Prevent summer learning loss before it happens

Christodoulou, J.A. (2017). Prevent summer learning loss before it happens. Landmark360  (https://www.landmarkschool.org/our-school/landmark-360-blog/?id=253261/prevent-summer-learning-loss-before-it-happens) 

Summary: Summer learning outcomes can potentially impact students who are vulnerable learners; this article discusses how to optimize summer learning opportunities.

Impact of intensive summer reading intervention for children with reading disabilities and difficulties in early elementary school

Christodoulou, J. A., Cyr, A., Murtagh, J., Chang, P., Lin, J., Guarino, A. J., Hook, P., & Gabrieli, J. D. (2017). Impact of intensive summer reading intervention for children with reading disabilities and difficulties in early elementary school. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 50(2), 115–127. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219415617163 

Summary: This study offers direct evidence for widening differences in reading abilities between students with reading disabilities/disabilities who do and do not receive intensive reading instruction during summer vacation.

Dysfunction of rapid neural adaptation in dyslexia

Perrachione, T. K., Del Tufo, S. N., Winter, R., Murtagh, J., Cyr, A., Chang, P., Halverson, K., Ghosh, S. S., Christodoulou, J. A., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2016). Dysfunction of rapid neural adaptation in dyslexia. Neuron, 92(6), 1383–1397. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2016.11.020 

Summary: The ability to process repeated stimuli (i.e., adaptation) was shown to differ in adults and children with dyslexia using fMRI, which has implications for acquisition of print.

When left-hemisphere reading is compromised: Comparing reading ability in participants after left cerebral hemispherectomy and participants with developmental dyslexia

Katzir, T., Christodoulou, J. A., & de Bode, S. (2016). When left-hemisphere reading is compromised: Comparing reading ability in participants after left cerebral hemispherectomy and participants with developmental dyslexia. Epilepsia, 57(10), 1602–1609. https://doi.org/10.1111/epi.13507 

Summary: Patients with prenatal lesions leading to an isolated right hemisphere (RH) have the potential to develop reading to a degree comparable to that in persons with dyslexia for single word reading. This potential sharply diminishes in individuals who undergo hemispherectomy due to postnatal (vs prenatal) insult. The higher scores of the prenatal hemispherectomy group on timed reading suggest that under these conditions, individuals with an isolated RH can compensate to a significant degree.

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.

Rest is not idleness: Implications of the brain's default mode for human development and education

Immordino-Yang, M. H., Christodoulou, J. A., & Singh, V. (2012). Rest is not idleness: Implications of the brain's default mode for human development and education. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(4), 352–364. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691612447308 

Summary: We review evidence for the brain state associated with ‘rest’ (i.e., default mode) and relations to psychological functioning, including associations with mental health and cognitive abilities like reading comprehension and divergent thinking, and discuss implications for education and development.

Abnormal structural and functional brain connectivity in gray matter heterotopia

Christodoulou, J. A., Walker, L. M., Del Tufo, S. N., Katzir, T., Gabrieli, J. D., Whitfield-Gabrieli, S., & Chang, B. S. (2012). Abnormal structural and functional brain connectivity in gray matter heterotopia. Epilepsia, 53(6), 1024–1032. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1167.2012.03466.x 

Summary: We examined the brain connectivity of individuals with periventricular nodular heterotopia (PNH) and identified that most heterotopic nodules are connected to overlying cortex, with the strength of abnormal connectivity higher among individuals with the longest duration of epilepsy.

The theory of multiple intelligences

Davis, K., Christodoulou, J.A., Seider, S. & Gardner, H. (2011). The theory of multiple intelligences. In R.J. Sternberg & S.B. Kaufman (Eds.), Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence. (pp. 485-503). New York: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511977244 

Summary: In this chapter, we review the theory of multiple intelligences and its impact on educational practices.