Esther Feldman

Temporal lobe surface area measurements on MRI in normal and dyslexic readers

In a neuroanatomical study of dyslexia, measurements were made of the superior surface of the temporal lobe (SSTL) on MRI scans in a sample of 17 dyslexics and 21 non-dyslexic subjects. Both anterior and posterior halves of the SSTL area showed significant leftward asymmetry in non-dyslexics, but showed symmetry in dyslexics. The total SSTL area showed greater leftward asymmetry in non-dyslexics than in dyslexics. The dyslexics also revealed a significant correlation (r = 0.69, P = 0.005) between Woodcock-Johnson Passage Comprehension scores and posterior SSTL asymmetry, such that those with higher scores had more leftward asymmetry. This suggests that among dyslexics the direction of SSTL asymmetry may serve as a risk factor and/or a marker for the severity of reading comprehension problems.

Familial dyslexia: genetic and medical findings in eleven three-generation families

In addition to providing information on the inheritance of dyslexia, the present study of eleven three-generation families has provided a unique opportunity to compare affected and unaffected family members at all ages. The data presented here are based on pedigree information, a questionnaire administered to all participating family members in relation to sex ratio, handedness, the severity of dyslexia by sex, pre- and perinatal complications, medical complications, years of education and earning ability, and a battery of standardized tests to define the presence or absence of dyslexia. The pattern of inheritance was consistent with the postulated autosomal dominant mode of inheritance and penetrance was found to be > 90 percent. Of 73 individuals determined to have a gene leading to dyslexia, seven were classified as obligate carriers and six as compensated adults who had no current symptoms or diagnostic evidence of dyslexia. The sex ratio (1.06) was not different from the expected ratio of 1.04. Left-handedness, major pre- and perinatal complications, and autoimmune disorders and allergy were not more common in dyslexics than non-dyslexics. The number of years of education and average income were similar in affected and unaffected family members. Compensated adults and obligate carriers were similar to unaffected family members in each of these parameters.

Neuropsychological Test Development and Normative Data on Hispanics

The development of culturally relevant psychological assessment tools and intervention procedures has not been commensurate with the rate of Hispanic population growth in the United States. The development of valid and reliable test measures for the assessment of this population must be based on empirical investigations. In this article, we present normative data on multiple measures from the Benton Laboratory and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Results revealed equivalent findings for our Hispanic subjects and the English-speaking samples utilized in the original normative studies within the United States. We additionally review current trends and specific problems encountered in neuropsychological research with Hispanics, and suggest guidelines and directions for future research.

Gender differences in the severity of adult familial dyslexia

Thirty seven adults with a three generation family history of dyslexia and a strong personal history of reading/spelling problems were administered a psychoeducational battery to confirm the diagnosis of dyslexia. Males were not disproportionately represented in the dyslexic sample although they exhibited a more severe profile of reading impairment relative to females. Severity of dyslexia is discussed as a possible mechanism of the reported higher prevalence of dyslexia among males.

Application of the Multilingual Aphasia Examination-Spanish in the Evaluation of Hispanic Patients Post Closed-Head Trauma

Despite the rapid increase of Hispanics in the U.S., there continues to be a lack of adequate psychological assessment tools to examine Spanish-speaking patients with cognitive or neuropsychological disturbances. We investigated the clinical utility of the Multilingual Aphasia Examination-Spanish (MAE-S) in the evaluation of language functions of Hispanic subjects post-traumatic brain injury (TBI). The performance of 40 TBI patients was compared to that of 40 age-, gender-, and education-matched normal controls. Subject groups differed on the Visual Naming (VN), Controlled Oral Word Association (COWA), and Token Test subtests. The VN and COWA subtests were the best discriminators of group membership. Distribution of scores for the patient group on the Rating of Articulation scale additionally indicate subtle articulatory difficulties post-TBI. For all subtests, trauma severity per Glasgow Coma Scale was the best predictor of language performance, over and above the contribution of other clinical and demographic variables. These results are consistent with prior reports of dysphasia post-TBI and suggest that the MAE-S is a sensitive and accurate measure to assess language disturbances in Hispanic populations.