The Dynamic Maturation Process of the Brain Structures, Visual System and Their Connections to the Structures of the Prefrontal Cortex during 4–6 Years of Age

The chapter summarizes an author’s research in the field of child neuropsychology, devoted to the dynamics of non-verbal visual gnosis in 365 children aged 4–6 with typical development. Data from a study of perceptual operations in difficult conditions (a sample to identify incomplete images), the deficits in which they are considered as a predictor of dyslexia, are analyzed. Against the backdrop of a predominantly analytical (left brain) strategy in the processing of visual incentives, a progressive improvement in the holistic (right brain) strategy was also noted, especially in children aged 6. The positive dynamics of identifying visual stimuli in difficult conditions by integrating distinct signs in the 4–6-year period is explained both by the activation of the holistic processing strategy and by the increasing participation of the prefrontal cortex in the functioning of the complex forms of non-verbal visual gnosis

Characteristics for Functional Brain Asymmetry of Children With Pseudobulbar Dysartria

The article raises important problem of the causes of functional brain asymmetry and interhemispheric interaction of children with pseudobulbar dysarthria. The left hemisphere is dominant in relation to speech function for the absolute majority of people. Therefore, the physiological process for forming distribution of functions between hemispheres in ontogeny is important not only from the point of the correct speech development as the highest mental function but also reflects on the wide spectrum of psyche features, perception and cognitive processes, adaptive capabilities of the organism, control over involuntary behavior. There are 40 children with a normal speech development and with a clinical diagnosis of ‘pseudobulbar dysarthria’, determine a lateral phenotype, calculate coefficients of functional asymmetry, and the most common types of violations identify of higher cortical functions. Confirmed information on the prevalence for the right hemispheric dominance among children with speech disorders. The most common types of violations in higher cortical functions are the failure of phonemic analysis and auditory memory. Keywords: functional asymmetry, interhemispheric actions, children, pseudobulbar dysarthri

Experience in the Organization of the Neuropsychological Support of Children with Mental Retardation in Comprehensive Secondary Schools

Over the years, the neuropsychological approach has proven its validity and effectiveness as a differential-diagnostic, prognostic, preventive and corrective tool for working with different groups of children. But it has not yet entered the wide practice of teachers and psychologists of secondary schools. The purpose of our work is the organization of neuropsychological support of children with mental retardation in a secondary school. As a result of neuropsychological diagnostics for each first grader the individual neuropsychological profile is made. The main directions of correction work are defined and realized. The main attention is paid to the development of spatial notions, which are key in teaching reading, writing and counting. As a result, the positive dynamics in the development of all levels of spatial notions – from the notions of the body to quasi-dimensional notions - is shown. This helped children overcome their training maladjustment. As a result of our work, it hasalso become possible to achieve the introduction of neuropsychological support in the daily educational process, to provide school teachers with basic algorithms of neuropsychological support of learning processes. Keywords: neuropsychological support, mental retardation, spatial notion

Review of Edward Branigan, Narrative Comprehension and Film. London and New York: Routledge, 1992. (Distributed by the Law Book Company Ltd.). 325pp. ISBN 0415075114. (pbk), $45.00.

If Point of View in the Cinema introduced its author as one of the leading film analysts by its attention to the details of the process of cinematic presentation, Narrative Comprehension and Film establishes Edward Branigan as a creative theorist beyond the boundaries of film. The book's voice is that of a craftsman speaking from his workshop. No deconstructive symplok and certainly no rhetorical terrorism. Instead, we find a certain modesty of style, which is deceptive considering that Branigan offers a great deal of substance and a range of attractive speculative insights. The author's mastery of technical intricacies within the broader frame of general narrative makes Narrative Comprehension and Film an outstanding teaching book for film studies as well as other disciplines in the humanities. What makes it especially appealing is its careful elaboration of an inferential account of how we make sense of narrative. For this and other reasons, it is well worth paying closer attention than is perhaps usual for a review article to how the book's argument unfolds and in particular to how it manages to relate the double argument about narrative in film and human perception as interpretive construals

A study of certain psychological functions of the human brain.

Thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Medicine at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.WHSLYP201

The Hermetic Enigma of a Protean Poet: Gnosis and the Puritanical Error in Shakespeare\u27s Venus and Adonis

This thesis offers a study of Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis (and by extension Lucrece) that builds on Ted Hughes’s claim that they function as two halves of a binary whole.[1] Tracing a contrapuntal surface symmetry between the poems, Hughes argues that Venus and Adonis encodes the founding myth of Catholicism and Lucrece that of Puritanism; the poems together convey the great metaphysical war between these two oppositional forces that so haunted Elizabethan England.[2] Critics have dismissed Shakespeare’s mythological references as mere “poet’s argot,” yet I shall build on Hughes’s reading of this ‘argot’ as “a sacred symbolic language in itself” to show how Venus and Adonis embodies a coherent system of signification that encrypts the archetypal conflict, not ultimately between Protestantism and Catholicism, but rather between two diametrically opposed hermeneutical tendencies: on the side of Venus, that of the broadly ‘Gnostic’ (the highly syncretic, ever-allegorizing, esoteric knowledge-seeking) tradition; and on the side of Adonis, that of the broadly ‘Puritan’ (the rigidly dogmatic, Protestant Biblical literalist) tradition.[3] [1] Ted Hughes, Shakespeare and the Goddess of Complete Being (Faber, 1992), 82. [2] Hughes, 90. [3] Hughes, 57

Richard P. Bunge memorial lecture. Nerve injury and repair--a challenge to the plastic brain.

Repair and reconstruction of major nerve trunks in the upper extremity is a very challenging surgical problem. Today, there is no surgical repair technique that can assure recovery of tactile discrimination in the hand of an adult patient following nerve repair. In contrast, young individuals usually attain a complete recovery of functional sensibility. The outcome from nerve repair depends mainly on central nervous system factors including functional cortical reorganizational processes caused by misdirection in axonal outgrowth. Deafferentation due to local anesthetic block, amputation or nerve transection in the upper extremity leads to very rapid cortical synaptic remodeling, resulting in a distorted cortical hand representation as well as in enlarged and overlapping cortical receptive fields. Sensory relearning programs are aimed at refinement of these receptive fields to normalize the distorted hand map and improve processing at a high-order cortical level in the context of the 'new language spoken by the hand'. As peripheral nerve repair techniques cannot be further refined, there is a need for new and improved strategies for sensory relearning following nerve repair. We propose the utilization of multimodal capacity of the brain, using another sense (hearing) to substitute for lost hand sensation and to provide an alternate sensory input from the hand early after transection. The purpose was to modulate cortical reorganizations due to deafferentation to preserve cortical hand representation. Preliminary results from a prospective clinical randomized study indicate that the use of a Sensor Glove System, which stereophonically transposes the friction sound elicited by active touch, results in improved recovery of tactile discrimination in the nerve-injured hand. Future strategies for treatment of nerve injuries should promote cellular methods to minimize post-traumatic nerve cell death and to improve axonal outgrowth rate and orientation, but high on the agenda are new strategies for refined sensory relearning following nerve repair

Competências matemáticas emergentes : desempenho neuropsicológico de crianças em cidade pré-escolar = emergent math skills : neuropsychological performance in prescholl - aged children

