The neurobiological basis of fluency

Katzir, T., Christodoulou, J.A., & Chang, B. (2016). The neurobiological basis of fluency. A. Khateb & I. Bar-Kochva (Eds.), Reading Fluency: Current insights from neurocognitive research and intervention studies (pp. 11-23). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30478-6_2 

Summary: This chapter provides an overview of reading fluency research, addressing the association of genetics and neurobiology to fluency deficits.

Assessing and understanding the needs of dual-language learners

Luk, G. & Christodoulou, J.A. (2016). Assessing and understanding the needs of dual-language learners. In S. Jones & N. Lesaux (Eds.), The Leading Edge of Early Childhood Education Linking Science to Policy for a New Generation (pp. 41-51). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

Summary: In this chapter, we examine language and literacy development for children from linguistically diverse households and focus on characteristics of assessments regarding sensitivity to language diversity in young children.

Summer vacation: Important insights for reading development

Christodoulou, J.A. & Hoeft, F. (2015). Summer vacation: Important insights for reading development. International Dyslexia Association (https://eida.org).

Summary: The value of offering reading activities and programs during the summer is discussed in the context of vulnerable readers.

A meta-analysis of functional reading systems in typically developing and struggling readers across different alphabetic languages

Pollack, C., Luk, G., & Christodoulou, J. A. (2015). A meta-analysis of functional reading systems in typically developing and struggling readers across different alphabetic languages. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 191. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00191 

Summary: This meta-analysis of reading brain activation in typical and atypical readers of English, Dutch, Italian, German, French, and Norwegian showed common and distinct regions of activation, and support the universality of a signature pattern of brain activation in developmental dyslexia across alphabetic languages.

Physiological consequences of abnormal connectivity in a developmental epilepsy

Shafi, M. M., Vernet, M., Klooster, D., Chu, C. J., Boric, K., Barnard, M. E., Romatoski, K., Westover, M. B., Christodoulou, J. A., Gabrieli, J. D., Whitfield-Gabrieli, S., Pascual-Leone, A., & Chang, B. S. (2015). Physiological consequences of abnormal connectivity in a developmental epilepsy. Annals of Neurology, 77(3), 487–503. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.24343 

Summary: Our findings indicate that patients with epilepsy from gray matter heterotopia have altered cortical physiology consistent with hyperexcitability, and that this abnormality is specifically linked to the presence of aberrant connectivity.

Brain bases of reading fluency in typical reading and impaired fluency in dyslexia

Christodoulou, J. A., Del Tufo, S. N., Lymberis, J., Saxler, P. K., Ghosh, S. S., Triantafyllou, C., Whitfield-Gabrieli, S., & Gabrieli, J. D. (2014). Brain bases of reading fluency in typical reading and impaired fluency in dyslexia. PLoS One, 9(7), e100552. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0100552 

Summary: We identified the neural correlates of fluent reading in adults with and without dyslexia. Findings suggest a brain basis for impaired reading fluency in dyslexia, specifically a difference in brain activations related to semantic retrieval and semantic and phonological representations at rapid reading rates.

Neuropsychological perspectives on social emotion and self

Immordino-Yang, M.H. & Christodoulou, J.A. (2014). Neuropsychological perspectives on social emotion and self. In R. Pekrun & L. Linnenbrink-Garcia (Eds.) International Handbook of Emotions in Education (pp. 607-624). New York, NY: Routledge.

Summary: In this chapter, we review technologies used to study the neurobiology of emotion (lesion studies, neuroimaging, psychophysiological, and hormone-sampling tools) and their potential uses in educational contexts.

Neurobiological correlates of language and literacy impairments

Mody, M. & Christodoulou, J.A. (2014). Neurobiological correlates of language and literacy impairments. In Stone, C.A., Silliman, E.R., Ehren, B.J., & Wallach, G.P. (Eds.), Handbook of language and literacy: Development and disorders (pp. 45-65). New York: Guilford Press.

