Behavioral Training Improves Connectivity and Function in the Brain

Children with poor reading skills who underwent an intensive, six-month training program to improve their reading ability showed increased connectivity in a particular brain region, in addition to making significant gains in reading, according to a study funded in part by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). The study was published in the Dec. 10, 2009, issue of Neuron.

"We have known that behavioral training can enhance brain function." said NIMH Director Thomas R. Insel, M.D. "The exciting breakthrough here is detecting changes in brain connectivity with behavioral treatment. This finding with reading deficits suggests an exciting new approach to be tested in the treatment of mental disorders, which increasingly appear to be due to problems in specific brain circuits."

For the study, Timothy Keller, Ph.D., and Marcel Just, Ph.D., both of Carnegie Mellon University, randomly assigned 35 poor readers ages 8-12, to an intensive, remedial reading program, and 12 to a control group that received normal classroom instruction. For comparison, the researchers also included 25 children of similar age who were rated as average or above-average readers by their teachers. The average readers also received only normal classroom instruction.

Four remedial reading programs were offered, but few differences in reading improvements were seen among them. As such, results for participants in these programs were evaluated as a group. All of the programs were given over a six month schooling period, for five days a week in 50-minute sessions (100 hours total), with three students per teacher. The focus of these programs was improving readers' ability to decode unfamiliar words.

Using a technology called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), the researchers were able to measure structural properties of the children's white matter, the insulation-clad fibers that provide efficient communication in the central nervous system. Specifically, DTI shows the movement of water molecules through white matter, reflecting the quality of white matter connections. The better the connection, the more the water molecules move in the same direction, providing a higher "bandwidth" for information transfer between brain regions.

At the outset of the study, poor readers showed lower quality white matter than average readers in a brain region called the anterior left centrum semiovale. Six months later, at the completion of the intensive training, the poor readers showed significant increases in the quality of this region. Children who did not receive the training did not show this increase, suggesting that the changes seen in the remedial training group were not due to natural maturation of the brain.

In an effort to further pinpoint the mechanism underlying this change, the researchers deduced that a process called myelination may be key. Myelin is akin to electrical insulation, allowing for more rapid and efficient communication between nerve cells in the brain. However, the directional association between brain changes and reading improvements remains unclear—whether intensive training brings about increased myelination that results in improved word decoding skills, or whether improved word decoding skills leads to changes in reading habits that result in greater myelination.

"Our findings support not only the positive effects of remediation and rehabilitation for reading disabilities, but may also lead to improved treatments for a range of developmental conditions related to brain connectivity, such as autism," noted Just.

Source: Timothy Keller, Ph.D.; Marcel Just, Ph.D.

Left brain image shows the area of lower quality white matter (blue area) among poor readers relative to good readers at the beginning of the study.

Center brain image shows the area where the white matter quality increased (red/yellow area) among poor readers who received the remedial reading instruction.

Right brain image shows that following the instruction, there were no differences between the poor and average readers with respect to the quality of their white matter.

Reference

Keller TA, Just MA. Altering cortical connectivity: Remediation-induced changes in the white matter of poor readers. Neuron.

Adolescent brain development: Current themes and future directions Introduction to the special issue in Brain and Cognition

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=MImg&_imagekey=B6WBY-4XY4B7M-1-1&_cdi=6723&_user=4420&_pii=S0278262609002115&_orig=browse&_coverDate=02%2F28%2F2010&_sk=999279998&view=c&wchp=dGLbVzb-zSkWA&md5=7e17f86ba2c58ffd8019e3a9f2fc93eb&ie=/sdarticle.pdf

This issue brings together researchers who have devoted their

research programs to the investigation of adolescent brain development

through the use of neuroimaging, electrophysiology,

molecular genetics, neurochemistry and hormonal probes. Collectively,

the work presented here is intended to convey the current

understanding of the brain’s maturation as an integrated network

of structural and functional constituents. Accordingly, questions

that are addressed herein include (1) How do the brain’s different

tissue compartments develop during the adolescent period? Here

the emphasis is on gray matter, white matter, cortical complexity,

and the functional connectivity between regions, (2) How are these

changes to be interpreted with respect to their implications for the

maturation of functional networks, particularly those associated

with the development of social and self-regulatory competence?

