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Biomedical subjects

P T Ackerman

Publications and source records attributed to P T Ackerman.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Behavioral and cognitive status in school-aged children with a history of failure to thrive during early childhood.

Twenty-seven school children (aged 8-12 years) earlier diagnosed with nonorganic failure to thrive (FTT) were compared with a normal socioeconomically matched control group (N=17) on current height and weight parameters as well as cognitive, achievement, and behavioral measures from the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). The former FTT children were, on average, smaller, less cognitively able, and more behaviorally disturbed than the control children and national normative samples. Sixty percent of former FTT children were below the 20th percentile in height and 48% were below the 20th percentile in weight; 52% had IQs below 80 and 30% had reading standard scores below 80; 48% had clinically adverse attention ratings and 30% had clinically adverse aggression ratings on the CBCL. Within the FTT sample, however, there were no significant associations between current growth measures and cognitive/achievement outcome measures. Mothers' IQs provided the strongest prediction of the FTT children's reading scores. The mothers of the FTT children had not achieved as high levels of education as the mothers of the control children, and more of them were single parents. Early growth problems put children at high risk for multiple adverse sequelae in middle childhood, especially if mothers are poorly educated. Careful ongoing follow-up of such children by pediatricians is encouraged.

Body Constitution↗
PubMed2000

An event-related potential study of older children with an early history of failure to thrive.

Elementary and junior high school children (n = 13), who were diagnosed with nonorganic failure to thrive (FTT) as infants and toddlers, were compared with a normal control group (n = 14) on visual event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited during a primed lexical decision task. Positive stimuli were real words that were identical to the priming stimuli; negative stimuli were nonpronounceable letter strings. Although the groups did not differ in word-list reading level, the former FTT group had slower reaction (decision) times and did not show ERP evidence of priming in the N400 epoch. Anterior sites yielded better separation of the real words and letter strings than posterior sites. A late anterior component between 500 msec to 650 msec poststimulus onset showed the largest condition effect for both groups. The control group had a larger negative going late anterior component to words than the FTT group. The combined reaction time and ERP findings point to less automatized word recognition in the FTT group.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Event-related brain potentials elicited during phonological processing differentiate subgroups of reading disabled adolescents.

Visual and auditory rhyme judgment tasks were administered to adolescent dyslexics and normal readers while event-related brain potentials were recorded. Reading disabled subjects were split into two groups based on a median split of scores on a visual non-word decoding test. The better decoders were called Phonetics and the poorer decoders were referred to as Dysphonetics. Single syllable, real word stimuli were used, and both rhyming and non-rhyming targets had a 50% chance for matching orthography. In the visual paradigm the normal readers exhibited a left frontal CNV before targets, a large reduction in frontal N400 for matching orthography (orthographic priming), and a large reduction in parietal N400 for rhyming targets (phonological priming). Dysphonetics had an intact CNV and orthographic priming, but the group's phonological priming was very reduced. Phonetics showed both orthographic and phonological priming but had a marked reduction in their CNV. In the auditory task, controls showed a left parietal N400 priming effect for rhyming targets. Dysphonetics showed a similar bilateral effect. The Phonetics did not show a normal priming effect, but produced evidence for priming at a longer latency. Additionally, the Phonetic group responded more slowly than either of the other two groups, who responded with similar latencies. These results support the separation of the reading disabled into a group that has difficulty translating orthography into phonology, and a group that is slower functioning and has reduced capacity in preparing for a response.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Prevalence of post traumatic stress disorder and other psychiatric diagnoses in three groups of abused children (sexual, physical, and both).

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other diagnoses in three groups of abused children, sexual only (N = 127), physical only (N = 43), and BOTH (N = 34). METHOD: The children, aged 7 to 13 years, were referred to the project from several sources at Arkansas Children's Hospital and from associated local agencies. The victims and caregivers were separately administered the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents, Revised Version (DICA). Additionally, caregivers and classroom teachers completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Characteristics of the abuse were obtained from an investigative questionnaire. RESULTS: Both victims and caregivers endorsed high rates of disorders, with caregivers generally giving higher rates than children and boys having more externalizing diagnoses than girls. Children in the BOTH group had more diagnoses overall. Concordance between victims and caregivers was modest. PTSD was significantly comorbid with most affective disorders. On the CBCL, caregivers rated girls less disturbed than boys and the sexually abused only group less disturbed than the other groups. Teachers rated the boys more adversely than girls but did not see differences by abuse group. A younger age of onset of sexual abuse and coercion to maintain secrecy predicted a higher number of total diagnoses. Also, children who were physically abused by males had more diagnoses than those physically abused by females. CONCLUSIONS: Children who have been both physically/sexually abused appear to be at highest risk of psychiatric disturbance. PTSD, though common (circa one-third of victims), is generally comorbid with other affective disorders.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

EEG power spectra of dysphonetic and nondysphonetic poor readers.

