many studies have focused on how various domains of socio-emotional competence are predicted by, or associated... more
Socio-emotional competence and executive function both work together to meet the demands of the everyday environment. While many studies have focused on how various domains of socio-emotional competence are predicted by, or associated with executive function, the predictive influence of socio-emotional competence on executive function has largely been ignored despite strong theoretical links. In addition, contradictory information exists with regard to the divergent validity of two subtypes of executive function: cool and hot. Using data from 4839 children participating in three data collection waves (9 months, 2 years and 4.5 year) in the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal study, we examined how different patterns of socio-emotional competence development during the early preschool years (persistent lows, recent low, improved and no lows) related to cool and hot executive function measured at aged 4.5 using a hand clap task and a gift wrap task, respectively. Findings showed that children with persistent lows (with no improvement) in the levels of early socio-emotional competence had increased odds of having below average cool and hot executive function at 4.5 years. However, no difference was found in the influence of socio-emotional competence on cool and hot executive function. Possible explanations for these associations between socio-emotional competence and executive function are discussed.
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BackgroundChildren who are high priority candidates for early intervention need to be identified to reduce their risk for experiencing problems in development. Those exposed to multiple risk factors are more likely to exhibit problems in... more
BackgroundChildren who are high priority candidates for early intervention need to be identified to reduce their risk for experiencing problems in development. Those exposed to multiple risk factors are more likely to exhibit problems in development than those exposed to a single or no risk factor. We examined the longitudinal associations between persistence and timing of exposure to cumulative risk (CR) on three occasions by age 2 and problems in development at age 4.5 in health, behavior, and education-related domains.MethodsData are fromGrowing Up in New Zealand(NZ), a prospective longitudinal study of a birth cohort first assessed during their last trimester in 2009–10 and followed at ages 9 months and 2 and 4.5 years. All women with an expected delivery date in a 12-month period who resided within a defined region were invited to participate, with no additional eligibility criteria. Exposure was measured for 12 sociodemographic and maternal health risk factors at third trimest...
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ABSTRACT: Objective: Cross-sectional data indicate that physical activity, longer sleep duration, and normal body weight are associated with better mental health in childhood. It is less clear whether these factors protect against future... more
ABSTRACT: Objective: Cross-sectional data indicate that physical activity, longer sleep duration, and normal body weight are associated with better mental health in childhood. It is less clear whether these factors protect against future emotional and behavioral problems. We investigated whether physical activity, sleep duration, and body mass index (BMI) at the age of 7 years are associated with emotional and behavioral problems at the age of 11 years. Methods: Children born to European mothers enrolled in the prospective longitudinal Auckland Birthweight Collaborative Study (N = 871) were assessed at birth and ages 7 and 11 years. Physical activity and sleep duration were measured using accelerometer. BMI was calculated from height and weight measurement. Outcome variables assessed at the age of 11 years were parent and child self-report Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and parent and teacher Conners' Rating Scale scores. Results: Physical activity, sleep duration, and...
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When fathers live away from their children, taking an active paternal role may become challenging and can add to paternal psychological distress. In a large ( N = 3,980) diverse cohort, we found that nonresident fathers are more likely to... more
When fathers live away from their children, taking an active paternal role may become challenging and can add to paternal psychological distress. In a large ( N = 3,980) diverse cohort, we found that nonresident fathers are more likely to be psychologically distressed than resident fathers (27.4% vs. 15.2%) and more likely to report wanting a change in the level of involvement they have in their child’s life (76.6% vs. 58.1%). Nonresident fathers were more likely to suffer economic hardship, unemployment, poor health, and have a depression and anxiety history ( ps < .001). However, the factors associated with increased psychological distress were largely the same across resident and nonresident fathers. The biggest stressors were managing work alongside family responsibilities and commitments, arguments with the partner, prior history of depression, and economic hardship or deprivation. Fathers’ actual levels of involvement and desired levels of involvement with their child did n...
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Background.— Recent studies have found a strong relationship between tobacco smoking and headache pain. It remains unclear whether smoking behavior leads to headache or visa versa, mainly due to the cross‐sectional nature of the majority... more
Background.— Recent studies have found a strong relationship between tobacco smoking and headache pain. It remains unclear whether smoking behavior leads to headache or visa versa, mainly due to the cross‐sectional nature of the majority of this research.Objective.— To help clarify the direction of the relation between smoking and frequent headaches in a representative cohort study.Design and Methods.— Members of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study (N = 980) were asked about their cigarette smoking and headache history at ages 11 and 13 (childhood), age 15 (mid‐adolescence), and age 26 (adulthood). Both cross‐sectional and longitudinal associations between smoking and headache status were examined using logistic regression.Results.— During mid‐adolescence, the likelihood of frequent headaches doubled for smokers relative to nonsmokers (OR: 2.16, 95% CI: 1.39‐3.35). Smoking did not increase the risk of developing headaches in adulthood, however. In contrast, in...
