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Stem Cell Update- exciting new resultsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I have written a previous post explaining why stem cells could be an important treatment for people with brain injury and disease. In summary the brain cannot repair itself. Stem cells are naturally occurring cells that turn into neurons but are only present in the embryo. The Bush government vetoed research in this area on religious and ethical grounds but Obama has overturned this. Recently there have been two interesting studies that show the potential of stem cells for neurology and neuropsychology. They both use human stem cells transported to rats. If these results can be replicated in humans it will trans...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - November 18, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs

Working memory trainingEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Our rehabilitation company Recolo is now offering the Cogmed working memory training program. Working memory is the ability to hold information in mind for a short period of time and to be able to use this information in your thinking. Problems with working memory are associated with a number of childhood conditions including ADHD, brain injury and poor academic achievement. We decided to provide the Cogmed working memory training in the UK because the research literature on it is impressive. It is effective in improving working memory in 80% of cases. The improvements have been demonstrated in neuropsychological tes...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - November 6, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: adhd adhd treatment brain injury brain training computer games head injury rehabiliatation technology working memory Source Type: blogs

Individual Growth Curve Modeling of Specific Risk Factors and Memory in Youth with Type 1 Diabetes: An Accelerated Longitudinal Design.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Conclusions: Of the risk factors studied, only poorer metabolic control had a significant impact upon visual memory after three years. Verbal memory was unaffected. However, given that level of metabolic control tends to remain relatively consistent over time, the effect of continued poorer metabolic control on memory should be monitored. PMID: 19859849 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Child Neuropsychology)
Source: Child Neuropsychology - October 26, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Kent S, Chen R, Kumar A, Holmes C Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

Latest neuroscience on TwitterEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I am a avid user of Twitter and find all sorts of interesting information on there. As with the web, however it is difficult to sort out what is important. It also moves so fast that it is hard to keep track. This post highlights some important tweets I have seen regarding advances in neuroscience in the last two weeks. 1. Repairing brain cells- Researchers at the Montreal NeurologicaI Institute and Hospital (The Neuro) and McGill University group at Montral University have developed a new technique to help repair damaged nerve cells. The study was in the October 7 issue of Journal of Neuroscience. They show that...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - October 15, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: brain development brain injury computer games neuroscience rehabiliatation technology twitter web advances Source Type: blogs

Decision Making with Uncertain Reinforcement in Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Reward-related processes are impaired in children with ADHD. Whether these deficits can be ascribed to an aversion to delay or to an altered responsiveness to magnitude, frequency, valence, or the probability of rewards still needs to be explored. In the present study, children with ADHD and normal controls aged 7 to 10 years performed a simple probabilistic discounting task. They had to choose between alternatives where the magnitude of rewards was inversely related to the probability of outcomes. As a result, children with ADHD opted more frequently for less likely but larger rewards than normal controls. Shifts of t...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - October 8, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Drechsler R, Rizzo P, Steinhausen HC Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

Computer games can improve reading and mathsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I have just seen the preliminary findings of the first independent research study on Neurogames, the games I have developed to help reading and maths. The study was undertaken on 20 children aged 4 to 6. 10 children were given the computer games to play for 20 mins twice a week for 13 weeks at school. 10 children were not given the game and received normal teaching in a different class. Both groups were tested on standardized reading and maths tests (WIAT) before and after the intervention. The results show that the computer game group had an average maths score of 102 (average) before using the games which ros...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - October 8, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: Uncategorized computer game based learning computer games development dyslexia dyslexia treatment education maths rehabiliatation technology games based learning neurogames reading Source Type: blogs

A Nonverbal Learning Disability in a Case of Central Hypoventilation Syndrome without a PHOX2B Gene Mutation.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study examines the neuropsychological profile of a boy with congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS) without a paired-like homeobox gene (PHOX2B) mutation. CCHS is a rare disorder of autonomic nervous system development characterized by an impaired ventilatory response to hypercarbia and hypoxemia. Mild intellectual deficits are common but a specific cognitive profile is not established in CCHS. We describe a nonverbal learning disorder as a CCHS endophenotype and recommend that detailed neuropsychological testing be performed on all individuals with CCHS. Defining the psycho-educational needs in CCHS may av...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - October 6, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Trobliger R, Zaroff CM, Grayson RH, Higgins JJ Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

