Math learning difficulty (MLD) is a learning disorder characterized by persistent impairments in the understanding and application of numbers independent of intelligence or schooling. The current ...study aims to review existing neuroimaging studies to characterize the neurobiological basis in MLD for their quantity and arithmetic dysfunctions. We identified a total of 24 studies with 728 participants through the literature. Using the activation likelihood estimate (ALE) method, we found that the most consistent neurobiological dysfunction in MLD was observed in the right intraparietal sulcus (IPS) with distinct patterns of the anterior and posterior aspects. Meanwhile, neurobiological dysfunctions were also observed in a distributed network including the fusiform gyrus, inferior temporal gyrus, insula, prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and claustrum. Our results suggest a core dysfunction in the right anterior IPS and left fusiform gyrus with atypically upregulated functions in brain regions for attention, working memory, visual processing, and motivation, serving as the neurobiological basis of MLD.
Using the activation likelihood estimate (ALE) method, we revealed the IPS and a distributed brain network for attention, working memory, visual processing, and motivation, serving as the neurobiological basis of math learning difficulties (MLD). The study provided the first comprehensive and quantitative review of the neurobiological basis of MLD.
In machine learning, the performance of a classifier depends on both the classifier model and the separability/complexity of datasets. To quantitatively measure the separability of datasets, in this ...study, we propose an
intrinsic measure
– the Distance-based Separability Index (DSI), which is independent of the classifier model. We then formally show that the DSI can indicate whether the distributions of datasets are identical for any dimensionality. DSI can measure separability of datasets because we consider the situation in which different classes of data are mixed in the same distribution to be the most difficult for classifiers to separate. And, DSI is verified to be an effective separability measure by comparing it to state-of-the-art separability/complexity measures using synthetic datasets and real datasets (CIFAR-10/100). Having demonstrated the DSI’s ability to compare distributions of samples, our other studies show that it can be used in other separability-based applications, such as measuring the performance of generative adversarial networks (GANs) and evaluating the results of clustering methods.
Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is accompanied by epileptic seizures in 4–7% of patients. We examined clinical, electrophysiological, and radiological features associated with epilepsy in our NF1 ...series in order to identify risk factors.
We reviewed data of 641 pediatric patients with NF1 diagnosis according to National Institutes of Health (NIH) criteria in Hacettepe University records from January 2008–August 2018. Demographic features, NF1-related clinical and imaging characteristics, age at onset of epilepsy, seizure semiology, and frequency, electroencephalogram (EEG) findings, and response to treatment were noted.
Twenty-six patients with NF1, 15 male, 11 female, had epilepsy. Age at seizure onset was 6 months to 13 years. Seizure semiology was focal with impaired awareness (n = 9, 34%), focal aware motor (n = 2, 8%), focal to bilateral tonic–clonic (n = 3, 12%), generalized tonic–clonic (n = 7, 28%), absence (n = 3, 12%), infantile spasms (n = 1), and unclassified type (n = 1). None had a history of status epilepticus. The EEG findings were normal for age in ten patients (38%). Others had focal (n = 8, 30%), generalized (n = 7, 27%), or multifocal (n = 1, 4%) discharges. On brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal intensity changes typical for NF1 (neurofibromatosis bright objects, NBOs) were the most common finding (80%), followed by normal MRI (20%). There was no relation between the localization of NBOs and discharges on EEG. Seventeen patients (65%) were seizure-free at the time of the study; 11 of them still under medication including four on multiple antiepileptic drugs. The rate of learning problems and NBO were significantly higher in patients with NF1 with epilepsy compared to those without.
Epilepsy in NF1 is associated with relatively infrequent seizures and good response to treatment. Learning disorders are markedly frequent in this group, irrespective of the severity of epilepsy. The absence of correlation between the localizations of epileptiform discharges and lesions on MRI support the role of cellular or synaptic mechanisms rather than structural causes in the pathogenesis of epilepsy.
•Learning difficulties and MRI findings are common in NF1 when associated with epilepsy.•Loss of neurofibromin may cause hyperexcitability in a subgroup of patients with NF1.•Various NF1 related pathways and structural anomalies may predispose to epileptogenesis in NF1.•Epilepsy in NF1 generally responds well to treatment.
