This study is part of a broader project aimed at developing cognitive and neurocognitive profiles of adolescent and young adult readers whose educational and occupational prospects are constrained by their limited literacy skills. We explore the relationships among reading-related abilities in participants ages 16 to 24 years spanning a wide range…

Childhood is a time when students are naturally curious and want to pursue their interests by learning all they can about the things that intrigue them. This interest-stimulated learning is a valuable template because it is compatible with the research discoveries of neuroimaging--what the brain looks like while it actively processes information.…

Many people with the diagnosis of Asperger syndrome (AS) show poorly developed skills in understanding emotional messages. The present study addressed discrimination of speech prosody in children with AS at neurophysiological level. Detection of affective prosody was investigated in one-word utterances as indexed by the N1 and the mismatch…

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between constructivism and neural organization. Support is given for a constructivist epistemology in current brain theory. A brief description of constructivism is provided, followed by the implication of this set of beliefs for viewing humans as self-organizing systems. What has been…

A 20-item Piagetian-type sorting task was presented to 12 unilaterally brain-injured adult patients and 12 non-injured controls. The left hemisphere brain-injured subjects and the controls showed preferences for the features of shape and texture. In contrast, the right hemisphere brain-injured subjects preferred the feature of size. (Author)

This paper reviews three studies which examine cognitive processes and brain electrical activity in gifted children. The studies concentrated on mathematically gifted children and/or their sleep patterns. All three studies used the interhemispheric electroencephalogram to examine the gifted child's ability to harness right hemisphere capacities…

Fourteen Dutch children with dyslexia were compared with controls on automatic processing under a dual task (motor balance task and auditory choice task) model. Results indicated the dyslexic group was more impaired in the dual task condition than in the single task condition, compared with controls. Findings support the automatization deficit…

Connectionist (parallel distributed processing) modeling provides a new way to approach the neurological study of language. This method focuses on the interplay between a computational model and the appropriate neurological, neuropsychological, and speech and language data, couched in connectionist mechanisms that map naturally to what is known of…

The burgeoning interest over recent decades about the human brain, and possible implications for education, has, perhaps not surprisingly, fostered a suite of urban myths about brain functioning. The prize for the barmiest goes to the one about using only 10% of the brain, but there are plenty more that deserve dishonourable mention. The most…

In this paper studies of executive function in autism spectrum disorder are reviewed. Executive function is an umbrella term for functions such as planning, working memory, impulse control, inhibition, and shifting set, as well as for the initiation and monitoring of action. In this review, the focus will be on planning, inhibition, shifting set,…

In this study, we examine the suitability of a relatively new imaging technique, "arterial spin labeled perfusion imaging," for the study of continuous, gradual changes in neural activity. Unlike BOLD imaging, the perfusion signal is stable over long time-scales, allowing for accurate assessment of continuous performance. In addition, perfusion…

A good deal is now known about the neural circuitry involved in how conditioned fear can augment a simple reflex (fear-potentiated startle). This involves visual or auditory as well as shock pathways that project via the thalamus and perirhinal or insular cortex to the basolateral amygdala (BLA). The BLA projects to the central (CeA) and medial…

This study examined neuropsychological deficits among children with bipolar disorder while attending to its comorbidity with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Seventy-three unmedicated children (ages 6-17 years) with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) bipolar…

The notion that autistic children process information predominantly by strategies of the right cerebral hemisphere from birth, and unless unusual events occur, continue to be right hemisphere processors throughout their life, is examined. Evidence that suggests that cerebral dominance may be present at birth in normal humans, and that for normal…

Investigative explanations of how the mind works and elaborates on the research and findings developed from a neurocognitive connectionist model. Presents several examples and illustrations of how the human brain may generate rules, recognize patterns, and adapt. (ML)