SUMMARY Children with ‘minimal brain dysfunction’ and learning disabilities were found to have significantly more minor neurological signs than control children. Many of these signs become less obvious or disappear by the age of 11 years; therefore older cases are more similar to controls, whereas younger cases show lags or deficits at the highest levels of central nervous system functioning—language, fine motor co‐ordination and cross‐modality integrations. RESUME Examen neurologique particulier chez les enfants présentant des troubles des apprentissages Les enfants avec des troubles cérébraux minimes et des difficultés d'apprentissage présentent plus de signes neurologiques mineurs que les contrôles. Beaucoup de ces signes deviennent moins évident ou disparaissent vers l'âge de onze ans; de ce fait, la similitude avec les contrôles chez les enfants plus âgés est plus grande tandis que les plus jeunes cas montrent dés retards ou des deficits au plus haut niveau de fonctionnement du système nerveux central: langage, coordination motrice fine et intégrations complexes. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Eine spezielle neurologische Untersuchung der Kinder mit Kernschwierigkeiten Kinder mit minimaler cerebraler Dysfunktion und Lernschwierigkeiten haben significant häufiger leichte neurologische Symptome als Kontrollkinder. Viele dieser Symptome gehen zurück oder verschwinden bis zum elften Lebensjahr; daher sind die älteren Fälle ähnlich den Kontrollen, während die jüngeren Fälle Verzögerungen und Ausfälle im Bereich der differenzierten Zentralnervensystemfunktionen—Sprache, feinmotorische Koordination und komplexe cerebrale Funktionsmechanismen—zeigen. RESUMEN Un examen neurológico especial de niños con dificultades en el aprendizage Se encontró que niños con disfunción cerebral mínima y dificultades de aprendizage tenian significativemente más signos neurológicos menores que los controles. Muchos de estos signos se hacen menos aparentes o desaparecen a los 11 años de edad; por ello los casos de más edad son más semejantes a los controles, mientras que los más jóvenes muestran lagunas o déficits en los niveles más altos de las funciones del SNC: lenguage, coordinatión motora fina a integración cruzada.

Contemporary molecular genetic analysis methods have not been used to study large samples of carriage isolates of group A Streptococcus. To determine the emm types causing asymptomatic carriage and pharyngitis in a closed population, we analyzed 675 isolates recovered from a population-based surveillance study of 10,634 recruits at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, during 4 months in 1993-1994. Strains with emm1 and emm6 alleles accounted for only 22% of the isolates recovered from asymptomatic recruits at entrance to training. However, these 2 emm types caused 69% of the pharyngitis cases identified during training and represented 51% of the isolates recovered from the throat on exit from training. Sequence analysis of the hypervariable sic gene documented that distinct emm1 subclones disseminated in specific training groups called flights. The preferential increase in the prevalence of emm1 and emm6 isolates during the 6-week training period indicates an enhanced ability of these strains to disseminate and cause disease in this population.

In Luria‐type conditioning procedures, children with learning disabilities (CLD) erred more than controls and took longer to react. Hyperactive CLD had quicker reactions than hypoactive CLD. The finding that CLD average .10 second longer to process information than controls helps explain their rapid loss of attention in the classroom.

Three groups of learning disabled boys—hyperactives, normoactives, and hypoactives—were studied in grade school, reevaluated at fourteen. At follow‐up, all three groups remained at disadvantage to controls on academic and cognitive measures and on complex reaction time. Half the hyperactives had experienced major conflicts with authority, and over a third of hypoactives exhibited psychologically disturbing behaviors. Mental health of normoactives appeared comparable to controls.

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