Cortical Thickness and Gyrification in Children with Developmental Dyslexia

Prior research has demonstrated a pattern of atypical neural structure and function within regions of the left hemisphere reading network in individuals with dyslexia compared to controls. However, studies of pediatric dyslexia are sparse, demonstrate variability in dyslexia classification, and yield inconsistent associations between cortical metrics and reading ability. This study investigated cortical metrics in typically developing readers (n=39) and children with dyslexia (n=37) as determined by deficient single word reading ability. Whole-brain vertex-wise analyses, performed using FreeSurfer, evaluated cortical thickness and local gyrification between reading groups, controlling for age. Following multiple comparison correction, readers with dyslexia demonstrated reduced cortical thickness within previously identified critical reading areas including: bilateral inferior-temporal, inferior-frontal, and occipito-parietal regions, along with left anterior cingulate cortex. In readers with dyslexia, thinner cortex was accompanied by increased gyrification in the cuneus and left inferior temporal cortex. The convergence of thinner and more gyrified cortex within the left inferior temporal region in children with dyslexia may reflect its early temporal role in processing word forms, and highlights the importance of the ventral stream for successful decoding. Reading fluency scores demonstrated a positive association with cortical thickness in right inferior frontal and bilateral inferior temporal cortices, while reading comprehension was significantly correlated with thickness across all regions.Psychology, Department o

The image of the nation as a woman in twentieth century Scottish literature: Hugh MacDiarmid, Naomi Mitchison, Alasdair Gray

This thesis considers the use of the allegorical personification of the nation as a woman in the work of the twentieth century Scottish writers Hugh MacDiarmid, Naomi Mitchison and Alasdair Gray. The image of nation as woman, whether as mother, virgin, goddess or victim is widespread in European iconography from the eighteenth century onwards, but is not common in Scotland until the twentieth century. Not only is the objectification of the female figure intrinsic to such imagery objectionable from a feminist point of view, but the female stereotypes which surround the figure of the nation are contradictory, and it ultimately reinforces a sexist ideology which constructs women as victims. These political flaws and contradictions are highlighted when the metaphor is considered in the context of Scotland's peculiar political situation. The three authors considered here exemplify very different uses of the nation-as-woman trope. Comparing their work shows that the image is used differently by male and female writers, and that the changes in both gender politics and nationalist theory during the course of the twentieth century mean that its use in the 1990s is much more self-conscious and parodic than when it is used by Hugh MacDiarmid in the 1920s. Nation as woman is a trope which is much more easily used by male authors, as for example in the work of MacDiarmid and Gray, whereas Naomi Mitchison, in appropriating the voice of mother Scotland, finds problems asserting her own voice as a woman writer in Scotland. The work of all three writers demonstrates an awareness of the problems inherent in the trope. From the 1920s to the 1950s MacDiarmid uses the female figure to represent both Scotland and his creative muse, but acknowledges the lack of such a tradition in Scotland by importing his female figures from other cultures and literatures. The version of Scottishness which MacDiarmid creates privileges the position of a male nationalist in relation to a female nation, and his influence in the Scottish literary scene is such that Naomi Mitchison, as a woman writing in the 1940s, finds it difficult to address the 'matter of Scotland' without resorting to the gendered iconography of woman as nation. Alasdair Gray, writing forty years later, is also influenced by MacDiarmid, but this is shown through his post-modern rewriting of MacDiarmid's key poem A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle, and his problematisation of many of the political and aesthetic contradictions inherent in the nation-as-woman trope

Ruth Miller and the poetics of literary maternity

Includes bibliographical references.Ruth Miller's poetry was written between 1940 and the year of her death in 1969, and is published in three volumes, Floating Island (1965), Selected Poems (1968), and Ruth Miller: Poems Prose Plays (1990). In this thesis, I modify the concept of literary maternity suggested by Joan Metelerkamp in her article, “Ruth Miller: Father's Law or Mother's Lore?” (1992). My approach is informed by a model of literary maternity that is not defined in terms of a female figure but in terms of a relation between the earliest parent and the child, or what is referred to in psychoanalytic terms as the preoedipal relation. My thesis is concerned to show how Miller's poetry and a theory on the maternal function of literature reinterpret each other; it includes a consideration of Miller's literary legacy, the critical literature describing her oeuvre, and the issues of continuity and authority that arise in the context of literary publication

William Faulkner, His Eye for Archetypes, and America\u27s Divided Legacy of Medicine

