di: DI and Neuroplasticity?

Tue Sep 11 22:39:13 PDT 2018

Hi Jim,

I'd hope you didn't become a believer. DI people speak the language of data
rather than of belief systems. If you read the research summaries, you may
be struck by a certain tenor of scepticism or at least reluctance among
researchers to hop on any brain science bandwagon. There are more than
enough hucksters out there prepared to cash in on anything that sounds
*sciencey.
*Neuromyths abound!

The impression I obtain, from the research I've read to date, is the
glowing endorsement of explicit instruction, of the importance of practice
with corrective feedback, and many other features we know well from DI
programs. These are all tenets we hold dear, and of course they are based
upon data. Whether neuroscience can eventually find some novel practices
that out-perform the best instruction we currently have, is a question for
the future.

On 12 September 2018 at 12:49, Jim Cowardin <jimco66 at gmail.com> wrote:

> To the conversation:  I sincerely mean this with all due respect, where is
> this going?  Are we going to use brain science to predict handicaps for
> babies in the crib? Are we going to identify geniuses likewise? What is the
> usefulness to a teacher with twenty-five little souls that need to learn to
> translate from print to speech and comprehension and vice versa?
>
> It is a fascinating discussion, but to reiterate a point, how well we ever
> manipulate the brain to allow a student in K to skip to RM4 after the first
> six weeks?  That would be running. But are we even walking yet?  Will this
> ever have an effect on the practitioner?  If you can answer that question
> for me, I might become a believer. If i read all of these beautifully
> summarized neuroscience articles Kerry has sent, will the fog be lifted
> from my eyes?
>
> Jim C
>
> On Tue, Sep 11, 2018 at 21:50 Kerry Hempenstall <
> kerry.hempenstall at rmit.edu.au> wrote:
>
>> If we extend the topic to include the role of neuroscience in education,
>> there are some bits and pieces here:
>>
>> “Background: Our ability to look at structure and function of a living
>> brain has increased exponentially since the early 1970s. Many studies of
>> developmental disorders now routinely include a brain imaging or
>> electrophysiological component. Amid current enthusiasm for applications of
>> neuroscience to educational interventions, we need to pause to consider
>> what neuroimaging data can tell us. Images of brain activity are seductive,
>> and have been used to give credibility to commercial interventions, yet we
>> have only a limited idea of what the brain bases of language disorders are,
>> let alone how to alter them. Scope and findings: A review of six studies of
>> neuroimaging correlates of language intervention found recurring
>> methodological problems: lack of an adequate control group, inadequate
>> power, incomplete reporting of data, no correction for multiple
>> comparisons, data dredging and failure to analyse treatment effects
>> appropriately. In addition, there is a tendency to regard neuroimaging data
>> as more meaningful than behavioural data, even though it is behaviour that
>> interventions aim to alter. Conclusion: In our current state of knowledge,
>> it would be better to spend research funds doing well designed trials of
>> behavioural treatment to establish which methods are effective, rather than
>> rushing headlong into functional imaging studies of unproven treatments”
>> (p.247).
>>
>>
>>
>> “The impression is that the field is trying to run before it can walk.
>> Our first priority should be to first develop interventions for children
>> with language impairments and other neurodevelopmental disorders, and to
>> produce good evidence of their efficacy using randomized controlled trials.
>> Second, we also need to do far more methodological work to ensure our
>> neuroimaging tools are as reliable, sensitive and standardized as our
>> behavioural measures (Dichter et al., 2012). Third, we will need to develop
>> multicentre collaborations to do studies with adequate statistical power to
>> detect treatment effects. Only then will we be in a strong position to
>> combine neuroimaging with intervention to answer questions about underlying
>> mechanisms of effective intervention” (p.257).
>>
>>
>>
>> Bishop, D. V. M. (2012). Neuroscientific studies of intervention for
>> language impairment in children: interpretive and methodological problems.
>> Research Review: Emanuel Miller Memorial Lecture 2012. *Journal of Child
>> Psychology and Psychiatry, 54*(3), 247–259.
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> “Neuroplasticity the one thing we know about plasticity, which is the
>> capacity to adjust and adapt, is it's greatest when the brain is immature,
>> and it is less as the brain becomes more mature. It's never completely
>> gone. There is plasticity in the brains of adults. So we do know that
>> there are some functions that emerge, in terms of brain development, in
>> critical periods. And the well described ones are in the sensory area,
>> vision and hearing, to some extent. But there has never been
>> demonstrated in humans a critical period for anything related to cognition
>> or emotional development or social development.
>>
>>
>>
>> In a sensitive period, there isn't a time when the window closes and it's
>> too late. But what it means is that when you pass the sensitive period,
>> it's harder for these things to develop in an adaptive way, or they may
>> develop in a way that is not as efficient as it might be, and that you have
>> to try to overcome later. Unlike a critical period where it's too late,
>> missing a sensitive period means that it just gets harder as you get older,
>> it's harder to get it right. So the messages that come out of that basic
>> principle of brain development is that getting things right the first
>> time is better than trying to fix them later, trying to adapt to something
>> that was not developed in the best way at the time that it was supposed to
>> be developed. So the sobering message here is that if children don't have
>> the right experiences during these sensitive periods for the development of
>> a variety of skills, including many cognitive and language capacities,
>> that's a burden that those kids are going to carry; the sensitive period is
>> over, and it's going to be harder for them. Their architecture is not as
>> well developed in their brain as it would have been if they had had the
>> right experiences during the sensitive period. That's the sobering message.
