Category: learning disabilities
NIH-supported scientists at Seaside Therapeutics in Cambridge, Mass., are beginning a clinical trial of a potential medication designed to correct a central neurochemical defect underlying Fragile
BOSTON -- A form of partial epilepsy associated with auditory and other sensory hallucinations has been linked to the disruption of brain development during early childhood, according to a study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC).
A recent study of more than 2,000 identical twins found that medical problems early in life, rather than the neurotoxic effects of anesthesia, are likely linked to an individual's risk for developing learning disabilities.
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Mayo Clinic researchers have found that children exposed to anesthesia during Cesarean section are not at any higher risk for learning disabilities later in life than children not delivered by C-section.
Researchers studying a difficult-to-treat form of childhood epilepsy called infantile spasms have developed a line of mice that experiences seizures with features closely resembling those occurring in patients with infantile seizures. These genetically engineered mice provide a new opportunity for scientists to test treatments that may benefit children.
Children who have high blood pressure are more likely to have learning disabilities and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than children who are not hypertensive. They are also more likely to have a higher body mass index (BMI), an indicator of body fat.
Using brain imaging, neuroscientists at the NIH's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) have pinpointed the site of a defect in a brain circuit associated with a specific thinking deficit. Their study demonstrates how a rare genetic disorder, Williams Syndrome, can offer clues as to how genetic flaws may translate into cognitive symptoms in more common and complex major mental disorders. Researchers traced the thinking deficit to a circuit at the back of the brain that processes locations of objects in the visual field. The study focused on the inability to visualize an object as a set of parts and then construct a replica, as in assembling a puzzle -- a key cognitive deficit experienced by people with Williams Syndrome. In addition to this visuospatial construction deficit, people with Williams Syndrome also tend to be overly friendly and anxious and often have mental retardation and learning disabilities.
Researchers have discovered what could be the newest target for drugs in the treatment of memory and learning disabilities as well as diseases such as Alzheimer's and fetal alcohol syndrome: a protein known as cypin. Cypin is found throughout the body, but in the brain it regulates nerve cell or neuron branching. Branching or dendrite growth is an important process in normal brain function and is thought to increase when a person learns. A reduction in branching is associated with certain neurological diseases.
Researchers have traditionally thought that language learning in children with Down syndrome stopped during the teenage years. As a result, Down youth typically received no language instruction after puberty. But a new study suggests the opposite: that individuals with Down syndrome can benefit from language intervention programs during adolescence and beyond, precisely because it takes them longer to learn. Down syndrome is a developmental disability resulting from an extra copy of chromosome 21, and it affects about 5,000 newborns in the United States every year. Most children begin learning language skills, such as grammar and speaking, at rapid rates early in their lives. Children with Down syndrome, however, typically experience delays in language development, learning more slowly and at varying rates.