(3) How do hormonal and neurochemical influences impact behavior

in adolescence in contrast to other periods of the lifespan? (4)

What is the nature of gender differences in patterns of structural

and functional brain development? (5) Are there patterns of functional

brain activity that distinguish adolescents from children and

from adults as they perform cognitive and motivational tasks? (6)

Similarly, are these patterns mirrored in measures of cortical

dynamics as measured using electrophysiology? (7) What do these

patterns tell us about vulnerabilities to specific clinical disorders?

Ultimately, these questions converge on the overarching theme of

attempting to link maturational changes in structure and function,

leading to an examination of (8) whether adolescent-unique

behavioral patterns can adequately be explained by species-typical

patterns of brain development and the impact of these changes on

the capacity for integrated adaptive function. The quest for answers

to these questions has benefited in recent years from a number

of methodological advances. Among these are neuroimaging

techniques that permit greater resolution of anterior and subcortical

brain structures that are hypothesized to mediate the capacity

for cognition–emotion integration and permit the analysis of the

microstructural properties of white matter, high-density electrophysiology,

and molecular genetics. These techniques allow agerelated

changes to be described with greater precision but also permit

individual differences to be assessed in greater detail. A major

question for future studies concerns the differentiation of brainbehavior

associations that are due to the transition from an immature

to a fully mature brain from those associations that are due to

individual difference factors. That is, is adolescence an equally vulnerable

period of the lifespan for all individuals or only for some in

the context of certain characteristics that interact with immaturity?

If so, what are these characteristics?

Training Improves Multitasking Performance by Increasing the Speed of Information Processing in Human Prefrontal Cortex

Neuron Article
Paul E. Dux,1,4,* Michael N. Tombu,1 Stephenie Harrison,1 Baxter P. Rogers,2,3 Frank Tong,1 and Rene´ Marois1,*

SUMMARY
Our ability to multitask is severely limited: task performance
deteriorates when we attempt to undertake
two or more tasks simultaneously. Remarkably,
extensive training can greatly reduce such multitasking
costs. While it is not known how training
alters the brain to solve the multitasking problem, it
likely involves the prefrontal cortex given this brain
region’s purported role in limiting multitasking performance.
Here, we show that the reduction of multitasking
interference with training is not achieved by
diverting the flow of information processing away
from the prefrontal cortex or by segregating prefrontal
cells into independent task-specific neuronal
ensembles, but rather by increasing the speed of
information processing in this brain region, thereby
allowing multiple tasks to be processed in rapid
succession. These results not only reveal how training
leads to efficient multitasking, they also provide
a mechanistic account of multitasking limitations,
namely the poor speed of information processing in
human prefrontal cortex.

See link for full article:
http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B6hWs3KWEu1BYmNmNmJkM2UtZWQ4Zi00MGFhLWE1NjYtNmEwZTExZjg4ZDRj&hl=en

Altering Cortical Connectivity:Remediation-Induced Changesin the White Matter of Poor Readers

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B0O1M82iBNfGYzkyNmE5OTMtM2VhNS00OGQzLWI4NzYtMTQ4YzdiYjlhY2E4&hl=en

Timothy A. Keller1,* and Marcel Adam Just1
1Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging, Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
DOI 10.1016/j.neuron.2009.10.018

SUMMARY
Neuroimaging studies using diffusion tensor imaging
(DTI) have revealed regions of cerebral white matter
with decreased microstructural organization (lowerfractional
anisotropy or FA) among poor readers.
We examined whether 100 hr of intensive remedial
instruction affected the white matter of 8- to
10-year-old poor readers. Prior to instruction, poor
readers had significantly lower FA than good readers
in a region of the left anterior centrum semiovale.
The instruction resulted in a change in white matter
(significantly increased FA), and in the very same
region. The FA increase was correlated with a
decrease in radial diffusivity (but not with a change
in axial diffusivity), suggesting that myelination had
increased. Furthermore, the FA increase was correlated
with improvement in phonological decoding
ability, clarifying the cognitive locus of the effect.
The resultsdemonstrate the capability of a behavioral
intervention to bring about a positive change in
cortico-cortical white matter tracts.