>> But there's also a hopeful message there, which is unlike a critical period
>> where it's too late. The sensitive period says: It's not too late to kind
>> of try to remediate that later. And you can develop good, healthy, normal
>> competencies in many areas, even if your earlier wiring was somewhat
>> faulty. But it's harder. It costs more in energy costs to the brain. The
>> brain has to work at adapting to earlier circuits that were not laid down
>> the way they should have been. And from a society's point of view, it costs
>> more in terms of more expensive programming, more specialized help.
>>
>>
>>
>> Shonkoff, J.P. (2007). *The neuroscience of nurturing neurons.* Children
>> of the Code. Retrieved from http://www.childrenofthecode.
>> org/interviews/shonkoff.htm
>> <http://www.childrenofthecode.org/interviews/shonkoff.htm>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> “Although neurological variables may explain why individuals with
>> dyslexia struggle more than children without dyslexia in learning to read,
>> the dyslexic brain may still show plasticity in response to instructional
>> interventions. Specific language processes may normalize after short-term
>> treatment, suggesting that if appropriate instruction is sustained, this
>> treatment may lead to full compensation (full recovery of normal reading).
>> Evidence for such brain plasticity in individuals with dyslexia, which is
>> associated with differences in occipital–temporal, temporal–parietal,
>> and frontal brain systems (e.g. Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2003), has been
>> reported following treatment. fMRI tasks have shown pre- to post-treatment
>> changes in brain activation levels and patterns in frontal systems (Aylward
>> et al., 2003; Richards et al., 2000, 2002; Temple et al., 2000, 2003;
>> Shaywitz et al., 2004), temporal–parietal regions (Aylward et al., 2003;
>> Eden et al., 2004; Shaywitz et al., 2004; Simos et al., 2002; Temple et
>> al., 2003), and occipital–temporal regions (Aylward et al., 2003;
>> Shaywitz et al., 2004). Plasticity of brain response has been observed across
>> the life span: (a) in younger students in response to explicit
>> phonological awareness and phonics instruction (Shaywitz et al., 2004;
>> Simos et al., 2002), (b) in upper elementary and middle school students
>> in response to instruction designed to increase the precision of
>> phonological and orthographic word representations and the efficiency of
>> the working memory architecture (Aylward et al., 2003; Richards et al.,
>> 2000, 2002), and (c) in adults in response to explicit instruction in
>> sound and articulatory awareness and phonics training (Eden et al., 2004).
>> Brain plasticity has also been demonstrated for normal adolescents learning
>> non-word associations (Molfese et al., 2002) and normal adults learning
>> a miniature visual language (McCandliss, Posner, & Given, 1997). See Richards
>> et al. (in press) and Berninger (in press) for additional details of
>> these studies, which varied in imaging modality, imaging tasks, age of
>> participants, and nature of the treatment”.
>>
>>
>>
>> Richards, T., Aylward, E., Berninger, V., Field, K., Grimme, A.C., Parsons,
>> A., Richards, A.L., Nagy, W. (2006). Individual fMRI activation in
>> orthographic mapping and morpheme mapping after orthographic or
>> morphological spelling treatment in child dyslexics. *Journal of
>> Neurolinguistics,* *19**(1),* 56–86.
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> “Focus, then, must be two-fold. First is the focus on ensuring
>> appropriate environmental and nutritional conditions that stimulate
>> dendritic growth in infancy and early childhood. But second must be
>> emphasis on improving the strength of particular neural circuits, not
>> simply on the overall growth of dendrites. Most interestingly,
>> instructional activities such as memorization, mastery learning, and
>> repetition-based activities appear to best strengthen and solidify the
>> formation and maintenance of these circuits (Garrett, 2009; Freeberg,
>> 2006). Data strongly support the use of precision teaching, mastery
>> learning approaches, and programs such as DISTAR or direct instruction
>> (Kirschner, Sweller, & Clark, 2006; Mills, Cole, Jenkins, & Dale, 2002;
>> Ryder, Burton, & Silberg, 2006; Swanson & Sachse-Lee, 2000). In addition,
>> programs that focus on mastery, including applied behavior analysis and
>> evidence-based approaches such as Treatment and Education of Autistic and
>> related Communication Handicapped Children (TEACCH) (Mesibov & Shepler,
>> 2004; Panerai, Ferrante, & Zingale, 2002), have been shown to elicit better
>> educational growth than instructional practices, which focus on open-ended
>> or child-guided instructional practices. Thus, given the data from
>> neuroscience combined with evidence-based practices used in special
>> education, special educators can be assured that they are, indeed, using
>> brain-based educational instruction. Mastery-based programs that focus on
>> fluency and repetition are most likely to increase both better traditional
>> learning outcomes and produce neural circuits critical for both educational
>> activities and transfer to daily living skills” (p. 46).