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Obesity, Child Development, Diet, Childhood Obesity, Medicine, and 15 moreBirth Weight, Overweight, Humans, Child, Male, New Zealand, Infant, Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis, Body Mass Index, Clinical Sciences, Longitudinal Studies, Predictive value of tests, Child preschool, ORIGINAL ARTICLE, and Paediatrics and reproductive medicine
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Pediatrics, Physical Activity, Public Health, Medicine, Prospective studies, and 15 moreHumans, Child, Female, Male, Regression Analysis, Exercise, Clinical Sciences, Polysomnography, Public health systems and services research, Weight Control, Seasons, Nino, Determinant, Paediatrics and reproductive medicine, and Sleep initiation and maintenance disorders
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Cognitive Science, Decision Making, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Language, Dyslexia, and 15 moreDevelopmental dyslexia, Bilingualism, Brain Mapping, Brain, Humans, Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Female, Magnetic Resonance, Lexical Decision, Clinical Sciences, Adult, Intelligence tests, Block Design, Functional Laterality, and Lexical decision task
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Neuroscience, Psychology, Cognitive Science, Long Term Potentiation, Medicine, and 15 moreSynaptic Plasticity, Neuroplasticity, Memory, Hippocampus, Brain, Humans, Animals, Clinical Sciences, Single Nucleotide Polymorphism, Public health systems and services research, SYNAPSES, Metaplasticity, Mnemonic, Neurotrophic Factors, and Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)
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Neurophysiological research on the bilingual activity of interpretation or interpreting has been very fruitful in understanding the bilingual brain and has gained increasing popularity recently. Issues like word interpreting and the... more
Neurophysiological research on the bilingual activity of interpretation or interpreting has been very fruitful in understanding the bilingual brain and has gained increasing popularity recently. Issues like word interpreting and the directionality of interpreting have been attended to by many researchers, mainly with localizing techniques. Brain structures such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex have been repeatedly identified during interpreting. However, little is known about the oscillation and synchronization features of interpreting, especially sentence-level overt interpreting. In this study we implemented a Chinese-English sentence-level overt interpreting experiment with electroencephalography on 43 Chinese-English bilinguals and compared the oscillation and synchronization features of interpreting with those of listening, speaking and shadowing. We found significant time-frequency power differences in the delta-theta (1–7 Hz) and gamma band (above 30 Hz) between motor an...
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Inhibitory control is central to developmental trajectories of cognitive, emotional and social functioning in children. Here, inhibitory control was measured using the Luria hand clap task (an adapted version of the Luria pencil tap... more
Inhibitory control is central to developmental trajectories of cognitive, emotional and social functioning in children. Here, inhibitory control was measured using the Luria hand clap task (an adapted version of the Luria pencil tap task). A sample of 5,448 children age 4½ years and their mothers from a longitudinal, population-based New Zealand cohort were included in this study. Antenatal maternal health indictors, child characteristics and performance on the Luria hand clap task were assessed using multivariate ordinal logistic regression. Seven covariates, including mother’s ethnicity and education, and child’s gender, age and birthweight were included. Based on Luria task performance scores that approximated the 25th and 50th percentiles, children were categorised into three groups (low, intermediate, high). High Luria task performance was associated with maternal relationship status, maternal education, first trimester folate supplementation, maternal BMI and smoking before pr...
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BackgroundLong-Term Potentiation (LTP) is recognised as a core neuronal process underlying long-term memory. However, a direct relationship between LTP and human memory performance is yet to be demonstrated. The first aim of the current... more
BackgroundLong-Term Potentiation (LTP) is recognised as a core neuronal process underlying long-term memory. However, a direct relationship between LTP and human memory performance is yet to be demonstrated. The first aim of the current study was thus to assess the relationship between LTP and human long-term memory performance. With this also comes an opportunity to explore factors thought to mediate the relationship between LTP and long-term memory, and to gain additional insight into variations in memory function and memory decline. The second aim of the current study was to explore the relationship between LTP and memory in groups differing with respect to BDNF Val66Met; a single nucleotide polymorphism implicated in memory function.Methods28 participants (15 female) were split into three genotype groups (Val/Val, Val/Met, Met/Met) and were presented with both an EEG paradigm for inducing LTP-like enhancements of the visually-evoked response, and a test of visual memory.ResultsT...
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Cognitive Psychology, Computer Science, Health Sciences, Education, Mental Health, and 15 moreEducational Psychology, Evidence Based Medicine, Evidence Based Practice, Cognition, Modeling and Simulation, Cognitive Neuroscience, Medicine, Brain Training, Cognitive training, Exercise Science, Credibility, FRONTIERS, Neuroenhancement, Neuromyths, and Memory Cognitive Psychology
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Neuroscience, Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Science, Developmental Psychology, and 15 moreMusic Education, Brain Imaging, Educational Psychology, Learning Difficulties, Cognitive Neuroscience, Dyslexia, Medicine, Remediation, Brain Training, Cognitive training, Learning Disability, Psychological Intervention, Cognitive Enhancement, Learning Disorders, and Frontiers in Psychology
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The interhemispheric deficit theory of dyslexia postulates that reading difficulties can arise from abnormal communication/collaboration between the cerebral hemispheres. A currently popular way to gather information about... more
The interhemispheric deficit theory of dyslexia postulates that reading difficulties can arise from abnormal communication/collaboration between the cerebral hemispheres. A currently popular way to gather information about interhemispheric processing and integration is with the redundant stimuli task, where participants respond to stimuli presented to the left visual field, right visual field, or both visual fields simultaneously. In neurologically normal individuals, response times to bilateral simple stimulus presentations are faster than response times to a single stimulus in either visual field alone (referred to as redundancy gain). In contrast, individuals with no corpus callosum exhibit greater redundancy gains than would be expected by probability summation. In the present study, 11 children with phonological dyslexia showed a similar &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;over violation&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; of the probability (race) model when responding with the left but not the right hand. This asymmetry was not found in age- and IQ-matched control children. The results are at least partially consistent with the notion of phonological dyslexia involving deficits in the transfer of information across the corpus callosum.