Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is related to an attenuated and dysfunctional dopamine system. Normally, a high extracellular dopamine level yields a tonic dopaminergic input that down-regulates stimuli-evoked phasic dopamine responses through autoreceptors. Abnormally low tonic extracellular dopamine in ADHD up-regulates the…

This paper explores the relationships between the development of expertise and transitions. It sets out what we know about the development of expertise, changes in the brain as expertise develops, and how transitions between different learning contexts and the challenges that they present may impact on developing expertise. It sets out a series of…

This article proposes a framework for theory and research on risk-taking that is informed by developmental neuroscience. Two fundamental questions motivate this review. First, why does risk-taking increase between childhood and adolescence? Second, why does risk-taking decline between adolescence and adulthood? Risk-taking increases between…

Neural correlates of intrasubject variability (ISV) were studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 25 children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and typically developing(TD) children performing simple go/no-go tasks. Results concluded that in children with ADHD, dysfunction of premotor systems resulted in increased…

Recent neurophysiological and brain imaging studies have shown that the motor system is involved in language processing. However, it is an open question whether this involvement is a necessary requisite to understand language or rather a side effect of distinct cognitive processes underlying it. In order to clarify this issue we carried out three…

Purpose: The aims of this paper are to: briefly review the long-term or late effects of cancer diagnosis and treatment on children and youth; examine the implications of these effects on the educational needs of the child or youth; explore the implications of childhood cancer survivorship on the school, particularly for female students. Over the…

The idea that iconic visible gesture had something to do with the origin of language, particularly speech, is a frequent element in speculation about this phenomenon and appears early in its history. Socrates hypothesizes about the origins of Greek words in Plato's satirical dialogue, "Cratylus", and his speculation includes a possible…

Upon stimulation, areas of the brain associated with specific cognitive processing tasks may undergo observable physiological changes, and measures of such changes have been used to create brain maps for visualization of stimulated areas in task-related brain "activation" studies. These perturbations usually continue throughout the period of the…

The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the mechanisms of brain activity, as revealed by a combination of the visuospatial attention shifting paradigm and event-related potentials (ERP) in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and typically developing children. Twenty-eight DCD children and 26 typically…

Brain imaging studies have demonstrated that psychotherapy alters brain structure and function. Learning and memory, both implicit and explicit, play central roles in this process through the creation of new genetic material that leads to increased synaptic efficiency through the creation of new neuronal connections. Although there is substantial…

It has been a matter of debate whether the specifically human capacity to process syntactic information draws on attentional resources or is automatic. To address this issue, we recorded neurophysiological indicators of syntactic processing to spoken sentences while subjects were distracted to different degrees from language processing. Subjects…

We present two ERP studies on the processing of word order variations in Japanese, a language that is suited to shedding further light on the implications of word order freedom for neurocognitive approaches to sentence comprehension. Experiment 1 used auditory presentation and revealed that initial accusative objects elicit increased processing…

Neurological research has discovered much about how the brain works, Dr. Willis writes, but educators need to be cautious when applying this research to teaching. Following a brief explanation of the three most important technological advances in brain research (Positron Emission Tomography, Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, and Quantitative…

In recent years a number of multivariate approaches have been introduced to map neural systems in health and disease. In this review, we focus on spatial covariance methods applied to functional imaging data to identify patterns of regional activity associated with behavior. In the rest state, this form of network analysis can be used to detect…

A quantitative computational theory of the operation of the CA3 system as an attractor or autoassociation network is described. Based on the proposal that CA3-CA3 autoassociative networks are important for episodic or event memory in which space is a component (place in rodents and spatial view in primates), it has been shown behaviorally that the…