The effect of a single dose of methylphenidate on attention in children and adolescents with ADHD and comorbid Oppositional Defiant Disorder.

The co-occurrence Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) in children and adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has been associated to difficulties in regulating adverse states, elevated functional impairment, deficits in Executive Functions and high risk for psychopathology. Recent studies have shown that ODD is a negative predictor of a positive response to methylphenidate (MPH) treatment for ADHD symptoms in children and adolescents and that patients with a diagnosis of comorbid ADHD and ODD are less likely to respond favorably to pharmacological treatment with MPH. We conducted a naturalistic study to understand the clinical characteristics of drug-naïve children and adolescents with ADHD that influence the response to MPH by measuring the effect on attention.

Age-related clinical characteristics of children and adolescents with ADHD.

Introduction: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been associated with difficulties in regulating aversion states, high functional impairment, and a high risk of psychopathology across the lifespan. ADHD is clinically heterogeneous, with a wide spectrum of severity and associated symptoms. Clinical characteristics need to be carefully defined in different periods of life as ADHD course, symptoms, and comorbidities may fluctuate and change over time.

Later onset of Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD): a case report.

Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD) is a rare condition characterized by regression of developmental and behavioral functioning after a period of apparently normal development, with an age of onset around 4 years. CDD is not included within the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. We present a case report of an 11-year-old male who achieved normal development for up to 7 years followed by a deterioration of previously acquired linguistic, intellectual, and social skills.

Sleep Disturbances in Children with Attentional Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Specific Learning Disorders.

Sleep disturbances may be a significant source of distress for children with neurodevelopmental disorders, and consequently also for their families. Crucially, sleep disturbances might be influenced by comorbidity. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and specific learning disorder (SLD) often co-occur, and consequently, investigating sleep disturbances in children with comorbidity of ADHD and SLD is essential.

Comparing the Effect of Methylphenidate and Anodal tDCS on Inhibitory Control and Working-Memory in Children and Adolescents with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Study Protocol for a Randomized, within-Subject Trial.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by inappropriate levels of attention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that interfere with individual functioning. The international guidelines recommend targeting ADHD-related neurochemical brain abnormalities by intervening via drug treatment, such as methylphenidate (MPH), as first choice. Drug treatments are usually associated with a huge amount of cost for families and the healthcare system, suspension for low compliance, poor long-term efficacy, and side effects.

Clinical characteristics of children and adolescents with ADHD with or without methylphenidate prescription at their first diagnostic assessment.

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder diagnosed in the scholar age. It is associated with significant impairment in global functioning, and in moderate/severe presentations the outcome is critically dependent on pharmacological optimization of the multi-modal treatment. Methylphenidate (MPH) is the first-choice pharmacological treatment in children and adolescents with ADHD, with substantial evidence of significant efficacy and effectiveness on global functioning and symptoms' severity.

Moderators and Other Predictors of Methylphenidate Response in Children and Adolescents with ADHD.

Methylphenidate (MPH) is the treatment of first choice for developmental ADHD. To date, no reliable method to predict how patients will respond to MPH exists and conflicting results are reported on clinical characteristics of responders. The present study aims to give a more precise characterization of the patients who will respond best to MPH to help clinicians in defining the treatment plan.

Implicit and Explicit Memory in Youths with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Case-Control Study.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) usually manifest heterogeneous impairments in their higher cognitive functions, including their implicit memory (IM) and explicit memory (EM). However, the findings on IM and EM in youths with ASD remain debated. The aim of this study was to clarify such conflicting results by examining IM and EM using two comparable versions of the Serial Reaction Time Task (SRTT) in the same group of children and adolescents with ASD.

Cross-sectional investigation of insulin resistance in youths with autism spectrum disorder. Any role for reduced brain glucose metabolism?

The autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is an etiologically heterogeneous disorder. Dysfunctions of the intermediate metabolism have been described in some patients. We speculate these metabolic abnormalities are associated with brain insulin resistance (IR), i.

Memory Deficits in Children with Developmental Dyslexia: A Reading-Level and Chronological-Age Matched Design.

Developmental Dyslexia (DD) is considered a multifactorial deficit. Among the neurocognitive impairments identified in DD, it has been found that memory plays a particularly important role in reading and learning. The present study aims to investigate whether short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM) deficits could be related to poor reading experience or could be causal factors in DD.

Assessment of Psychopathological Comorbidities in Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder Using the Child Behavior Checklist.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by psychiatric and behavioral comorbidities. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) provides valid and well-established measures of emotional, behavioral, and social problems in children and adolescents. The aim of the present study was to verify whether emotional, behavioral, and social problems were modulated by ASD symptom severity, cognitive development, gender, and age by analyzing the CBCL in a large group of children and adolescents with ASD.

Dissociation of spatial memory systems in Williams syndrome.

Williams syndrome (WS), a genetic deletion syndrome, is characterized by severe visuospatial deficits affecting performance on both tabletop spatial tasks and on tasks which assess orientation and navigation. Nevertheless, previous studies of WS spatial capacities have ignored the fact that two different spatial memory systems are believed to contribute parallel spatial representations supporting navigation. The place learning system depends on the hippocampal formation and creates flexible relational representations of the environment, also known as cognitive maps.