>>
>>
>>
>> Alferink, L.A., & Farmer-Dougan, V. (2010): Brain-(not) based education:
>> Dangers of misunderstanding and misapplication of neuroscience research, *Exceptionality,
>> 18*(1), 42-52.
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> “The first point to note here is that the term ‘brain-training’ is
>> somewhat of a tautology, since all learning happens in the brain. As one of
>> our colleagues is known to say: “it certainly doesn’t happen in your big
>> toe”. Any intervention that is given to any child, will, in some way,
>> “train their brain”. So the question here is not should we train children’s
>> brains, but how should we train their brains? … neuroplasticity tells us
>> that the brain can adapt, but it does not tell us how the brain should be
>> stimulated (or trained). Thus, neuroplasticity per se also does not inform
>> us about how to treat learning difficulties.” (p.1)
>>
>>
>>
>> Castles, A., & McArthur, G. (2013). ‘Brain-training’… or learning as we
>> like to call it. *Learning Difficulties Australia Bulletin, 45*(1), 1-2.
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> “For example, the research described above on the formation of memory
>> through long-term potentiation strongly suggests that neural connections
>> are strengthened through repetition or practice (Freeberg, 2006; Garrett,
>> 2008; Hardiman, 2003). Note that the importance of practice and rehearsal
>> has been known for more than a century, long before the process of
>> long-term potentiation was identified (Ebbinghaus, 1913; Hebb, 1949;
>> Thorndike, 1913). Likewise, the data suggest that formation of memories
>> through neural consolidation works best if students have a number of short
>> learning sessions separated over time, not single long sessions. Again, the
>> advantages of spaced or distributed practice over massed practice have also
>> been known for many decades (see Olson & Hergenhahn, 2009; Ebbinghaus,
>> 1913). Neuroscience, in this case, reinforced these best practices by
>> providing the data at the neural level that supported these methods” (p.50).
>>
>>
>>
>> Alferink, L.A., & Farmer-Dougan, V. (2010): Brain-(not) based education:
>> Dangers of misunderstanding and misapplication of neuroscience research, *Exceptionality,
>> 18*(1), 42-52.
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> “The idea that neuroscience research might provide guidance for teachers
>> sounds promising. However, as with any new and aspiring research field,
>> educational neuroscience has suffered to some extent from over-optimism and
>> wishful thinking. A huge demand for improving educational practice has been
>> a fertile ground for misconceptions around the question of how neuroscience
>> can be applied to education. Speculative educational applications have
>> emerged in the name of neuroscience (p.136) … In contrast with some of the
>> ideas behind the whole language approach, reading is therefore not innate;
>> brain regions that have evolved for tasks such as object (not letter)
>> recognition, or understanding spoken (not printed) language, need to be
>> combined to form a new skill. Reading is, after all, an acquired human
>> ability that emerged only after the cultural invention of the alphabet”
>> (p.138).
>>
>>
>>
>> Weigmann, K. (2013). Educating the brain. *EMBO Reports, 14*(2), 136-9.
>> Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3566840/
>> <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3566840/>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> “Three complementary sources of evidence suggest that words are the units
>> of reading. First, eye movements during fluent reading are made mostly by
>> making saccades from one word to the next. Second, the reading time of a
>> single word is relatively independent of the number of letters. Third, a
>> single letter may be more easily detected in brief presentations when
>> embedded in a word. A possible inference of these findings is that
>> education should be organized to teach children to read entire words
>> instead of focusing in letter-by-letter identification. This procedure,
>> usually termed holistic reading, led to concrete implementations that
>> turned out to be a major pedagogical fiasco. As it turns out, the
>> neuroscience of visual learning could actually have predicted this failure.
>> The development of literacy is a case of pop-out learning, a process by
>> which, after extensive practice, one can identify a specific set of shapes
>> in cluttered fields very rapidly and with a subjective feeling of
>> automaticity and lack of effort. For non-readers, reading is a slow,
>> effortful and serial process that becomes automatic after many hours of
>> training. What sort of transformation elicits this type of learning in
>> the brain and what material is optimal for this learning process?
>>
>>
>>
>> Constitutive elements of shapes are represented by pools of neurons
>> encoding basic traits (strokes) that recombine to form new elements of
>> intermediate complexity, which are subsequently recombined to encode more
>> complex objects69. This notion was incorporated into a model of neural
>> codes for written words, based on a hierarchy of increasingly complex
>> neuronal detectors, from individual letters to bigrams and morphemes. Only
>> specific patterns that conform certain letters from strokes (as opposed to
>> other patterns with similar regularities, but which do not occur in the
>> alphabet) are trained by visual experience64. The hypothesis was that this
>> process relies on the same learning mechanisms that carve a cortical
>> circuitry for grouping contours and segmenting textures, namely the
>> assembling of object statistical regularities in the visual world62. This
>> hypothesis was tested by measuring brain responses to visual strings that
>> progressively disrupt the ‘natural statistics’ of the alphabet at different
>> scales: JZWYZK (infrequent letters), QOADTM (frequent letters), QUMBST
>> (frequent bigrams) and AVONIL (frequent quadrigrams). Results showed a
>> gradient of selectivity spanning the left occipito-temporal cortex, with
>> increasing selectivity for higher level stimuli toward the anterior
>> fusiform region70.