Cognition Without Control: When A Little Frontal Lobe Goes a Long Way

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B6hWs3KWEu1BZmFhYzMwOGItYmUwYi00N2ZjLWFmOWQtYjgyM2NmMzc5MDdl&hl=en

Sharon L. Thompson-Schill,1 Michael Ramscar,2 and Evangelia G. Chrysikou1

1University of Pennsylvania and 2Stanford University

ABSTRACT—The prefrontal cortex is crucial for the ability
to regulate thought and control behavior. The development
of the human cerebral cortex is characterized by an extended
period of maturation during which young children
exhibit marked deficits in cognitive control. We contend
that prolonged prefrontal immaturity is, on balance, advantageous
and that the positive consequences of this
developmental trajectory outweigh the negative. Particularly,
we argue that cognitive control impedes convention
learning and that delayed prefrontal maturation is a
necessary adaptation for human learning of social and
linguistic conventions. We conclude with a discussion of
recent observations that are relevant to this claim of evolutionary
trade-offs in a wide range of research areas,
including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism
spectrum disorders, creativity, and sleep.

Juggling Enhances Connections In The Brain

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016114055.htm

ScienceDaily (Oct. 17, 2009) — Learning to juggle leads to changes in the white matter of the brain, an Oxford University study has shown.

Elizabeth Jameson's CONVERSATIONS WITH MYSELF: A BRAIN JOURNEY opens at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on November 12, 2009

Using her collection of hundreds of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans of her own brain as a common starting point, Elizabeth Jameson creates artwork in a variety of mediums.

The resulting creations are quite literally a visual record of the artist's conversations with herself.

Elizabeth Jameson's CONVERSATIONS WITH MYSELF: A BRAIN JOURNEY will feature solarplate etchings, silk paintings, textile art, mixed media pieces, and digital work.

"I start with these stark, intimidating pieces of dark plastic that have defined and delineated the most challenging facets of my life for the past twenty years,' according to Elizabeth Jameson. "And I attempt to transform them into something beautiful.'

"In what most people would find formidable, Elizabeth finds an astounding beauty", according to Lynn Curtis, curator at The Commonwealth Club. "The result is a series of paintings and prints that are absolutely radiant, and I am honored to bring this amazing and life-affirming exhibition to the Commonwealth Club."

Elizabeth Jameson's CONVERSATIONS WITH MYSELF: A BRAIN JOURNEY uniquely re-contextualizes medical images into something else entirely.

"By using art to understand her own brain, Elizabeth has found new layers of meaning - and beauty - in oft-seen medical images," according to Dr. Stephen L. Hauser, neuroimmunologist and Chair of the Department of Neurology at UCSF, whose research has dramatically advanced our understanding of the genetic basis, immune mechanisms, and treatment of multiple sclerosis. "I’ll never again look at an MRI scan in the same way.”

'Magnetic Resonance Imaging is a remarkable medical tool, able to probe the brain at unprecedented resolution, but the limiting factor is what can be picked up with a strong magnet,' according to art critic and conceptual artist Jonathon Keats, whose own work frequently explores the brain and consciousness. 'The MRI an objective representation of externally-collected data. Jameson's paintings and prints provide an alternative perspective by colorfully revealing how the brain resonates emotionally in the mind of the beholder.'

ABOUT ELIZABETH JAMESON

Bay Area artist Elizabeth Jameson creates artwork that celebrate the beauty and remarkable adaptive abilities of the human brain. Jameson lives with multiple sclerosis and uses her own MRI brain scans to create art that explores her life, complete with emotional, physical and spiritual complexity. Jameson’s solo show, Conversations with Myself: A Brain Journey is on display at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco from November 3 through January 7, 2010.

ABOUT THE COMMONWEALTH CLUB

Founded in 1903, The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's premier non-profit public affairs forum, with more than 18,000 members. Based in San Francisco, The Club hosts speeches, debates and discussions on issues of regional, national and international significance. At least half a million people hear The Commonwealth Club's weekly radio broadcasts on more than 150 public and commercial radio stations across the country. The Club also broadcasts on XM Satellite Radio, and recently began pod casting its programs. A selection of The Club's programs is now also televised on Comcast Premium Digital Cable. For the past century, The Club has fostered free speech and civic dialogue on wide-ranging topics, addressing key issues in society, culture, politics, the economy and more.

OPENING RECEPTION:
Thursday, November 12
Five to Seven P.M.
***FREE***

Commonwealth Club
595 Market Street
San Francisco, CA :