Summary: We provide an overview of the processes involved in reading and language across the continuum of ability levels, emphasizing the contributions of neuroimaging findings across modalities.

Auditory temporal structure processing in dyslexia: Processing of prosodic phrase boundaries is not impaired in children with dyslexia

Geiser, E., Kjelgaard, M., Christodoulou, J. A., Cyr, A., & Gabrieli, J. D. (2014). Auditory temporal structure processing in dyslexia: Processing of prosodic phrase boundaries is not impaired in children with dyslexia. Annals of Dyslexia, 64(1), 77–90. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-013-0087-7 

Summary: An aspect of sound processing (temporal grouping) was found to be similar between students with and without dyslexia.

Integration of gray matter nodules into functional cortical circuits in periventricular heterotopia

Christodoulou, J. A., Barnard, M. E., Del Tufo, S. N., Katzir, T., Whitfield-Gabrieli, S., Gabrieli, J. D., & Chang, B. S. (2013). Integration of gray matter nodules into functional cortical circuits in periventricular heterotopia. Epilepsy & Behavior, 29(2), 400–406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2013.08.028 

Summary: Our findings represent a systematic demonstration that heterotopic gray matter can be metabolically coactivated in a neuronal migration disorder associated with epilepsy and dyslexia.

New frontiers in education neuroscience

Christodoulou, J.A., Saxler, P., & Del Tufo, S.N. (2014). New frontiers in education neuroscience. In A. Holliman (Ed.), The Routledge international companion to educational psychology, 1st edition (pp. 202-212). New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203809402 

Summary: In this chapter we address the role of the brain in learning, specifically, in regards to identification, assessment, and prediction of learning from an education neuroscience perspective.

Atypical balance between occipital and fronto-parietal activation for visual shape extraction in dyslexia

Zhang, Y., Whitfield-Gabrieli, S., Christodoulou, J. A., & Gabrieli, J. D. (2013). Atypical balance between occipital and fronto-parietal activation for visual shape extraction in dyslexia. PLoS One, 8(6), e67331. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0067331 

Summary: A prerequisite for reading - shape processing - was examined in adults with and without dyslexia using fMRI and found to differ from peers without reading challenges.

Advances in the neural substrates of language: Toward a synthesis of basic science and clinical research

Kovelman, I., Christodoulou, J.A. & Gabrieli, J.D.E. (2012). Advances in the neural substrates of language: Toward a synthesis of basic science and clinical research. In M. Faust (Ed.) Handbook of the neuropsychology of language (pp. 868-892). London: Wiley-Blackwell.

Summary: In this chapter, we address language development and difficulties in the context of cognitive neuroscience research and clinical implications.

Brain basis of phonological awareness for spoken language in children and its disruption in dyslexia

Kovelman, I., Norton, E. S., Christodoulou, J. A., Gaab, N., Lieberman, D. A., Triantafyllou, C., Wolf, M., Whitfield-Gabrieli, S., & Gabrieli, J. D. (2012). Brain basis of phonological awareness for spoken language in children and its disruption in dyslexia. Cerebral Cortex, 22(4), 754–764. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhr094 

Summary: We examined the brain basis of phonological awareness in children who were typical readers or who had dyslexia, and a younger group. Typically developing children, but not children with dyslexia, recruited left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) when making explicit phonological judgments.

The reading brain

Gabrieli, J.D.E., Christodoulou, J.A., O’Loughlin, T. & Eddy, M. (2010). The reading brain. In D. Sousa (Ed.), Mind, Brain, and Education: Neuroscience implications for the classroom. Bloomington, IN; Solution Tree Press.

Summary: In this chapter, we provide historical and current perspectives on the study of the brain for understanding literacy.

Using and misusing neuroscience in education-related research

Christodoulou, J. A., & Gaab, N. (2009). Using and misusing neuroscience in education-related research. Cortex, 45(4), 555–557. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2008.06.004 

Summary: This discussion addresses the dynamic between education and neuroscience for research and practice.