Dana Press: Brain in the News, July 2003, Vol. 10 No. 7
Two Types of Brain Problems are Found to Cause Dyslexia, by Bonnie Rothman Morris. Work by Dr. Sally Shaywitz and reported in BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY has found in a study of young adults that there are two categories of reading disabilities: one has what Shaywitz calls a ‘“…predominantly genetic type’” of dyslexia, with abnormalities in neural circuitry which makes sound and language processing difficult. This group compensates for their reading difficulties, although are slower in performing reading tasks – but do comprehend what they read. The second group is labeled a ‘ “more environmentally influenced”’ type of dyslexic, possessing the correct brain system for process sound and language, but “wired” incorrectly – relying on memory for understanding, rather than using the brains centers for language. These children remained poor readers, both in terms of speed and comprehension.

The positive findings included the fact that this latter group can, through intensive and sophisticated tutoring, be corrected – particularly while the child is young. Effective instruction can rewire the brain to properly use intact systems. Shaywitz has recently published a new book on the topic, and I encourage a more comprehensive look at both this article, the research behind it, and the Shaywitz book.

Dana Press: Brain in the News, July 2003, Vol. 10 No. 7 Brain Size Linked to Autism, by Jamie Talan. Eric Courchesne and colleagues at the University of California, San Diego, studied 48 children diagnosed with autism, and found that small head circumference at birth, followed by a large increase in head size in the following year was common among those children – although body length and weight was normal throughout the first year of life, compared to children who did not later develop autism.

Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Volume 4. July 2003, p. 520. In the News: Time drags when you're having none, by Suzanne Farley. A study reported in Psychopharmacology Bulletin discusses how nicotine withdraw al impairs time perception. In work done by Klein et al of Penn State University, smokers overestimate time intervals after abstinence from smoking after only 24 hours. This misjudgment of time passage begins to lessen after approximately 48 hours. Such periods of misjudgment may cause students in withdrawal to find even short periods of sustained focus to be difficult to handle in a classroom setting, making them appear fidgety or anxious.

Science News, June 21, 2003, p. 397. Brain perks up to uncertain threats In work done by Reginald B. Adams Jr. of Darmouth College, New Hampshire, fMRI work indicates that “…intense blood flow…” in the left hemisphere region of the amygdala occurs when humans see faces with unspecified threats. Only modest activity occurred when a threat was direct and identifiable – while the brain heeded special attention to those that were vague, perhaps attemting to ascertain what the threat would be. Important in this, perhaps, is that menacing looks and discipline, when direct and unambiguous, are less of a stressor and create reduced emotional brain reactions in students, than ambiguous or vague and undefined threats. Perhaps this could be another indication of the importance of reliable, routine expectations within a classroom.