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Biomedical subjects

R G Rudel

Publications and source records attributed to R G Rudel.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1986

The effect of piracetam on short- and long-term verbal retrieval in dyslexic boys.

Studies of 60 dyslexic boys age 8-14, carefully selected for exclusion of intellectual, sensory, psychiatric and neurological impairment and educational deprivation, were conducted to determine the efficacy of Piracetam, over a 12-week period, in improving reading and other related skills. There were no changes at the end of 12 weeks to distinguish the groups in accuracy or comprehension of prose-reading. Short-term memory gains, however, were recorded for the treated group on two different tests, digit span, and a test (Neimark) of immediate and delayed recall. The mean digit span scaled score for the entire group was one S.D. below their mean IQ. Considering only the performance of children whose digit span scaled scores were one S.D. or below the mean (7 or less), the treated group made a significant gain at the end of 12 weeks. On the Neimark test the treated group was significantly superior to the untreated group on first trial learning and they also lost significantly fewer object names after a delay. Improved retrieval from long-term storage could be demonstrated for the treated group on the rapid automatized naming test. Although there was no significant difference between the group at screening, the treated group was significantly faster on letter naming at the end of the drug trial. The treated group also improved their single word reading on the WRAT.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Inter- and intrahemispheric processing of letter stimuli by dyslexic children and normal readers.

Manual reaction-times and errors to single letter stimuli presented ipsilaterally (intrahemispherically) or contralaterally (interhemispherically) to the responding hand were compared for dyslexic children and normal readers aged 8 to 13 years. Dyslexic children were significantly slower than normal readers across four field-hand conditions, but for the dyslexic group, reaction times were not discrepantly longer nor were errors more frequent in the contralateral condition, contrary to the hypothesis of impaired interhemispheric processing in that group. Unlike normals, dyslexic children made more errors in the right visual field-right hand condition. These results suggest that cortical and/or subcortical information processing is slower in dyslexics, but that neither the rate nor the accuracy of information transfer between the hemispheres is specifically abnormal. In addition, some defect within the left hemisphere of dyslexics for processing linguistic stimuli is indicated.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Motor proficiency in dyslexic children with and without attentional disorders.

Motor proficiency, in terms of speed, rhythm and absence of overflow, has previously been shown to distinguish nonlearning disabled hyperactive boys from matched controls. Accepted screening methods for selecting children with dyslexia do not include assessments of hyperactivity or other attentional deficits. Dyslexic children selected in this customary manner were compared with an otherwise matched group that had been screened for attentional disorders, on a series of repetitive and alternating movements of the fingers, hands, and feet. The screened dyslexic group performed more rapidly on five of six movements and had fewer qualitative signs of dysrhythmia or overflow.

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity↗
PubMed1985

Inter- and intrahemispheric processing of visual and auditory stimuli by dyslexic children and normal readers.

Four experiments are presented in which manual reaction times to simple visual or auditory stimuli are compared for bilateral, ipsilateral, and contralateral presentations in normal and dyslexic children at three age levels: 8-9, 10-11, and 12-13 years. While bilateral presentations yielded faster reaction times, there were no consistent right-left differences nor consistent superiority of intra- versus interhemispheric reaction times in either of the experimental groups. The results failed to support the hypothesis of slower interhemispheric (cross-callosal) processing in dyslexic children.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Reading-disabled hyperactive children: a distinct subgroup of attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity?

Mixed hyperactive/reading-disabled children, selected from a large sample of hyperactive children, were compared to pure hyperactive children on demographic, behavioral, and neuropsychological measures. Children in the Mixed group were reading-disabled relative to age and IQ; those in the Pure group had achievement scores that were average relative to age and IQ. The Mixed group was significantly older than the Pure group; there were no differences in gender, race, or socioeconomic status. Behaviorally, the groups did not differ significantly on teacher ratings or on psychiatric ratings of aggression. The Mixed group had a significantly higher Performance IQ, whereas the Pure group had a significantly higher Verbal IQ and performed better on measures of cognitive impulsivity. Several other measures failed to distinguish the groups. The data give minimal support to the notion that pure hyperactive and mixed hyperactive/reading-disabled children constitute distinct subgroups of Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity.

Achievement↗
PubMed1984

Development of motor co-ordination by normal left-handed children.

Ninety-six normal left-handed children were tested for motor co-ordination on a series of timed repetitive tasks, alternating left and right hands, feet and fingers. Preferred hand advantage could be demonstrated to the same degree for the left hand of these children as it had been for the preferred right hand in previously studied groups of the same age (Denckla 1973, 1974). The only test (finger to thumb successive opposition) that failed to show a preferred hand advantage in left-handers also had failed to show such an advantage among right-handers. This same test was performed more rapidly by left-handed girls than boys, as it had been by right-handed girls. However, left-foot superiority appeared to be less well established among left-handers than superiority of the right foot among right-handers, and at a later age. Left-handed children were less likely than their right-handed counterparts to choose their preferred hand when trying out a new task. Writing posture, i.e. whether inverted or straight, could not be established unambiguously for the left-handed children up to the age of 10, and often differed for writing and printing.

Child↗
PubMed1978

Anomalies of motor development in hyperactive boys.

Forty-eight boys who scored high on rating scales for the "hyperactive syndrome" but who went without traditional neurological signs of learning disabilities were compared with 50 control boys on coordination tests. Discriminant function scores for speed, rhythm, and overflow correctly classified 89% of the boys as those with "hyperactive" versus "normal" behavioral histories. Thus, neurological examination of "hyperactive" boys does reveal developmentally immature coordination.

Child↗
PubMed1978

Paroxysmal alexia.

This report describes a case of paroxysmal alexia which progressed to a persistent syndrome of alexia without agraphia. The sequence of symptoms beginning with a sensation of eyeball movement followed by blurred vision in the affected eye, alexia and diminished awareness strongly implicates an ictal mechanism. Anatomical, physiological and psychological considerations suggest that the syndrome arose from functional disruption between the visual cortex and the dominant inferior parietal cortex.

Brain Neoplasms↗
PubMed1977

The development of left-hand superiority for discriminating braille configurations.

Discrimination of braille configurations was performed better by the left hand of right-handed sighted children over age 10, paralleling a previous study in which the names of braille letters were learned. Left-hand superiority occurred sooner in males, but they were not better at the task than females, more of whom maintained a left-hand advantage as adults. As in vision, configurations differing in orientation were more difficult to discriminate than those differing in number or displacement, but this order of difficulty was the same for both hands.

Adolescent↗