>>
>>
>>
>> The importance of this finding for education is that even after extensive
>> practice with reading, words are still represented by their constitutive
>> components. This process goes all the way to what appears to be the
>> constitutive elements of all alphabets, that is, oriented elements or
>> strokes. For this reason, one aspect that may impair fluent reading is the
>> inability to parse words into letters. In agreement with this prediction,
>> the remarkably simple intervention of increasing letter spacing
>> substantially improves text reading in some kinds of dyslexic children71.
>> An additional piece of evidence required to bring these data together is
>> that visual crowding, the inability to identify objects in clutter, is more
>> severe in dyslexic children, making it hard to parse letters from
>> continuous words” (p.500).
>>
>>
>>
>> Sigman, M., Peña, M., Goldin, A.P., & Ribeiro, S. (2014). Neuroscience
>> and education: Prime time to build the bridge. *Nature Neuroscience, 17*(4),
>> 497-502.
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> “A clinical and educational goal of reading research is to improve the
>> accuracy with which children at risk for dyslexia are identified so that
>> they can receive early, preventive intervention rather than intervention
>> that follows years of reading failure (Strickland, 2002
>> <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3742917/#B56>).
>> Although behavioral measures of phonological awareness, RAN, and letter
>> knowledge in kindergartners predict reading ability years later (Catts
>> et al., 2001
>> <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3742917/#B7>;
>> Schatschneider et al., 2004
>> <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3742917/#B48>),
>> the sensitivity and specificity of these behavioral measures is modest (Pennington
>> and Lefly, 2001
>> <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3742917/#B39>).
>> There is some evidence that brain measures substantially enhance the
>> accuracy of predicting reading ability across a school year (Hoeft et
>> al., 2007
>> <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3742917/#B24>;
>> Rezaie et al., 2011
>> <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3742917/#B44>)
>> or across multiple years (Maurer et al., 2009
>> <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3742917/#B31>;
>> Hoeft et al., 2011
>> <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3742917/#B25>).
>> The present study indicates that DWI measures of white matter organization
>> reveal a specific structural risk factor for reading difficulty that, in
>> combination with behavioral and other brain measures, may improve the
>> identification of prereaders at risk for dyslexia” (p.13256).
>>
>> Saygin, Z.M., Norton, E.S., Osher, D.E., Beach, S.D., Cyr, A.B.,
>> Ozernov-Palchik, O., Yendiki, A., Fischl, B., Gaab, N., & Gabrieli,
>> J.D.E. (2013). Tracking the roots of reading ability: White matter
>> volume and integrity correlate with phonological awareness in prereading
>> and early-reading kindergarten children. *The Journal of Neuroscience 33*(33),
>> 13251-13258. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
>> pmc/articles/PMC3742917/
>> <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3742917/>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> “These results indicate that the GMV differences in dyslexia reported
>> here and in prior studies are in large part the outcome of experience
>> (e.g., disordered reading experience) compared with controls, with only a
>> fraction of the differences being driven by dyslexia per se.”
>>
>>
>>
>> Krafnik, A. J., Flowers, D. L., Luetje, M. M., Napoliello, E. M., & Eden,
>> G. F. (2014). An investigation into the origin of anatomical differences in
>> dyslexia. *The Journal of Neuroscience, 34*(3), 901-908.
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> “Scholarly treatments have been positive about the prospects, but more
>> sober, and most have taken a position that is broadly consistent with ours.
>> They argue that neuroscience has been and will continue to be helpful to
>> education — indeed, recent reviews show beyond doubt that this is true
>> (e.g., Katzir & Paré-Blagoev, 2006 ) — but they argue that data from
>> neuroscience must be funneled through a behavioral level of analysis (e.g.,
>> Bruer, 1997, 1998; Hirsh-Pasek & Bruer, 2007) or that neuroscience should
>> be part of a broader approach to research in education, not the sole savior
>> (e.g., Ansari & Coch, 2006; Byrnes & Fox, 1998; Fischer et al., 2007; Geake
>> & Cooper, 2003 ) (p. 147).
>>
>>
>>
>> Willingham, D.T., & Lloyd, J.W. (2007). How educational theories can use
>> neuroscientific data. *Mind, Brain, and Education*, *1*(3), 140-149.
>> Retrieved from http://www.danielwillingham.com/uploads/5/0/0/7/5007325/
>> willingham__lloyd_2007.pdf
>> <http://www.danielwillingham.com/uploads/5/0/0/7/5007325/willingham__lloyd_2007.pdf>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> “Likewise, the data suggest that formation of memories through neural
>> consolidation works best if students have a number of short learning
>> sessions separated over time, not single long sessions. Again, the
>> advantages of spaced or distributed practice over massed practice have also
>> been known for many decades (see Olson & Hergenhahn, 2009; Ebbinghaus,
>> 1913). Neuroscience, in this case, reinforced these best practices by
>> providing the data at the neural level that supported these methods” (p.50).
