► Two contrasted cases of young adults with developmental dyslexia. ► Dissociation between phonological and visual attention span disorders. ► Cerebral activations recorded under fMRI and compared to ...skilled readers. ► Evidence of a double dissociation at both the cognitive and neurobiological level. ► Heterogeneity of developmental dyslexia.
A dissociation between phonological and visual attention (VA) span disorders has been reported in dyslexic children. This study investigates whether this cognitively-based dissociation has a neurobiological counterpart through the investigation of two cases of developmental dyslexia. LL showed a phonological disorder but preserved VA span whereas FG exhibited the reverse pattern. During a phonological rhyme judgement task, LL showed decreased activation of the left inferior frontal gyrus whereas this region was activated at the level of the controls in FG. Conversely, during a visual categorization task, FG demonstrated decreased activation of the parietal lobules whereas these regions were activated in LL as in the controls. These contrasted patterns of brain activation thus mirror the cognitive disorders’ dissociation. These findings provide the first evidence for an association between distinct brain mechanisms and distinct cognitive deficits in developmental dyslexia, emphasizing the importance of taking into account the heterogeneity of the reading disorder.
A visual attention (VA) span disorder has been reported in dyslexic children as potentially responsible for their poor reading outcome. The purpose of the current paper was to identify the cerebral ...correlates of this VA span disorder. For this purpose, 12 French dyslexic children with severe reading and VA span disorders and 12 age-matched control children were engaged in a categorisation task under fMRI. Two flanked and isolated conditions were designed which both involved multiple-element simultaneous visual processing but taxed visual attention differently. For skilled readers, flanked stimuli processing activated a large bilateral cortical network comprising the superior and inferior parietal cortex, the inferior temporal cortex, the striate and extrastriate visual cortex, the middle frontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex while the less attention–demanding task of isolated stimuli only activated the inferior occipito-temporal cortex bilaterally. With respect to controls, the dyslexic children showed significantly reduced activation within bilateral parietal and temporal areas during flanked processing, but no difference during the isolated condition. The neural correlates of the processes involved in attention–demanding multi-element processing tasks were more specifically addressed by contrasting the flanked and the isolated conditions. This contrast elicited activation of the left precuneus/superior parietal lobule in the controls, but not in the dyslexic children. These findings provide new insights on the role of parietal regions, in particular the left superior parietal lobule, in the visual attention span and in developmental dyslexia.
This thesis addresses the problem that an individual’s inner and outer landscape has been severely affected by the lack of meaningful connection between the self and the earth. Utilizing hermeneutic ...and heuristic methodology, this research includes consequences in both the interior landscape of the individual and the earth’s landscape, when little or no time is available for soul work and the sacred elements of existence take a back seat to the demands of industrialized living and work conditions which isolate the individual from the natural environment. The myths and philosophies that have contributed to the destruction -- as opposed to the creation -- of the soul of the earth and its inhabitants are also explored. The fields of depth psychology, archetypal psychology, ecopsychology, philosophy, history, and Christian mythology are credited, as are the author’s personal experiences while traveling to South America and certain images encountered in her dreams.
Hormonal modulation of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) and of utilization pathways of NADPH generated by G6PD was studied in the MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line, using a quantitative ...cytochemical method. Our results show that G6PD is increased by 17 beta-estradiol (estradiol) and synthetic progestin (promegestone R5020). The synthetic antiestrogen tamoxifen has no effect on G6PD activity. When it is present in the medium with estradiol, tamoxifen can oppose the stimulatory effect of estradiol on G6PD activity. Mifepristone (RU 38486) has no effect on G6PD activity, but it inhibits the R5020 stimulation of G6PD activity. After MCF-7 pretreatment with estradiol, there is a much stronger stimulation of G6PD activity by R5020. When we studied the effect of the steroid on the two utilization pathways of NADPH generated by G6PD activity, we observed that, in the cells treated with estradiol, there is an increase in reducing equivalents generated by G6PD activity which only affects the NADPH2 pathway, and that there is cell growth stimulation. When tamoxifen is present in the medium, we found no effect on the NADPH utilization pathways, nor on cell growth. In the presence of R5020, the NADPH2 pathway activity is increased but, under our experimental conditions, there was no effect on cell growth. On the other hand, even though RU 38486 is without effect on total G6PD activity, it does cause a modification in the distribution of reducing equivalents: the NADPH2 pathway activity is decreased, while the NADPH1 pathway is stimulated.
Since gossypol, a naturally occurring component of cottonseed oil, exhibits a broad spectrum of activities, we have examined it as an antitumor agent on breast cancer. The effects of different ...concentrations of gossypol on the T-47D human breast cancer cell cycle phases were studied using cytometric image processing on Feulgen stained nuclei. The proportion of cells at different cell cycle phases was determined by discriminate analysis of the image parameters and gave good classification ranging from 86 to 100%. Gossypol was found to increase the G0/G1 fraction of the T-47D cells. This cell kinetic alteration by gossypol was shown to be dose dependent and reversible. Complete reversal of the effect of gossypol was observed after four days with a simple change to gossypol-free medium. The cells then progressed into S and G2/M phase, thus indicating that gossypol-treated cells remain viable. Gossypol was shown to have a strong inhibitory effect on cellular proliferation in T-47D cells. It was also found that this agent is only toxic to cells at the highest dose tested (10 microM). The results of this study may be of clinical significance in the treatment of breast cancer, since gossypol shows strong antiproliferative properties.
We report the discovery of a widely separated (258 3+/-0 4) T dwarf companion to the Gl 570ABC system. This new component, Gl 570D, was initially identified from the Two Micron All-Sky Survey. Its ...near-infrared spectrum shows the 1.6 and 2.2 µm CH4 absorption bands characteristic of T dwarfs, while its common proper motion with the Gl 570ABC system confirms companionship. Gl 570D (MJ=16.47+/-0.07) is nearly a full magnitude dimmer than the only other known T dwarf companion, Gl 229B, and estimates of L= 2.8+/-0.3 x10-6 L middle dot in circle and Teff=750+/-50 K make it significantly cooler and less luminous than any other known brown dwarf companion. Using evolutionary models by Burrows et al. and an adopted age of 2-10 Gyr, we derive a mass estimate of 50+/-20 MJup for this object.
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