Research Findings In Neuroscience Research Articles

Integrating research on developmental psychopathology and neuroscience in the study of adolescence: introduction to part II.

This chapter introduces three papers that summarize research findings in clinical and basic neuroscience. They integrate prior research on clinical aspects of developmental psychopathology, basic research on brain development in nonhuman primates, and neuroimaging research on both normal and abnormal human development. From the clinical perspective these papers call attention to the unique relationship between adolescence and psychopathology. From the basic science perspective they call attention to the sequence of events that culminates in a fully mature central nervous system.

Sensory training and special education — can practice make perfect?

Sensory training, based on the latest research findings in neuroscience and perceptual psychology, is beginning to make a significant impact on practice in the treatment of language impairments. This training has three novel aims: the stimuli are designed to engage and develop specific brain processing modules; the training task difficulty is dynamically modulated, leading to the most efficient learning for an individual; and the tasks are presented as highly motivating computer games to encourage the long periods of training that result in optimal learning. The published results are impressive, with improvements averaging two years in language age following four weeks of intensive training. In this article, David Moore, Professor of Auditory Neuroscience at the University Laboratory of Physiology in Oxford and Chief Technology Officer for Mind Weavers Ltd at the Oxford Centre for Innovation, explores the research leading to these initiatives. While the mechanisms of the training remain controversial, it seems likely that, in the future, automated training of this type will make a major impact on practice in special education and in many other fields.

On the Relevance of Research Findings in Cognitive Neuroscience to Educational Practice

In their target article, Byrnes and Fox (1998) argue that many of the recent findings from the field of cognitive neuroscience have particular importance for education. In our commentary, we lend support to their contention by reporting on some of our work that has potential relevance to the proposed interface between cognitive neuroscience and education. Specifically, we discuss the findings from several studies investigating the neuropsychology of intellectual giftedness, and sex differences in the brain, each of which suggest a unique functional organization that differentiates gifted from average ability adolescents, as well as males from females. We further propose that the translation of cognitive neuroscience findings into specialized classroom instructional methods which capitalize on the plasticity of the brain, as well as the apparent individual differences in its functional organization, may be the most significant challenge facing those in the front-lines of educational practice.

Adenosinergic approaches to stroke therapeutics

Basic neuroscience research findings during the past five years have established a clear relationship between the excitatory amino acid (EAA) neurotransmitters (glutamic and aspartic acid) and various pathological states. A major mechanism of neural tissue degeneration following cerebral ischemia, and perhaps other neurodegenerative diseases, seems to involve overactivity of the EAA system in brain. This process is called delayed excitotoxicity and it has become a focal point for the design of new drugs that inhibit its course (EAA receptor blockers). Very recently it has been shown that it is possible to block delayed excitotoxicity using adenosine A 1 receptor agonists which inhibit EAA release pre-synaptically. This approach is very effective in reducing post-stroke neurological damage in a number of animal models and has certain advantages when compared to the EAA receptor blocker strategy. Adenosine agonists not only inhibit excitotoxicity but they also block granulocyte activation and the capillary no-reflow phenomenon which results. An additional adenosinergic approach involves brain permeable adenosine uptake blockers which would serve to increase adenosine levels somewhat selectively at ischemic foci thereby inhibiting EAA release. The adenosinergic approach to stroke therapeutics may be a potentially effective strategy for new drug development in neurology, and may have general applicability to other neurodegenerative disease states where excitotoxicity is being implicated.