Fibromyalgia (FM) is a disorder of unknown aetiology, characterized by chronic widespread pain, stiffness and sleep disturbances. In addition, patients frequently complain of memory and attention deficits. Accumulating evidence suggests that FM is associated with CNS dysfunction and with an altered brain morphology. However, few studies have…

Recent research in psychology and neuroscience has demonstrated that co-speech gestures are semantically integrated with speech during language comprehension and development. The present study explored whether gestures also play a role in language learning in adults. In Experiment 1, we exposed adults to a brief training session presenting novel…

Patients with lesions of the left hemisphere often suffer from oral-facial apraxia, apraxia of speech, and aphasia. In these patients, visual features often play a critical role in speech and language therapy, when pictured lip shapes or the therapist's visible mouth movements are used to facilitate speech production and articulation. This demands…

Research indicates that there are physical and social, and possibly cognitive, differences between left-handers and right-handers. The three substantive sections of this colloquium paper cover brain functions, theories pertaining to the genesis of handedness, and cognitive development as related to handedness. Section 1 provides a brief…

The review examined recent research concerning cerebral specialization, especially dichotic listening studies, in Down syndrome individuals. A model of cerebral specialization is proposed that stresses the biological dissociation between speech perception and speech production or other complex movements. (Author/DB)

It is argued that creative behavior is a product of the uniquely human capacity to will and requires activation of the prefrontal lobe "cells of will" to facilitate the harmonious functioning of all parts of the brain. (DB)

A study designed to assess aviation students' (n=87) cognitive processing bias investigated whether patterns or correlations exist between the biases and such factors as class standing, age, gender, and aviation program choices. Progression from relational to bilateral processing from entry to graduation was found. (JOW)

Revealed a pattern of infant hemiface expressive asymmetry not predicted from adult-based models of emotional asymmetries. Infants' right hemiface bias resides in the actual expressive configuration of the central facial features, rather than in peripheral aspects of the face. (RH)

Discusses neocortical contributions to emotional processing. Examines parameters critical to neuropsychological study of emotion: interhemispheric and intrahemispheric factors, processing mode, and communication channel. Describes neuropsychological theories of emotion. Reviews studies of right-brain-damaged, left-brain-damaged, and normal adults,…

Auditory evoked responses (AER) of 14 infants were recorded by means of scalp electrodes positioned over frontal, temporal, and parietal regions of each hemisphere before and after training in which nonsense bisyllables were used to name novel objects. Changes in two portions of AER waveforms were found to occur when a name was correctly paired…

The retrieval of temporal-order versus spatial-location information was investigated using fMRI. The primary finding in the hippocampus proper, seen in region of interest analyses, was an increase in BOLD signal intensity for temporal retrieval, and a decrease in signal intensity for spatial retrieval, relative to baseline. The negative BOLD…

This study investigates whether the right hemisphere has more flexible contrast gain control settings for the identification of spatial frequency. Right-handed participants identified 1 and 9 cycles per degree sinusoidal gratings presented either to the left visual field-right hemisphere (LVF-RH) or the right visual field-left hemisphere (RVF-LH).…

Recent developments in neuroscience provide important information for therapists working with maltreated children. Severe maltreatment and lack of significant attachment figures in the crucial early years lead to adverse brain development (De Bellis, 2001). It appears evident that traumatic memories are stored in the right hemisphere, making…

The cerebral hemispheres have been proposed to engage different word recognition strategies: the left hemisphere implementing a parallel, and the right hemisphere, a sequential, analysis. To investigate this notion, we asked participants to name words with an early or late orthographic uniqueness point (OUP), presented horizontally to their left…

This paper discusses the current fashion for brain-based learning, in which value-laden claims about learning are grounded in neurophysiology. It argues that brain science cannot have the authority about learning that some seek to give it. It goes on to discuss whether the claim that brain science is relevant to learning involves a category…