Go/NoGo Performance in Boys with Tourette Syndrome.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study compared performance and performance monitoring in 19 boys with Tourette syndrome (TS) (12.64 years, +/- 2.05) and 19 age-matched controls (13.16 years, +/- 2.29) using a Go/NoGo task. The results indicated similar performance accuracy in the TS group and the control group. TS participants showed slower correct responses than the control group, whereas error response times were not different between the groups. The results are discussed with reference to inhibitory adaptive effects that may be employed by TS participants to maintain high accuracy at the cost of overall slower performance. These effects may be su...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - September 20, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Eichele H, Eichele T, Hammar A, Freyberger HJ, Hugdahl K, Plessen KJ Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

Neuropsychological Functioning in Children with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been associated with deficits in the areas of verbal memory and learning, executive functioning, working memory, and attention in adults. Findings have been less consistent in the few studies examining neuropsychological functioning in childhood PTSD, which are often limited by comparing children with PTSD to children without trauma histories, making it unclear whether observed neuropsychological deficits are related to trauma exposure or to PTSD symptomatology. In an ethnically diverse sample of 62 children who witnessed intimate partner violence (n = 27 PTSD+ and 35 PTSD-), ch...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - September 20, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Samuelson KW, Krueger CE, Burnett C, Wilson CK Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

5 reasons to develop computer game based learningEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
There is a lot of debate particularly in the media about the pros and cons about computer use with children. I believe that there are some fantastic potential benefits in developing computer games to teach children. Here are 5 of them: Dissemination of information- Our knowledge about child neuropsychological development is increasing all the time. But there is a problem communicating this to teachers and parents and applying this knowledge. Computer game based learning allows this knowledge to be disseminated to a large number of children. An example is dyslexia (by this I mean difficulties in learning to read). ...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - September 3, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: adhd adhd treatment brain training computer game based learning computer games development dyslexia education maths neurogames neuroscience rehabiliatation technology Source Type: blogs

Application of The Dual-Component Model of Working Memory to ADHD.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been associated with a deficit in working memory across both verbal and spatial domains, but the precise nature of this deficit is poorly understood. The dual-component model postulates that working memory capacity consists of two dissociable components: maintenance in primary memory (PM) and recall from secondary memory (SM). Participants diagnosed with ADHD (n = 32) and age-matched controls (n = 31) performed both verbal and spatial free-recall tasks, and subsets of these two samples were selected for further comparison based on their use of a "recency" order-of-rep...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - August 23, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Gibson BS, Gondoli DM, Flies AC, Dobrzenski BA, Unsworth N Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

Test Review: NEPSY-II: A Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment, Second Edition.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The NEPSY-II consists of 32 subtests for use in a neuropsychological assessment with preschoolers, children, and adolescents. This test review provides an overview of the NEPSY-II for clinicians and researchers, including descriptions of the subtests, changes from the original NEPSY, reliability and validity evidence, strengths, and limitations. PMID: 19670065 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Child Neuropsychology)
Source: Child Neuropsychology - August 9, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Brooks BL, Sherman EM, Strauss E Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

Interrelations Between Attention and Verbal Memory as Affected by Developmental Age.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
We analyzed the relationship between several measures of attention (e.g., sustained and divided attention) and measures of verbal memory (e.g., immediate and delayed memory) in children aged 8-17 years. The attentional measures were derived from several tests of attention: Trail-Making, Digit Cancellation, Digit-Symbol, and Digit-Span. The verbal memory measures were derived from the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT). We found that most correlations between attention and the Rey AVLT measures were mediated by age. After removing the contribution of age, relationships were found between attentional and memory mea...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - August 3, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Greenstein Y, Blachstein H, Vakil E Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

Personality psychologyEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I have been reading an excellent book on personality research called Personality: What makes you the way you are by Daniel Nettle. It is written for the non expert and is easy to read and full of interesting observations. In the UK the psychology of personality has not been very influential on clinical practice. Most Clinical Psychologists do not assess personality, particularly in children and young people. In addition the study of personality has not featured on many university courses and certainly was not part of my undergraduate degree. However, recently I have began to take an interest in this area of psyc...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - July 24, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: IQ behaviour brain development genes neuroscience parenting personality Source Type: blogs

