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Neuropsychological assessment of African children: evidence for a universal brain/behavior omnibus within a
Michael J Boivin1, Bruno Giordani
1International Neurologic and Psychiatric Epidemiology Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA. boivin@msu.edu
Insights
Cross-cultural studies show diseases like cerebral malaria and HIV cause similar cognitive deficits in children. Computerized cognitive rehabilitation therapy (CCRT) effectively enhances brain plasticity across cultures, supporting the coconstructive paradigm.
Area of Science:
- Neuropsychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Biocultural Studies
Background:
- Children at risk from diseases affecting brain function (e.g., cerebral malaria, sickle-cell disease, HIV) exhibit consistent attention, working memory, and learning deficits cross-culturally.
- Brain-behavior disease processes are modulated by the quality of the developmental environment and caregiving, irrespective of cultural background.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the efficacy of computerized cognitive rehabilitation therapy (CCRT) in Ugandan children surviving cerebral malaria and HIV.
- To examine how CCRT influences brain plasticity within a cross-cultural context.
- To support the coconstructive paradigm by demonstrating consistent enhancement of brain plasticity.
Main Methods:
- Cross-cultural neuropsychological assessments of children at risk for brain-affecting diseases.
- Application of pioneering computerized cognitive rehabilitation therapy (CCRT) with Ugandan children.
- Analysis of neuropsychological outcomes to determine CCRT's impact on brain plasticity.
Main Results:
- CCRT demonstrated consistent enhancement of positive brain plasticity in Ugandan children surviving cerebral malaria and HIV.
- Neuropsychological evidence supports the effectiveness of CCRT across different cultural contexts.
- Findings align with the coconstructive paradigm's emphasis on lifespan plasticity.
Conclusions:
- Computerized cognitive rehabilitation therapy (CCRT) shows cross-cultural efficacy in promoting brain plasticity.
- The coconstructive paradigm, emphasizing biocultural influences, is supported by evidence of CCRT's impact.
- Further research integrating cross-cultural neuropsychology, brain imaging, and genomics can elucidate the brain/behavior omnibus and its role in plasticity, intelligence, and culture.
Abstract:
Cross-cultural neuropsychology with African and American children provides evidence of consistent deficit patterns in attention, working memory, and learning in children at risk from disease affecting brain function by means of similar pathophysiologic mechanisms (e.g., cerebral malaria (CM) and sickle-cell disease (SCD); HIV in African and American children). These brain-behavior disease processes are also modified in a consistent manner cross-culturally by quality of developmental milieu and caregiving. We then present findings from the pioneering use of computerized cognitive rehabilitation therapy (CCRT) with Ugandan children surviving CM and with HIV. This neuropsychological evidence that CCRT enhances positive brain plasticity in a consistent manner across cultures supports the "coconstructive" paradigm (Li, 2003), since plasticity across the life span is the hallmark of this approach. Coconstructivism is a holistic multi-dimensional approach that emphasizes reciprocal biocultural influences across the life span. It also emphasizes the reciprocal interaction of culture and the genome in shaping brain/mind at multiple levels: neurobiological, cognitively, behavioral, and sociocultural (Li, 2003). Cross-cultural neuropsychology in healthy and diseased brains, brain imaging technologies, and genomic research can triangulate the manner in which a universal brain/behavior omnibus drives plasticity across the life span. As such, the further scientific characterization of the brain/behavior omnibus can provide the vital lynchpin between biology and culture in Li's coconstructive paradigm, revolutionizing our understanding of intelligence and culture.
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