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New ADHD Study Shows The Potential Efficacy Of New Multi-Modal Hemispheric Based Program In Boosting Academic And Cognitive Performance Of Children

Article Date: 24 Aug 2010 – 2:00 PDT

A new ADD/ADHD study found that a multi-modal hemispheric based program significantly improved the participant’s educational outcomes. The study, “The Effect of Hemispheric Specific Remediation Strategies on the Academic Performance Outcome of Children With ADD/ADHD,” was conducted by a research team including, Gerry Leisman, Robert Melillo, Sharon Thum, Mark Ransom, Michael Orlando, Christopher Tice, and Frederick Carrick. The study appears in the current issue of the International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health.

The new study included 122 children ages six to twelve years in Nassauand Suffolk Counties New York. All were diagnosed with ADD or ADHD; 94 were male and 28 were female; and all were of average intelligence. Before starting the study, each participant completed Wechsler Individual Achievement Tests (WIAT) including subtests for Word Reading, Reading Comprehension, Mathematical Reasoning, Spelling, Written Expression, Listening Comprehension and Oral Expression. The intervention consisted of a 12-week multi-modal program delivered through 60-minute sessions, three times per week. The sessions included sensory stimulation, motor training, aerobic strength and conditioning, and academic training. A key activity included auditory feedback through synchronized metronome training to improve the participants’ ability to match physical motion to the beat. Remediation techniques also included primitive reflex inhibition exercises and academic home training.

Read in Full:  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/198665.php



 

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on August 24, 2010

A new international study finds teenagers identify with an online community in a manner almost as powerful as their family relationships.

Researchers studied users of teenage online community Habbo and learned that users identify more strongly with the online community than with their neighborhood or offline hobby group.

The study is based on a survey with 4,299 respondents from the United Kingdom, Spain and Japan.

All three nationalities yielded similar results.

The study was authored by Dr. Vili Lehdonvirta, a researcher at the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology (HIIT) and Professor Pekka Räsänen from the University of Turku, Finland.

The authors point out that peer groups are important for the development of adolescents’ identity and values. The study addresses the question of whether online groups are standing in for traditional peer groups that are thought to be weakening in some developed countries.

The results confirm that online groups can act as strong psychological anchoring points for their members.

The authors conclude that games, social networking sites and other online hangouts should be seen as crucial contexts for youths’ identification and socialization experiences.

The results also suggest that in relatively young information societies such as Spain, online groups are more often “virtual communities” consisting of relative strangers.

In mature information societies such as Japan, online groups are more likely to be a way of keeping in touch with family and friends. This may influence the experiences that youth receive from online groups in different countries.

Read in Full:  http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/08/24/teens-bond-with-online-communities/17205.html



It can take parents years to confirm an Asperger’s diagnosis for their child – and it’s even harder for girls. Learn more about this form of autism and what you can do



1. Linny left…

Sunday, 12 December 2010 2:11 am

My daughter was diagnosed at the age of 4 thanks to a keen-eyed nursery teacher with experience in these matters. I had always suspected something was wrong but everyone else dismissed it, saying “there was nothing wrong”. Since she has started High School, after disguising it well, we have hit a crises point…now the non-believers are saying..”ahhh yes..see what you mean” Sophie, my daughter, has developed selective mutism as a result of her anxiety and speaks in a high-pitched voice. Her anxiety now controls her life, and needs, and gets, a lot of emotional support from family. However, at school. she is an object of fun and curiosity. The most frustrating thing about the whole thing is, not the Aspergers itself, none of those who love Sophie have a problem with it… it is the ignorance of others! It seems to be a problem for everyone else. Sophie does not speak, if she does, it is very little, therefore she is ignored and considered “a freak”. I wish that the teachers would explain to the so-called “normal” kids what ASD is, and how it effects people like Sophie. Until this happens, ignorance will provide a barrier to understanding. Sophie cannot understand why she does not find the talk of the other girls, interesting. They talk boys, shopping, make-up and clothes (yawn) Sophie wants to talk, the damage to the environment, the ice caps melting, is the world ending in 2012, and do aliens exist? I have learnt to accept that Sophie will always be different, it’s just difficult to get HERSELF to accept it at the moment. I have said, on a more positive note, that sometimes it’s good to be different, and that following “the sheep” provides no individuality. I also told her about some of the greatest names in history who were suspected as having ASD, and that it was probably the fact they were Aspies, that gave them the genius to do what they were famous for. The main thing is, the people that count in Sophie’s life are understanding and love her unconditionally…the rest…well, that’s their problem!



