Two studies involving 76 nonhandicapped (Study 1) and 31 emotionally disturbed and 63 nonhandicapped students (Study 2) suggested that predominantly right-hemisphere cognitive-mode individuals are at greater risk for learning and/or behavior problems than are left- or integrated cognitive-mode individuals. Hypotheses for this finding are offered.…

At a school for the deaf, weekly hobby classes encourage use of the right side of the brain. Mini courses have included oil painting, sewing, ceramics, gymnastics, and photography with a stress on such right-brain learning techniques as imaging, sequencing, and manipulating patterns. (CL)

Split-brain research provides a rationale for the study of media in schools, since media studies provide a vehicle for the development of the right hemisphere of the brain. (Author/ER)

Linguistic processing by the left and right cerebral hemispheres was investigated in 10 adult stutterers and 10 matched nonstutterers. The stuttering group exhibited a left visual field efficiency or right hemisphere preference for this task and were slower in both vocal and manual reaction times. (Author/CL)

The second in a series of three articles concerning children's brain development focuses on the organization of the brain. Aspects of the brain's vertical, neocortex, and temporal organization are discussed and references for further reading are provided. (CJ)

An interview with D. Goodman, brain researcher, focuses on the role of the frontal lobes in intelligence and learning in individuals with learning disabilities. The technique of psychic self-regulation, intensive training in active imagination, concentrated attention, and enhanced self-control, is seen to strengthen frontal lobe functioning. (CL)

The authors postulate that dysfunctions in the cortical sensorimotor areas of the brain that control internal speech may adversely affect the learning of reading, writing, spelling, and arithmetic, especially in children who are first learning these skills. (Author)

Proposes a hypothesis suggesting that parts of the central nervous system that contain norepinephrine and dopamine are dynamically interrelated under stressful conditions in a compensatory way. (MLH)

Brainstem auditory evoked potentials were compared in 109 children with infantile autism, 38 with autistic condition, 19 with mental retardation, and 20 normal children. Children with infantile autism or autistic condition had significantly longer brainstem transmission time than normal children suggesting neurological damage as the basis of…

The terms "autonomous" or "vegetative" are currently used to identify one part of the nervous system composed of sympathetic, parasympathetic, and gastrointestinal divisions. However, the concepts that are under the literal meaning of these words can lead to misconceptions about the actual nervous organization. Some clear-cut examples indicate…

Functional lesion studies have yielded new information about the cortical organization of speech perception in the human brain. We will review a number of recent findings, focusing on studies of speech perception that use the techniques of electrocortical mapping by cortical stimulation and hemispheric anesthetization by intracarotid amobarbital.…

The neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) has been accorded an important role in supporting learning and memory processes in the hippocampus. Cholinergic activity in the hippocampus is correlated with memory, and restoration of ACh in the hippocampus after disruption of the septohippocampal pathway is sufficient to rescue memory. However, selective…

In many regions of the brain, including the mammalian cortex, the strength of synaptic transmission can be bidirectionally regulated by cortical activity (synaptic plasticity). One line of evidence indicates that long-term synaptic potentiation (LTP) and long-term synaptic depression (LTD), correlate with the phosphorylation/dephosphorylation of…