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Brain Mechanisms of Voluntary Regulation of Activity during Acquisition of the Skill of Writing in Seven- to Eight-Year-Old Children

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Abstract

With the aim of studying the formation of brain mechanisms of voluntary activity regulation in junior schoolchildren and the role of these mechanisms in the acquisition of the skill of writing, a complex neuropsychological investigation was carried out. In the EEG of children with learning problems and a deficit of voluntary activity regulation (VAR), signs of the functional immaturity of the fronto–thalamic regulatory system (FTS) were found. Comparative neuropsychological analysis revealed a specific impairment of the VAR in these children in the form of pronounced impulsiveness, instability of a program, problems in switching over from one program to another, and self-control difficulties. It is concluded that the functional maturation of the FTS is a mechanism of VAR development. It is shown that the VAR deficiency in children with FTS immaturity is combined with a delay in the development of semantic and mediating speech functions. It was found that the features of the development of the higher mental functions in seven- to eight-year-old children with FTS immaturity specifically affect both the semantic and graphic aspects of writing acquisition.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Developmental Physiology, Russian Academy of Education, ul. Pogodinskaya 8-2, Moscow, 119869, Russia

    O. V. Semenova, R. I. Machinskaya & E. V. Krupskaya

  2. Moscow State University, Vorob'evy gory, Moscow, 119899, Russia

    T. V. Akhutina

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  1. O. V. Semenova
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  2. R. I. Machinskaya
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  3. T. V. Akhutina
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  4. E. V. Krupskaya
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Semenova, O.V., Machinskaya, R.I., Akhutina, T.V. et al. Brain Mechanisms of Voluntary Regulation of Activity during Acquisition of the Skill of Writing in Seven- to Eight-Year-Old Children. Human Physiology 27, 405–412 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010950400509

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