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 32,579 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Vulnerable periods during the development of the nervous system are sensitive to environmental insults because they are dependent on the temporal and regional emergence of critical developmental processes (i.e., proliferation, migration, differentiation, synaptogenesis, myelination, and apoptosis). Evidence from numerous sources demonstrates that neural development extends from the embryonic period through adolescence. In general, the sequence of events is comparable among species, although the time scales are considerably different. Developmental exposure of animals or humans to numerous agents (e.g., X-ray irradiation, methylazoxymethanol, ethanol, lead, methyl mercury, or chlorpyrifos) demonstrates that interference with one or more of these developmental processes can lead to developmental neurotoxicity. Different behavioral domains (e.g., sensory, motor, and various cognitive functions) are subserved by different brain areas. Although there are important differences between the rodent and human brain, analogous structures can be identified. Moreover, the ontogeny of specific behaviors can be used to draw inferences regarding the maturation of specific brain structures or neural circuits in rodents and primates, including humans. Furthermore, various clinical disorders in humans (e.g., schizophrenia, dyslexia, epilepsy, and autism) may also be the result of interference with normal ontogeny of developmental processes in the nervous system. Of critical concern is the possibility that developmental exposure to neurotoxicants may result in an acceleration of age-related decline in function. This concern is compounded by the fact that developmental neurotoxicity that results in small effects can have a profound societal impact when amortized across the entire population and across the life span of humans.
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PMID:Critical periods of vulnerability for the developing nervous system: evidence from humans and animal models. 1085 51

The ratio between the length of the 2nd and 4th digits is: (a) fixed in utero; (b) lower in men than in women; (c) negatively related to testosterone and sperm counts; and (d) positively related to oestrogen concentrations. Prenatal levels of testosterone and oestrogen have been implicated in infertility, autism, dyslexia, migraine, stammering, immune dysfunction, myocardial infarction and breast cancer. We suggest that 2D:4D ratio is predictive of these diseases and may be used in diagnosis, prognosis and in early life-style interventions which may delay the onset of disease or facilitate its early detection.
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PMID:The ratio of 2nd to 4th digit length: a new predictor of disease predisposition? 1085 2

There is increasing evidence that abnormalities of fatty acid and membrane phospholipid metabolism play a part in a wide range of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. This proposal is discussed here in relation to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, developmental coordination disorder (dyspraxia) and the autistic spectrum. These are among the most common neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood, with significant implications for society as well as for those directly affected. However, controversy still surrounds both the identification and management of these conditions, and while their aetiology is recognized as being complex and multifactorial, little progress has yet been made in elucidating predisposing factors at the biological level. An overview is provided here of the contents of this Special Issue, which contains a selection of reports from a unique multidisciplinary workshop involving both researchers and clinicians. Its purpose was to explore the possibility that ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia and autism fall within a phospholipid spectrum of disorders. This proposal could explain the high degree of co-morbidity between these conditions, their aggregation within families and relation to other psychiatric disorders, and a range of associated features that are already well known at a clinical level. The existing evidence for fatty acid abnormalities in these disorders is summarized, and new approaches are outlined that have the potential to improve both the identification and the management of these and related neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions.
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PMID:Fatty acid metabolism in neurodevelopmental disorder: a new perspective on associations between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia and the autistic spectrum. 1097 Jul 6

Disorders of neurodevelopment include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyspraxia, dyslexia and autism. There is considerable co-morbidity of these disorders and their identification often presents difficulties to those making a diagnosis. This is especially difficult when a multidisciplinary approach is not adopted. All of these disorders have been reported as associated with fatty acid abnormalities ranging from genetic abnormalities in the enzymes involved in phospholipid metabolism to symptoms reportedly improved following dietary supplementation with long chain fatty acids. If definitive disorders of lipid metabolism could be defined then the diagnosis and subsequent management of neurodevelopmental disorders might be transformed. In the identification of those disorders of development which involve lipid metabolism, there are now several tests, measures of lipid metabolism, which could be useful.
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PMID:Potential diagnostic aids for abnormal fatty acid metabolism in a range of neurodevelopmental disorders. 1097 Jul 15