Effect of Drawing Hand and Age on Figural Fluency: A Graphomotor Study with the Five-Point Test in Children.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The aim of the study was to assess conceptual thinking in children in relation to age and motor dominance. We investigated the effect of the right and the left hand in a fluency task in four groups of 127 healthy right-handed children (age 5-12 years) and an adult control group. They performed the Five-Point Test twice, once with their dominant right and once with their nondominant left hand. The number of items and errors were analyzed with respect to age, drawing hand, and motor transfer. The performance of boys and girls did not differ. There was a significant effect for age and a prominent interaction between age, ...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - July 21, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Albert D, Opwis K, Regard M Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

5 ways to improve memoryEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I have just been reading a very good new book on neuropsychological rehabilitation by Barbara Wilson and colleagues Neuropsychological Rehabilitation: Theory, Models, Therapy and Outcome I also heard her give an interesting talk this week on memory rehabilitation. In the book and the talk she discuses proven techniques to help with memory. These are designed for individual with memory problems but they also work really well for anyone wanting to learn and remember information. The methods are backed with experimental evidence. They will work for adults as well as children. 1. Encourage associations or...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - July 1, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: brain injury education head injury memory rehabiliatation rehabilitation Source Type: blogs

Moderating Effects of Neurocognitive Abilities on the Relationship between Temperament and Global Functioning.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study examined the degree to which neuropsychological functioning, as measured by the NEPSY, moderates the impact of temperament on global functioning, as measured by the Children's Global Assessment Scale (CGAS), in 74 typically developing preschoolers. Temperament was assessed via parent ratings on the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) and teacher ratings on the Temperament Assessment Battery for Children - Revised (TABC-R). Moderation analyses revealed significant interactions between verbal-executive skills and both child emotionality and lack of task persistence in predicting global functioning. The interac...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - June 30, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Healey DM, Brodzinsky LK, Bernstein M, Rabinovitz B, Halperin JM Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

Pediatric Neuropsychology Case Studies: From the Exceptional to the Commonplace. Jennifer Niskala Appa, Robert F. Newby, & Laura Weiss Roberts (Eds.). (2008). New York: Springer. 364 pp. (ISBN: 978-0-387-78964-4), $149 (hbk).Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Pediatric Neuropsychology Case Studies: From the Exceptional to the Commonplace. Jennifer Niskala Appa, Robert F. Newby, & Laura Weiss Roberts (Eds.). (2008). New York: Springer. 364 pp. (ISBN: 978-0-387-78964-4), $149 (hbk). Child Neuropsychol. 2009 Jun 24;:1-2 Authors: Chiaravalloti ND PMID: 19557581 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Child Neuropsychology)
Source: Child Neuropsychology - June 23, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Chiaravalloti ND Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

Very Low Birth Weight and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
It is well recognized that reaction time performance of term-born children with a normal birth weight (NBW > 2500 g) who fulfill the DSM-IV criteria for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the primary school age is sensitive for the presentation rate of stimuli. They have been found to perform more poorly in conditions of relatively slow event rates as compared with fast event rates. The purpose of the current study was to explore whether reaction time performance of children with very low birth weight (VLBW < 1500 g) with or without ADHD showed the same sensitivity for the factor presentation rate...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - June 17, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: van der Meere J, Borger NA, Potgieter ST, Pirila S, De Cock P Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

The development of violent behaviour (and how to prevent it)Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In this study volunteers delivered what they thought where powerful electric shocks to others when told to do so by someone in authority. This authority effect may explain the way that leaders in a group will influence other lower members . This is particularly pertinent in gangs with children- the younger children being influenced by older members. These social influences may also explain state controlled violence where leaders get subordinates to carry out violence on their behalf. It seems to me that social influences can override individual brain processes. This is an important factor in gang related viol...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - June 17, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: adhd development empathy neuroscience parenting violent behaviour prevention Source Type: blogs

Mild Head Injury in Children-missing the problemEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I have been working clinically with children with head injury now for over 12 years and this has allowed me to see the longitudinal effects of childhood head injury for myself. What I have noticed is that some children with what appeared to initially be mild head injury (i.e. no prolonged loss of consciousness) continued to have problems over time. I have looked at these cases in some detail and their developmental problem can’t be explained by pre morbid functioning (i.e. any difficulties before the head injury). This experience is not what the textbooks say is supposed to happen. Mild head injury is thought t...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - June 3, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: brain injury education head injury rehabiliatation Source Type: blogs