>>
>>
>>
>> Alferink, L.A., & Farmer-Dougan, V. (2010): Brain-(not) based education:
>> Dangers of misunderstanding and misapplication of neuroscience research, *Exceptionality,
>> 18*(1), 42-52.
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> “Students with higher and lower math scores use different parts of the
>> brain when doing simple calculations, according to a new study
>> <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001eZ1skbl-Ve3mXl31WhwvNXVgnNVsi-A0R3ur_wQvrcJpa0vqcopIizATKTf7eXlwL5oMGBrALFEQbzBFGrdjvq4tAHuhwTRqU83VN_LI89lGjVBe0FCIly0OPOqOpEtHRSGwullVvA7pJbb0ijiyNgWjEH0kQxSR>
>> in *The Journal of Neuroscience*. High achievers use an area of the
>> brain associated with arithmetic fact retrieval, whereas students with
>> lower scores use an area associated with quantity-processing mechanisms.
>> The suggestion is that the ability to recall math facts (rather than do the
>> sum from scratch) helps the students to go onto more complex mathematics.
>>
>> The researchers used an fMRI scanner to examine the brains of 33 students
>> (aged 17-18) as they performed simple, single-digit arithmetic. There was a
>> clear association between particular areas of the brain and the students'
>> scores in the PSAT math test (taken at age 15-16). The results suggest a
>> correlation between arithmetic fact retrieval and higher scores, but more
>> research is needed to see whether there is also a causational link - for
>> example, whether interventions where lower-scoring students learn math
>> facts lead to changes in brain activity and/or higher math scores.”
>>
>>
>>
>> Price, G.R., Mazzocco, M.M.M., & Ansari, D. (2013). Why mental arithmetic
>> counts: Brain activation during single digit arithmetic predicts high
>> school math scores. *The Journal of Neuroscience, 33*(1), 156-163.
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> "So I remain skeptical about the implications of neuroscience for
>> education currently and into the near future. Maybe I should say the
>> *direct* implications of neuroscience for education. I do believe that
>> eventually we will be able to bridge neuroscience at its various levels of
>> analysis with education, but I am convinced that all of these bridges will
>> have a least one pier on the island of psychology.
>>
>>
>>
>> Bruer, J.T. (2006). Points of view: On the implications of neuroscience
>> research for science teaching and learning: Are there any? *CBE Life
>> Science Education, 5*(2), 111-7. Retrieved from
>> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1618519/
>> <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1618519/>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> “As yet it is not possible to predict or assess an individual’s specific
>> learning disability from a brain scan (73). This is because even within
>> a diagnostic category, such as developmental dyslexia, there is substantial
>> anatomical variation from one individual to another.” … while there is
>> strong evidence that genetic factors are implicated in specific learning
>> disabilities,(74) one can seldom identify a single gene as responsible,
>> because multiple genes are involved and their impact depends on the
>> environment.(75) Furthermore, even when a genetic risk or neurological
>> basis for a learning disability can be identified, this does not mean the
>> individual is unteachable; rather, it means that it is necessary to
>> identify the specific barriers to learning for that person, and find
>> alternative ways.” (p. 12)
>>
>>
>>
>> The Royal Society. (2011). Brain waves module 2: Neuroscience:
>> Implications for education and lifelong learning. Retrieved from
>> https://royalsociety.org/~/media/Royal_Society_Content/
>> policy/publications/2011/4294975733.pdf
>> <https://royalsociety.org/~/media/Royal_Society_Content/policy/publications/2011/4294975733.pdf>
>>
>>
>>
>> (73) Giedd, J.N., & Rapoport, J.L. (2010). Structural MRI of pediatric
>> brain development: What have we learned and where are we going? *Neuron
>> 67*(5), 728–734.
>>
>> (74) Willcutt, E.G., Pennington, B.F., Duncan, .L, Smith, S.D., Keenan,
>> J.M., & Wadsworth, S., et al. (2010). Understanding the complex etiologies
>> of developmental disorders: Behavioral and molecular genetic approaches. *Journal
>> of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, **31*(7), 533–544.
>>
>> (75) For a discussion see www.deevybee.blogspot.com/
>> 2010/09/genes-for-optimism-dyslexia-andobesity.html
>> <http://www.deevybee.blogspot.com/2010/09/genes-for-optimism-dyslexia-andobesity.html>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> “Working-memory training as currently implemented does not work. One
>> hundred years of research on basic memory phenomena has discovered many
>> procedures that do!” (p.190)
>>
>> McCabe1, J.A., Thomas S. Redick, T.S., & Engle, R.W. (2016).
>> Brain-training pessimism, but applied-memory optimism. *Psychological
>> Science in the Public Interest, 17*(3) 187–191. Retrieved from
>>
>> http://psi.sagepub.com/content/17/3/187.full.pdf+html
>> <http://psi.sagepub.com/content/17/3/187.full.pdf+html>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> “Practicing a cognitive task consistently improves performance on that
>> task and closely related tasks, but the available evidence that such
>> training generalizes to other tasks or to real-world performance is not
>> compelling.” (p.173).
>>
>> Simons, D. J., Boot, W. R., Charness, N., Gathercole, S. E., Chabris, C.
