A Common Left Occipito-Temporal Dysfunction in Developmental Dyslexia and Acquired Letter-By-Letter Reading?

We used fMRI to examine functional brain abnormalities of German-speaking dyslexics who suffer from slow effortful reading but not from a reading accuracy problem. Similar to acquired cases of letter-by-letter reading, the developmental cases exhibited an abnormal strong effect of length (i.e., number of letters) on response time for words and pseudowords.Corresponding to lesions of left occipito-temporal (OT) regions in acquired cases, we found a dysfunction of this region in our developmental cases who failed to exhibit responsiveness of left OT regions to the length of words and pseudowords. This abnormality in the left OT cortex was accompanied by absent responsiveness to increased sublexical reading demands in phonological inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) regions. Interestingly, there was no abnormality in the left superior temporal cortex which--corresponding to the onological deficit explanation--is considered to be the prime locus of the reading difficulties of developmental dyslexia cases.The present functional imaging results suggest that developmental dyslexia similar to acquired letter-by-letter reading is due to a primary dysfunction of left OT regions

Using digital environments to address students\u2019 mathematical learning difficulties

The need to deal with different cognitive necessities of students in the mathematical classroom, and in particular of students who persistently fail in mathematics, frequently referred to as "having mathematical learning difficulties or disabilities" (MLD), has become an important topic of research in mathematics education and in cognitive psychology. Though frameworks for analyzing students' difficulties and/or for designing inclusive activities are still quite fragmentary, the literature rather consistently suggests that technology can support the learning of students with different learning characteristics. The focus of this chapter is on providing insight into this issue by proposing analyses of specific software with a double perspective. We will analyze design features of the selected software, based on the potential support these can provide to students' learning processes, in particular those of students classified as having MLD. We will also analyze some interactions that actually occurred between students and the software, highlighting important qualitative results from recent studies in which we have been involved

Quality of Life for 19,114 participants in the ASPREE (ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly) study and their association with sociodemographic and modifiable lifestyle risk factors

Purpose: To explore the relationship between sociodemographic and lifestyle variables with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of a large cohort of ‘healthy’ older individuals. Methods: The sample included individuals aged 65+ years from Australia (N = 16,703) and the USA (N = 2411) enrolled in the ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) multicentre placebo-controlled trial study and free of cardiovascular disease, dementia, serious physical disabilities or ‘fatal’ illnesses. The associations with the physical (PCS) and mental component scores (MCS) of HRQoL (SF-12 questionnaire) were explored using multiple linear regression models from data collected at baseline (2010–2014). Results: The adjusted PCS mean was slightly higher in the USA (49.5 ± 9.1) than Australia (48.2 ± 11.6; p < 0.001), but MCS was similar in both samples (55.7 ± 7.5 and 55.7 ± 9.6, respectively; p = 0.603). Males, younger participants, better educated, more active individuals, or those currently drinking 1–2 alcoholic drinks/day showed a better HRQoL (results more evident for PCS than MCS), while current heavy smokers had the lowest physical HRQoL in both countries. Neither age, walking time, nor alcohol intake was associated with MCS in either cohort. Conclusions: Baseline HRQoL of ASPREE participants was higher than that reported in population-based studies of older individuals, but the associations between sociodemographic and lifestyle variables were consistent with the published literature. As the cohort ages and develops chronic diseases, ASPREE will be able to document HRQoL changes