The medical division between constitutional homeopathy and allopathic medicine shaped the culture in which William Faulkner grew up and wrote. Early 20th century America was daily subjected to a variety of conflicting approaches to maintaining or recovering physical, psychological, or spiritual health. The culture was discussing the role of vitalism for good health; the use and dosage of medicine to treat the individual or to treat the disease instead; the interaction of the mind, body, and spirit; the tendency of personality to emerge from inherent biology or acquired traits; the varied explanations for illness; and the legitimacy of doctors, their philosophies, and their remedies. These competing definitions of psycho-biological health informed Faulkner’s character conceptions and portrayals. In their psycho-biological traits, some of his characters represent concurrently published homeopathic descriptions of constitutions quite accurately. Faulkner’s own life may have offered him opportunities to learn about alternative medicine and generated an interest--along with other medical dissidents--in opposing the newly-garnered authority of modern scientific medicine. It is also likely that Faulkner’s own beliefs about a divinity present in humans and the human capacity to neglect their spiritual essence would have instead supported the older, more romanticized, homeopathic ideas based on mind-body typology to balance an invisible vitalism. Medicine and literature has recently established itself as an engaging and complementary-paired field in the humanities. This study contributes to the maturing interdisciplinary field by contemplating a famous author and some of his character portrayals from a medical or health perspective. This study of the writer and his fictional people suggests that the unorthodox ideology of homeopathy continued to play a role in the culture through literature, even as it lacked legitimate authority from the newly established medical community

Examining the relationship between home literacy environment and neural correlates of phonological processing in beginning readers with and without a familial risk for dyslexia: an fMRI study

Developmental dyslexia is a language-based learning disability characterized by persistent difficulty in learning to read. While an understanding of genetic contributions is emerging, the ways the environment affects brain functioning in children with developmental dyslexia are poorly understood. A relationship between the home literacy environment (HLE) and neural correlates of reading has been identified in typically developing children, yet it remains unclear whether similar effects are observable in children with a genetic predisposition for dyslexia. Understanding environmental contributions is important given that we do not understand why some genetically at-risk children do not develop dyslexia. Here we investigate for the first time the relationship between HLE and the neural correlates of phonological processing in beginning readers with (FHD+, n=29) and without (FHD−, n=21) a family history of developmental dyslexia. We controlled for socio-economic status to isolate the neurobiological mechanism by which HLE affects reading development. Group differences revealed stronger correlation of HLE with brain activation in the left inferior/middle frontal and right fusiform gyri in FHD− compared to FHD+ children, suggesting greater impact of HLE on manipulation of phonological codes and recruitment of orthographic representations in typically developing children. In contrast, activation in the right precentral gyrus showed a significantly stronger correlation with HLE in FHD+ compared to FHD− children, suggesting emerging compensatory networks in genetically at-risk children. Overall, our results suggest that genetic predisposition for dyslexia alters contributions of HLE to early reading skills before formal reading instruction, which has important implications for educational practice and intervention models

Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline: Comprehensive Pediatric Eye and Vision Examination

Republished with the written permission granted from the American Optometric Association, October 2, 2020. Developed by the AOA Evidence-Based Optometry Guideline Development Group Approved by the AOA Board of Trustees February 12, 2017 Diane T. Adamczyk, O.D., Chair – State University of New York, College of Optometry, New York, New York John F. Amos, O.D., M.S. – University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry, Birmingham, Alabama, Dean and Professor Emeritus Felix M. Barker, II, O.D., M.S. – W. G. (Bill) Hefner VAMC, Salisbury, North Carolina Benjamin P. Casella, OD – Private Practice – Casella Eye Center, Augusta, Georgia Linda M. Chous, O.D. – United HealthCare Services, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota Lynn D. Greenspan, O.D. – Salus University, Pennsylvania College of Optometry, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania Lori L. Grover, O.D., Ph.D. – Health Policy, King-Devick Technologies, Inc., Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois Tina R. MacDonald, O.D. – The Center for the Partially Sighted, Culver City, California Harue J. Marsden, O.D., M.S. – Southern California College of Optometry, Marshall B. Ketchum University, Fullerton, California David K. Masihdas, O.D. – Utah Eye Associates - The Diabetic Eye Center, Salt Lake City, Utah Bennett McAllister, O.D. – Western University of Health Sciences, College of Optometry, Pomona, California Trennda L. Rittenbach, O.D. – Palo Alto Medical Foundation/Sutter Health, Sunnyvale, California Carl J. Urbanski, O.D. – Private Practice, Family Vision Care of Kingston, Kingston, Pennsylvania Multidisciplinary and Patient Stakeholders Ida Chung, O.D. – Western University of Health Sciences, College of Optometry, Pomona, California Beth T. Dessem – Patient Advocate; Missouri CASA Association, Columbia, Missouri David E. Hartenbach, M.D. – Pediatrician; Creve Coeur Pediatrics, Creve Coeur, Missouri Janet Hughes – Patient (parent); Vision First Foundation, Lemont, Illinois Mitchell M. Scheiman, O.D. – Salus University, The Eye Institute of Pennsylvania College of Optometry, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania Non-voting Members Stephen C. Miller, O.D., Chief Editor - Innovative Writing Works, St. Louis, Missouri Beth A. Kneib, O.D., AOA Director of Clinical Resources, American Optometric Association, St. Louis, Missouri Andrew Morgenstern, O.D., AOA Consultant for Evidence-Based Optometry, American Optometric Association, Alexandria, VA Danette Miller, AOA Manager of Quality Improvement, American Optometric Association, St. Louis, Missouri Alisa G. Krewet, AOA Quality Improvement Coordinator, American Optometric Association, St. Louis, Missour