Reading, Reading Acquisition, and Reading Disability (Dyslexia)

Author(s):  
Panagiotis G. Simos

This chapter reviews the quite extensive literature of magnetoencephalography (MEG) studies on reading. Neuroimaging relying on hemodynamic methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and MEG has been instrumental in establishing brain activation profiles during a variety of reading tasks through the phases of acquisition of reading skills. Importantly, both methods have contributed to establishing associations between individual profiles of reading-related brain activity and specific reading skills. More recently, MEG studies have even attempted to account for individual differences of response to educational interventions. The chapter then looks at studies examining the mature outline of the brain circuits for reading; developmental studies of typical reading acquisition; investigations of the activation profiles associated with reading in children manifesting difficulties in learning to read and in adults with a history of reading disability or dyslexia; and studies on the effects of reading interventions on reading-related neuromagnetic activity.

2007 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rauno Parrila ◽  
George Georgiou ◽  
Julie Corkett

This study examined the status of current reading, spelling, and phonological processing skills of 28 university students who reported a history of reading acquisition problems. The results indicated that 21 of these participants were currently able to comprehend text at a level expected for university students, although only 8 at a rate comparable to that of university students without a history of reading acquisition problems. In addition, all but two participants showed current problems in two or more of the additional areas examined, including word reading, decoding, spelling, and phonological processing. The performance of ten participants who had a recent diagnosis of reading disability was mostly indistinguishable from the performance of participants without such diagnosis, except on the phonological processing tasks.


2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael T. Schaper

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the development of the SME sector in Australia, concentrating on a number of key areas: small business definitions and numbers; the role of government; the emergence of key industry groups; and the evolution of education, training and research services. Design/methodology/approach – The study is a result of extensive literature reviews, desk research and the recollections of various participants in the field. Findings – There have been major changes to the Australian small business sector over the last 40 years. In 1983-1984 there were an estimated 550,000 small firms, and by 2010 this had grown to almost two million. Government involvement in, and support for, SMEs was virtually non-existent before 1970. Following the delivery of the Wiltshire report (1971), however, both state and federal governments responded by developing specialist advisory services, funding programmes and other support tools. Virtually non-existent before the 1970s, several peak industry associations were formed between 1977 and the 1990s. At the same time, formal education and teaching in the area expanded in the 1970s and 1980s and is now widespread. Practical implications – Development of the small business sector in Australia has often paralleled similar trends in other OECD nations. State and territory governments have often (but not always) been the principal drivers of policy change. Originality/value – There has been no little, if any, prior documentation of the evolution of the small business sector in Australia in the last 40 years.


1991 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Neville ◽  
Janet L. Nicol ◽  
Andrew Barss ◽  
Kenneth I. Forster ◽  
Merrill F. Garrett

Theoretical considerations and diverse empirical data from clinical, psycholinguistic, and developmental studies suggest that language comprehension processes are decomposable into separate subsystems, including distinct systems for semantic and grammatical processing. Here we report that event-related potentials (ERPs) to syntactically well-formed but semantically anomalous sentences produced a pattern of brain activity that is distinct in timing and distribution from the patterns elicited by syntactically deviant sentences, and further, that different types of syntactic deviance produced distinct ERP patterns. Forty right-handed young adults read sentences presented at 2 words/sec while ERPs were recorded from over several positions between and within the hemispheres. Half of the sentences were semantically and grammatically acceptable and were controls for the remainder, which contained sentence medial words that violated (1) semantic expectations, (2) phrase structure rules, or (3) WH-movement constraints on Specificity and (4) Subjacency. As in prior research, the semantic anomalies produced a negative potential, N400, that was bilaterally distributed and was largest over posterior regions. The phrase structure violations enhanced the N125 response over anterior regions of the left hemisphere, and elicited a negative response (300-500 msec) over temporal and parietal regions of the left hemisphere. Violations of Specificity constraints produced a slow negative potential, evident by 125 msec, that was also largest over anterior regions of the left hemisphere. Violations of Subjacency constraints elicited a broadly and symmetrically distributed positivity that onset around 200 msec. The distinct timing and distribution of these effects provide biological support for theories that distinguish between these types of grammatical rules and constraints and more generally for the proposal that semantic and grammatical processes are distinct subsystems within the language faculty.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Beck ◽  
Heather Mathison ◽  
Toma Todorov ◽  
Esli-Armando Calderon-Juarez ◽  
Olga R. Kopp

Tridax procumbens is a very promising species that produces secondary metabolites reported to have a variety of medicinal uses including among others, anti-anemic, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic and anesthetic properties. This species has a long history of traditional use by different communities. This study aimed to review the scientific literature regarding the medicinal properties, biological activity and phytochemical components of T. procumbens, a member of the Asteraceae family that originated in Central and South America. An extensive literature review was done using Metadatabase EDS, MedLine (PubMed), Science Direct, Web of Science, Academic Search Premier, Scielo, DOAJ Directory of Open Access Journals, JSTOR, and other sources to find information relevant to the medicinal uses of T. procumbens. At total of 130 studies were found that contained information about T. procumbens. Some of the papers were not included because of the relevance to this study, ending with a total of 111 relevant citations reported here. This review shows the importance of more studies to understand the potential of T. procumbens’ secondary metabolites for medicinal or preventive treatment, making it a promising ethnobotanical resource. This review provides important information of this species and indicates that this species could be an effective, safe and affordable treatment for some ailments, especially in tropical areas where this plant is native and widely distributed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-366
Author(s):  
Christy R. Austin ◽  
Jeanne Wanzek ◽  
Nancy K. Scammacca ◽  
Sharon Vaughn ◽  
Samantha A. Gesel ◽  
...  