>> F., Hambrick, D. Z., & Stine-Morrow, E. A. L. (2016). Do “brain training”
>> programs work? *Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 18*,
>> xxx–xxx. Retrieved from http://psi.sagepub.com/content/17/3/187
>> <http://psi.sagepub.com/content/17/3/187>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> “It is important to keep in mind that reading is a uniquely human skill
>> that is explicitly taught over several years of formal schooling. During
>> this time, significant functional changes occur as a direct consequence of
>> learning to read, as has been shown with fMRI (Gaillard et al., 2003;
>> Schlaggar et al., 2002; Turkeltaub et al., 2003). However, reading does not
>> have a sufficiently long evolutionary history that would reserve dedicated
>> neural populations specifically to this skill. Therefore, reading makes use
>> of brain areas that were most likely dedicated to other functions, an idea
>> that has been captured in the ‘‘neuronal recycling hypothesis’’ (Dehaene et
>> al., 2010). As such, the process of learning to read most likely results in
>> diminishing of some skills, while at the same time promoting others. The
>> consequential outcomes of reading acquisition have been elegantly revealed
>> in studies contrasting literates with illiterates, demonstrating that the
>> profound anatomical and physiological effects that learning to read has on
>> the brain exist within and well beyond brain regions directly associated
>> with reading (Carreiras et al., 2009)”. (p.185)
>>
>>
>>
>> Olulade, O. A., Napoliello, E. M., & Eden, G. F. (2013). Abnormal visual
>> motion processing is not a cause of dyslexia. *Neuron, 79*(1), 180-190.
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> “One could conclude from this that … above average reading skills draw
>> more heavily and more consistently on left hemisphere mechanisms.… Average
>> and below-average readers, in contrast, draw more heavily on
>> right-hemisphere skills…. Above-average readers exhibit more hemisphere
>> differences than average readers, who, in turn, generate more hemisphere
>> differences than below-average readers”.
>>
>>
>>
>> Molfese, D. L., Key, A.F., Kelly, S., Cunningham, N., Terrell, S.,
>> Ferguson, M., Molfese, V.J., & Bonebright, T. (2006). Below-average,
>> average, and above-average readers engage different and similar brain
>> regions while reading. *Journal of Learning Disabilities, 39*(4),
>> 352-363.
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> “The large majority of neuroimaging studies investigating the
>> neurobiological correlates of poor reading have concentrated on lower-level
>> reading tasks involving letters and words. One of the most consistent
>> results in these studies is a finding of reduced or absent activation among
>> poor readers in the left parieto-temporal and/or occipito-temporal cortices
>> (e.g. Aylward et al., 2003
>> <http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0D-4S4JYYC-1&_user=426478&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2008&_alid=754125903&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=4860&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=29&_acct=C000020278&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=426478&md5=cbc5da623a76662cd21cd4ebc84f5a70#bib1%23bib1>;
>> Brunswick, McCroy, Price, Frith, & Frith, 1999
>> <http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0D-4S4JYYC-1&_user=426478&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2008&_alid=754125903&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=4860&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=29&_acct=C000020278&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=426478&md5=cbc5da623a76662cd21cd4ebc84f5a70#bib5%23bib5>;
>> [Corina et al., 2001]
>> <http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0D-4S4JYYC-1&_user=426478&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2008&_alid=754125903&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=4860&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=29&_acct=C000020278&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=426478&md5=cbc5da623a76662cd21cd4ebc84f5a70#bib13%23bib13>,
>> [Eden et al., 2004]
>> <http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0D-4S4JYYC-1&_user=426478&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2008&_alid=754125903&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=4860&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=29&_acct=C000020278&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=426478&md5=cbc5da623a76662cd21cd4ebc84f5a70#bib18%23bib18>,
>> [Georgiewa et al., 1999]
>> <http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0D-4S4JYYC-1&_user=426478&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2008&_alid=754125903&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=4860&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=29&_acct=C000020278&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=426478&md5=cbc5da623a76662cd21cd4ebc84f5a70#bib21%23bib21>,
>> [Hoeft et al., 2006]
>> <http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0D-4S4JYYC-1&_user=426478&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2008&_alid=754125903&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=4860&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=29&_acct=C000020278&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=426478&md5=cbc5da623a76662cd21cd4ebc84f5a70#bib23%23bib23>,
>> [Hoeft et al., 2007]
>> <http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0D-4S4JYYC-1&_user=426478&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2008&_alid=754125903&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=4860&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=29&_acct=C000020278&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=426478&md5=cbc5da623a76662cd21cd4ebc84f5a70#bib24%23bib24>,
>> [Paulesu et al., 1996]
>> <http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0D-4S4JYYC-1&_user=426478&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2008&_alid=754125903&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=4860&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=29&_acct=C000020278&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=426478&md5=cbc5da623a76662cd21cd4ebc84f5a70#bib36%23bib36>,
>> [Rumsey et al., 1992]
>> <http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0D-4S4JYYC-1&_user=426478&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2008&_alid=754125903&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=4860&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=29&_acct=C000020278&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=426478&md5=cbc5da623a76662cd21cd4ebc84f5a70#bib39%23bib39>,
>> [Rumsey et al., 1997]
