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Brain Cells develop connections over the first two years of the infant's life. These connectivities are formed, altered, and actively sculpted over the first twenty years of life.
Source publication
The rapidity of growth of the entire brain, the frontal
lobes and their connectivities, as well as
lateralization evident in infancy that we know so
little about can foretell so much about the cognitive
and social-emotional capacities of the infant and
developing child. This paper outlines what happens
to the frontal lobes at the outset of prenatal...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... contrast, analyses of human cortex across the life span (using autopsy tissue samples) reveal a different pattern. In humans, synaptogenesis reaches its peak in visual and auditory cortex within a few months after birth, but the increase in the number of synaptic junctions occurs much more slowly in the PFC [48] (Figure ...
Context 2
... contrast, analyses of human cortex across the life span (using autopsy tissue samples) reveal a different pattern. In humans, synaptogenesis reaches its peak in visual and auditory cortex within a few months after birth, but the increase in the number of synaptic junctions occurs much more slowly in the PFC [48] (Figure 6). ...
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Citations
... The frontal lobe is considered our behavioural and emotional control centre and home to our personality. It also contains Broca's area, which is associated with speech ability (for more detail, refer to Blumenfel, 2010; Kolb & Whishaw, 2015;Leisman & Melillo, 2015;Lezak et al., 2012;Mendoza & Foundas, 2011;Von Bartheld, 2016). ...
... It should be restated at this point that during this age, namely between late childhood and early adolescence, the child brain specialises, and different regions of the brain develop. For example, certain regions of the left hemisphere (e.g., Broca's and Wernicke's areas) become specialised for some language functions, and the frontal lobe, which is the last part of the brain to fully develop, becomes associated with various specific cognitive tasks, including working memory, verbal fluency, reasoning, judgement, problem solving and abstract thinking; it also plays a role in personality traits such as planning and organisational ability, ethical and moral sense, and overall emotional control (for more detailed discussion, refer to Alvarez & Emory, 2006;Clark et al., 2008;Goldman-Rakic, 1987;Holroyd & Coles, 2002;Kolb, 1984;Leisman & Melillo, 2015;Lezak, Howieson & Loring, 2004;Liben & Müller, 2015;Rolls & Grabenhorst, 2008;Szaflarski et al., 2006;Wilson et al., 2010). ...
Introduction. The article evaluates contemporary research on psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics to find answers related to why child first language (L1) acquisition relies on different processing methods compared to adult second language (L2) acquisition, and why an L2 can be complex for adults to learn. This paper is basically a critical appraisal of language acquisition (LA) research proposing new venues to explore. Aims. The primary goals of this article are to emphasize the need for treating the brain as a testable scientific hypothesis, rather than merely a philosophical theory and to illustrate the need to integrate L2, brain, mind and the learner at every moment to account for LA. Method and Results. To achieve these intriguing goals, previous research on psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics is critically reviewed. The review has shown that that the brain in SLA research has been treated simply as a philosophical theory. This, in my view, has serious impacts on the progress and development of the field in two ways: It causes the research to be held back by assumptions that have hardened into dogmas and act against open-minded thinking. It leads researchers to depend solely on learners’ performances (the actual use of language) to describe and explain the nature of the linguistic systems that L2 learners develop (competence) and to explain how an L2 is acquired. However, we all know that performance is not on all occasions a perfect reflection of competence (cf. Chomsky, 1965, 1988) These two points emphasize the need for treating the brain as a testable scientific hypothesis rather than merely a philosophical theory and exemplify the necessity of continuously integrating second language (L2), brain, mind, and the learner at every moment to explain both why learning occurs and why it fails to occur. Conclusions. The paper offers a critical appraisal of previous research into psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics. It argues that the brain in second language acquisition (SLA/L2A) research has been treated merely as a philosophical theory for a long time, resulting in findings that lack actual neurolinguistic analysis. The paper suggests that theoretical explanations for why children acquire L1 faster and more easily than adults acquiring L2 align with recent testing of the brain, revealing differences in brain activity waves between early and middle childhood compared to adulthood. This indicates distinctions in language acquisition between children and adults in terms of brain wave activity, size of grey matter, and other factors.
... Broadly speaking, cognition is the process by which sensory inputs are transduced, condensed, particularized, stored, retrieved, and acted upon. Cognitive function is predicated on the functions of attention, memory and executive function (EF) that include planning, problem-solving, self-monitoring, self-awareness (Leisman and Melillo, 2012, Leisman and Melillo, 2015, Melillo and Leisman, 2010 language comprehension (Melillo and Leisman, 2010), calculation ability (Roux et al., 2003), visual perception (Melillo and Leisman, 2010) and praxis (Donkervoort et al., 2001). These cognitive skills can be conscious or unconscious (Eysenck and Keane. ...