Two subtypes of poor readers, dysphonetic and phonetic, were compared on EEG spectral values obtained as they viewed strings of letters and short words. Dysphonetic poor readers had significantly higher values than phonetics in the theta and delta bands. Both phonetic and dysphonetic poor readers had lower beta values than adequate reading children with Attention Deficit Disorder. This evidence indicates that poor readers, especially dysphonetics, were less actively engaged in the task.

Achievement↗
PubMed1994

Visual event-related potentials of dyslexic children to rhyming and nonrhyming stimuli.

In a visual event-related potential (ERP) study, children diagnosed as dyslexic in terms of both age and IQ discrepancy criteria were compared with two contrast groups: poor for age (SLOW) readers and normal reading children with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). The children viewed 200 stimulus pairs and judged whether the second stimulus of each pair rhymed with the first. The first stimulus was always a three-letter word, while half of the second stimuli were pronounceable nonsense words and half were real words. Rhyme probability was 50%. The ERP waveforms of the dyslexics were significantly different from those of the ADD group in showing less late negativity. The SLOW group's waveforms more closely paralleled those of the ADD group. The major anomalous feature of the dyslexics' waveform was a pronounced late positive peak (P500), which followed an attenuated N450 peak. Over all groups, the N450 peak was sensitive to the rhyme manipulation, as has been found in adults (Rugg, 1984a, 1984b). Real words and nonsense words produced similar waveforms. Hemispheric effects were found but did not interact with group. Results suggest non-automatic visual cognitive processing of rhyme in dyslexics.

Arousal↗
PubMed1994

EEG power spectra of children with dyslexia, slow learners, and normally reading children with ADD during verbal processing.

EEG power spectra were studied in two poor reader groups (with dyslexia and slow learning) and a normally reading clinic control group (with attention deficit disorder) as the children viewed strings of words and letters (seven categories). The children ranged in age from 7.5 to 12 years; 33 were girls, 86 were boys. Bilateral temporal and parietal sites and four midline sites were used. The major difference between groups was in the low beta band, where the ADD group had greater power at the parietal and midline sites. Also, the slow learner group had marginally greater low beta at the left than right temporal site, with the opposite trend found for the dyslexic and ADD groups. Across groups, power was greater at the right than at the left parietal site in the delta and alpha bands and at the right than at the left temporal site in the low beta band. Stimulus category effects were modest, with some alpha suppression to word strings, relative to letter strings, found in the poor readers. In correlational analyses, the combination of greater low beta and less theta power significantly predicted better reading and spelling. Results indicate that the adequate readers more actively processed the stimuli than did the poor readers.

Attention↗
PubMed1993

Phonological processes, confrontational naming, and immediate memory in dyslexia.

A group of poor readers classified as dyslexic by age/IQ discrepancy criteria (n = 42) were contrasted with two clinic control groups: 56 adequate-for-age readers with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and 21 poor-for-age readers not meeting the IQ discrepancy criterion (slow/borderline group). The children (33 girls, 86 boys) ranged in age from 7.5 years to 12 years. Variables chosen for study included simple and complex phonological processing, speech rate, continuous naming speed, running memory span, serial memory span, and mental addition. Evidence is presented that the two poor reader groups are distinguishable. Unlike the dyslexic group, the slow/borderline group did not differ from the ADD group on three key measures: simple auditory phonological sensitivity, continuous naming speed, and running memory span. Stepwise regression to predict word list reading level showed that once age and verbal IQ were removed (51% of variance), these three key measures accounted for an additional 22% of the variance (R = 0.86, R2 = 0.73). The single best predictor of word list reading level was nonsense word list reading level, which was explained by the same set of five variables that explained real word reading (R = 0.77, R2 = .60). Severity of attentional problems was not linearly related to reading skill in this clinic sample.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1991

Attention deficit disorder and specific reading disability: separate but often overlapping disorders.

Within a large (N = 182) heterogeneous sample of clinic-referred children with DSM-III-diagnosed attention deficit disorder (ADD), three behavioral subgroups were identified via cluster analysis of teacher ratings: 40% of the children had ADD with hyperactivity (ADDH), 30% had ADD with hyperactivity and aggressivity (ADDHA), and 31% had ADD without hyperactivity or aggressivity. Proportionally more girls were in the ADD-only subgroup. Over half the sample (n = 94) were poor readers, with 82 meeting discrepancy criteria for specific reading disability (RD). Proportionately more boys than girls met the RD criteria (9.2:1.0), whereas the sex ratio of males to females for the whole sample was 5.1 to 1.0. Focusing just on white males, the three behavioral subgroups were significantly different on convergent validity measures, such as other teacher ratings, parent ratings, and interview-elicited ratings of externalizing behavior, but were not different on such divergent validity measures as IQ and achievement scores, self-ratings, and laboratory performance tasks. Boys in the ADD sample who did not meet criteria for RD had significantly higher IQs than those who did, but subgroups with and without RD still differed significantly on WRAT-R reading and spelling scores with IQ covaried out. Both groups with and without RD could be differentiated from a control group on laboratory measures of sustained attention and impulse control. Methylphenidate benefited all subgroups equally, whether RD or not, and whether given a low (0.3 mg/kg) or high (0.6 mg/kg) dose.