The aim of this study was to examine what kind of school performance and behaviour profiles could be identified among students in the final grade of basic education in the Swedish speaking parts of ...Finland (N = 1149, grade 9), how these differed in temperament and how temperament could explain profile differences in first language (L1, Swedish) grades, behaviour grades, and results from standardised reading tests. Latent profile analysis revealed three groups of students with distinct L1 performance and behaviour profiles. One profile with good grades in L1 and behaviour, and good test results - one with satisfactory grades in L1, good grades in behaviour, and poor test results - and one with low grades in L1 and behaviour, and relatively good test results. High perseverance and low impulsivity were related to good L1 and behaviour grades. The findings implicate that student's behaviour impact both the assessment of the subject and behaviour.
Dyspraxia affects up to five percent of the population, but its history and its historical geographies have gone unexplored. This article offers the first historical geography of dyspraxia, ...conceptualising its emergence in the transatlantic world through a ‘constellation of mobility’. It explores the major episodes in dyspraxia’s early history (1866–1948) – from the Victorian science of apraxia in Europe that set the context for its identification through to the research of the American neuropathologist Samuel T. Orton, who in the 1920s laid out one of the first modern understandings of the condition. Through this case study, this article seeks to further redress twin research lacunae: historical geographies of psychological differences beyond those of madness and mental illness, including those not straightforwardly captured by the mental/physical binary; and mobility geographies of impairments that precipitate immobility and/or non-standard types of movement. It argues that mobility approaches hold substantial promise for the further exploration of historical geographies of dyspraxia and of disability more broadly, especially through their ability to connect the multiple scales – from embodied differences to global networks of medicine and science – that produce particular medical diagnoses.
•Dyspraxia’s origins can be understood through a constellation of mobility.•Dyspraxia’s constellation operates at multiple scales, including embodied mobilities and transnational networks of science, medicine, and transportation.•This case study of dyspraxia illustrates the promise of mobility approaches for the further exploration of historical geographies of disability.
Introduction
There has been a rapidly increasing rate of students disclosing specific learning difficulties in higher education- in 2016 dyslexic students accounted for up to 5% of the student ...population.(Ryder D, Norwich B.)
Objectives
It is important that provisions for alternative learners are developed in order to increase accessibility to medicine. Podcasts are an inexpensive, accessible and convenient method to both deliver education and interest pieces to a new generation of learners. This poster aims to explore the idea of harnessing the technology available to us to create an accessible, enjoyable platform to improve the experience of students with learning difficulties.
Methods
A literature search reviewing the past and present provisions for students with learning difficulties was conducted using a range of databases covering educational, scientific and medical backgrounds. 315 papers were found across the databases, each analysed for relevance and 25 were selected as appropriate.
Results
identified 5 key themes; the lack of awareness and importance of education, the power of audio learning, the practicalities of podcasts, adjustments to examinations specifically and finally additional provisions which accompany audio learning to create an all-inclusive educational experience. Altogether suggesting podcasts have an improved outcome for students with learning difficulties.
Conclusions
It has been evidenced understanding is key to maximising learning potential and highlighted need to increase awareness of dyslexic needs in higher education institutions, generate audio centred provisions in conjunction to traditional materials and be aware of alternative provisions to cater for the spectrum of dyslexic needs.
The pandemic era has caused changes in the learning system. The situation demanded online learning and triggered students to have learning difficulties. The research aims to examine the impact of ...social media, social environment, and student learning potential on student learning difficulties. This study utilizes a quantitative approach. The respondents were university students experiencing online learning in West Java, Indonesia. A questionnaire validated by four experts was distributed to 539 of them. Accommodating structural equation modeling (SEM) by evaluating the measurement and structural models was used in data analysis. This study revealed that the instrument had good construct validity and reliability. A good instrument will produce a good measurement process so that the instrument can get the data needed. Hypothesis testing shows that high media activity can inhibit students from learning. However, social media activity directly influences learning difficulties. Meanwhile, the variables of learning potential and social environment positively influence student learning difficulties directly or indirectly. There are a few things to note on learning potential, social environment, and social media to delve into their influences on students' learning difficulties.
