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Query: UMLS:C0025362 (mental retardation)
 15,878 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Adaptive behavior was investigated for 497 urban preschool children with developmental disabilities (autism, pervasive developmental disorder, language impairment, mental retardation, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, cognitive deficit), ranging in age from 15 to 71 months, 38% of whom were in foster care. Disabilities were identified through comprehensive multidisciplinary evaluation. Adaptive behavior was assessed with the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. Results indicate a strong positive relation between adaptive behavior and intelligence if measured globally. When Vineland domains were assessed separately, this relation varied across domains and disability groups. With intelligence controlled, adaptive behavior patterns differed for disability groups in communication and socialization.
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PMID:Adaptive behavior of young urban children with developmental disabilities. 776 Jul 30

There is a high incidence of psychiatric disorders in mentally retarded subjects: one third to two thirds of mentally retarded subjects exhibit psychiatric disorders, a proportion which is much higher than that found in subjects with normal intelligence. The issue is to clarify the nature of the relationship between cognitive and psychiatric disorders (generally analyzed in a dichotomous approach). A way to analyze the phenomenon is to consider a psychopathological approach, which can define the underlying mechanisms responsible for this incidence. The aim of this paper is to analyze the explicatory value of deficient cognitive development, as the main factor determining a specific personality organization. Direct and indirect effects of cognitive impairment on the development of personality disorders are described: the first, in terms of how cognitive deficit (i.e. severity, homogeneity in several cognitive domains, pattern of development) disorganizes personality; the second, in terms of impact that cognitive deficit could have on the child's relationship with the external world, especially with the mother. In order to illustrate these viewpoint, the paper discusses the role of cognitive functions in the development of personality. Specifically, the way the normal child processes his perceptual and motor experiences is analyzed, that is pursuit of new causal links in his knowledge seeking activity of mastering the world. The child's primitive relationship with the world is then aimed at learning, exploring and searching for new causal links. In the light of these considerations, what the child with Mental Retardation experiences is discussed. A series of psychopathological mechanisms in Mental Retardation are postulated. The organization of the Mentally Retarded child's internal world is described, as reflected in Rorschach protocols, which outline a chaotic and primitive internal world, but with a specificity of its own. Finally, the paper discusses the hampering effect that cognitive impairment has on the quality of the relationship with the caregiver. This effect can be seen in terms of the child's interactive capacity and, at the same time, in terms of the emotional impact on the caregiver that derives from interacting with a mentally retarded child. From the above considerations a global approach to the psychopathology of cognitive and affective aspects of Mental Retardation seems warranted. Both aspects acquire a specific significance when seen in light of a specific personality organization. Defining the characteristic of this specific organization seems to be the key to a more comprehensive approach to psychiatric disorders of Mental Retardation.
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PMID:[Considerations of psychopathology in mental retardation]. 793 39

The recognizable patterns of human malformations have recently received much attention, particularly because of the decline of other diseases. Patients with a congenital malformation syndrome come to the Child Neuropsychiatrist for various reasons, such as: mental retardation of variable degree, learning disabilities, speech delay or absence of speech, behaviour disorders, various neurological impairment. Parents, however, seem to be mainly concerned about the prognosis of cognitive and psychological aspects. We have studied 83 patients with a specific pattern of malformations (35 affected by the Sotos syndrome; 25 by the Williams syndrome; 9 by the Cohen syndrome; 8 by the Cornelia De Lange syndrome; 6 by the Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome) and have particularly investigated their cognitive and psychological profiles. 13/83 showed a normal cognitive level (9 Sotos syndrome; 4 Williams syndrome), while 70/83 showed a cognitive deficit ranging from mild-moderate (56 cases) to moderate-severe (14 cases). Linguistic deficits are prominent in the Sotos, Cornelia De Lange, and Rubinstein-Taybi patients, while practo-gnosic deficits are frequent in the Williams and particularly in the Cohen syndrome patients. The personality structure is characterized by immaturity and anxiety in all but the Williams syndrome patients, where some peculiar neurotic traits may be observed. All patients showed good communicative abilities.
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PMID:[Cognitive and psychological profiles in dysmorphic syndromes]. 841 90

Free-sorting, matrix, and class-inclusion tasks were administered to 16 participants with autism, 16 participants with mental retardation (MR), and 16 normal children, matched for mental age. On perceptual matrices, participants with MR performed less well than those with autism, who performed less well than normal children. On functional matrices, participants with autism and those with MR performed less well than normal children. Participants with autism performed less well than participants with MR and normal children in free-sorting representational objects and in the class-inclusion tasks, which require higher operational thought. These results suggest that individuals with autism have difficulties with tasks that necessitate internal manipulation of information. This impairment is discussed in relation to the cognitive deficit characterizing autism.
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PMID:From categorization to classification: a comparison among individuals with autism, mental retardation, and normal development. 853 Jul 62

Sex differences in intelligence is among the most politically volatile topics in contemporary psychology. Although no single finding has unanimous support, conclusions from multiple studies suggest that females, on average, score higher on tasks that require rapid access to and use of phonological and semantic information in long-term memory, production and comprehension of complex prose, fine motor skills, and perceptual speed. Males, on average, score higher on tasks that require transformations in visual-spatial working memory, motor skills involved in aiming, spatiotemporal responding, and fluid reasoning, especially in abstract mathematical and scientific domains. Males, however, are also over-represented in the low-ability end of several distributions, including mental retardation, attention disorders, dyslexia, stuttering, and delayed speech. A psychobiosocial model that is based on the inextricable links between the biological bases of intelligence and environmental events is proposed as an alternative to nature-nurture dichotomies. Societal implications and applications to teaching and learning are suggested.
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PMID:Sex differences in intelligence. Implications for education. 932 93