 

A disability election message from Bill Shorten

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If you live with disability, care for a person with disability or have an interest in disability issues, your vote has never been more important than in the 2010 federal election.

After 12 long years of neglect, the Gillard Labor Government has put support for people with disability back on the national agenda. So, if disability is important to you, I urge you to consider our record and plan for the future when you cast your vote on August 21.

Our record

We delivered historic increases to the DSP and Carer Payment now worth around $100 per fortnight for singles. We invested $1.7million in Disability Employment Services to end waiting lists for people with disability who want help finding a job.

We are doubling funding to the states and territories under the National Disability Agreement, providing more than $6 billion over five years. We ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and signed the Optional Protocol.

The Gillard Labor Government is making public buildings more accessible through new Access to premises standards, and brokered a landmark agreement with the housing industry for all new homes to meet universal design standards by 2020. We worked with the cinema industry on a watershed deal to make cinemas more accessible for people with vision or hearing impairments.

We provided early intervention services for children with autism, and if re-elected will provide $12,000 for early intervention services for up to 7800 more young children with disability. We will also provide $60 million in capital funding to build innovative, community-based supported accommodation places.

We also worked with the states and territories to develop the National Disability Strategy to outline a long-term plan to improve the lives of people with disability, promote participation and create a more inclusive society. The Strategy outlines a nationwide approach to improving the lives of people with disability. It will guide public policy across governments and aims to bring about change in all mainstream services and programs as well as community infrastructure.

For more information about our election policies, see: http://www.alp.org.au/agenda/

The future

The Gillard Labor Government knows that much more must be done to ensure that people with disability are able to fulfil their potential. Prime Minister Gillard has said that the status quo in disability can not continue, and a re-elected Gillard Labor Government is committed to major reform in disability services.

That’s why our government has asked the Productivity Commission to undertake its landmark inquiry into the feasibility of a national care and support scheme for people with disability. A national disability insurance scheme would be a complex and transformative reform that requires detailed consideration. The Productivity Commission inquiry will assess whether a national disability insurance scheme would be appropriate, practical and economically responsible in the Australian context.

Make your vote count

The Coalition has little credibility on disability issues. The former Coalition Government ignored people with disability and their carers for 12 long years and stood by while demand grew for disability services and disability pensioners struggled with the cost of living.

So, if disability policy is important to you, an important choice awaits you on 21 August. A vote for the Gillard Labor Government will ensure that the needs of people with disability and their carers will remain a first order priority for the Federal Government.

The choice is clear – make sure your vote counts.

Regardless of the result of the election on August 21st, the fight for a better deal for people with disability will continue. 

Yours sincerely,

Bill Shorten

Australia’s “kingmakers” meet to discuss next government

Tuesday 24th August, 2010.

A handful of independent and Green MPs who will decide the make-up of Australia’s minority government were set to begin talks on Tuesday to decide whether to support Labor or the conservative opposition’s bid for power. Skip related content

Latest counting gives Labor and the opposition conservatives 71 seats each — with 76 seats needed to form the government — but poll experts predict both will end up with 73, leaving three independents and a Green MP holding the balance of power.

“Let’s draw breath and wait for the numbers to come in … and then get down to some policy issues,” said independent Rob Oakeshott, indicating the political limbo would last until a final result is declared, which may take 10 days.

There were no talks yet scheduled with Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard or opposition leader Tony Abbott. Bookmakers say Labor is favourite to govern with a handful of independents.

At stake in the election is the fate of Labor’s planned 30 percent resources tax, a $38 billion fibre-optic broadband network and a future carbon price which the power sector says is needed to ensure continued investment.

