September 21 – September 26, 2014
Neuro Clips:
Scarring effects of
primary-grade retention?
Summary: A recent study found
that retaining a child during the early primary school years lends toward a
reduction in the chances of completing high school. The results suggest that
this reduction is as high as a 60% reduced odds of completing school. The
researchers suggest that these findings implied a scarring effect of early
retention. Further research is needed to examine the underlying impacts of
retaining children and how they may relate to educational practice.
Conflictive animations support
the development of programming skills
Summary: In a recent study of
conflictive animations, researchers found that they can be useful in teaching
students computer programming. “Conflictive animations” relates to animations
that have errors in them intentionally. These errors increase student
engagement as they challenge them cognitively. The research findings suggest
the instruction benefits of conflictive animations. Further research is needed
to explore the usability of these animations for other instructional domains
and also to explore through which mechanisms learning is being facilitated.
ADHD: Brains not recognizing
angry expressions
Summary: Researchers explored the
neural basis for facial expression recognition in children with ADHD compared
to typically developing children. The findings demonstrate that children with
ADHD display less of a response to angry expressions. The results suggest that
this impaired recognition of angry faces may lend toward how children with ADHD
interact with others. This has implications for practice in terms of how to
help students with ADHD foster peer relationships.
Brain scans reveal 'gray matter'
differences in media multitaskers
Summary: In a recent study of the
simultaneous use of mobile phones, laptops, and other media devices researchers
examined the brain structures of adults to compare them based on their
self-reported use of those devices. The results demonstrate that the adults
that reported greater multitasking with media devices had less grey matter
density in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). The ACC is the part of the
brain responsible for several cognitive and emotional functions. Further
research is needed to explore this link in order to understand causal
relationships as well as to determine how media multitasking relates to
function in domains controlled by the ACC. Although the study was conducted on
adults, it could have implications for children as they are exposed to media
stimulation through various devices.
Higher risk of autism found in children born at short and long
interpregnancy intervals
Summary: Researchers examined
national registries to compare the incidence of autism relative to the spacing
of pregnancies between siblings. The study found that children conceived less
than 12 months apart from their siblings were at a heightened risk for autism
diagnosis. Children conceived 5-10 years apart were at a 30% greater risk and
those more than 10 years apart were at a 40% greater risk. These results could
be indicative of factors associated with autism risk and have implications for
further research.
Infant cooing, babbling linked to hearing ability, researcher finds
Summary: In a recent study of
infant vocalizations, researchers compared the amount of vocalizations of
infants with hearing loss compared to hearing infants. Vocalizations include
cooing and babbling. The results indicate that hearing infants expressed more
vocalizations than those with hearing loss. The infants with hearing loss
expressed more vocalizations following cochlear implants. These results suggest
that infant vocalizations are motivated by their ability to hear themselves.
These findings could have implications for future study of the language
development process.
Classroom intervention helps shy kids learn
Summary: INSIGHTS is an
intervention that helps match students’ individual personalities with a
supportive environment. A recent study explored the utility and usefulness of
this intervention to support the needs of students based on their temperament.
The results demonstrated that children with shy temperament experienced greater
academic gains improving their critical thinking skills and math skills. These
results have implications for potential application in other classroom
environments. The results are of particular significance as shy children are
often difficult to engage in the classroom setting and often suffer
academically as well as socially.
Brainwave test could improve autism diagnosis, classification
Summary: A recent study measured
brainwave patterns to examine the speed of sensory processing in children with
autism spectrum disorder. The results suggest correlations between varying
speeds of processing to audio-visual signals relative to severity of autism
spectrum disorder. These findings have potential implications for the
utilization of EEG testing to diagnose autism and to determine anticipated
level of severity. Additionally, the findings have implications for therapeutic
strategies for different levels of severity. Further investigation is necessary
to better understand how autism impacts these mechanisms.
Narrow focus on physical activity could be ruining kids' playtime
Summary: Researchers conducted
interviews with children 7-11 years of age to better understand their
perspective of “playtime”. The interviews revealed that play represents a time
to have fun with no anticipated outcome. The four commons themes were: 1) play
is for fun 2) play doesn’t have to be active 3) there is little free-time for
play and 4) taking risks makes play better. These four components contradict
public health efforts to promote exercise and physical activity for youth.
These findings have implications for how to alter public health messages and
for how to promote unstructured playtime for youth.
