Category Archives: Research

WISC-IV profile in Developmental Dyscalculia

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Results in a recent study showed that cognitive abilities related to both reasoning (fluid and crystallized) and executive functioning (verbal working memory and processing speed) are involved in math achievement, with different roles played for different math tasks. Verbal working memory and crystallized intelligence, as evaluated with Digit Span and Similarities subtests, were the functions most involved in math achievement, with the former more involved in tasks related to Number System and the latter more involved in tasks related to Calculation System. Furthermore, the degree of impairment of verbal working memory influenced the BDE profiles in the subgroup of children with Developmental Dyscalculia. 

See the full article HERE

Why Students Forget—and What You Can Do About It

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In a recent article published in the journal Neuron, neurobiologists Blake Richards and Paul Frankland challenge the predominant view of memory, which holds that forgetting is a process of loss—the gradual washing away of critical information despite our best efforts to retain it. According to Richards and Frankland, the goal of memory is not just to store information accurately but to “optimize decision-making” in chaotic, quickly changing environments. In this model of cognition, forgetting is an evolutionary strategy, a purposeful process that runs in the background of memory, evaluating and discarding information that doesn’t promote the survival of the species.

Read all about it HERE

Sensory Processing Disorder

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In this episode of Breaking Down Mental Health, Dr. Hannah Reynard, a neurodevelopmental expert at Michigan Medicine, discusses sensory processing disorder (SPD) and learning disorders like dyspraxia, dyscalculia, and dyslexia. She breaks down how SPD affects sensory input, its subtypes, screening tools, and treatment options. Dr. Reynard also highlights the need for school accommodations and the challenges in diagnosing these conditions. Listen to the full episode for deeper insights.

Listen to the full episode HERE

Non-right-handedness is more common across multiple mental health conditions

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People with mental or neurodevelopmental disorders are more likely to show non-right-handedness than those without these conditions, according to a second-order meta-analysis published in Psychological Bulletin.

Handedness—the tendency to prefer one hand over the other—is rooted in our biology and brain organization. Most people are right-handed, but left- and mixed-handed individuals comprise a significant minority. Handedness is shaped by both genetic and environmental factors, and emerges early in development, even prenatally. It is also associated with brain lateralization, especially in regions involved in language. Because some mental and neurodevelopmental disorders are also linked to altered brain asymmetry, researchers have suspected that handedness might reflect underlying neurocognitive differences relevant to these conditions.

Read the full article HERE

6 ways to improve interventions for specific learning difficulties

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There is plenty of research around SLD – such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia – but teachers and schools need to be involved in the development of new approaches, says Gillian Stirton

A motivated corps of experts, developers, entrepreneurs and others create ways to combat the difficulties and downstream disadvantages that come with SLD such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia, or combinations of these.

Read the full article HERE