O presente trabalho insere-se no âmbito do emergente campo científico da Neurociência Educacional (também conhecida como Neuroeducação) e está organizado em duas principais abordagens, nas quais se estudam duas populações diferentes. A primeira abordagem subscreve a recomendação internacional sobre a importância de adotar uma visão da neurociência educacional para resolver alguns dos problemas educacionais. Nesta linha, uma pesquisa nacional foi realizada para analisar o conhecimento neurocientífico dos professores e as suas percepções sobre o significado da “ponte” entre a neurociência e a educação. Assim, dois estudos originais foram projetados para fornecer informação sobre o conhecimento dos professores e as suas crenças sobre o recente campo científico da neurociência educacional. Neste caso, a amostra coletada foi junto de professores do ensino pré-escolar ao ensino secundário [Estudo 1: Amostra com 627 professores de diferentes áreas de especialização com idades entre 25 e 65 anos (M = 41, DP = 9); Estudo 2: Participaram 583 professores com idades entre 25 e 61 anos (M = 41, DP = 9)]. A segunda abordagem refere-se à avaliação neuropsicológica e aborda um dos principais problemas atribuídos pela comunidade científica – os escassos instrumentos de medida (adaptados para o Português) para avaliar vários domínios neuropsicológicos. Três estudos experimentais foram realizados e um protocolo de avaliação neuropsicológica foi desenvolvido para este fim. Funções executivas, memória de trabalho visual-espacial, contagem dos dedos, percepção de pequenas quantidades sem proceder à contagem (subitizing) e a habilidade de usar funcionalmente os dedos e de os representar mentalmente (finger gnosis) foram os domínios trabalhados, a partir dos quais foram analisadas as suas relações com as competências matemáticas emergentes. Aqui, a população estudada foram crianças com idade pré-escolar [Estudo 3: Amostra composta por 137 crianças dos 3 aos 5 anos (M = 60, DP = 9; em meses); Estudo 4: Os participantes foram 30 crianças com 5 anos de idade ( 60-71 meses, M = 68, DP = 2.78 ); Estudo 5: Participaram 35 crianças com 5 anos de idade (M = 67.26, DP = 5.43), em meses]. Cada grupo de estudos experimentais, ou seja, os estudos correspondentes a cada abordagem, foram precedidos por revisões de literatura. Assim, são três os objetivos estruturais desta tese doutoral: (i) determinar se as perspectivas dos professores sobre a relação entre neurociência e educação (e seu conhecimento neurocientífico) dá a este campo científico a importância merecida (Estudos 1&2), (ii) adaptar para o Português o teste The Shape School para a sua utilização com crianças pré-escolares (Estudo 3), (iii) determinar se as capacidades matemáticas emergentes (pelo sistema do número aproximado e pelo conhecimento numérico) de crianças com idade pré-escolar é facilitada pelas funções executivas, memória de trabalho visuo-espacial, contagem de dedos, subitizing e a habilidade de usar funcionalmente os dedos (Estudos 4&5). Quanto aos resultados obtidos, na primeira abordagem, os estudos 1 e 2 fornecem evidências do interesse dos professores e do seu reconhecimento sobre o potencial da investigação neurocientífica na educação. No entanto, verificou-se também uma lacuna entre este interesse demonstrado e a proficiência na interpretação de informação científica, uma vez que os professores mostraram dificuldade em distinguir mitos de factos neurocientíficos. Os mitos “inteligências múltiplas”, “ensino dirigido aos estilos de aprendizagem (modelo VAK-Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthesic)” e “lado esquerdo do cérebro contra o lado direito do cérebro” foram os mais prevalentes. Os estudos desenvolvidos destacaram a importância de um processo de translação para que professores e neurocientistas possam colaborar. Em relação à avaliação neuropsicológica, ou seja, a segunda abordagem aqui tratada, os resultados do estudo 3 permitiram obter a adaptação Portuguesa do teste The Shape School que se revelou adequado para utilização quer em investigação, quer em contextos educacionais e clínicos. Com os estudos 4 e 5 identificaram-se os componentes que se relacionam com as competências matemáticas emergentes, destacando-se as funções executivas, subitizing e finger gnosis como preditores do conhecimento numérico. Assim, os vários estudos realizados neste âmbito suportam a necessidade de avaliação precoce dos domínios neuropsicológicos analisados, visto que parecem contribuir para uma melhor caracterização das competências matemáticas emergentes em crianças com idade pré-escolar. Considerando todos os resultados no seu conjunto, as conclusões destacam a necessidade de validade científica para a reforma do ensino, em geral, e para a educação da matemática, em particular, sob o campo da neurociência educacionalThe present work falls within the emerging field of Educational Neuroscience and is organized around two main approaches, studying two different populations. The first approach subscribes the international recommendation concerning the importance to adopt an educational neuroscience view to solving some of the educational problems. In this line, a national research was conducted to analyse the teacher’s neuroscientific knowledge and their perceptions about the “neuroscience-education bridge” meaning. Thus, two original researches were designed to analyse the teachers’ knowledge and beliefs concerning educational neuroscience. In this case, the sample collected was the Portuguese teachers from preschool to high school [Study 1: Sample with 627 teachers with ages ranged between 25 and 65 years (M=41; SD=9); Study 2: Participated 583 teachers from different areas of expertise, aged between 25 and 61 years (M=41; SD=9)]. The second approach refers to the neuropsychological assessment and addresses one of the main problems assigned by the research community – the few tools (adapted to Portuguese) to evaluate several neuropsychological domains. Three experimental studies were performed and a neuropsychological assessment protocol was developed for this purpose. Executive functions, visual-spatial working memory, finger counting, finger gnosis and subitizing were the studied domains, which were then correlated with early number knowledge. Here, the population studied was the Portuguese preschool-aged children [Study 3: Sample composed of 137 children from 3 to 5 years (M=60; SD=9; in months); Study 4: Participants were 30 children with 5 years-old (60-71 months; M=68, SD=2.78); Study 5: Collected 35 children with 5 years-old (M=67.26, SD=5.43), in months]. Each group of experimental studies, i.e., concerning each approach, were preceded by literature reviews. Therefore, the structural goals of this thesis are threefold: (i) determine whether the Portuguese teachers’ perspectives on the relationship between neuroscience and education (and their neuroscientific knowledge) gives to this field the significance deserved (Studies 1&2); (ii) adapt The Shape School test for the use of Portuguese preschoolers (Study 3); (iii) determine whether the emergent mathematical ability (by the approximate number system and the number knowledge) of Portuguese preschoolers is facilitated by the executive functions, visual-spatial working memory, finger counting, subitizing and finger gnosis (Studies 4&5). Concerning the findings, in the first approach, present studies provide evidence of the teachers’ interest and acknowledge of the potential of neuroscientific information in education, but also found a gap between their interest and proficiency in the interpretation of scientific information, since they showed difficulty of distinguishing myths from facts. Regarding the neuropsychological assessment, i.e., the second approach discussed here, the current studies support the need for early assessment of the components abilities analysed, which seem to contribute to a better characterisation of emerging numeracy skills in preschoolers. Taken all together, the conclusions highlight the need of scientific validity for reforming education, in general, and mathematics education, in particular, under the field of educational neuroscienc

