Identifying Learning Problems

EVANSTON, Ill. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- New research shows about 30 percent of children with learning problems have trouble processing and understanding sound. But there hasn't been a real accurate way to diagnose the problem ... until this new test.

Enid Mattimiro quizzes her 15-year-old daughter, Sarah. Sarah is a good student, but when she was younger, she struggled.

"When she would count she would always go: 10, 11, 12, 13 15, and I couldn't figure out why she never said 14," Enid says. It turns out Sarah had trouble processing sound, but it took awhile to figure that out.

Had a new test called BioMAP been around when Sarah was in grade school, her problem could have been diagnosed much quicker. Three electrodes are used to monitor the brain's response to a pattern of sounds that children hear while watching a movie. Researchers get results almost immediately. Based on brain wave patterns, researchers can tell whether the child accurately processes the sound.

"The black line represents a response from a normal child, and the red line is from a child with a reading problem. The child with the reading problem has a delay on the order of fractions of milliseconds," Nina Kraus, Ph.D., a neurobiologist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., tells Ivanhoe. But she says that's enough to make learning difficult for children like Sarah. That's why early detection is key.

Sarah knows that first-hand. "It just makes it easier to figure out what the problem is and like how to cope with it," she says.

The sooner kids start on a program, the better. BioMAP was developed after 10 years of research and the testing of 1,000 children at Northwestern. To have a child tested with BioMAP, call (847) 467-7922. It should be covered by insurance.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

If you would like more information, please contact:

http://www.communication.northwestern.edu/brainvolts/clinicaltechnologies/

Nina Kraus
Northwestern University
Frances Searle Building
2240 Campus Dr.
Evanston, IL. 60208
(847) 491-2457
nkraus@northwestern.edu