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

Minicolumns are thought to be the smallest cortical modules within the hierarchical organization of the isocortex. Several reports suggest alterations in minicolumnar morphometry may be involved in psychiatric disorders such as autism, dyslexia, and schizophrenia. Thus far anatomical studies of minicolumns have primarily relied on measurements of pyramidal cell arrays. This study expands on a recursive trace line segmentation method used to define morphometric measures for myelinated axon bundles. The results were compared against those of pyramidal cell arrays derived from immediately adjacent serial sections. Width estimates based on cell somas and myelinated axon bundles were highly correlated (r=0.9888). Histograms of signal intensity using the recursive trace line method produced expected features of myeloarchitectonics; that is, bundles of Meynert and intervening interradiary plexus. The close correspondence of derived values for myelinated axon bundles and pyramidal cell arrays suggests their participation and interaction within the same modular arrangement of the isocortex.
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PMID:Recursive trace line method for detecting myelinated bundles: a comparison study with pyramidal cell arrays. 1819 23

The Declaration of Nutrition, Health, and Intelligence for the Child-to-be is an urgent cry from the unborn child for a life-span of nutrients for physical and mental wellness. It is a proclamation of paramount importance for everyone involved in child development: parents, health professionals, teachers, government agencies, all producers of food--and children, so they may learn how to feed themselves well. The Declaration of Olympia on Nutrition and Fitness, 1996, came from a group pf nutritional scientists and medical doctors to commemorate the Olympic Games' 100th anniversary. They based it on the health principles of Hippocrates: genetics, the age of the individual, the powers of various foods, and exercise. Following today's vast wealth of nutritional research and expressing it with my teaching experience, I have revitalized the Declaration of Olympia by writing from the heart of the little learner and the hope of the child-to-be. The nutrients implicated in healthy reproduction and lifelong health include B vitamins, particularly B1, B6, folate, B1312 antioxidants, particularly vitamins C and E: minerals such as iron, zinc, magnesium, selenium, iodine, and copper; and essential fatty acids, particularly DHA. These nutrients also lower the risk of neural tube defects: autism, dyslexia, Down's syndrome: childhood cancers, obesity, and defective fetal cell membranes associated with maternal diabetes. Our metabolism is hugely influenced also by activity and by affection. Today's foods are often processed beyond the cells' recognition and can result in neurological and physical morbidity and mortality. A diet of unprocessed free-range animals and seafood: legumes, deep-colored vegetables and fruits: nuts, seeds, and whole grains, germ and bran, reinstates nutritional potency.
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PMID:The declaration of nutrition, health, and intelligence for the child-to-be. 1830 69

Numerous reports of elevated global motion thresholds across a variety of neurodevelopmental disorders have prompted researchers to suggest that abnormalities in global motion perception are a result of a general deficiency in the dorsal visual pathway. To test this hypothesis, we assessed the integrity of the dorsal visual pathway at lower subcortical (sensitivity to flicker contrast) and higher cortical (sensitivity to global motion) levels in children with autism, children with dyslexia, and typically developing children, of similar age and ability. While children with autism demonstrated intact lower-level, but impaired higher-level dorsal-stream functioning, children with dyslexia displayed abnormalities at both lower and higher levels of the dorsal visual stream. These findings suggest that these disorders can be dissociated according to the origin of the impairment along the dorsal-stream pathway. Implications for general cross-syndrome accounts are discussed.
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PMID:Investigating the functional integrity of the dorsal visual pathway in autism and dyslexia. 1850 32

Several neurodevelopmental disorders, including schizophrenia, autism, ADD/ADHD and dyslexia are believed to originate during gestation and involve white matter abnormalities. Modulation of glutamate environments and glutamate receptors has also been implicated in alteration of oligodendrocytes, the myelin forming cells of the CNS. To begin to understand how modulation of the glutamate system affects the maturation of oligodendrocytes, developing rats were subjected to prenatal blockade of the NMDA receptor with phencyclidine (PCP). Oligodendrocyte development and differentiation were then examined postnatally by measuring markers for early, middle and late stage cells. The results indicate that, while the level of marker proteins for neurons and astrocytes remains the same, early oligodendrocyte progenitor cell markers are decreased in rat brains prenatally exposed to PCP. Labeling of cells of intermediate, immature cell stages is elevated. Late stage markers for myelinating oligodendrocytes are subsequently decreased. These data suggest that prenatal NMDA receptor blockade reduces the level of progenitors and that the surviving cells are arrested at an immature stage. This premature arrest appears to result in fewer fully differentiated, mature oligodendrocytes that are capable of producing myelin. These results have interesting implications for the role of glutamate and glutamate receptors in white matter abnormalities in neurodevelopmental disorders.
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PMID:In utero PCP exposure alters oligodendrocyte differentiation and myelination in developing rat frontal cortex. 1867 60

This review brings together evidence from a diverse field of methods for investigating sex differences in language processing. Differences are found in certain language-related deficits, such as stuttering, dyslexia, autism and schizophrenia. Common to these is that language problems may follow from, rather than cause the deficit. Large studies have been conducted on sex differences in verbal abilities within the normal population, and a careful reading of the results suggests that differences in language proficiency do not exist. Early differences in language acquisition show a slight advantage for girls, but this gradually disappears. A difference in language lateralization of brain structure and function in adults has also been suggested, perhaps following size differences in the corpus callosum. Neither of these claims is substantiated by evidence. In addition, overall results from studies on regional grey matter distribution using voxel-based morphometry, indicate no consistent differences between males and females in language-related cortical regions. Language function in Wada tests, aphasia, and in normal ageing also fails to show sex differentiation.
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PMID:Putative sex differences in verbal abilities and language cortex: a critical review. 1872 7