Arousal↗
PubMed1991

A trial of piracetam in two subgroups of students with dyslexia enrolled in summer tutoring.

Sixty children with dyslexia (41 boys, 19 girls; ages 9 to 13) were enrolled in a 10-week summer tutoring program that emphasized word-building skills. They were randomly and blindly assigned to receive either placebo or piracetam, a purportedly memory-enhancing drug that has been reported to facilitate reading skill acquisition. The children were subtyped as "dysphonetic" or "phonetic" on the basis of scores from tests of phonological sensitivity and phoneme-grapheme correspondence skills. Of the 53 children who completed the program, 37 were classified as dysphonetic and 16 as phonetic. The phonetic group improved significantly more in word-recognition ability than the dysphonetic group. Overall, the children on medication did not improve more than the nonmedicated ones in any aspect of reading. The phonetic subgroup on piracetam gained more in word recognition than any subgroup but did not improve significantly more than the phonetic subgroup on placebo. Results are discussed in relation to findings from previous studies of piracetam in children with dyslexia.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

The frequency and significance of additional self-reported psychiatric diagnoses in children with attention deficit disorder.

The frequency of additional self-reported diagnoses in a large, heterogeneous sample of attention deficit disorder (ADD) children (N = 182) was determined using the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents (DICA). Over half the children had additional DICA diagnoses, with oppositional disorder and anxiety/mood disorders the most frequent. ADD boys with internalizing-type diagnoses had lower verbal IQs and arithmetic scores and performed more poorly on attention tasks than those without; parents also rated them more adversely. Those with externalizing-type diagnoses were rated as more aggressive by teachers and had sociopathic, thrill-seeking profiles on paper-pencil self-ratings. Over 40% of the children were dyslexic or slow learners but they had no higher rate of DICA diagnoses than those who read adequately.

Achievement↗
PubMed1990

ADD students with and without dyslexia differ in sensitivity to rhyme and alliteration.

Children with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and dyslexia (n = 82) made significantly more errors than normally reading children with ADD (n = 83) on a simple auditory test of phonological sensitivity to rhyme and alliteration (Bradley, 1984). A subgroup of children with dyslexia who were sensitive to rhyme and alliteration had higher scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) Spatial factor than a dyslexic subgroup who were phonologically insensitive. In multiple regression analyses, age-corrected phonological sensitivity scores contributed significantly to the prediction of both reading and spelling Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) scores, this beyond the contribution of WISC-R variables. Of interest for dyslexia subtyping theories, Spatial factor scores had a subtractive effect in these regression analyses.

Achievement↗
PubMed1990

Counting rate, naming rate, phonological sensitivity, and memory span: major factors in dyslexia.

Children with severe dyslexia were slower in counting from memory and naming alternating digits and letters than those with milder reading impairment. The children most disabled also had poorer phonological sensitivity, shorter digit spans, and lower Verbal IQs, but these variables accounted for no additional variance in prediction of scores on the Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised (R = 0.89).

Achievement↗
PubMed1987

A profile of male and female applicants for a special college program for learning-disabled students.

Intellectual, achievement, and personality profiles were developed for a sample of 245 applicants to a special college program for learning-disabled students. Only 15% of the applicants had WAIS IQs above 115; the most depressed subtests were Arithmetic, Digit Span, Information, Vocabulary, and Digit Symbol. For both sexes, mean WRAT reading levels were higher than spelling and arithmetic (roughly seventh- vs. sixth-grade competence). Although the male applicants (N = 174) had significantly higher WAIS Verbal IQs than the female applicants (N = 71), their WRAT spelling achievement levels were significantly lower. A higher percentage of the females than males exhibited specific arithmetic disability. For both sexes, but more robustly for females, specific arithmetic disability was associated with more elevated MMPI profiles. Dyslexic students, by contrast, admitted to fewer problem areas on the MMPI. Relatively few applicants had MMPI scaled scores greater than or equal to 70.

Achievement↗
PubMed1986

Auditory event-related potentials in attention and reading disabled boys.

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 4 groups of children: (1) reading disabled, (2) attentional deficit disorder with hyperactivity, (3) attentional deficit disorder without hyperactivity, and (4) normal controls. Subjects were instructed to press a button to a low probability tone (target, P = 0.168) and to ignore all other events which included a high probability tone (non-target, P = 0.664) and an unexpected novel sound (P = 0.168). The amplitude of several late ERP components and the latency of the P3b component were examined. As in a previously reported visual study with the same sample of children, the overall amplitude of the P3b component was significantly smaller in all the clinical groups than in controls. Two other late components (slow wave and Pc) were also smaller in the clinical groups than in controls. P3 latency did not, however, differentiate the groups.

Age Factors↗