THE LABYRINTH OF PHILOSOPHY IN ISLAM

This paper focuses on the methodological issues related to the obstacles and potential horizons of approaching the philosophical traditions in Islam from the standpoint of comparative studies in philosophy, while also presenting selected case-studies that may potentially illustrate some of the possibilities of renewing the impetus of a philosophical thought that is inspired by Islamic intellectual history. This line of inquiry is divided into two parts: the first deals with questions of methodology, and the second focuses on ontology and phenomenology of perception, by way of offering pathways in investigating the history of philosophical and scientific ideas in Islam from the viewpoint of contemporary debates in philosophy. A special emphasis will be placed on: (a) interpreting the ontology of the eleventh century metaphysician Ibn Sina (known in Latin as: Avicenna; d. 1037 CE) in terms of rethinking Heidegger\u27s critique of the history of metaphysics, and (b) analyzing the philosophical implications of the theory of vision of the eleventh century polymath Ibn al-Haytham (known in Latin as Alhazen; d. ca. 1041 CE) in terms of reflecting on Merleau-Ponty\u27s phenomenology of perception

Integral gnosis and the material other

In this article, I look at Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory as mimesis. This invites me to look at Integral Theory in three ways. First, I look at Integral Theory as process of making materialistic alterity, thus maintaining and fortifying the spirituality of the self. Second, I look at it from the perspective of the dialectics of epistemologies of estrangement and intimacy, raising questions concerning the legitimacy of the juxtaposing interpretative and explanatory approaches to culture. Third, I look at it from a social perspective, as a powerful instance of modern mimesis that creates a typically modern history. I will show how Integral Theory is grounded in the modern intuition of agency being distinct from and superior to the outer material world. To the extent that cultural agency has to materialize in some form, so does Integral Theory. My aim is to recall the close relations of scientific discourse with spirituality, even with magic and even more importantly, I want to show how supposedly secular intuitions of identity and agency bear strong potential for spiritual and religious discourse.