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PSYCHOLOGY: HUMAN: BRAIN :
PSYCHOLOGY: BEHAVIORAL TRAINING:
Behavioral Training Improves Connectivity and Function in the Brain
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 12:20:46 -0500
From: "NIH OLIB (NIH/OD)" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Behavioral Training Improves Connectivity
and Function in the Brain
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIH News
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
<http://www.nimh.nih.gov/>
Embargoed for Release: Wednesday, December 9, 2009, Noon, EST
CONTACT:
Karin Lee
National Institute of Mental Health
301-443-4536
e-mail:
[log in to unmask]
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.
The mission of the NIMH is to transform the understanding and treatment of
mental illnesses through basic and clinical research, paving the way for
prevention, recovery and cure. For more information, visit the
<http://www.nimh.nih.gov>
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- The Nation's Medical Research
Agency -- includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal
agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational
medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures
for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its
programs, visit
<http://www.nih.gov>
----------------------
REFERENCE:
Keller TA, Just MA
Altering cortical connectivity: Remediation-induced
changes in the white matter of poor readers
Neuron
##
This NIH News Release is available online at:
<http://www.nih.gov/news/health/dec2009/nimh-09.htm>.
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