Standard and Chartered Bank’s regional economist Simon Wong said the mining tax was now dead, whoever ended up in power.

“The mining tax is likely to be further scaled back or even scrapped, even in the case of a Labor-led minority,” he said.

“The debate over this issue in the run-up to the election proved to be a key factor that eroded Labor’s initial lead, and is likely to be too heavy a political burden for the incoming administration to bear.”

Abbott said he could run a stable government, in contrast to tensions in the Labor Party, and said he would offer “serious roles” to the independents. He declined to say if he would change any policies, and noted the result could still take some time.

“No-one should expect that this will be a speedy process. The counting itself still has a long way to go,” Abbott told reporters.

Oakeshott has called for parliamentary reform and a unity cabinet in which politicians across the political spectrum put aside rivalries and join on issues that would unite the politically-fractured nation.

News cartoons made light of his idea, showing Abbott and Gillard standing arm in arm, surrounded by flying pigs and fairies, and with an Irish leprechaun standing beside Greens lawmakers at the end of a rainbow with a pot of gold.

MARKETS CONCERNED

Financial markets have rowed back on early expectations of a minority conservative government and now seem comfortable that both sides are fiscally prudent, although they would be concerned by any Green-backed government.

Both Labor and the Liberal-National coalition have pledged to return the budget to surplus by 2012-13.

Still, a Labor-Green minority government, which may see an increase in spending, would worry markets.

“There would be concerns about what sort of deals are done with the Greens to be able to guarantee that support,” said Craig James, chief economist at CommSec equities securities.

There was also concern over how a future minority government may deal with foreign investment in Australia.

China is the third-largest foreign investor in Australia and its biggest trading partner, but increasing investment in the resource sector by state-owned Chinese firms has led to concerns among many voters and lawmakers.

Labor and the opposition have said they will review foreign investment on a cases-by-case basis, but analysts raised the possibility of protectionist pressure from some independents.

“Given the extraordinary circumstances of a hung parliament, and the as yet unknown requirements of the independents who may hold the key to governing, it cannot be discounted that changes to the foreign investment regime may be bargained for support,” said Malcolm Brennan, special counsel at Mallesons Stephen Jaques.

(Additional reporting by James Grubel in Canberra and Michael Perry in Sydney; Editing by Ed Davies and Sanjeev Miglani)

Source:  http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100824/tts-uk-australia-election-ca02f96.html



Research Shows Women Attracted To Men In Red


What could be as alluring as a lady in red? A gentleman in red, according to a multicultural study published Aug. 2 in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.


Simply wearing the color red or being bordered by the rosy hue makes a man more attractive and sexually desirable to women, according to a series of studies by researchers at the University of Rochester and other institutions. And women are unaware of this arousing effect.


The cherry color’s charm ultimately lies in its ability to make men appear more powerful, says lead author Andrew Elliot, professor of psychology at the University of Rochester. “We found that women view men in red as higher in status, more likely to make money and more likely to climb the social ladder. And it’s this high-status judgment that leads to the attraction,” Elliot says.


Why does red signal rank? The authors see both culture and biology at work. In human societies across the globe, red traditionally has been part of the regalia of the rich and powerful. Ancient China, Japan and sub-Saharan Africa all used the vibrant tint to convey prosperity and elevated status, and Ancient Rome’s most powerful citizens were literally called “the ones who wear red.” Even today, the authors note, businessmen wear a red tie to indicate confidence, and celebrities and dignitaries are feted by “rolling out the red carpet.”


Along with this learned association between red and status, the authors point to the biological roots of human behavior. In non-human primates, like mandrills and gelada baboons, red is an indicator of male dominance and is expressed most intensely in alpha males. Females of these species mate more often with alpha males, who in turn provide protection and resources.


“When women see red it triggers something deep and probably biologically engrained,” explains Elliot. “We say in our culture that men act like animals in the sexual realm. It looks like women may be acting like animals as well in the same sort of way.”

