Gennaio 2011 - Volume XXX - numero 1
Focus
Professore Emerito, Dipartimento di Scienze della Riproduzione e dello Sviluppo, Università di Trieste
Indirizzo per corrispondenza: franco@panizon.it
Key words: Neural development, Imaging techniques, Learning disabilities, Behavioural disorders
The study of brain cortex and white matter through functional neuroimaging during the development from the embryo to the adult shows some growth pattern, substantially continuous, and chronologically different in females (anticipated) with respect to males, but also (slightly) different qualitatively, with (morphological) outcomes that can be defined as sexual dimorphism An important difference between male and female brains is that the main learning disabilities and behavioural disorders are predominant in males. Magnetic resonance enables to define the seat of the lesions of the main behavioural disorders in children quite well. For example, the thickening and hypoperfusion of the temporoparietal cortex can be observed in autism, the maturity retardation of the right frontal cortex in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, the general migration disorder with predominant damage to the frontal temporoparietal junction in dyslexia and the total defect of encephalitic development with damage to the superior longitudinal fasciculus in the damage due to prematurity. The knowledge of the seat and character of these defects, besides explaining the nature of the disorder on organic basis, helps to direct and assess the rehabilitative intervention.
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Focus
Docente di Psicologia e Scienze dell’Educazione, Esperta di counselling psicopedagogico, Napoli
Indirizzo per corrispondenza: rosannadoc@virgilio.it
Key words: ADHD, Pharmacological treatment, Psychopedagogical treatment
ADHD syndrome shows: a) certain genetic basis, with an almost certain neurotransmitter (dopaminergic) component and a possible neurostructural basis; b) a possible (overlapped, acquired, and prenatal) lesion; and c) an environmental (educative-existential) basis linked to the structure of family background. The diagnosis is “quantitative”, based upon the sum of the triad hyperactivity, impulsivity, and distraction (DSM-IV). The therapy consists of pharmacological treatment (especially for the most critical cases) and of psychopedagogical treatment that sometimes may be sufficient. The strategies of the latter include: verbal self-instruction, in order to stimulate the learning of self-regulation and self-monitoring through an interior dialogue; the most convenient response, in order to motivate the self-regulation through operative learning; and cognitive self-monitoring, in order to improve attention capacity.
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