The neural substrates of eye movement measures are largely known. Therefore, measurement of eye movements in psychiatric disorders may provide insight into the underlying neuropathology of these disorders. Visually guided saccades, antisaccades, memory guided saccades, and smooth pursuit eye movements will be reviewed in various childhood psychiatric disorders. The four aims of this review are (1) to give a thorough overview of eye movement studies in a wide array of psychiatric disorders occurring during childhood and adolescence (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, oppositional deviant disorder and conduct disorder, autism spectrum disorders, reading disorder, childhood-onset schizophrenia, Tourette's syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder, and anxiety and depression), (2) to discuss the specificity and overlap of eye movement findings across disorders and paradigms, (3) to discuss the developmental aspects of eye movement abnormalities in childhood and adolescence psychiatric disorders, and (4) to present suggestions for future research. In order to make this review of interest to a broad audience, attention will be given to the clinical manifestation of the disorders and the theoretical background of the eye movement paradigms.
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PMID:A review on eye movement studies in childhood and adolescent psychiatry. 1883 79

Over the last decade, increasing evidence of cognitive functions of the cerebellum during development and learning processes could be ascertained. Posterior fossa malformations such as cerebellar hypoplasia or Joubert syndrome are known to be related to developmental problems in a marked to moderate extent. More detailed analyses reveal special deficits in attention, processing speed, visuospatial functions, and language. A study about Dandy Walker syndrome states a relationship of abnormalities in vermis lobulation with developmental problems. Further lobulation or volume abnormalities of the cerebellum and/or vermis can be detected in disorders as fragile X syndrome, Downs's syndrome, William's syndrome, and autism. Neuropsychological studies reveal a relation of dyslexia and attention deficit disorder with cerebellar functions. These functional studies are supported by structural abnormalities in neuroimaging in these disorders. Acquired cerebellar or vermis atrophy was found in groups of children with developmental problems such as prenatal alcohol exposure or extreme prematurity. Also, focal lesions during childhood or adolescence such as cerebellar tumor or stroke are related with neuropsychological abnormalities, which are most pronounced in visuospatial, language, and memory functions. In addition, cerebellar atrophy was shown to be a bad prognostic factor considering cognitive outcome in children after brain trauma and leukemia. In ataxia teleangiectasia, a neurodegenerative disorder affecting primarily the cerebellar cortex, a reduced verbal intelligence quotient and problems of judgment of duration are a hint of the importance of the cerebellum in cognition. In conclusion, the cerebellum seems to play an important role in many higher cognitive functions, especially in learning. There is a suggestion that the earlier the incorrect influence, the more pronounced the problems.
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PMID:Cerebellar disorders in childhood: cognitive problems. 1905 77

One of the core defining components of autism is impairment in communication, typically manifested as a delay in speech development. To date, neuroimaging studies have shed limited light on the mechanisms behind delay in speech development in autism. We performed magnetoencephalographic-based auditory language mapping in 2 cases of high-functioning autism. Overall, 2 distinct characteristics were found, such as the use of atypical language pathways and cortical hyperexcitability. These neurophysiological findings parallel those reported in 2 other developmental disorders, developmental dyslexia and Rett syndrome. We discuss common mechanisms that may account for cognitive delays across these developmental disorders.
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PMID:Receptive language organization in high-functioning autism. 1918 64

Twin and family studies have demonstrated that most cognitive traits are moderately to highly heritable. Neurodevelopmental disorders such as dyslexia, autism, and specific language impairment (SLI) also show strong genetic influence. Nevertheless, it has proved difficult for researchers to identify genes that would explain substantial amounts of variance in cognitive traits or disorders. Although this observation may seem paradoxical, it fits with a multifactorial model of how complex human traits are influenced by numerous genes that interact with one another, and with the environment, to produce a specific phenotype. Such a model can also explain why genetic influences on cognition have not vanished in the course of human evolution. Recent linkage and association studies of SLI and dyslexia are reviewed to illustrate these points. The role of nonheritable genetic mutations (sporadic copy number variants) in causing autism is also discussed. Finally, research on phenotypic correlates of allelic variation in the genes ASPM and microcephalin is considered; initial interest in these as genes for brain size or intelligence has been dampened by a failure to find phenotypic differences in people with different versions of these genes. There is a current vogue for investigators to include measures of allelic variants in studies of cognition and cognitive disorders. It is important to be aware that the effect sizes associated with these variants are typically small and hard to detect without extremely large sample sizes.
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PMID:Genes, cognition, and communication: insights from neurodevelopmental disorders. 1933

Problems with cognitive control in both autism and dyslexia have already been reported in different studies. The present study specifically examined task-switching performance in children with autism and dyslexia. For this purpose, a multiple-trial paradigm was used with cues for colour- and shape-matching tasks presented before a run of trials. The cue could imply a task switch (when the cue changed the task) or a task repetition (when the cue did not change the task). Both reaction times and error rates were measured for switching, restarting, and general task performance. Participants were children with autism (24) and with dyslexia (25) and healthy controls (27) with normal IQ and ages from 12 to 18 years. The main finding was that while similar switching performance was observed between children with autism and the healthy controls, children with dyslexia showed a significant switch-specific delay relative to both healthy controls and children with autism. Furthermore, no deficit in restarting performance was observed for any of the two patient groups. Finally, additional evidence is provided for a more general deficit in information processing in dyslexia. Our data suggest that children with autism are able to switch between tasks in a similar way as do normally developing children as long as the tasks are unambiguously specified. Furthermore, the data imply switch-specific deficits in dyslexia additionally to the deficits in general information processing already reported in the literature. The implications of our data are further discussed in relation to the interpretation of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test.
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PMID:Impaired task switching performance in children with dyslexia but not in children with autism. 1956 30


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