 

To quantify the red effect, the paper analyzed responses from 288 female and 25 male undergraduates to photographs of men in seven different experiments. Participants were all self-identified as heterosexual or bisexual. In one color presentation, participants looked at a man’s photo framed by a border of either red or white and answered a series of questions, such as: “How attractive do you think this person is?”


Other experiments contrasted red with gray, green, or blue. Colors were precisely equated in lightness and intensity so that test results could not be attributed to differences other than hue.


In several experiments, the shirt of the man in the photographs was digitally colored either red or another color. Participants rated the pictured man’s status and attractiveness, and reported on their willingness to date, kiss, and engage in other sexual activity with the person. They also rated the man’s general likability, kindess, and extraversion.


The researchers found that the red effect was limited to status and romance: red made the man seem more powerful, attractive, and sexually desirable, but did not make the man seem more likable, kind, or sociable. The effect was consistent across cultures: undergraduates in the United States, England, Germany, and China all found men more attractive when wearing or bordered by red.


And the effect was limited to women. When males were asked to rate the attractiveness of a pictured male, color made no difference in their responses.


Read in Full: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/196642.php


Conniving or Conflicted?



I want you…go away!

Unequal Love Across The Color Line



When looking for love, black women and Asian men have something big in common.

Why Your Wife Hates Sex and What You Can Do About It



Getting inside your wife’s head

Marriage Lowers Stress Hormones


By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on August 18, 2010


Researchers have long asserted that marriage helps to improve an individual’s health. Now, a new study explains how a long-term relationship can foster health benefits.

 

University of Chicago professor and lead author Dario Maestripieri discovered unmarried people in a committed, romantic relationship show the same reduced responses to stress as do married people.

 

“These results suggest that single and unpaired individuals are more responsive to psychological stress than married individuals, a finding consistent with a growing body of evidence showing that marriage and social support can buffer against stress.”

 

His findings are published in the current issue of the journal Stress.

 

A team of researchers from the University of Chicago and Northwestern University studied 500 masters degree students. About 40 percent of the men and 53 percent of the women were married or in relationships.

 

The group included 348 men with a mean age of 29 and 153 women with a mean age of 27.

 

The students were asked to play a series of computer games that tested economic behaviors, and saliva samples were taken before and after to measure hormone levels and changes.


Read in Full:  http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/08/19/marriage-lowers-stress-hormones/17027.html

 

24/7 Work Schedule Challenges Marriage


By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on August 19, 2010


As our world grows in complexity and pace, taking care of business requires around the clock staffing.

 

David Maume, a University of Cincinnati professor of sociology, says working the late shift places new demands on men and women, affecting the family as well as the marriage.

 

“Although much research has examined the marital effects of women’s work, relatively few studies have focused on the effects of working late shifts on marital dynamics,” writes Maume.


“This study updates and extends the rather limited and dated research on the link between schedule diversity and marital quality.”


Overall, the study found that men felt that working the late shift negatively affected the quality of their marriages. However, the majority of women felt that rotating work schedules strained their marriages.

 

“When women work rotating schedules, they find it more difficult to get everything done at home and engage with family members, and it is this disruptive effect on family life which strains women’s marriages rather than the times they work,” explains Maume.

 

He adds that in that regard, the new study backs previous research that demonstrates that “to a greater degree than men, women’s work schedules disrupt their ability to care for and nurture other family members, and women’s marriages suffer as a result.”

 

“As the inter-relationship between work and family life becomes more complex in the face of changing expectations for gender roles, it is increasingly important that researchers understand how emergent 24/7 work schedules affect the well-being of workers and their families,” concludes Maume.

 

Read in Full:  http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/08/20/247-work-schedule-challenges-marriage/17101.html


Study To Address How Women Decide To Have Casual Sex, Communicate With Partners And Their Feelings About Sexuality


Article Date: 15 Aug 2010 – 0:00 PDT

 

Discussing women’s sexuality is generally a social taboo, but UQ School of Psychology researcher Claire Moran is out to change the public’s perception, and give women more confidence in their sexual choices.