Reading and Spelling Disabilities in Children With and Without a History of Early Language Delay: A Neuropsychological and Linguistic Study.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Language delay is a frequent antecedent of literacy problems, and both may be linked to phonological impairment. Studies on developmental dyslexia have led to contradictory results due to the heterogeneity of the pathological samples. The present study investigated whether Italian children with dyslexia showed selective phonological processing deficits or more widespread linguistic impairment and whether these deficits were associated with previous language delay. We chose 46 children with specific reading deficits and divided them into two groups based on whether they had language delay (LD) or not (NoLD). LD and NoLD...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - June 2, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Chilosi AM, Brizzolara D, Lami L, Pizzoli C, Gasperini F, Pecini C, Cipriani P, Zoccolotti P Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

Playing computer games improves children’s attention allocationEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
There is more evidence of the neuropsychological benefits of playing action video games in a new paper to be published in July by Matt Dye and colleagues in Neuropsychologia. This paper shows that playing action video games resulted in improvmenets in attention allocation in children and young people. The authors used the Attention Network Test (ANT) which measure “how well attention is allocated to targets as a function of alerting and orientating cues, and to what extent observers are able to filter out the influence of task irrelevant information flanking those tasks”. The subjects were children and yo...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - May 21, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: Uncategorized brain development brain training computer games neurogames neuroscience rehabiliatation working memory Source Type: blogs

How to make your child more intelligentEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
There is an interesting article in the Sunday Times this week entitled ‘how to make your child more intelligent’. It seems to be based in part on a new book by Richard Nisbett entitled ‘Intelligence and How to Get it: Why Schools and Cultures Count. Whilst the article makes a number of important points the overall tone feels a bit like the old nature/ nurture debate, which I thought was over years ago. The article starts by stating that ‘Over recent years most experts have concluded that intelligence is largely genetic in origin, and that nurture does relatively little to raise an individual’s potential&...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - May 18, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: IQ Uncategorized brain development brain training education genes parenting Environment politics Source Type: blogs

New technology to improve neurological and physical disabilityEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
One of the most distressing symptoms for many of the children and young people I see clinically after a traumatic brain injury or stroke is the physical disability caused by the neurological injury. Most parents, children and young people hold out most hope for a physical recovery. The physical disability is the most visible symptom to the patient, their families and to other people. At present the main therapy to help with this is physiotherapy. Physiotherapy requires repeated exercise to try and improve physical function. Recent research has shown that physiotherapy is more effective in treating adult stoke ...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - May 7, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: brain injury brain training computer games neuroscience physical disability physiotherapy rehabiliatation technology Source Type: blogs

Assessing Effort during Neuropsychological Evaluation with the TOMM in Children and Adolescents with Epilepsy.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Effort assessment is of particular importance in pediatric epilepsy where neuropsychological findings may influence treatment decisions, especially if surgical interventions are being considered. The present investigation examines the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM) in 60 children and adolescents with epilepsy. The overall pass rate for the sample was 90%. TOMM scores were unrelated to age, though there was a significant correlation between TOMM Trial 2 scores and intelligence estimates. Overall, the TOMM appears to be a valid measure of effort in young epilepsy patients, though caution should be used when interpreti...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - May 7, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Macallister WS, Nakhutina L, Bender HA, Karantzoulis S, Carlson C Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

Video games improve vision: more evidence of neural plasticityEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
There is some interesting new research showing how video games can improve visual skills. The research by Renjie Li and others from the University of Rochester and published in Nature Neuroscience showed how playing an action based vidoe game improved Contrast Sensitivity Function (CFS). This was a good study with controls and pre and post assessment showing clearly that it was the video game training that made the difference. The key factor was that only action games worked e.g. Call of Duty. Non action games such as the Sims didn’t result in improvements. Contrast Sensitivity is the visual ability to se...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - April 30, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs

The educational benefits of training working memoryEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study adds to the evidence that computer game based training can improve neuropsychological functioning. The target for the training however, need to be specific and based on areas that the research shows can improve. It also shows that training working memory can have an impact on educational development, in this case maths. As the authors point out there will typically be 4-5 children in a class of 30 with poor working memory. The study therefore has big implications for future education practice. (Source: Child Neuropsychology)
Source: Child Neuropsychology - April 27, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs

