10% Students may have working memory problems: Why does it matter?

MAY 10, 2009 By: Dr. Tracy Alloway Work­ing mem­ory is our abil­ity to store and manip­u­late infor­ma­tion for a brief time. It is typ­i­cally mea­sured by dual-tasks, where the indi­vid­ual has to remem­ber an item while simul­ta­ne­ously pro­cess­ing a some­times unre­lated piece of infor­ma­tion. A widely used work­ing mem­ory task is the read­ing span task...

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Many struggling pupils suffer from poor memory - report

Anthea Lipsett Education Guardian,   Thursday 28 February 2008  Children who under-achieve at school may just have a poor working memory rather than low intelligence, according to researchers who have produced the world's first tool to assess memory capacity in the classroom. The researchers from Durham University surveyed more than 3,000 primary school...

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Brain activity pattern signals ability to compensate for dyslexia

Monday, December 20, 2010 Brain scans of dyslexic adolescents who were later able to compensate for their dyslexia showed a distinct pattern of brain activity when compared to scans of adolescents who were unable to compensate, reported researchers funded in part by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The finding raises the possibility that, one day, imaging or other...

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Visual Skills Required for Independence Are Impaired in Children With Autism, Research Finds

ScienceDaily (Dec. 30, 2010) — The ability to find shoes in the bedroom, apples in a supermarket, or a favourite animal at the zoo is impaired among children with autism, according to new research from the University of Bristol. Contrary to previous studies, which show that children with autism often demonstrate outstanding visual search skills, this new research indicates...

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Deficits in Number Processing in Children With ADHD and Alcohol Exposure: Similar but Different

ScienceDaily (Dec. 14, 2010) — In children, the brain is in a constant state of flux as it analyzes and evaluates stimuli from the environment. Fetal alcohol exposure and ADHD represent two disorders that can affect children's ability to learn and process information from a very young age. Both ADHD and fetal alcohol exposure are linked to poor academic performance in cognition and attention, so the researchers decided to try to pinpoint the exact brain areas affected by each disorder with the hope that this research could lead to the creation...

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TV Viewing, Video Game Play Contribute to Kids' Attention Problems, Study Finds

ScienceDaily (July 7, 2010) — Parents looking to get their kid's attention -- or keeping them focused at home and in the classroom -- should try to limit their television viewing and video game play. That's because a new study led by three Iowa State University psychologists has found that both viewing television and playing video games are associated with increased attention...

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Brain Scans Show Children With ADHD Have Faulty Off-Switch For Mind-Wandering

Brain scans of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have shown for the first time why people affected by the condition sometimes have such difficulty in concentrating. The study, funded by the Wellcome Trust, may explain why parents often say that their child can maintain concentration when they are doing something that interests them, but struggles with boring tasks. Using a 'Whac-a-Mole' style game, researchers from the Motivation, Inhibition and Development in ADHD Study (MIDAS) group at the University of Nottingham...

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Increased Autism Risk Found In Closely Spaced Pregnancies

An examination of California birth records found second-born children were more than three times more likely to be diagnosed with autism if they were conceived within 12 months of the birth of their older sibling. The farther apart pregnancies were spaced, the lower the risk of autism. The study, "Closely Spaced Pregnancies Are Associated With Increased Odds of Autism in California Sibling Births" published in the February 2011 issue of Pediatrics (published online Jan. 10) examined the odds of autism among more than 660,000 second-born children....

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Computer-based Program May Help Relieve Some ADHD Symptoms In Children

An intensive, five-week working memory training program shows promise in relieving some of the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children, a new study suggests. Researchers found significant changes for students who completed the program in areas such as attention, ADHD symptoms, planning and organization, initiating tasks, and working memory. "This program really seemed to make a difference for many of the children with ADHD," said Steven Beck, co-author of the study an associate professor of psychology at Ohio State University. "It...

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HEALTHY BRAIN DEVELOPMENT OCCURS THROUGH OUTDOOR PLAY

Wednesday, January 5, 2011 by Deborah McNelis I continuously promote how critical it is for children have the opportunity to play and explore outdoors. Increasing research demonstrates the benefits nature and playing outdoors has on the developing brain. For example, studies reveal that children regularly exposed to green spaces for play have better motor coordination, fewer attention-deficit disorders, and have more ability to concentrate. Additionally, not only does science show us the benefits gained from time outdoors, but numerous sources...

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Idle Minds and What They May Say about Intelligence: When smarter people's brains are scanned while "at rest," long-distance connections appear strong

By Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli and John Gabrieli January 5, 2010 For many years now, neuroscientists have been telling the subjects of experiments something like this: “Please lie in the MRI scanner and relax. When you see the task instructions come onto the screen in front of you, do your best.” The researcher would then use the brain’s activity during the “lie there and...

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