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PBS features Lindamood-Bell study in series about the brain
Local office in Saratoga
By Rebecca Ray
In late January, when Public Broadcasting Service aired a new special on the brain, one episode featured Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes, a company with an office in Saratoga.
The five-part series, The Secret Life of the Brain, explored a new map of the brain that's emerged over the past decade. Episode 2: The Child's Brain--Syllable From Sound discussed Lindamood-Bell's involvement in a study on which parts of the brain process specific auditory, visual and language information. The episode aired on Jan. 22.
Kindle Smyth, director of the clinic at 14320 Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, says it's exciting that so far the study has shown that Lindamood-Bell's programs have helped children with auditory, visual and language processing difficulties.
Georgetown University's Center for the Study of Learning is looking at brain scans over the next five years to determine the effectiveness of Lindamood-Bell's programs. The National Institute of Health is funding the study, which is in its first year.
Georgetown is conducting the study to determine whether different areas of the brain are responsible for certain functions. So far, the study has shown this to be the case. When comparing the brains of children with and without auditory, visual and language processing problems, the university found a significant decrease in brain activity of children with processing difficulties. However, after the university studied two children who participated in Lindamood-Bell programs, it found dramatic increases in their brain activity. The children had learned to use the same parts of their brains to perform the activities they were having trouble with as the children who did not have trouble with the activities.
Reading specialist Nanci Bell and speech and language pathologist Patricia Lindamood co-founded Lindamood-Bell in San Luis Obispo in 1986. Since then, the company has expanded to 32 learning centers nationwide and has opened a center in London, England. The Saratoga clinic opened in May 2000.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
