communication disorders

PURPOSES: Typically, early (pre-diagnostic) development in individuals later diagnosed with Rett syndrome (RTT) has been investigated retrospectively using parent reports, medical records and analysis of home videos. In recent years, prospective research designs have been increasingly applied to the investigation of early development in individuals with late phenotypical onset disorders, for example, autism spectrum disorder. METHODS: In this study, data collected by the Danish National Birth Cohort lent itself to prospective exploration of the early development of RTT, in particular early motor-, speech-language, and socio-communicative behaviors, mood, and sleep...

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by severe clinical symptoms such as the deficiency of the social communication, repetitive and stereotyped behaviors, and restricted interests. Although complex genetic and environmental factors are thought to contribute to the development of ASD, the precise etiologies are largely unknown. Neuroanatomical observations have been made of developmental abnormalities in different brain regions, including dentate gyrus of hippocampus, which is widely accepted as the center for learning and memory...

The Patient Self Determination Act (PSDA) of 1991 brought much needed attention to the importance of advance care planning and surrogate decision-making. The purpose of this law is to ensure that a patient's preferences for medical care are recognized and promoted, even if the patient loses decision-making capacity (DMC). In general, patients are presumed to have DMC. A patient's DMC may come under question when distortions in thinking and understanding due to illness, delirium, depression or other psychiatric symptoms are identified or suspected...

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a behaviorally defined condition that manifests in infancy or early childhood as deficits in communication skills and social interactions. Often, restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) accompany this disorder. ASD is polygenic and genetically complex, so we hypothesized that focusing analyses on intermediate core component phenotypes, such as RRBs, can reduce genetic heterogeneity and improve statistical power. Applying this approach, we mined Caucasian genome-wide association studies (GWAS) data from two of the largest ASD family cohorts, the Autism Genetics Resource Exchange and Autism Genome Project (AGP)...

Alzheimer's disease is accompanied by gradual aphasia, becoming more severe when the cognitive disorders are more marked. However, the quality of care provided to the patient can modulate the evolution of these language difficulties. Aphasia is linked to a human communication deficiency and can be limited by taking into account the phatic function of language to keep the channels of communication open.

In the last 20 years, neonatal survival has progressively increased due to the constant amelioration of neonatal medical treatment and surgical techniques. Thus, the number of children with congenital malformations and severe chronic pathologies who need rehabilitative care has progressively increased. Rehabilitation programs for paediatric patients with disorders of voice, speech and language, communication and hearing, deglutition and breathing are not widely available in hospital settings or in long-term care facilities...

BACKGROUND: In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to determine the relation between sick leave duration, burnout symptoms, depression, anxiety, and somatization in a primary care setting. METHODS: Patients receiving a sickness certificate in one of 14 participating primary care practices were consecutively asked by their primary care physician to fill in a questionnaire comprising the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) containing the depression (PHQ-9), somatization (PHQ-15), and anxiety (GAD-7) scales...

BACKGROUND: The Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) is considered a first choice assessment tool in autism spectrum disorder. Nevertheless, despite its wide use in psychiatric practice and recommendations by various clinical guidelines, its interrater reliability has predominantly been confirmed in research settings by specially trained, research reliability interviewers. The reliability of ADI-R assessments among clinicians has not yet been established. Therefore, this study examined the spontaneous interrater reliability of the ADI-R in a naturalistic clinical multicenter setting...

Cytochrome P450 eicosanoids play important roles in brain function and disease through their complementary actions on cell-cell communications within the neurovascular unit (NVU) and mechanisms of brain injury. Epoxy- and hydroxyeicosanoids, respectively formed by cytochrome P450 epoxygenases and ω-hydroxylases, play opposing roles in cerebrovascular function and in pathological processes underlying neural injury, including ischemia, neuroinflammation and oxidative injury. P450 eicosanoids also contribute to cerebrovascular disease risk factors, including hypertension and diabetes...

The ruminant gastrointestinal tract (GIT) faces the challenge of protecting the host from luminal contents and pathogens, while supporting the absorption and metabolism of nutrients for growth and maintenance. The GIT of the calf in early life undergoes some of the most rapid microbial and structural changes documented in nature, and these adaptations in GIT function make the young calf susceptible to GIT diseases and disorders. Despite these challenges, the calf's GIT has a certain degree of plasticity and can sense nutrient supply and respond to bioactive ingredients...

