The Japanese journal of neuropsychology

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ArticleTitle	Cognitive function of Japanese junior high and high school students who have difficulty in learning English
Language	J
AuthorList	Noriko Haruhara¹⁾, Akira Uno²⁾, Masato Kaneko³⁾, Motoichiro Kato⁴⁾, Humihiro Yoshino⁵⁾
Affiliation	1) Department of Rehabilitation, Saiseikai Central Hospital 2) Institute of Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba 3) Department of Rehabilitation, Tokyo Metropolitan Ohtsuka Hospital 4) Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine 5) Department of Neuropsychiatry, Ichikawa General Hospital, Tokyo Dental College
Publication	Japanese Journal of Neuropsychology: 20 (4), 264-271, 2004
Received	Dec 3, 2003
Accepted	Aug 5, 2004
Abstract	The cognitive function of Japanese students who have difficulty in learning English and their ability to read and write Japanese were examined in detail. The subjects were four junior high school students and one high school student whose chief complaint was difficulty in learning English. In two students, the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was measured by SPECT. All five students showed delays in learning to read and write kana or kanji. Our results suggest that the reading and writing difficulties were due to dysfunctions in visual cognition, visual memory and phonological awareness, which seemed to be related to a decrease in cerebral function.
Keywords	developmental dyslexia, cognitive-nueropsychology, regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF), phonological awareness, visual information processing