Abstract
Music players may impair ability to discriminate sounds
New research suggests that listening to loud music through earphones for extended periods in noisy surroundings can cause neurophysiological changes related to clear discrimination of sounds, even if the hearing threshold is normal. This auditory abnormality concerns the vividness of sounds and cannot be recognized by the usual hearing test in which respondents are examined using a series of individual tones in a silent environment. These results may support a future auditory assessment plan for long-term portable music player users. The research group examined the brain’s response to sound using magnetoencephalography, which makes it possible to measure the brain activity without any participant’s behavioral response. They recorded the brain responses of two groups of 13 young adults; one group had regularly listened to music at full blast, and the other group had not. Respondents listened to a sound of a specific frequency contained in background noises while watching a movie. Habitual portable music player users had significantly more difficulty dissociating a sound from background noises. The researchers suggest that listening to music at high volumes burdens the nerves of the brain and auditory system and can cause a decline in the ability to discriminate sounds, even if the usual hearing test results are normal and the participant is unaware of any changes.—Okamoto, H., Teismann, H., Kakigi, R., & Pantev, C. (2011). Broadened population-level frequency tuning in human auditory cortex of portable music player users. PLoS ONE, 6(3), e17022. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017022
Bilinguals see the world differently
Color perception is an ideal way of testing bilingual concepts because there is a huge variation between where different languages place boundaries on the color spectrum. New research indicates that learning a foreign language changes the way we see the world.
One does not have to be fluent to experience the effects—It is language use, not proficiency, that makes the difference. Researchers looked at the language use and proficiency of Japanese and English speakers along with the length of time they had been in the country and matched this against how they perceived the color blue. Color perception is an ideal way of testing bilingual concepts because there is huge variation between where different languages place boundaries on the color spectrum. In Japanese, for example, there are additional basic terms for light blue (mizuiro) and dark blue (ao) that are not found in English. Previous research has shown that people are more likely to rate two colors to be more similar if they belong to the same linguistic category. The researchers found that people who speak only Japanese distinguished more between light and dark blue than did English speakers. The degree to which Japanese–English bilinguals resembled either norm depended on which of their two languages they used more frequently. Most people tend to focus on how to do things such as order food or use public transport when they learn another language to help them get by, but this research shows that there is a much deeper connection going on. When immersed in the culture and speaking the language, you are thinking in a completely different way.—Athanasopoulos, P., Damjanovic, L., Krajciova, A., & Sasaki, M. (2011). Representation of colour concepts in bilingual cognition: The case of Japanese blues. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 14, 9–17.
Growth in boys with autism
Boys with autism experience accelerated head circumference (HC) growth, and have increased height and weight in the 1st year of life. Researchers investigated the correlation between HC growth in autism, and height and weight growth during infancy, and assessed the association of HC growth from birth to 24 months with social, verbal, cognitive, and adaptive functioning levels. A total of 64 boys diagnosed with autism, 34 with pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, 13 with global developmental delay, 18 with other developmental problems, and 55 typically developing boys were included in the analyses. Age-related changes in HC, height, and weight between birth and age 24 months, and measures of social, verbal, and cognitive functioning at age 2 years were the main outcome measures. The investigators found that boys with autism were significantly taller by age 4.8 months, had a larger HC by age 9.5 months, and weighed more by age 11.4 months than typically developing controls. A similar pattern of overgrowth was not found in any of the other clinical groups. Significantly greater severity of social deficits and lower adaptive functioning were found in boys with autism who were in the top 10% of overall physical size in infancy.—Chawarska, K., Campbell, D., Chen, L., Shic, F., Klin, A., & Chang, J. (2011). Early generalized overgrowth in boys with autism. Archives of General Psychiatry, 68, 1021–1031.
YouTube for teachers
YouTube has launched a new site, http://www.youtube.com/teachers, designed specifically for teachers. It provides access to thousands of videos of educational content of teachers giving long or short lessons on a diverse array of topics. Teachers can also upload their own mini-lessons, directions, and explanations that students can watch in their own time. Teachers can follow tips that show everything from organizing videos to sparking lively discussions to help struggling students through videos. Teachers can also sign up to become part of the YouTube Teachers Community.
Hyperactivity may be necessary
Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may move around a lot because it helps them stay alert enough to complete challenging tasks. In studies of 8- to 12-year-old boys, it was found that children with and without ADHD sat relatively still while watching Star Wars and painting on a computer program. All of the children became more active when they were required to remember and manipulate computer-generated letters, numbers, and shapes for a short time. Children with ADHD became significantly more active—moving their hands and feet and swiveling in their chairs more—than their typically developing peers during those tasks. The research indicates that children with ADHD need to move more to maintain the required level of alertness while performing tasks that challenge their working memory. Performing math problems mentally and remembering multistep directions are examples of tasks that require working memory, which involves remembering and manipulating information for a short time.
The research team studied 23 boys, including 12 who were diagnosed with ADHD. Each child took a variety of tests. Devices called actigraphs placed on both ankles and the nondominant hand measured the frequency and intensity of each child’s movement 16 times per second. The children were told they were wearing special watches that allowed them to play games. In the first of the two published studies, the research team demonstrated that children with ADHD have significantly impaired visual and verbal working memory compared with their typically developing peers. In one test, the children were asked to reorder and recall the locations of dots on a computer screen. Compared with their typically developing peers, the children with ADHD performed much worse on that test—and on a similar one requiring them to reorder and recall sequences of numbers and letters. The findings have immediate implications for treating children with ADHD. Parents and educators can use a variety of available methods and strategies to minimize working memory failures. Providing written instructions, simplifying multistep directions, and using poster checklists can help children with ADHD learn without overwhelming their working memories.—Kofler, M. J., Rapport, M. D., Bolden, J., Sarver, D. E., & Raiker, J. (2010). Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 38, 149–161.
Doubts about colored overlays
Special colored “overlays” for reading materials may not immediately improve reading skills in children with a controversial condition known as Irlen syndrome. Irlen syndrome is a diagnosis given to some children and adults with reading difficulties, although poor reading skills are not the only sign. Others may include general light sensitivity, visual distortions, headaches, concentration and attention problems, and difficulty with depth perception. Proponents say that close to half of people with dyslexia or other learning problems may have Irlen syndrome and could be helped by the treatment for it: colored overlays, or plastic sheets, placed over the printed page.
Irlen syndrome is said to reflect a problem in the way the brain processes visual information, and people with it appear to have difficulty with perceiving black print on a white background. The colored overlays are said to minimize visual distortions. People with problems beyond reading—like sensitivity to different kinds of light—may also be prescribed glasses with “precision-tinted” lenses. But the treatment—and the very existence of Irlen syndrome—are controversial.
Ritchie and his colleagues had an Irlen diagnostician test 61 schoolchildren with poor reading skills. The Irlen testing method has children look at text and images through various colored overlays to see whether any specific colors seem to make the page clearer. In this study, the diagnostician found 47 children—or 77% of the group—to have Irlen syndrome. On a separate day, the children took reading tests under three conditions: with their prescribed Irlen overlay, with an overlay of a different color, or with a clear plastic sheet. To limit the chances of a “placebo effect”—in this case, seeing benefits because you expect them—the children were not told of their diagnosis or what their prescribed overlay color was. Researchers found the type of overlay made no difference in the children’s reading test results.—Ritchie, S. J., Sala, S. D., & McIntosh, R. D. (2011). Irlen colored overlays do not alleviate reading difficulties. Pediatrics, 128, e93–e938.