To complete her PhD research, Ms Moran is asking women who have had non-relationship sex, with three or more casual partners in the past 12 months, who wish to participate in her study to contact her at c.moran1@uq.edu.au.


Ms Moran’s rationale for the study is to gain an understanding of how women negotiate sexual safety and pleasure within casual sexual encounters.


“I believe if we can have a better understanding of these women’s sexuality, we can better promote their sexual health and emotional well being,” Ms Moran said.


The interviews follow her first study of women’s sexuality, which focused on representations of women’s sexuality in women’s lifestyle magazines.


In the magazine analysis, Ms Moran said she found women were almost always presented as being in a relationship, or looking for one, with the possibility that women might enjoy being single or having casual sex not being entertained.


“I was concerned with the message this was sending to women, that women need relationships and that sex should be on a man’s terms, while the lack of information on negotiating sexual safety was alarming,” Ms Moran said.


The current study will address how women decide to have casual sex, how women communicate with their partners and how they feel women’s sexuality is reflected in the media, Ms Moran said.


“The magazines suggest that all women are always looking for a relationship and use sex as a means to secure a relationship,” Ms Moran said.

 

Read in Full:  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/197704.php

 

Looking for Love Can Shorten Life


By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on August 10, 2010


Searching for a partner when the odds are against you may shorten your life, says a new Harvard study. To be precise, researchers believe that ratios between males and females affect human longevity.


Men who reach sexual maturity in a context in which they far outnumber women live, on average, three months less than men whose competition for a mate isn’t as difficult.

 

The steeper the gender ratio (also known as the operational sex ratio), the sharper the decline in lifespan.

 

“At first blush, a quarter of a year may not seem like much, but it is comparable to the effects of, say, taking a daily aspirin, or engaging in moderate exercise,” says Nicholas Christakis, senior author on the study and professor of medicine and medical sociology at Harvard Medical School.

 

“A 65-year-old man is typically expected to live another 15.4 years. Removing three months from this block of time is significant.”

 

These results are published in the August issue of the journal Demography.

 

An association between gender ratios and longevity had been established through studies of animals before, but never in humans.


To search for a link in people, Christakis collaborated with researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the University of Wisconsin and Northwestern University. The researchers looked at two distinct datasets.

 

First, they examined information from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, a long-term project involving individuals who graduated from Wisconsin high schools in 1957.

 

Read in Full:  http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/08/10/looking-for-love-can-shorten-life/16633.html




 

Kate Atkinson is backing the campaign to make literature more accessible to people with sight loss

An award winning author has backed a campaign to make more literature accessible to people with sight loss.

Kate Atkinson will read from her latest novel Started Early, Took My Dog at a Book Festival event organised by RNIB Scotland.

The charity said only 5% of books published in the UK are ever made available in braille or audio formats.

Ms Atkinson said she was “delighted” her new novel had been transcribed just a day after its mainstream publication.

RNIB director John Legg said: We would like to see many more books made available in accessible formats for blind and partially sighted people.

“But it costs between £1,000 and £2,500 to record a RNIB talking book, so we do very much need the support of the public.”

Ms Atkinson said: “I fully support the campaign to make more books available in formats such as braille and audio.”

The launch of the campaign has been sponsored by Glasgow-based construction firm City Building, whose workforce includes 30 workers with sight loss.

Managing director Willie Docherty said: “We operate one of Europe’s largest supported employment factories with some 260 workers, over 50% of whom have a disability, and all of whom do exactly the same job as their sighted colleagues.

“That is why we are delighted to support a campaign that makes more literature accessible to people with sight loss.”

Source:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-11025228



 

By Jessica Ward Jones, MD, MPH Associate News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on August 19, 2010

Many fibromyalgia patients may also suffer from bipolar disorder as well as depression.

New research suggests that just over 25 percent of patients with fibromyalgia also have symptoms of bipolar disorder.

According to Dr. William Wilke from the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and his colleagues, “the most important finding of our study pertains to the high prevalence of a positive screen for bipolar disorder in patients with fibromyalgia.”

