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Nunes MVS, Castro-Caldas A, Rio DD, et al. The ex-illiterate brain: The critical period, cognitive reserve and HAROLD model. Dement Neuropsychol. 2009;3(3):222-227doi: 10.1590/S1980-57642009DN30300008.
Nunes, M. V. S., Castro-Caldas, A., Rio, D. D., Maestú, F., & Ortiz, T. (2009). The ex-illiterate brain: The critical period, cognitive reserve and HAROLD model. Dementia & neuropsychologia, 3(3), 222-227. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1980-57642009DN30300008
Nunes, Maria Vania Silva, et al. "The ex-illiterate brain: The critical period, cognitive reserve and HAROLD model." Dementia & neuropsychologia vol. 3,3 (2009): 222-227. doi: https://doi.org/10.1590/S1980-57642009DN30300008
Nunes MVS, Castro-Caldas A, Rio DD, Maestú F, Ortiz T. The ex-illiterate brain: The critical period, cognitive reserve and HAROLD model. Dement Neuropsychol. 2009 Jul-Sep;3(3):222-227. doi: 10.1590/S1980-57642009DN30300008. PMID: 29213632; PMCID: PMC5618977.
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Dement Neuropsychol. 2009 Jul-Sep;3(3):222-227. doi: 10.1590/S1980-57642009DN30300008.

The ex-illiterate brain: The critical period, cognitive reserve and HAROLD model.

Dementia & neuropsychologia

Maria Vania Silva Nunes, Alexandre Castro-Caldas, Dolores Del Rio, Fernado Maestú, Tomás Ortiz

Affiliations

  1. Neurological Clinical Research Unit, Faculdade de Medicina de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
  2. Portuguese Catholic University. Lisbon, Portugal.
  3. Centro de Magnetoencefalografía Dr. Pérez Modrego. Facultad de Medicina, Madrid, España.

PMID: 29213632 PMCID: PMC5618977 DOI: 10.1590/S1980-57642009DN30300008

Abstract

The lifelong acquisition of cognitive skills shapes the biology of the brain. However, there are critical periods for the best use of the brain to process the acquired information.

OBJECTIVES: To discuss the critical period of cognitive acquisition, the concept of cognitive reserve and the HAROLD (Hemispheric Asymmetry Reduction in Older adults) model.

METHODS: Seven women who learned how to read and to write after the age of 50 (ex-illiterates) and five women with 10 years of regular schooling (controls) were submitted to a language recognition test while brain activity was being recorded using magnetoencephalography. Spoken words were delivered binaurally via two plastic tubs terminating in ear inserts, and recordings were made with a whole head magnetometer consisting of 148 magnetometer coils.

RESULTS: Both groups performed similarly on the task of identifying target words. Analysis of the number of sources of activity in the left and right hemispheres revealed significant differences between the two groups, showing that ex-illiterate subjects exhibited less brain functional asymmetry during the language task.

CONCLUSIONS: These results should be interpreted with caution because the groups were small. However, these findings reinforce the concept that poorly educated subjects tend to use the brain for information processing in a different way to subjects with a high educational level or who were schooled at the regular time. Finally, the recruiting of both hemispheres to tackle the language recognition test occurred to a greater degree in the ex-illiterate group where this can be interpreted as a sign of difficulty performing the task.

Keywords: HAROLD model; Illiteracy; brain asymmetry; cognitive reserve; language; magnetoencephalography

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: The authors report no conflicts of interest.

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