22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) is a genomic disorder reported to associate with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in 15-50% of cases; however, others suggest that individuals with 22q11.2DS present psychiatric or behavioral features associated with ASDs, but do not meet full criteria for ASD diagnoses. Such wide variability in findings may arise in part due to methodological differences across studies. Our study sought to determine whether individuals with 22q11.2DS meet strict ASD diagnostic criteria using research-based guidelines from the Collaborative Programs of Excellence in Autism (CPEA), which required a gathering of information from three sources: the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R), the Autism Diagnostic Observational Schedule (ADOS), and a clinician's best-estimate diagnosis...

Nitric oxide (NO), which is produced from nitric oxide synthase, is an important cell signaling molecule that is crucial for many physiological functions such as neuronal death, neuronal survival, synaptic plasticity, and vascular homeostasis. This diffusible gaseous compound functions as an effector or second messenger in many intercellular communications and/or cell signaling pathways. Protein S-nitrosylation is a posttranslational modification that involves the covalent attachment of an NO group to the thiol side chain of select cysteine residues on target proteins...

BACKGROUND: Romantic relationships are one of the most interesting areas of interpersonal functioning in people with borderline personality. The aim of this narrative review was to synthesise empirical findings on this issue. SAMPLING AND METHODS: The PubMed and PsycINFO databases were searched for pertinent materials published between 1980 and March 2016. Thirty articles met the inclusion criteria. RESULTS: Several longitudinal and cross-sectional studies showed that people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) or BPD traits had more - but less prolonged - romantic relationships than people without BPD...

Mice produce ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in a variety of social contexts throughout development and adulthood. These USVs are used for mother-pup retrieval(1), juvenile interactions(2), opposite and same sex interactions(3)(,)(4)(,)(5), and territorial interactions(6). For decades, the USVs have been used by investigators as proxies to study neuropsychiatric and developmental or behavioral disorders(7)(,)(8)(,)(9), and more recently to understand mechanisms and evolution of vocal communication among vertebrates(10)...

PURPOSE: Inborn Errors of Metabolism (IEMs) are a group of complex genetic conditions, predominantly affecting the pediatric population. While the understanding and identification of various IEMs has significantly improved over recent times, not much is known about the communication disorders in this population. The present study focused on identification and profiling of communication impairments in children diagnosed with IEMs. METHODS: Data was obtained retrospectively from medical records of children visiting a tertiary care hospital over a period of ten years (2005 - 2014)...

An important challenge in neuronal tissue engineering is to create innovative tools capable of promoting cellular response in terms of neuronal differentiation and neurite orientation that may be used as investigational platforms for studying neurobiological events and neurodegenerative disorders. A novel membrane bioreactor was created to provide a 3D well-controlled microenvironment for neuronal outgrowth. The bioreactor consisted of poly-L-lactic acid highly aligned microtube array (PLLA-MTA) membranes assembled in parallel within a chamber that establish an intraluminal and an extraluminal compartment whose communication occurs through the pores of the MTA membrane walls...

Pain assessments typically depend on self-report of the pain experience. Yet, in individuals with autism spectrum disorders, this can be an unreliable due to communication difficulties. Importantly, observations of behavioral hypo- and hyperresponsivity to pain suggest altered pain sensitivity in autism spectrum disorder. Neuroimaging may provide insight into mechanisms underlying pain behaviors. The neural pain signature reliably responds to painful stimulation and is modulated by other outside regions, affecting the pain experience...

BACKGROUND: People with bipolar disorder (BD) experience additional parenting challenges associated with mood driven fluctuations in communication, impulse control and motivation. This paper describes a novel web-based self-management approach (Integrated Bipolar Parenting Intervention; IBPI) to support parents with BD. METHOD: Parents with BD with children aged 3-10 years randomised to IBPI plus treatment as usual (TAU) or waitlist control (WL). IBPI offered 16 weeks access to interactive self-management information concerning BD and parenting issues...

AIM: To assess the relationship between developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and mental health outcomes in late adolescence. METHOD: Data were analyzed from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Moderate-to-severe DCD was defined at 7 to 8 years according to the DSM-IV-TR criteria. Mental health was assessed at 16 to 18 years using self-reported questionnaires: Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Short Moods and Feelings Questionnaire, and the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale...

Virtual reality (VR) refers to an advanced technological communication interface in which the user is actively participating in a computer-generated 3-dimensional virtual world that includes computer sensory input devices used to simulate real-world interactive experiences. VR has been used within psychiatric treatment for anxiety disorders, particularly specific phobias and post-traumatic stress disorder, given several advantages that VR provides for use within treatment for these disorders. Exposure therapy for anxiety disorder is grounded in fear-conditioning models, in which extinction learning involves the process through which conditioned fear responses decrease or are inhibited...