scholarly journals On the Supportive Role of the Warnke Method in Improving the Phonological Competence of a Bilingual Girl

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 498
Author(s):  
Ewa Brzdęk ◽  
Janusz Brzdęk
Keyword(s):  
Family Environment ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Her Family ◽  
Brain Hemispheres ◽  
Central Processing ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Visual Motor

It is known that bilingualism may cause some specific problems with the articulation of sounds and errors in reading and writing when acquiring linguistic skills. The paper presents the results and conclusions related to the use of the Warnke method in improving the phonological competence of a bilingual girl aged seven, which learned two languages simultaneously (Polish and Italian) in her family environment. The case study method was used. The main objective was to assess the effectiveness of the first stage of the Warnke method in improving reading and writing skills in a bilingual child. The Warnke method focuses primarily on the diagnosis and training of the phonological competence and was based on the following assumptions: (a) the automation of hearing, vision, and motor functions can be improved at the level of brain activity; (b) the development and automation of phonological analysis and synthesis are based on the cooperation of the brain hemispheres. The preliminary and final results of the diagnosis obtained for basic brain functions (visual, motor, and auditory) and the level of literacy skills were analyzed and compared. The reading and writing abilities, before and after training with the Warnke method, were assessed using the symptomatic tests. The obtained results showed that during and after training with the method, there was noticeable progress in eight basic functions (visual, motor and auditory). Improvement was also seen in the following areas: knowledge of letters; pairing phonemes with letters; technique, speed, and fluency of reading and writing. The quality of reading and writing was verified and confirmed by symptomatic tests. The conducted study suggests that the observed learning disabilities were caused by deficits in the central processing functions, which resulted in a lower level of phonological skills.

scholarly journals Effects of Transpulmonary Administration of Caffeine on Brain Activity in Healthy Men

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazutaka Ueda ◽  
Masayuki Nakao
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Theta Band ◽  
Healthy Men ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Right ◽  
Band Activity

The present study aimed to examine the effect of transpulmonary administration of caffeine on working memory and related brain functions by electroencephalography measurement. The participants performed working memory tasks before and after vaporizer-assisted aspiration with inhalation of caffeinated- and non-caffeinated liquids in the caffeine and sham conditions, respectively. Transpulmonary administration of caffeine tended to increase the rate of correct answers. Moreover, our findings suggest that transpulmonary administration of caffeine increases the theta-band activity in the right prefrontal, central, and temporal areas during the task assigned post-aspiration. Our results may indicate an efficient and fast means of eliciting the stimulatory effects of transpulmonary administration of caffeine.

scholarly journals The Warnke Method for the Diagnosis and Improvement of Phonological Competence in Special Needs Children

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 127
Author(s):  
Ewa Brzdęk ◽  
Janusz Brzdęk
Keyword(s):  
Special Needs ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Final Diagnosis ◽  
Children With Special Needs ◽  
Special Needs Children ◽  
Linguistic Communication ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Brain Hemispheres ◽  
Analysis And Synthesis ◽  
The One

Speech, reading, and writing are the basic forms of linguistic communication. Therefore, it is very important to diagnose any problems with them as early and completely as possible, particularly in children with special needs. One of the methods that focuses primarily on the diagnosis and therapy of such learning difficulties is the one developed by Fred Warnke. The diagnostic solutions of the method were motivated by the following assumptions: (a) Automation of hearing, vision, and motor functions can be improved based on the level of brain activity; (b) the development and automation of phonological analysis and synthesis are based on cooperation between the two brain hemispheres. The main purpose of this paper is to present and discuss some research results that show the usefulness of diagnosis of the first stage of the Warnke method, as well as the training determined by it, in improving the phonological memory, language, and reading and writing skills of a group of four Polish children with special needs. The range of automation of each function was estimated on the basis of the values obtained in the diagnoses (initial and final). The final diagnosis showed an improvement in the levels of speech, reading, and writing. Thus, the research has confirmed that the Warnke method diagnosis may help to broaden and complement the standard evaluation methods of phonological competence for Polish children with special needs. The outcomes were so encouraging that we decided to present them to a wider audience.

