Cognitive patterns and neural correlates in acquired phonological dyslexia. A pilot study in Greek patients after traumatic and non-traumatic brain disorders.

Reading and writing difficulties are commonly observed after traumatic and non-traumatic brain disorders (T-nTBDs). In this study, we investigated whether: (a) differentiation between acquired dyslexia (AD) and aphasia is possible in patients with T-nTBDs; (b) AD patterns constitute the subtype of Acquired Phonological Dyslexia (APhD); and (c) there are causal interactions between brain lesions and the APhD phenotype. A total of 22 Greek patients with T-nTBDs receiving a six-month intensive speech treatment were recruited for the study.

Developmental Dyslexia: Insights from EEG-Based Findings and Molecular Signatures-A Pilot Study.

Developmental dyslexia (DD) is a learning disorder. Although risk genes have been identified, environmental factors, and particularly stress arising from constant difficulties, have been associated with the occurrence of DD by affecting brain plasticity and function, especially during critical neurodevelopmental stages. In this work, electroencephalogram (EEG) findings were coupled with the genetic and epigenetic molecular signatures of individuals with DD and matched controls.

Developmental Dyslexia: Environment Matters.

Developmental dyslexia (DD) is a multifactorial, specific learning disorder. Susceptibility genes have been identified, but there is growing evidence that environmental factors, and especially stress, may act as triggering factors that determine an individual's risk of developing DD. In DD, as in most complex phenotypes, the presence of a genetic mutation fails to explain the broad phenotypic spectrum observed.

Linking Early Life Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Functioning, Brain Asymmetries, and Personality Traits in Dyslexia: An Informative Case Study.

Developmental dyslexia (DD) is a multi-system disorder, combining influences of susceptibility genes and environmental factors. The causative interaction between specific genetic factors, brain regions, and personality/mental disorders, as well as specific learning disabilities, has been thoroughly investigated with regard to the approach of developing a multifaceted diagnostic procedure with an intervention strategy potential. In an attempt to add new translational evidence to the interconnection of the above factors in the occurrence of DD, we performed a combinatorial analysis of brain asymmetries, personality traits, cognitive and learning skills, and expression profiles of selected genes in an adult, early diagnosed with DD, and in his son of typical development.

Specific learning difficulties: a retrospective study of their co morbidity and continuity as early indicators of mental disorders.

Background: Specific Learning difficulties constitute a continuity of complex disorders, which unfold across the lifespan and are associated with a wide range of mental disorders. In order to determine the importance of specific learning difficulties as an underlying factor in various mental disorders, we investigated associations between mental disorders and factors related to learning difficulties, poor family and school environment, and social and psycho-emotional disorders.

Methods: This retrospective study is based on data from 835 case histories of adults who were treated at the Psychiatric Clinic of the University Hospital in Ioannina, Greece, between 1992 and 2008.

Learning difficulties: a retrospective study of their co morbidity and continuity as indicators of adult criminal behaviour in 18-70-year-old prisoners.

The development of learning difficulties is associated with problems in external (executive) and extensive behaviour in a co-occurrence with psycho-emotional problems beginning from pre-school, school age, and adolescence up to adulthood. Through the current survey, we aim to emphasise the early role of learning difficulties during the school age and adolescence of prisoners and their effects on the onset of offending behaviours in adulthood, such as criminal behaviour. Altogether, we studied 117 Greek adult prisoners from 18 to 70 years old who were accused of different types or degrees of offences.

An interpretative model of early indicators of specific developmental dyslexia in preschool age: a comparative presentation of three studies in Greece.

The detection of specific factors of the developmental dyslexia at an early stage, and the identification of the role of those factors responsible for its manifestation, is a fundamental area of study on dyslexia in the recent literature. The objective of the present study is to clarify that dysfunctions in the following specific domains contribute in a causal model to the occurrence of dyslexia at an early stage: phonological awareness, psychomotor ability (body shape, spatio-temporal orientation, grapho-motor ability and laterality), perception, memory, attention, prereading and prewriting skills. The results of three studies, --carried out in Greece--which revealed the above factors as main predictors of the early onset of Specific Developmental Dyslexia (SDD) and confirmed the importance of intervention methods to it, led us to the construction of the proposed, causal model.