Fibromyalgia is a condition which causes painful muscle, joint and body aches.  More common in women, it can also cause fatigue, daytime fatigue, and other symptoms.  The causes are unknown and may affect up to five percent of the population. It is thought that depression can at some point affect 90 percent of patients with fibromyalgia.  According to the National Institute for Mental Health, depression affects 6.7 million Americans a year, and bipolar disorder affects 2.6 million.

To determine the frequency of bipolar disorder in patients with fibromyalgia, Wilke and his colleagues assessed 128 consecutive fibromyalgia patients who had been newly referred to a rheumatology practice.   The patients were asked to complete four different questionnaires, the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) for bipolar disorder, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) for daytime sleepiness, and the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire Disability Index (FIQ-DI).

Wilke found that of the fibromyalgia patients, according to the MDQ screen, 25.19 percent of the patients were likely to have bipolar disorder.

Over 78 percent of the fibromyalgia patients were clinically depressed according to the BDI. 

The Epworth Sleepiness scale revealed that 52.13 percent of the patients reported daytime sleepiness.

Of the patients who tested positive for bipolar disorder, their depression was measured as more severe according to the BDI.

In addition, of the patients who screened positive for depression, almost one third also screened positive for bipolar disorder as well.

Read in Full:  http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/08/20/bipolar-disorder-common-in-fibromyalgia/17083.html

 



 

“The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland that sits low on the front of the neck. Your thyroid lies below your Adam’s apple, along the front of the windpipe. The thyroid has two side lobes, connected by a bridge (isthmus) in the middle.” “Graves’ disease is one of the most common of all thyroid problems. It is also the leading cause of hyperthyroidism, a condition in which the thyroid gland produces excessive hormones. Once the disorder has been correctly diagnosed, it is quite easy to treat. In some cases, Graves’ disease goes into remission or disappears completely after several months or years. Left untreated, however, it can lead to serious complications — even death.” – From WebMD

 

Do you suffer with cold intolerance, fatigue, dry skin or hair, constipation, or muscle cramps? These may be symptoms of a thyroid disorder — or simply getting older.

Whether you have hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid), or the more common condition, hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid), the proper diagnosis is important because thyroid problems can lead to a number of conditions, including cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and chronic fatigue. For more information, read our new Special Report, Do You Have a Thyroid Disorder?.

Located at the base of your neck below the voice box (larynx), the thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland that is part of the endocrine system. The thyroid makes two iodine-containing hormones — thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) — that control metabolism and help organs, like the heart, work properly. But for these functions to be carried out, your thyroid must release an appropriate amount of hormones into the bloodstream — an activity regulated by the pituitary gland, which produces thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), a substance that stimulates the release of both T4 and T3. Click here to read the entire article.



 

L’Encéphale, Vol. 36, No. 2. (April 2010), pp. 172-179.

