A $500-billion industry, K-12 education offers attractive investment possibilities. Public education is being broadly criticized; state governments favor new program structures; the school-age population is growing; new technologies offer entrepreneurial opportunities; school revenues provide ready capital; and the knowledge industry is booming.…

Rather than decrying students' boredom and short attention span, principals should adjust schools accordingly. One's feelings about a learning situation determine the attention devoted to it. Secondary principals can help by keeping their schools violence-free, informing their teachers about emotional aspects of learning and teaching, working with…

Describes an active participation exercise that demonstrates the propagation of action potentials (the ability to transmit information through the neural network, dependent upon chemical interactions in the brain). Students assume the structure and function of the network by lining up around the room and communicating through hand signals and…

New neuroscientific knowledge is redefining possibilities for K-12 education. There are five critical variables in the brain's learning process: neural history, context, acquisition, elaboration, and encoding. This article tracks one student's unique brain activity throughout her school day to illustrate these variables. (MLH)

Relationships between brain-lesion location and behavior in 33 males and 31 females with unilateral lesions were studied. Statistical tests suggest that a single model can describe the relationships for females, but in males separate models of the relationships between lesion location, verbal intelligence quotient, and performance intelligence…

Discusses issues that affected the perspectives and roles of music education such as Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, a national interest in educational accountability, the National Standards for Music Education, and research focusing on the correlation between music skills and higher achievement. Recommends teaching strategies…

Using Pearlin's stress process model, this study examined correlates of depression in 170 adult siblings of persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Approximately 39% of adult sibling participants evinced "Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression" (CES-D; Radloff, 1977) scores indicating clinically significant depressive symptoms. Background…

A clear link exists between neurological dysfunction and psychopathology in children, as evidenced by research on the sequelae of developmental childhood brain impairment, the neuropsychological investigation of children with psychiatric disorders, and neuroimaging research. Understanding the neuropsychological basis of a disorder helps teachers,…

This article presents the results of a meta-analysis of 30 hemodynamic experiments comparing first language (L1) and second language (L2) processing in a range of tasks. The results suggest that reliably stronger activation during L2 processing is found (a) only for task-specific subgroups of L2 speakers and (b) within some, but not all regions…

In this study the "neural efficiency" phenomenon (more efficient brain function in brighter as compared to less intelligent individuals) was investigated regarding differences in intelligence (average vs. above-average intelligence) and scholastic achievement (achievers vs. underachievers). The cortical activation (assessed by…

Background: There is growing literature suggesting that some children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can show a significant bias in attention away from left space. Here we examine mechanisms that may underpin these effects in both clinical and non-clinical child populations. Unilateral spatial inattention…

Background: Behavioral genetic studies provide strong evidence that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has a substantial genetic component. Yet, due to the complexity of the ADHD phenotype, questions remain as to the specific genes that contribute to this condition as well as the pathways from genes to behavior. Endophenotypes, or…

HIV-1 encephalopathy among perinatally infected children in the United States was initially defined by a classic triad of findings that included: (1) developmental delay, (2) secondary or acquired microcephaly, and (3) pyramidal tract neuromotor deficits. The most severe form of this disorder typically occurred among young children who developed…

Retinoid signaling has been recently shown to be required for mnemonic functions in rodents. To dissect the behavioral and molecular mechanisms involved in this requirement, we have analyzed the spatial and recognition working memory in mice carrying null mutations of retinoid receptors RAR[subscript [beta]] and RXR[subscript [gamma]]. Double…

In order to assess the relationship between cerebellar deficits and dyslexic tendencies in a non-clinical sample, 27 primary school children aged 8-9 completed a cerebellar soft signs battery and were additionally assessed for reading age, sequential memory, picture arrangement and knowledge of common sequences. An average measure of the soft…