Empirical studies investigating supplemental reading interventions for students with or at risk for reading disabilities in the early elementary grades have demonstrated a range of effect sizes. Identifying the findings from high-quality research can provide greater certainty of findings related to the effectiveness of supplemental reading interventions. This meta-analysis investigated how four variables of study quality (study design, statistical treatment, Type I error, and fidelity of implementation) were related to effect sizes from standardized measures of foundational reading skills and language and comprehension. The results from 88 studies indicated that year of publication was a significant predictor of effect sizes for both standardized measures of foundational reading skills and language and comprehension, with more recent studies demonstrating smaller effect sizes. Results also demonstrated that with the exception of research design predicting effect sizes on foundational reading skills measures, study quality was not related to the effects of supplemental reading interventions. Implications for research and practice are discussed.


Stroke ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 32 (suppl_1) ◽  
pp. 382-382
Author(s):  
Arthur M Pancioli ◽  
Mark J Bullard ◽  
Mary E Grulee ◽  
Edward C Jauch ◽  
David F Perkis

P236 Background: In 1994, the American Heart Association Stroke Council stated that there is no data to support routine use of supplemental oxygen in stroke patients. The purpose of this study was to determine the degree of supplemental oxygen use in ischemic stroke and whether patients receiving oxygen met criteria for therapy. Methods: An extensive literature search was performed to generate a comprehensive list of explicit criteria for supplemental oxygen use. When the literature disagreed, criteria were included in the list to overestimate rather than underestimate the justification for oxygen use. A retrospective chart review of 169 consecutive, non-intubated, ischemic stroke patients admitted to a university hospital during calendar year 1998 was performed. Two patients were excluded due to missing data yielding a sample of 167 patients. Data included demographic and co-morbidity information as well as a check of each inpatient day for documentation of any of the explicit criteria for supplemental oxygen use. Results: A total of 167 patient charts were reviewed yielding a total of 600 inpatient days abstracted. Of the 167 patients, 102 (61.1%) received oxygen accounting for 322 patient days. Of the 322 inpatient days that patients received oxygen, 147 (45.6%) met at least one criteria for oxygen utilization. Of the 278 inpatient days that patients did not receive oxygen 69 (24.8%) would have met at least one of the criteria for oxygen use. For the entire population, statistically significant factors associated with patients receiving oxygen included: presence of at least one justifying criteria, increasing age, white race, male gender, history of atrial fibrillation, and a history of hypertension. Conclusion: We developed a comprehensive, literature-based list of criteria for supplemental oxygen therapy that was designed to overestimate rather than underestimate the justification of oxygen utilization. Using this explicit list, only 45.6% of days of oxygen therapy were justified in our ischemic stroke population. This study demonstrates that oxygen therapy is commonly given to ischemic stroke victims without clear indication.


2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 229-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kemal Afacan ◽  
Kimber L. Wilkerson ◽  
Andrea L. Ruppar

Reading instruction for students with intellectual disability (ID) has traditionally focused on single skill instruction such as sight word reading. Given that multicomponent reading interventions have been linked to improved reading skills across multiple reading components for students in general education, it is logical to examine the impact of multicomponent reading interventions for students with ID. The purpose of this literature review was to examine characteristics, outcomes, and quality of multicomponent reading interventions for students with ID. In this review, seven empirical articles fit the inclusionary criteria. Findings indicate that students with ID who were exposed to multicomponent reading programs significantly improved their reading skills compared to their peers with ID who received traditional sight word instruction or to their previous reading performance. This literature review highlights effective strategies used to provide multicomponent reading instruction to students with ID. Implications for reading instruction for students with ID are provided, along with implications for future research.


2012 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Bower ◽  
Howard Cox

Firms engage in a multitude of interactions with the external environment, most critically with government and its regulatory agencies. Despite an extensive literature on “regulatory capture,” little attention has been paid to the interactions between merging firms and competition authorities. Yet the possibility of capture exists where there is a recurring series of merger investigations of one firm by the same authority. This analysis of the impact of political influence on the merger history of the brewing firm Scottish & Newcastle extends into a discussion of regulatory capture in the oversight of British brewery mergers during the 1980s and 1990s.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Yoonessi ◽  
Seyed Amir Hossein Batouli ◽  
Iman Ahmadnezhad ◽  
Hamid Soltanian-zadeh

Background: Addiction is currently one of the problems of human society. Drug abuse is one of the most important issues in the field of addiction. Methamphetamine (crystal) is one of the drugs that has been abused in recent decades. Methods: In this case-control study, 10 individuals aged 20 to 40 years old with at least 2 years of experience of methamphetamine consumption without any history of drug use or other stimulants from clients and drug withdrawal centers in Tehran City, and 10 healthy volunteers were selected. Age, social status, and economic status of addicts were included in the fMRI apparatus, and 90 selected pleasurable, non-pleasurable, and neutral images (IAPS) were displayed by the projector through an event-related method. The playback time of each photo was 3 s, and after this process, the person outside the device, without the time limit selected the enjoyable and unpleasant images. Results: The results showed that there was no significant difference between the groups in terms of age, alcohol use, and smoking history (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in terms of the age at first use between members of the methamphetamine-dependent group. Also, the methamphetamine-dependent group showed more brain activity in their pre-center and post-center gyrus than the normal (control) group. Conclusions: According to the results obtained in this study, in general, it can be concluded that there are some areas in the brain of addicts that are activated when watching pleasant photos, while these areas are not active in the brains of normal people.


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