Neurogames free demoEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
You can now try Neurogames for free with the demos online for the basic maths game Nutty Numbers and the reading game Letter Lilies. The games are specially formulated to help children who find learning difficult including children with dyslexia, dyscalculia, ADHD and Learning difficulties. However, they are based on normal child development and so can be used by anyone learning to read or learning maths. I use them clinically in my practice and I have had great feedback from children of different abilities who have played the games. I believe that using games to help children learn holds great promise for the f...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - April 24, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: Uncategorized brain training dyscalculia dyslexia dyslexia treatment neurogames technology Source Type: blogs

Visual Perception in Acoustically Deprived and Normally Hearing Children.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In the present study an attempt was made to establish if and to what extent auditory deprivation modifies the processes of visual analysis and synthesis. The study included 54 children aged 10-16 years with hearing impairment attending the School and Educational Center for Children with Hearing Impairment in Wrocław (group I) and 127 children with normal hearing acuity attending public schools (group II), forming a reference group. Hearing impairment in the children of group I was from 60 to 100 dB. In 9 of these children the hearing impairment was inherited, while in some others it was acquired and resulted from...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - April 22, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Thannhauser J, Buldanczyk A, Salomon E, Jankowska E, Borodulin-Nadzieja L, Kraszewska B, Heisig M Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

Neuropsychology in Cameroon: First Normative Data for Cognitive Tests Among School-Aged Children.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Conclusion: this study is the first to report normative data on neuropsychological tests among children in Cameroon and constitutes an initial step for the advancement of neuropsychology in this country in particular and in sub-Saharan Africa in general. The battery is currently used in Cameroon with children suffering from Sickle Cell Disease as an aid to detect cerebrovascular complications. PMID: 19370432 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Child Neuropsychology)
Source: Child Neuropsychology - April 15, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Ruffieux N, Njamnshi AK, Mayer E, Sztajzel R, Eta SC, Doh RF, Kengne AM, Ngamaleu RN, Chanal J, Verdon V, Hauert CA Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

5 reasons to help children in povertyEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
I have recently been reading a life changing book by Peter Singer The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty Based on this I present 5 reasons why it is important to help children in poverty: 1. Because 27,000 children under 5 die everyday (10 million a year) from poverty related causes i.e. a football stadium full every day. If this was on the news it would shock us. 2. Because it will make you happier to help. Helping others provides meaning and fulfillment which in turn are key ingredients for making us happy. 3. Because ethically it is the right thing to do. If we saw a child suffering most peop...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - April 11, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs

5 ways to change children’s lives to make a better societyEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Scientific and technological knowledge is developing very fast. This post is about some of the ways in which we could use this knowledge to help children develop in ways that will help them and change society in the long term. These are just a few examples of what we know and what we could do. 1. Eliminate dyslexia- not being able to read as well as being difficult for the individual involved also is associated with significant social problems for example approximately 50 % of adult in prison in the UK have difficulty reading and 80% have difficulty with writing. We know how to treat dyslexia (see this pos...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - April 8, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: Uncategorized adhd brain development brain training computer games dyslexia dyslexia treatment neurogames technology web working memory changing children's lives Source Type: blogs

Changing children’s lives to make a better societyEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Scientific and technological knowledge is developing very fast. This post is about some of the ways in which we could use this knowledge to help children develop in ways that will help them and change society in the long term. These are just a few examples of what we know and what we could do. Eliminate dyslexia- not being able to read as well as being difficult for the individual involved also is associated with significant social problems for example approximately 50 % of adult in prison in the UK have difficulty reading and 80% have difficulty with writing. We know how to treat dyslexia (see this post) ...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - April 8, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: Uncategorized adhd brain development brain training computer games dyslexia dyslexia treatment neurogames technology web working memory changing children's lives Source Type: blogs

How do genes work?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The world of genetics is moving so fast it is hard to keep up. Luckily one of my favorite writers on the subject Robert Plomin (together with Oliver Davies) has written an update on the genetics of child psychology and psychiatry in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. There is a lot of information in the article regarding the latest genetic findings but the issue that stuck me most was about how our understanding about how genes work is changing. My understanding of genes was the classic model described succinctly by Plomin and Oliver as “a gene is a sequence of DNA that is transcibed in...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - March 30, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: IQ Uncategorized adhd autism genes neuroscience Source Type: blogs