Abstract

Introduction Dyslexia is a complex neurodevelopemental disorder that affects 5 to 10% of school-age children. This condition consists in a specific learning disability with a neurological origin. These learning difficulties are unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of efficient classroom instruction. A range of neurobiological investigations suggests that disruption of the parieto-temporo-occipital systems underlies a failure of skilled reading to develop. The observation that dyslexia is both a familial and heritable problem was made early on and was confirmed by twin studies. They also suggested that both genetic and environmental factors are involved. Several loci have been implicated in dyslexia, notably on chromosomes 2, 3, 6, 15 and 18 and some candidate genes have been proposed, but no functional mutation has yet been identified. Literature review Dyslexia seldom appears isolated and dyslexic people are very likely to present other kinds of learning disabilities or psychiatric disorders. Specific language impairment, often with a mild outcome, is the most frequently associated with dyslexia. Indeed, late language development is often reported by dyslexic patients and also occurs more frequently among their siblings. Genetic linkage studies suggest some common genetic factor underlying this comorbidity. Dyscalculia is associated with dyslexia in 25% of cases, but most people with dyscalculia do not have any sign of dyslexia. The question of whether dyscalculia associated with dyslexia and dyscalculia itself rely on the same cognitive impairment is still controversial. Impaired motor development is also a common feature that affects nearly 50% of dyslexics and dyslexia is frequent among dyspraxic patients. This association raises the discussion on the role of motor impairment in dyslexia’s physiopathology and the cerebellar theory of dyslexia. Beyond its link with other learning disorders, the study of dyslexia’s comorbidity highlights psychopathological issues. ADHD is the most frequent psychiatric disorder associated with dyslexia. Underpinnings of this link between the two disorders seem to rely on common cognitive and genetic factors. Some authors have proposed a candidate gene ADRA2A to determine the condition including ADHD and dyslexia. In addition, dyslexics are exposed to a higher risk of anxiodepressive and behavioural disorders. Dyslexic children experience three times more behavioural disorders and one third of children with behavioural problems turn out to be affected by dyslexia. The literature study reveals inconsistent findings about depressed mood among dyslexics, but evidence of a persistent increase in the rate of anxiety disorders. The authors put forward the impact of environmental factors to explain these psychiatric comorbidities. Conclusion This review emphasizes dyslexia’s comorbidities because they represent an important issue, both from a scientific and clinical point of view. Indeed, for clinicians, children showing multiple learning disabilities have specific reeducation and educational needs and dyslexics have a higher risk of emotional and behavioural disorders. On the other hand, dyslexia’s comorbidity study provides a powerful method for researchers to investigate the still unknown physiopathology of dyslexia.

View FullText article

Source:  http://www.citeulike.org/group/12693/article/7647267



 

An EEG cap is used to measure the brain’s response to sensory stimuli

Albert Einstein College of Medicine researchers develop method with potential to evaluate effectiveness of autism therapy

August 19, 2010 — (BRONX, NY) — A new study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has provided concrete evidence that children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) process sensory information such as sound, touch and vision differently than typically developing children.

The study, which appears in the August 17 online issue of Autism Research, supports decades of clinical and anecdotal observations that individuals with ASD have difficulty coping with multiple sources of sensory information. The Einstein finding offers new insights into autism and could lead to objective measures for evaluating the effectiveness of autism therapies.

“One of the classic presentations of autism is the child in the corner with his hands over his ears rocking back and forth trying to block out the environment,” said senior author Sophie Molholm, Ph.D., associate professor in the Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience and of pediatrics. “People have long theorized that these children might not be integrating information across the senses very well. If you have all these sights and sounds coming at you but you can’t put them together in a meaningful way, the world can be an overwhelming place.”

The theory that autistic kids have trouble processing multisensory information has not been reliably supported by behavioral studies, and has rarely, if at all, been tested using measures of brain activity. Over the last few years, Dr. Molholm and her colleagues have been refining methods for measuring multisensory integration (MSI) using brainwave electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings.

In the current study, MSI was measured in 17 ASD children, ages 6 to 16, and 17 typically developing children matched for age and non-verbal IQ. The children watched a silent video of their choice while they were presented with unrelated sounds and vibrations. The auditory and vibrational stimuli were presented separately (creating so-called unisensory conditions) and then together (multisensory condition), which acted as the researchers’ index of MSI. The children’s EEG responses to the unisensory conditions were summed and compared to their EEG responses to multisensory conditions.

The responses of the typically developing children to the multisensory stimuli exceeded the sum of their responses to the unisensory stimuli―an indication of healthy MSI, according to the researchers. In the ASD children, by contrast, the differences between the sum of children’s unisensory responses and their MSI responses were not nearly as pronounced, indicating that these kids were not integrating multisensory information as effectively.

“Our data makes a compelling case, at least for these conditions, that there are differences in multisensory integration between the two groups,” said Dr. Molholm.

After our nerves are stimulated, “sensory information arrives in the brain’s cortex within 20 milliseconds (ms), or 20/1000ths of a second,” said co-author John Foxe, Ph.D., professor in the Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience and of pediatrics and director of research of the Children’s Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center at Einstein. “Then it takes an additional 100 to 200 ms for the brain to integrate information arriving from different senses, since many brain regions are involved in analyzing it.”

Read in Full:  http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-08/aeco-arf081310.php