scholarly journals Fat label compared with fat content: gastrointestinal symptoms and brain activity in functional dyspepsia patients and healthy controls

2018 ◽  
Vol 108 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
In-Seon Lee ◽  
Stephanie Kullmann ◽  
Klaus Scheffler ◽  
Hubert Preissl ◽  
Paul Enck
Keyword(s):  
Functional Dyspepsia ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Fat Content ◽  
Food Craving ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
High Fat ◽  
Low Fat ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Dyspeptic Symptoms ◽  
Before And After

ABSTRACT Background High-fat meals are associated with dyspeptic symptoms in functional dyspepsia (FD) patients. It is still unclear how fat is processed, or how FD symptoms and neuronal activities are modulated by psychological factors. Objective We investigated brain activity by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) after the ingestion of high- and low-fat foods with correct/incorrect fat information. Design We compared 12 FD patients and 14 healthy controls (HCs). We recorded resting-state fMRI on four different days before and after ingestion of four yogurts (200 mL, 10% or 0.1% fat, “low fat” or “high fat” label). Results FD patients showed more pronounced dyspeptic symptoms than did HCs, and symptoms were relieved less after consuming high fat–labeled yogurt than low fat–labeled yogurt, irrespective of the actual fat content. This is indicative of either a placebo effect of low-fat information or a nocebo effect of high-fat information on symptom expression. FD patients showed greater activity than did HCs in occipital areas before and after ingestion regardless of fat content and label, as well as greater activity in the middle frontal gyrus before ingestion. In addition, functional connectivity (FC) from the insula to the occipital cortex (I-O) increased after high fat ingestion and decreased after low fat ingestion in FD patients. FC from the insula to the precuneus (I-P) was higher in FD patients than in HCs after ingestion of low fat–labeled yogurt. In FD patients, I-O FC negatively correlated with nausea and I-P FC with FD symptom intensity, food craving, and depression. Conclusions Our results endorse the importance of psychological perception of food on the incidence of dyspeptic symptoms and on the altered brain activities. These findings show the importance of cognitive components in perceptions of fat, food craving, depression, and brain functions in pathophysiologic mechanisms of FD. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02618070.

scholarly journals Effects of Spatial Memory Processing on Hippocampal Ripples

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Lachner-Piza ◽  
Lukas Kunz ◽  
Armin Brandt ◽  
Matthias Dümpelmann ◽  
Aljoscha Thomschewski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Memory ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Spatial Navigation ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Interictal Spikes ◽  
Navigation Task ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Surgical Evaluation ◽  
Oscillatory Brain Activity

Human High-Frequency-Oscillations (HFO) in the ripple band are oscillatory brain activity in the frequency range between 80 and 250 Hz. HFOs may comprise different subgroups that either play a role in physiologic or pathologic brain functions. An exact differentiation between physiologic and pathologic HFOs would help elucidate their relevance for cognitive and epileptogenic brain mechanisms, but the criteria for differentiating between physiologic and pathologic HFOs remain controversial. In particular, the separation of pathologic HFOs from physiologic HFOs could improve the identification of epileptogenic brain regions during the pre-surgical evaluation of epilepsy patients. In this study, we performed intracranial electroencephalography recordings from the hippocampus of epilepsy patients before, during, and after the patients completed a spatial navigation task. We isolated hippocampal ripples from the recordings and categorized the ripples into the putative pathologic group iesRipples, when they coincided with interictal spikes, and the putative physiologic group isolRipples, when they did not coincide with interictal spikes. We found that the occurrence of isolRipples significantly decreased during the task as compared to periods before and after the task. The rate of iesRipples was not modulated by the task. In patients who completed the spatial navigation task on two consecutive days, we furthermore examined the occurrence of ripples in the intervening night. We found that the rate of ripples that coincided with sleep spindles and were therefore putatively physiologic correlated with the performance improvement on the spatial navigation task, whereas the rate of all ripples did not show this relationship. Together, our results suggest that the differentiation of HFOs into putative physiologic and pathologic subgroups may help identify their role for spatial memory and memory consolidation processes. Conversely, excluding putative physiologic HFOs from putative pathologic HFOs may improve the HFO-based identification of epileptogenic brain regions in future studies.

