Neuron Learning

Fast ForWord Interactive Brochure

  

Look here to see an interactive brochure of Fast ForWord. Includes videos, audio, research, downloads. Click on the moving icon to see the brochure.

Summer Promotion

We have started our summer promotion for Fast ForWord Home Courses.

Three Months for the Price of Two Months

See www.neuronlearning.com/offer2012

Contact me directly if you wish john@neuron.ie

Evolve (fastforword) to Thrive

Content or Capacity ?
Memory or adaptability
Learn by Rote or Learn to Learn ? 

Our children are learning now for events and problems that we don't even know about.

Evolution on Speed.....take a look at how our world is changing

 

 

 

Bring on The Learning Revolution

In this poignant, funny follow-up to his fabled 2006 talk, Sir Ken Robinson makes the case for a radical shift from standardized schools to personalized learning -- creating conditions where kids' natural talents can flourish.

Click here to view

The programs build English language reading and learning skills. They are suitable for literacy, intervention and ELL students.

Click here to see our Fast ForWord demos

 

Listen up: Abnormality in auditory processing underlies dyslexia

Interesting research from Paris on the link from Listening to Reading.

"People with dyslexia often struggle with the ability to accurately decode and identify what they read. Although disrupted processing of speech sounds has been implicated in the underlying pathology of dyslexia, the basis of this disruption and how it interferes with reading comprehension has not been fully explained. Now, new research published by Cell Press in the December 22 issue of the journal Neuron finds that a specific abnormality in the processing of auditory signals accounts for the main symptoms of dyslexia.

"It is widely agreed that for a majority of dyslexic children, the main cause is related to a deficit in the processing of speech sounds," explains senior study author, Dr. Anne-Lise Giraud and Franck Ramus from the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, France. "It is also well established that there are three main symptoms of this deficit: difficulty paying attention to individual speech sounds, a limited ability to repeat a list of pseudowords or numbers, and a slow performance when asked to name a series of pictures, colors, or numbers as quickly as possible. However, the underlying basis of these symptoms has not been elucidated."

Dr. Giraud and colleagues examined whether an abnormality in the early steps of auditory processing in the brain, called "sampling," is linked with dyslexia by focusing on the idea that an anomaly in the initial processing of phonemes, the smallest units of sound that can be used to make a word, might have a direct impact on the processing of speech.

The researchers found that typical brain processing of auditory rhythms associated with phonemes was disrupted in the left auditory cortex of dyslexics and that this deficit correlated with measures of speech sound processing. Further, dyslexics exhibited an enhanced response to high-frequency rhythms that indirectly interfered with verbal memory. It is possible that this "oversampling" might result in a distortion of the representation of speech sounds.

"Our results suggest that the left auditory cortex of dyslexic people may be less responsive to modulations at very specific frequencies that are optimal for analysis of speech sounds and overly responsive to higher frequencies, which is potentially detrimental to their verbal short-term memory abilities," concludes Dr. Giraud. "Taken together, our data suggest that the auditory cortex of dyslexic individuals is less fine-tuned to the specific needs of speech processing."

Listen up: Abnormality in auditory processing underlies dyslexia.

Mike Merzenich on Brain Plasticity, Bases of Human Ability, Disability, and Recovery

Neuroscientist Michael Merzenich looks at one of the secrets of the brain's incredible power: its ability to actively re-wire itself. He's researching ways to harness the brain's plasticity to enhance our skills and recover lost function.

Click here for the link

Check out our Fast ForWord demos here on Neuron Learning 

The programs build English language reading and learning skills. They are suitable for literacy, intervention and ELL students.

 

Brain plasticity – the remodeling of effective brain connections as a function of brain use – is the primary basis of the acquisition of the specific skills and abilities that define our individual operational capabilities. Abnormal brain-remodeling progressions contribute crucially to developmental and acquired-adult disabilities. Using computer-guided approaches, we have employed the powerful capacity for functional brain remodeling to develop novel rehabilitation strategies designed to help impaired children and adults. We have also developed “brain fitness programs” designed to grow and sustain high performance capabilities in older-age populations. This talk shall provide a brief summary of our state of progress in this rapidly growing field.

Dr. Merzenich has been a leading pioneer in brain plasticity research, investigating animal, human and computational models of auditory and somatosensory perception and related aspects of cognition. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and the recipient of many awards and prizes, including the Ipsen Prize, Zülch Prize of the Max-Planck Institute, Thomas Alva Edison Award and Purkinje Medal. He led the UCSF research team that developed one of the first commercial cochlear implants, now distributed by Advanced Bionics (a division of Boston Scientific). In 1996, Dr. Merzenich was the founding CEO of Scientific Learning Corporation (Nasdaq: SCIL), which markets and distributes software that applies principles of brain plasticity to assist children that have language learning, reading and cognitive impairments. He has been granted more than 50 U.S. patents. Dr. Merzenich earned his BS degree at the University of Portland and his PhD at Johns Hopkins.

Five Essential Components of Reading

There are five essential components of reading instruction to help students acquire the basic skills they need to be successful readers.

Here in this document we have mapped these skills with the exercises and the researched outcomes.

Click here for a PDF copy.Download 5_components_of_reading_instr.pdf

Check out our Fast ForWord demos here on Neuron Learning 

The programs build English language reading and learning skills. They are suitable for literacy, intervention and ELL students.

 

Paula Tallal Interview

I read this interview again. She gives an excellent insight into Reading and how to help children overcome their difficulties. Paula is a founder of Scientific Learning Inc. She is one of the leading experts in dyslexia, cognitive processing and reading difficulties. I think that there are lots of interesting insights here into reading and learning.
Here is the link.

Check out our Fast ForWord demos here on Neuron Learning

The programs build English language reading and learning skills. They are suitable for literacy, intervention and ELL students.