... However, the initial temporal dysregulation and essential mechanisms in neuronal signaling pathways associated with neurodevelopmental disorders and symptom manifestation are not known. CI is characterized by significant limits in the performance of mental tasks (for example information processing and planning and in comprehending social cues) that diminishes an individual's capability of performing adaptive behaviors and EFs (Leisman and Melillo, 2012, Leisman and Melillo, 2015, Melillo and Leisman, 2009, Melillo and Leisman, 2010. Cognitive disabilities can result from congenital or acquired causes. ...
... The poor motor performance observed in children ID has been suggested to be associated with compromised intellectual functioning. Piaget and Inhelder (1975) and Leisman et al., (2015) have argued that cognitive development is highly associated with motor functioning (Leisman et al., 2016, Piaget andInhelder, 1975). Others have found that same relationship between motor performance and EF (Diamond, 2000, Mualem et al., 2018a, Mualem et al., 2018b, Ridler et al., 2006, Wassenberg et al., 2005. ...
Ergonomics in the workplace for persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) requires multidisciplinary solutions. The paper provides general guidelines based on Human Factors and Neurocognitive function to adapt the workplace for persons with ID. The neurological basis for the design of adaptive aids is presented. Strategies are provided for creating environments for persons with ID to sequentially structure tasks to enable optimized implementation. Ergonomic principles including neurosensory functional processes will applied to social and vocational development activities, including adjustments and assistive devices for the work place and home environment. Low-tech information facilitation methods are discussed in how best to be employed for individuals with ID. Individuals with ID might have memory deficits including auditory processing, information retention or congenital hearing impairment. Methods will be provided that includes voice-activated recorders recording verbal instructions, computer generated checklists and cues to automate and post written or pictorial instructions on frequently used machines. Those with ID may be unable to count and measure. Calculator options are explored that include: large-display or talking calculators, counters or tickers, pre-counted or pre-measured posters or jigs, or talking tape measures. People with ID may be disorganized due to an inability to apply skills in different work environments, potentially ameliorated by color-coding items, computer generated A-B-C chart and using symbols instead of words. Also discussed is the employment of key guards, alternative input devices, speech recognition and output systems and touch screens as well as the nature and use ergonomic tools, orthopedic writing and grip aids in the context of optimizing cognitive and motor functioning in the workplace. The paper discusses the reliance on higher brain regions for day-today activities while incorporating more effective utilization of the lower parts of the brain including the spine, basal ganglia and cerebellum (e.g. the relation between movement and cognition). The paper integrates the collective relevant findings from the Neurosciences, Cognitive Psychology and Ergonomics to provide a basis for the use and development of assistive aids-both low and high tech-for the ID.
... We also report that children with stable right frontal brain asymmetry displayed more socially inhibited behaviors via direct observation while they were completing a stressful, social-evaluative task. These findings converge with existing studies that have found correlations between resting right frontal asymmetry and temperamental behavioral inhibition in infants and shyness in children (Calkins et al., 1996;Davidson & Fox, 1989;Fox & Davidson, 1987;Leisman & Melillo, 2015;Lusby, Goodman, Yeung, Bell, & Stowe, 2016;Theall-Honey & Schmidt, 2006) and adults (Beaton et al., 2008;Schmidt, 1999;Schmidt & Fox, 1994;Sutton & Davidson, 1997). These findings lend support for the motivational model of frontal brain activity, suggesting that greater relative right frontal activity may reflect a biological bias for children to respond with withdrawal and avoidance of novel or stressful social stimuli. ...
Asymmetric frontal brain activity is thought to reflect individual differences in approach- and avoidance-oriented motivation and emotional experience. Using a prospective longitudinal design, the authors investigated whether trajectories of frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry in children (Mage = 6.39 years at enrollment) predicted subjective, behavioral, and autonomic indices of socioemotional processes. Resting frontal EEG activity was measured across four separate repeated assessments spanning approximately 2 years. Children's EEG asymmetry across assessments was best characterized by two trajectories: a stable right frontal asymmetry class (48.65%), and a stable left frontal asymmetry class (51.35%). At visit 4, children in the stable right frontal asymmetry displayed more avoidance-related tendencies and children in the stable left frontal asymmetry class exhibited more approach-related tendencies across social, emotional, and autonomic measures. These findings suggest that developmental patterns of resting frontal brain activity across the early school years may underlie approach- and avoidance-related motivation and predict socio-emotional processes in some children.