La prematuridad tiene una alta tasa de incidencia en los países desarrollados, representando el 75% de la mortalidad perinatal. Aunque los avances prenatales y perinatales de las últimas décadas han ...permitido reducir su prevalencia, en consecuencia, se ha hecho evidente la presencia de morbilidades y comorbilidades en el desarrollo de estos infantes.
El propósito de esta investigación, de carácter prospectivo y longitudinal, es analizar los componentes del lenguaje (morfología, sintaxis, semántica y pragmática) de 29 menores, nacidos prematuros extremos, en el Hospital Universitario La Paz de Madrid y que actualmente están en edad escolar obligatoria, para identificar la presencia de posibles dificultades en el lenguaje. Todos los participantes estaban matriculados en Educación Primaria y los componentes del lenguaje se evaluaron a través de la batería BLOC-Screening.
Los resultados evidencian que existen comorbilidades en el componente morfológico en los siguientes elementos: formas irregulares de pasado, formas irregulares de futuro, reflexivos…; en el componente semántico (locativos, cuantificadores, modificadores de tiempo y sucesión…) y en sintaxis (voz pasiva, oraciones comparativas, oraciones subordinadas de causa y condición, y en las temporales después/antes…), obteniéndose mejores resultados en el componente pragmático, excepto en aquellas acciones que requieren expresar demandas y solicitar información específica.
Por tanto, el perfil obtenido en lenguaje de los prematuros extremos sugiere la necesidad de intervención logopédica y conlleva la necesidad de hacer propuestas de intervención didáctica en la escuela que mejoren sus habilidades lingüísticas desde un enfoque comunicativo.
Prematurity has a high incidence rate in developed countries, accounting for 75% of perinatal mortality. Although pre- and perinatal advances in recent decades have reduced its prevalence, consequently, the presence of morbidities and comorbidities in the development of these infants has become evident.
The purpose of this prospective and longitudinal research is to analyze the language components (morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics) of 29 minors, born extremely premature, at the Hospital Universitario La Paz in Madrid and who are currently of compulsory school age, in order to identify the presence of possible language difficulties. All the participants were enrolled in Primary Education and the language components were assessed using the BLOC-Screening battery.
The results show that there are comorbidities in the morphological component in the following elements: irregular forms of the past, irregular forms of the future, reflexive…; in the semantic component (locatives, quantifiers, modifiers of time and succession…) and in syntax (passive voice, comparative clauses, subordinate clauses of cause and condition, and in the temporal ones after/before…), obtaining better results in the pragmatic component, except in those actions that require expressing demands and requesting specific information.
Therefore, the profile obtained in the language of extremely premature infants suggests the need for speech therapy intervention and entails the need to make proposals for educational intervention at school that improve their language skills from a communicative approach.
Background: Dyslexia—a learning disorder characterized by difficulty in word-level reading skills—can negatively impact nursing students’ practice, which can, in turn, affect patient safety. ...Individuals with dyslexia are often stigmatized. There is a need to explore dyslexia awareness among nursing students and its relationship with stigma in Saudi Arabia.
Objective: This study aimed to assess the dyslexia awareness levels among nursing students and its relation to stigma.
Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted on 154 nursing students at King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. Data were collected by asking the students to virtually complete the Knowledge and Beliefs about Developmental Dyslexia Scale (KBDDS) and the Consciousness Questionnaire-Learning Disabilities (SCQ-LD) from February to March 2021. Data were analyzed using chi-square tests to test significance and Cramer’s V to determine the strength of the relationships among the categorical variables.
Results: The overall dyslexia awareness level was moderate. Most participants believed that people had negative assumptions about individuals with dyslexia and that they judged and treated them differently. A moderately strong positive association was revealed between knowledge of the stigma surrounding dyslexia and knowledge of dyslexia itself (p <0.001).
Conclusions: Increased dyslexia awareness is correlated with greater anticipation that dyslexic individuals will be stigmatized. Therefore, dyslexia awareness should be raised among nursing students. Students or nurses with dyslexia should also be encouraged to learn appropriate coping strategies to ensure patient safety.
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