What are the causes of the attention deficits observed in children with dyslexia?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In conclusion, dyslexics may be inattentive at school because they are slow processors, in particular when they are presented with verbal stimuli. PMID: 19326263 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Child Neuropsychology)
Source: Child Neuropsychology - March 26, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Marco Marzocchi G, Ornaghi S, Barboglio S Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

Construct and Criterion Validity of the Comprehensive Trail Making Test in Children and Adolescents with Traumatic Brain Injury.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The current study examined the construct and criterion validity of the Comprehensive Trail Making Test (CTMT) when used to evaluate children and adolescents with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Participants included 100 children and adolescents, 50 who had sustained TBI and 50 normal comparisons (NC). Analyses indicated that the CTMT factor scores were significantly correlated with tests of perceptual organizational ability, processing speed, and motor function and provided support for its construct validity. Additionally, correlations between the various CTMT scores suggested that a different pattern of associations was...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - March 25, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Allen DN, Haderlie M, Kazakov D, Mayfield J Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

The biochemistry of brain trainingEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study in Science shows that 14 hours cognitive training using a computer game resulted in changes in the density of dopamine receptors. These are exciting findings showing that change to brains at a fundamental level is possible using computer based learning. It has major implications for the treatment of disorders such as ADHD as well as learning in general. The important lesson is that brain training needs to be focused on specific brain areas and functions, namely the areas that have the most plasticity. (Source: Child Neuropsychology)
Source: Child Neuropsychology - March 20, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: adhd adhd treatment brain development brain training computer games working memory Source Type: blogs

Methylphenidate, Interstimulus Interval, and Reaction Time Performance of Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Pilot Study.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Thirteen children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD: DSM-IV-TR) participated in the pilot study. They carried out a Go/No-Go test with a short (2 seconds) and long (6 seconds) interstimulus interval (ISI) when on placebo and a therapeutic dose of methylphenidate (MPH). For the long-ISI placebo condition the responses were slow and inaccurate. This pattern of response may be due to underactivation of the readiness-to-respond state that is not fully controlled by effort allocation. Speed of response and accuracy were enhanced during the short-ISI placebo condition and the long-ISI MPH condition. However...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - March 18, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: van der Meere JJ, Shalev RS, Borger N, Wiersema JR Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

The Motor Profile of Primary School-Age Children with a 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11.2DS) and an Age- and IQ-Matched Control Group.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In this study the motor performance of primary school-age children with a 22q11.2DS (n = 28) was compared with an age- and IQ-matched control group (n = 28) using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC), the Korperkoordinationstest fur Kinder (KTK) and the Beery-Buctenica test of Visual-Motor Integration (Beery). Children with a 22q11.2DS scored significantly lower than the age- and IQ-matched control group on the subsection Manual Dexterity (MABC) and the Visual Perception and Motor Coordination subtests of the Beery. When investigating the correlations between Intelligence quotient (IQ) and motor performance,...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - March 11, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Van Aken K, Caeyenberghs K, Smits-Engelsman B, Swillen A Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

Working Memory and Cognitive Skills in Individuals with Down Syndrome.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This work is aimed at analyzing working memory (WM) components and their relationships with other cognitive processes in individuals with Down syndrome (DS). Particular attention is given to examine whether a verbal WM deficit is due to difficulties in verbal abilities often showed by individuals with DS, or whether it is a deficit per se. A group of 20 individuals with DS was compared to a group of 20 typically developing (TD) children matched on vocabulary comprehension and to a group of 20 TD children matched on general verbal intelligence. The groups received a battery of 3 verbal and 3 visuospatial WM tasks requir...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - March 10, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Lanfranchi S, Jerman O, Vianello R Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

Does brain training work?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
There are a number of conflicting studies in the literature see Guardian games blog for example. There has recently been a lot of interest in the Ninetendo DS brain training game although I am not aware of any published work on it’s effectiveness (but see this BBC site article for some anecdotal evidence.) I would personally be surprised if the Nintendo brain training did work because the game is not training specific brain areas or functions and does not fit with contemporary neuropsychological theory. The Brain has numerous functions linked to different anatomical areas and trying to train the ...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - March 9, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: brain development brain training education neurogames rehabiliatation technology computer games Source Type: blogs