>> <http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0D-4S4JYYC-1&_user=426478&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2008&_alid=754125903&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=4860&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=29&_acct=C000020278&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=426478&md5=cbc5da623a76662cd21cd4ebc84f5a70#bib40%23bib40>,
>> [Shaywitz et al., 1998]
>> <http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0D-4S4JYYC-1&_user=426478&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2008&_alid=754125903&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=4860&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=29&_acct=C000020278&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=426478&md5=cbc5da623a76662cd21cd4ebc84f5a70#bib52%23bib52>,
>> [Shaywitz et al., 2002]
>> <http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0D-4S4JYYC-1&_user=426478&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2008&_alid=754125903&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=4860&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=29&_acct=C000020278&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=426478&md5=cbc5da623a76662cd21cd4ebc84f5a70#bib47%23bib47>,
>> [Shaywitz et al., 2003]
>> <http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0D-4S4JYYC-1&_user=426478&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2008&_alid=754125903&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=4860&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=29&_acct=C000020278&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=426478&md5=cbc5da623a76662cd21cd4ebc84f5a70#bib51%23bib51>
>> and [Shaywitz et al., 2004]
>> <http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0D-4S4JYYC-1&_user=426478&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2008&_alid=754125903&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=4860&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=29&_acct=C000020278&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=426478&md5=cbc5da623a76662cd21cd4ebc84f5a70#bib46%23bib46>;
>> Simos, Breier, Fletcher, Bergman, & Papanicolaou, 2000
>> <http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0D-4S4JYYC-1&_user=426478&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2008&_alid=754125903&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=4860&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=29&_acct=C000020278&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=426478&md5=cbc5da623a76662cd21cd4ebc84f5a70#bib55%23bib55>;
>> [Simos et al., 2002]
>> <http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0D-4S4JYYC-1&_user=426478&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2008&_alid=754125903&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=4860&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=29&_acct=C000020278&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=426478&md5=cbc5da623a76662cd21cd4ebc84f5a70#bib56%23bib56>
>> and [Temple et al., 2003]
>> <http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0D-4S4JYYC-1&_user=426478&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2008&_alid=754125903&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=4860&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=29&_acct=C000020278&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=426478&md5=cbc5da623a76662cd21cd4ebc84f5a70#bib58%23bib58>).
>> While only a few studies have examined cortical function among poor readers
>> in higher-level reading tasks, evidence is beginning to emerge indicating
>> that underactivation in the parieto-temporal and occipito-temporal regions
>> may likewise characterize poor readers when they are reading sentences for
>> comprehension (e.g. [Kronbichler et al., 2006]
>> <http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0D-4S4JYYC-1&_user=426478&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2008&_alid=754125903&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=4860&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=29&_acct=C000020278&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=426478&md5=cbc5da623a76662cd21cd4ebc84f5a70#bib29%23bib29>,
>> [Meyler et al., 2007]
>> <http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0D-4S4JYYC-1&_user=426478&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2008&_alid=754125903&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=4860&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=29&_acct=C000020278&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=426478&md5=cbc5da623a76662cd21cd4ebc84f5a70#bib32%23bib32>
>> and [Seki et al., 2001]
>> <http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0D-4S4JYYC-1&_user=426478&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2008&_alid=754125903&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=4860&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=29&_acct=C000020278&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=426478&md5=cbc5da623a76662cd21cd4ebc84f5a70#bib44%23bib44>).
>> Together, the findings from word-level and sentence-level studies support
>> the view that underfunctioning of these regions represents a neural
>> signature of poor reading ability (e.g. Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2005
>> <http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0D-4S4JYYC-1&_user=426478&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2008&_alid=754125903&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=4860&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=29&_acct=C000020278&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=426478&md5=cbc5da623a76662cd21cd4ebc84f5a70#bib49%23bib49>
>> ).
>>
>>
>>
>> Meyler, A., Keller, T.A., Cherkassky, V.L., Gabrieli, J.D., & Just, M.A.
>> (2008) Modifying the brain activation of poor readers during sentence
>> comprehension with extended remedial instruction: A longitudinal study of
>> neuroplasticity. *Neuropsychologia, 46*(10), 2580-92.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 11 September 2018 at 13:19, Jim Cowardin <jimco66 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Bob, I think I responded to you directly instead of to “the List” as
>>> well. I forgot to check to see if the DI List was an addressee. I have
>>> added it this time.
>>>
>>> I am certainly not an expert on brain science. I am not an expert on
>>> much of anything. But I think it boils down to the brain scientists’ (BSs
>>> for Short, no pun intended) endeavor to show a causal relationship between
>>> learning activities and brain change-the brain gets larger in “the area
>>> that is receiving instruction.” I realize that this is your “in a nutshell”
>>> description of the phenomenon. But I can’t help but wonder how the BSs know
>>> what part of the brain is “learning.”  It gets larger, so does the new
>>> knowledge act like food to build new brain cells? Maybe I need to read the
>>> original research to find out what I am missing.