This critical review examines mental retardation (MR) from a neuropsychological perspective. Competing definitions of MR are discussed and the prevalence is estimated. Descriptions are given of idiopathic MR and the five major identifiable prenatal causes of MR: fetal alcohol syndrome, Down's syndrome, fragile X syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, and Angelman syndrome. Similarities and differences among syndromes are examined. Cognitive deficits common to all disorders were in attention, short-term memory, and sequential information processing, whereas language and visuospatial abilities were varied. Neuroanatomical abnormalities common to all disorders were in the hippocampus and cerebellum; individual disorders typically showed a unique pattern of other neurological abnormalities. Both knowledge of individual MR-related disorders and comparative research between disorders are important for researchers and clinicians. Further research is called for in both areas.
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PMID:The neuropsychology of mental retardation. 937 1

Most individuals with the fragile X premutation are clinically unaffected; however, some show clinical manifestations, including learning difficulties, emotional problems, or even mental retardation. The basis of clinical involvement in these individuals is unknown. Premutation alleles are reportedly associated with normal levels of mRNA and protein (FMRP). To examine this issue in more detail, we studied six individuals with a premutation. We are reporting these cases to demonstrate a spectrum of phenotypic involvement which can be seen clinically. These cases include one individual with the premutation who has no evidence of FMR1 gene dysfunction but has mental retardation from other causes. Other cases presented here show varying degrees of FMR1 gene dysfunction as assessed by FMRP and FMR1 mRNA levels and various clinical features of fragile X. In two cases we observed a significant reduction in FMRP expression and an elevated FMR1 mRNA expression level associated with moderate cognitive deficit. Thus, the utilization of FMRP measures can be helpful in understanding for which premutation patients clinical involvement is caused by dysfunction of the FMR1 gene.
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PMID:Clinical involvement and protein expression in individuals with the FMR1 premutation. 1074 16

Methylmalonic acidemia is an inborn error of metabolism known to be a cause of ketoacidosis and mental retardation. The less severe mut(-) form of the disorder, however, has been described with only mild to moderate cognitive deficits or, rarely, with normal neurodevelopment in asymptomatic cases. Nevertheless, there has been no detailed documentation of long-term neuropsychological function in the mut(-) form and relatively few IQ scores. We performed longitudinal developmental and neuropsychological assessments on a girl with symptomatic mut(-) methylmalonic acidemia whose biochemical abnormalities were in the moderately severe range and who had had recurrent episodes of ketoacidosis. At almost 12 years of age, her full scale IQ on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale, third edition, was 129 with very superior and superior scores on nonverbal and verbal skills, respectively. On the National Achievement Test she scored above the 99th percentile in the Basic Battery and is considered to be a gifted student. This outcome suggests that the spectrum of cognitive attainment in mut(-) methylmalonic acidemia is wide and that even a moderate degree of biochemical severity with ketoacidotic episodes may not result in cognitive deficit. Am. J. Med. Genet. (Neuropsychiatr. Genet.) 96:192-195, 2000.
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PMID:High cognitive outcome in an adolescent with mut- methylmalonic acidemia. 1089 96

Many of the risk factors previously identified for disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, periventricular leukomalacia, multiple sclerosis, stroke, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and acquired learning and attention disorders ultimately may be shown to damage the central and peripheral nervous systems through activation of inflammatory mediators. The challenge to epidemiologists in the future is to expand use of epidemiologic methods to explore how immune-mediated insults produce CNS disorders in human populations. Studies of the association of use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with risk of Alzheimer's disease and those of the association of immune parameters with risk of cerebral palsy are excellent examples of how epidemiology can contribute to our understanding of the causes of neurologic and/or neurodevelopmental disorders. Many of the immune parameters of interest have short half-lives and are difficult to measure outside of the laboratory setting. Questions also remain as to the proper timing of measurements in relation to the initial insult and, in some cases, which tissue is the most appropriate to sample. These measurement issues will need to be resolved before use of immune biomarkers in epidemiologic studies of the etiologies of neurologic disorders can be fully realized. Epidemiologists are most likely to help identify ways to prevent neurologic disorders if they are knowledgeable about the molecular biology of inflammation, modulators of CNS vulnerability, and genetic polymorphisms that influence both inflammation and CNS vulnerability and are prepared to become adept at biomarker epidemiology. This does not necessarily compel them to gain extensive knowledge of neurobiology. Rather, neuroepidemiology in the 21st century will require increased collaboration between epidemiologists, neurologists, and neurobiologists.
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PMID:New research directions in neuroepidemiology. 1093 3

Cognitive deficits and academic learning difficulties are the most common neurologic "complication" of neurofibromatosis 1 in childhood and can be responsible for significant lifetime morbidity. There is a slight increase in the frequency of mental retardation (Wechsler Full-Scale IQ < 70) in children with neurofibromatosis 1, but the mean Full-Scale IQ for the patient group is within 1 SD of the population mean. Academic difficulties are common, as are specific deficits in visuospatial ability, executive function, expressive and receptive language, and attentional skills. Behavioral and psychosocial problems have a major impact on quality of life, although there are few objective studies in this area Current research is focusing on the pathogenesis of the disorder. Clinical studies have identified possible radiologic and pathologic markers for cognitive deficits in neurofibromatosis 1, which can now be explored in animal models.
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PMID:Cognitive deficits in neurofibromatosis 1. 1240 59


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