There are Multiple Contributors to the Verbal Short-Term Memory Deficit in Children with Developmental Reading Disabilities.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Prior research has put forth at least four possible contributors to the verbal short-term memory (VSTM) deficit in children with developmental reading disabilities (RD): poor phonological awareness that affects phonological coding into VSTM, a less effective phonological store, slow articulation rate, and fewer/poorer quality long-term memory (LTM) representations. This project is among the first to test the four suppositions in one study. Participants included 18 children with RD and 18 controls. VSTM was assessed using Baddeley's model of the phonological loop. Findings suggest all four suppositions are correct, depe...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - March 2, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Kibby MY Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

Can dyslexia be eliminated?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
There is a very interesting debate in the US at the moment about how to tackle reading problems (dyslexia). There is increasing interest in the Response to Instruction (RTI) approach- summarized here. This approach focuses on how to teach reading for everyone rather than just identifying and treating children with dyslexia. It is a public health approach focusing on prevention rather than an individual disorder approach focusing on treatment. In the UK the focus is more individual and based on clinical identification of dyslexia- i.e. does this person have dyslexia or not. Parents and teachers need to find...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - February 23, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: RTI dyslexia education Source Type: blogs

Genes and Environment - the case of multiple sclerosisEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
My early career involved working with patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and undertaking research into how people cope with this. This experience left a lasting impression as MS is a horrible disease to live with. It is neuro-degenerative disorder resulting in progressive loss of function leading to both both physical and neuropsychological disability. There are different forms with some slow moving and some with very rapid deterioration. MS results in the destruction of the myeline in the brain. Myelin is the substance that coats and insulates brain cell in a similar way to the way that plastic coating insula...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - February 15, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: Uncategorized genes multiple sclerosis vitamin D Source Type: blogs

Parenting- How important is it?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This report was about how unhappy children are today because of selfish parents. In the column Daniel makes some simple points which I often think about myself when seeing children. The key issue is the extent to which parents influence children’s behaviour and personality. The points he makes are 1- children and parents share the same genes and therefore are likely to be somewhat alike to start with. 2- children who are difficult are going to influence the way their parents react to them. It is easy to be an authoritative parent with a child who is easy to manage- the traffic is not all one way. I happ...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - February 4, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: behaviour genes parenting daniel Finkelstein the Times Source Type: blogs

Stem Cell Research: New hope for treating neurological disability?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
A new study on the benefits of stem cell therapy in patients with multiple sclerosis is a very exciting one for all neuroscience. The study shows that by giving stem cells to MS patients, disability is halted or reversed. The study included measures of neuropsychological function as well as neurological rating scales and quality of life. Improvements in these areas were seen in 17 out of 21 patients and there was no deterioration in the other 4. The reason why it is so important lies in the use of stem cells. The problem with all neurological disability including childhood brain injury is that the brain can not repair it...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - February 3, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: brain development brain injury neuroscience rehabiliatation stem cells Barak Obama MS Source Type: blogs

Neuropsychological Functioning in Children with Non-Syndromic Cleft of the Lip and/or Palate.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Conclusions: While deficits in verbal and memory skills for children with NSCL/P remain apparent, there is still uncertainty around the possible influence of cleft type on the pattern of deficits. PMID: 19184778 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Child Neuropsychology)
Source: Child Neuropsychology - February 2, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Conrad AL, Richman L, Nopoulos P, Dailey S Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

Intra-Individual Variability Among Children with ADHD on a Working Memory Task: An Ex-Gaussian Approach.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study supports intra-individual variability as a hallmark feature of ADHD beyond the domain of response inhibition and reinforces the need to consider variability in ADHD more broadly. PMID: 19184779 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Child Neuropsychology)
Source: Child Neuropsychology - February 2, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Buzy WM, Medoff DR, Schweitzer JB Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals

Tumor Locus Moderates Anxiety Symptoms in a Pediatric Neuro-Oncologic Sample.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Despite the prevalence of pediatric Central Nervous System (CNS) solid tumors, little is understood about patients' disease-related anxiety experience. Data from 25 remitted pediatric CNS tumor patients posttreatment were collected. Significant symptoms of anxiety were reported by 32% of patients. MRI studies showed all anxious patients had right cortical tumors or left cerebellar tumors. Confound analyses suggest these results are not better accounted for by demographic, disease, or treatment variables. These results evidence the risk some pediatric neuro-oncologic patients face for developing significant anxiety symp...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - January 28, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Moitra E, Armstrong CL Tags: Child Neuropsychol Source Type: journals