Previous twin and family studies have indicated that there are strong genetic influences in the etiology of autism, and provide support for the notion of a broader phenotype in first-degree relatives. The present study explored this phenotype in terms of one current cognitive theory of autism. Parents and brothers of boys with autism, boys with dyslexia, and normal boys were given tests of "central coherence", on which children with autism perform unusually well due to an information-processing bias favouring part/detail processing over processing of wholes/meaning. Results indicated that fathers of boys with autism, as a group, showed piecemeal processing across four tests of central coherence. This was not true for any other group. These findings raise the possibility that the broader autism phenotype may include a "cognitive style" (weak central coherence) that can confer information-processing advantages.
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PMID:Exploring the cognitive phenotype of autism: weak "central coherence" in parents and siblings of children with autism: I. Experimental tests. 1132 Nov 99

Neuroimaging studies of neurobehavioral disorders are using new imaging modalities. In dyslexia, anatomic imaging studies demonstrate an abnormal symmetry of the planum temporale. Functional imaging supports the hypothesis that developmental dyslexia is frequently the result of deficits in phonologic processing and that normal reading requires a patent network organization of a number of anterior and posterior brain areas. In autism, anatomic imaging studies are conflicting. Functional imaging demonstrates temporal lobe abnormalities and abnormal interaction between frontal and parietal brain areas. In attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder, imaging studies suggest an abnormality in the prefrontal and striatal regions. Neuroimaging studies are often contradictory, but trends, especially with functional imaging analysis, are evolving. Because neurobehavioral disorders seem to be a result of a dysfunction in brain circuits, no one region will be abnormal in all patients studied. Further studies with well-defined patient populations and appropriate activation paradigms will better elucidate the pathophysiology of these conditions.
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PMID:Brain imaging in neurobehavioral disorders. 1170 96

About 1% of individuals with autism or types of pervasive developmental disorder have a duplication of the 15q11-q13 region. These abnormalities can be detected by routine G-banded chromosome study, showing an extra marker chromosome, or demonstrated by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis, revealing an interstitial duplication. We report here the molecular, cytogenetic, clinical and neuropsychiatric evaluations of a family in whom 3 of 4 siblings inherited an interstitial duplication of 15q11-q13. This duplication was inherited from their mother who also had a maternally derived duplication. Affected family members had apraxia of speech, phonological awareness deficits, developmental language disorder, dyslexia, as well as limb apraxia but did not have any dysmorphic clinical features. The observations in this family suggest that the phenotypic manifestations of proximal 15q duplications may also involve language-based learning disabilities.
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PMID:A family with a grand-maternally derived interstitial duplication of proximal 15q. 1184 34

The minicolumn is an anatomical and functional unit of the brain whose genesis accrues from germinal cell divisions in the ventricular zone of the brain. Disturbances in the morphometry of minicolumns have been demonstrated recently for both autism and Down's syndrome. We report minicolumnar abnormalities in the brain of a dyslexic patient. The corresponding developmental disturbance (ie, large minicolumns) could account for the perceptual errors observed in dyslexia.
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PMID:Minicolumnar pathology in dyslexia. 1211 57

Form and motion coherence was tested in children with dyspraxia and matched controls to assess their global spatial and global motion processing abilities. Thresholds for detecting form coherence patterns were significantly higher in the dyspraxic group than in the control group. No corresponding difference was found on the motion coherence task. We tested eight children with dyspraxic disorder (mean age 8.2 years) and 50 verbal-mental-age matched controls (mean age 8.4 years) to test for a neural basis to the perceptual abnormalities observed in dyspraxia. The results provide evidence that children with dyspraxia have a specific impairment in the global processing of spatial information. This finding contrasts with other developmental disorders such as Williams syndrome, autism and dyslexia where deficits have been found in global motion processing and not global form processing. We conclude that children with dyspraxia may have a specific occipitotemporal deficit and we argue that testing form and motion coherence thresholds might be a useful diagnostic tool for the often coexistent disorders of dyspraxia and dyslexia.
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PMID:Form and motion coherence processing in dyspraxia: evidence of a global spatial processing deficit. 1216 61

The Colorado MRRC was one of the original MRRCs funded and has maintained its focus on genetic and nutritional causes of mental retardation and developmental disabilities. Significant discoveries of the center have included a number of metabolic disorders, including glutaric academia types I and II, electron transport flavoprotein (ETF) deficiency, ETF dehydrogenase deficiency, glycerol kinase deficiency, sphingolipidoses, genetic linkages in dyslexia, phonological deficits in dyslexia, and the importance of the trace mineral Zn in early development. Current research at the center is supported by program of projects grants on inborn errors of metabolism, Down syndrome (DS), autism, and dyslexia.
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PMID:The Colorado mental retardation and developmental disabilities research center. 1217 65


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