>>>
>>> One of the things you can try with explanations by cognitivists and BSs,
>>> who are both basing their science on hypothetical constructs is to leave
>>> their explanations out of their descriptions and see if what is left makes
>>> sense or even better sense. So let me rewrite your second paragraph:
>>> ...Mezernich has demonstrated in animal research that clear, consistent
>>> repetition without distraction leads to more specialization, speed and
>>> accuracy.  Da, da.
>>>
>>> What does it add to the situation that the brain enlarges somewhere?  We
>>> certainly cannot reverse the process and enlarge the brain (What material
>>> would we use?) and experience “more specialization, speed and accuracy” in
>>> some academic response. If you let us enlarge your brain, you will be much
>>> smarter. We could sell that and make Apple and Microsoft afterthoughts in
>>> the race for net worth.
>>>
>>> If your going to enlarge brains through teaching, you need to teach
>>> well, and it all comes down to the principles of DI.
>>>
>>> Jim
>>>
>>> On Mon, Sep 10, 2018 at 22:37 ROBERT <bhullinghorst at comcast.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Dear Jim:
>>>>
>>>> Basically, as I understand it as a layman, neuroplasticity is new
>>>> research demonstrating that the brain continuously manufactures new
>>>> neurons, and these plus existing neurons can modify their synapses in
>>>> response to training and other factors (like physical activity and
>>>> nutrition).  This contrasts with the general medical position that the
>>>> brain has fixed segments that cannot be changed.
>>>>
>>>> Most of the research focuses on treatment of brain disease.  However, a
>>>> California researcher, Merzenich, has demonstrated in animal research that
>>>> clear, consistent repetition without distraction enlarges that portion of
>>>> the brain receiving instruction.   This eventually is translated into more
>>>> specialization, more speed, and more accuracy.  Such brain changes have
>>>> also been identified in humans.
>>>>
>>>> While I have read little, yet, to connect Neuroplasticity to education
>>>> directly, there is a recent report in England that supports "rote
>>>> memorization" and memory development as superior to the model that has
>>>> plagued our education system for decades, overwhelming the research that
>>>> supports Zig's Direct Instruction mode.
>>>>
>>>> While I have read other authors, Norman Doige's books on
>>>> neuroplasticity  have been the core of my reading..
>>>>
>>>> I am responding to you directly.  I do not yet know how to participate
>>>> in the forum.
>>>>
>>>> Bob Hullinghorst
>>>> Boulder, CO
>>>> 9/10/18
>>>>
>>>> Sent from XFINITY Connect App
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ------ Original Message ------
>>>>
>>>> From: Jim Cowardin
>>>> To: ROBERT
>>>> Sent: September 10, 2018 at 2:06 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: di: DI and Neuroplasticity?
>>>>
>>>> Bob, Please, define Neuroplasticity for me. I could take a guess
>>>> (Roughly, generalization), but I would like hear then ‘scientific’
>>>> description of the concept.
>>>>
>>>> Jim Cowardin
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, Sep 10, 2018 at 12:13 ROBERT <bhullinghorst at comcast.net> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> For several months, I have been reading serious books and articles
>>>>> about Neuroplasticity.  While some of the information is too technical for
>>>>> me, and some is hokum, there seems to be much promise in the direction of
>>>>> this research.
>>>>>
>>>>> As a former public official, I have been similarly interested in
>>>>> Direct Instruction for more than a decade, because DI is the most promising
>>>>> route for making public education more successful for all students.  While
>>>>> I am not a teacher, I have attended DI classes and observed outstanding
>>>>> successes.
>>>>>
>>>>> I would like to begin my participation in the DI forum by positing a
>>>>> simple question--has there been research about how DI may relate to
>>>>> Neuroplasticity?
>>>>>
>>>>> The simple answer is probably NO.  Even though the unique, structured
>>>>> educational approach of DI may significantly support, or benefit from, the
>>>>> phenomena being uncovered by research on Neuroplastinity.
>>>>>
>>>>> If the answer is, in fact, NO, I would like to elaborate on my
>>>>> suspicions about the relationships between DI and neuroplasticity, and
>>>>> possible areas of research.  Unless too many members of the forum tell me I
>>>>> am crazy.
>>>>>
>>>>> Sincerely,
>>>>>
>>>>> Bob Hullinghorst
>>>>> Boulder, CO
>>>>>
>>>>> Sent from XFINITY Connect App
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> di mailing list
>>>>> di at lists.uoregon.edu
>>>>> https://lists-prod.uoregon.edu/mailman/listinfo/di
>>>>> <https://lists-prod.uoregon.edu/mailman/listinfo/di>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> di mailing list
>>> di at lists.uoregon.edu
>>>
>> https://lists-prod.uoregon.edu/mailman/listinfo/di
>>> domain=lists-prod.uoregon.edu
>>> <https://lists-prod.uoregon.edu/mailman/listinfo/di>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Regards,
>>
>> Kerry
>>
>> Dr Kerry Hempenstall
>> Senior Industry Fellow,
>> School of Education,
>> RMIT University,
>> Melbourne Australia
>>
>

-- 
Regards,

Kerry

Dr Kerry Hempenstall
Senior Industry Fellow,
School of Education,
RMIT University,
Melbourne Australia
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