Mortal Body, Immortal Mind

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-26
Author(s):  
Hans Goller
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
The Body ◽  
Activity Data ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Body Experiences ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Near Death Experiences ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Alternative Theories

Neuroscientists keep telling us that the brain produces consciousness and consciousness does not survive brain death because it ceases when brain activity ceases. Research findings on near-death-experiences during cardiac arrest contradict this widely held conviction. They raise perplexing questions with regard to our current understanding of the relationship between consciousness and brain functions. Reports on veridical perceptions during out-of-body experiences suggest that consciousness may be experienced independently of a functioning brain and that self-consciousness may continue even after the termination of brain activity. Data on studies of near-death-experiences could be an incentive to develop alternative theories of the body-mind relation as seen in contemporary neuroscience.

THE POSSIBILITY OF LINKING SPONTANEOUS AND INDUCED NEUROCOGNITIVE PLASTICITY: CAN COGNITIVE TRAINING INFLUENCE COMPENSATORY BRAIN ACTIVITY IN OLDER ADULTS? THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL PREMISES

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 507-523
Author(s):  
Ludmiła Zając-Lamparska
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Study Design ◽  
Successful Aging ◽  
Reference Group ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Theory Of Aging

One of the most important determinants of successful aging is cognitive ability. Although cognitive decline is a well-documented phenomenon characteristic of aging, it is acknowledged that aging can also be related to cognitive neuroplasticity that allows one to compensate the decline and adapt to it. Cognitive neuroplasticity may be spontaneous or induced by external influences. An example of the former is compensatory brain activity in older adults, and the latter – improvement in cognitive functioning under the influence of cognitive training. Both the compensatory brain activity of older adults and the effectiveness of cognitive training in this age group have already been extensively studied. However, it has not yet been examined whether they can be linked. The article indicates theoretical and empirical premises for the possibility of influencing compensatory brain activity in older adults by cognitive training. In the most comprehensive way the phenomenon of compensatory brain activity in older adults is addressed by the STAC model – the Scaffolding Theory of Aging and Cognition, which also provides the theoretical grounds for the possible impact of cognitive training on compensatory brain activity. There are also empirical arguments in favour of such an impact, but they are quite limited in nature. The reason for this is the lack of research directly addressing the problem of the consistency of brain activity changes resulting from cognitive training with the assumptions of compensatory brain activity models, such as STAC. The theoretical grounds for the linkage of compensatory brain activity in older adults with the influence of cognitive training are clear. However, the analysis of the studies discussed in the article suggests that failing to embed the study design within the theoretical framework of compensatory brain activity in older adults may lead to the exclusion of factors important in drawing conclusions about this phenomenon. The following elements of the study design were identified as necessary to include: participation of young adults in the study as a reference group, usage of tasks in different difficulty levels during the measurement of brain activity and consideration of the relation between brain activity and cognitive performance, and comparison of brain activity in relation to cognitive performance before and after training in both, older and young adults.

scholarly journals Effects of Virtual Reality Immersion and Audiovisual Distraction Techniques for Patients with Pruritus

2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 283-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Leibovici ◽  
Florella Magora ◽  
Sarale Cohen ◽  
Arieh Ingber
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Atopic Dermatitis ◽  
Psoriasis Vulgaris ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Computer Game ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Chronic Pruritus ◽  
Subjective Reports ◽  
Advanced Computer

BACKGROUND: Virtual reality immersion (VRI), an advanced computer-generated technique, decreased subjective reports of pain in experimental and procedural medical therapies. Furthermore, VRI significantly reduced pain-related brain activity as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging. Resemblance between anatomical and neuroendocrine pathways of pain and pruritus may prove VRI to be a suitable adjunct for basic and clinical studies of the complex aspects of pruritus.OBJECTIVES: To compare effects of VRI with audiovisual distraction (AVD) techniques for attenuation of pruritus in patients with atopic dermatitis and psoriasis vulgaris.METHODS: Twenty-four patients suffering from chronic pruritus – 16 due to atopic dermatitis and eight due to psoriasis vulgaris – were randomly assigned to play an interactive computer game using a special visor or a computer screen. Pruritus intensity was self-rated before, during and 10 min after exposure using a visual analogue scale ranging from 0 to 10. The interviewer rated observed scratching on a three-point scale during each distraction program.RESULTS: Student’sttests were significant for reduction of pruritus intensity before and during VRI and AVD (P=0.0002 and P=0.01, respectively) and were significant only between ratings before and after VRI (P=0.017). Scratching was mostly absent or mild during both programs.CONCLUSIONS: VRI and AVD techniques demonstrated the ability to diminish itching sensations temporarily. Further studies on the immediate and late effects of interactive computer distraction techniques to interrupt itching episodes will open potential paths for future pruritus research.

scholarly journals A Systematic Approach to Spanish Neuropsychological Evaluation: Case Report with a Mexican Woman in an Outpatient Setting

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 1291-1291
Author(s):  
P Rivera ◽  
K Savage ◽  
A Ball
Keyword(s):  
Formal Education ◽  
Systematic Approach ◽  
The United States ◽  
Test Construction ◽  
Outpatient Setting ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Neuropsychological Evaluation ◽  
Her Family ◽  
Mexican Woman ◽  
The Family

Abstract Objective The following case will demonstrate a systematic approach to neuropsychological evaluation with Spanish-speaking individuals, which includes creating a suitable test battery, interpreting results with appropriate normative samples, and incorporating personal history. Case Description 61-year-old, right-handed, Mexican female with 2 years of formal education, and with a recent history of subarachnoid hemorrhage with hydrocephalus. She was referred by her social worker and primary care provider to discern whether the reported cognitive complaints were due to a neurocognitive condition or depression. Diagnostic Impressions and Outcomes The evaluation was administered entirely in Spanish and some exams were modified to accommodate her limited literacy skills. She exhibited deficits in executive functioning, verbal fluency, and memory. Emotional testing revealed moderate depression with anxious distress, which she attributed to significant changes in everyday life. Her family informed us that she was the “matriarch of the family” and worked as a farm field truck driver, with significant difficulties/lack of engagement in both of these roles. Therefore, diagnoses of probable major vascular neurocognitive disorder and major depressive disorder with anxious distress were assigned. With this information, her providers were able to connect the family with community resources. Discussion The Hispanic population continues to be the fastest growing demographic in the United States. As more clinicians will work with members of this ethnicity in outpatient settings, it is important that they incorporate culturally-relevant factors in their approach to testing and interpretation of results. Nonetheless, this case demonstrates the current challenges and limitations, including modification of exams, differences in educational system that underlie test construction, and patient’s history. Recommendations for future areas of study and practice will also be discussed.

scholarly journals Boys Don't Read - It's True!

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Skuy
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Publishing Industry ◽  
Harry Potter ◽  
Geographic Region ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Book Series ◽  
Demographic Group ◽  
Grade Levels ◽  
Spiritual Impact

Few educational experts would disagree that school-aged boys are falling behind their female counterparts in terms of reading and writing, a gap that both increases with grade levels, and has increased in recent years. Recent studies suggest this trend is not isolated to one geographic region or demographic group. It is all boys across North America and Europe. As a father of a seven-year old son, I worry about my son reading as he gets older. As an author of a Young Adult book series for boys, I worry if there is a market for my books. By the time high school hits over half of all boys describe themselves as non-readers. To make matters worse, the publishing industry has figured this out - and 'Boy Books' have disappeared from the shelves (apart from Harry Potter and its legions of copycats). The economic impact of poor literacy skills for half the population is self-evident. The spiritual impact of a child deprived of one of the great pleasures in life is less obvious, but perhaps even more detrimental to society.

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