Neuronal plasticity allows the central nervous system to learn skills and remember information, to reorganize neuronal networks in response to environmental stimulation, and to recover from brain and spinal cord injuries. Neuronal plasticity is enhanced in the developing brain and it is usually adaptive and beneficial but can also be maladaptive…

Science has increasingly applied the technologies of biology to people's bodies through medicine, agriculture, and forensics, prompting concerns about the public's ability to respond to these innovations. To help educate and prepare the general public for the age of biomedical advances, for example, medical practitioners and others are promoting…

The past 50 years have seen dramatic changes in childhood psychopathology research. The goal of this overview is to contrast observational and experimental research approaches; both have grown more complex such that the boundary between these approaches may be blurred. Both are essential. Landmark observational studies with long-term follow-up…

The formation and function of the mammalian cerebral cortex relies on the complex interplay of a variety of genetic and environmental factors through protracted periods of gestational and postnatal development. Biogenic amine systems are important neuromodulators, both in the adult nervous system, and during critical epochs of brain development.…

Williams syndrome (WS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with impaired visuospatial representations subserved by the dorsal stream and relatively strong object recognition abilities subserved by the ventral stream. There is conflicting evidence on whether this uneven pattern in WS extends to working memory (WM). The present studies…

Genetic factors dynamically interact with both pre- and postnatal environmental influences to shape development. Considerable attention has been devoted to gene-environment interactions (G x E) on important outcomes (A. Caspi & T. E. Moffitt, 2006). It is also important to consider the possibility that these G x E effects may vary across…

Optic neuropathy is common in mitochondrial disorders, but poorly characterized in Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA), a recessive condition caused by lack of the mitochondrial protein frataxin. We investigated 26 molecularly confirmed FRDA patients by studying both anterior and posterior sections of the visual pathway using a new, integrated approach.…

The burden of disease in the United States is high. Mental illness is currently the leading cause of disease burden among 15- to 44-year-olds. This phenomenon is occurring despite the many advances that have been made in clinical research. Several efficacious interventions are available to treat many of these disorders; however, they are greatly…

Past autism research has often been dedicated to tracing the causes of the disorder to a localized neurological abnormality, a single functional network, or a single cognitive-behavioral domain. In this review, I argue that autism is a "distributed disorder" on various levels of study (genetic, neuroanatomical, neurofunctional, behavioral).…

Objective: To explain the differential course of anxiety and depression in individuals from childhood to adulthood by examining age-related changes in the genetic and environmental etiology of anxious and depressive symptoms. Method: A sample of 1470, 1839, and 2023 Dutch twins aged 12, 14, and 16 years reported on symptoms of anxious depression…

The primary objective of this study was to study the impact of ASD/ADHD on general intellectual ability and profile, executive functions and visuo-motor skills in children and adults with 22q11 deletion syndrome (22q11DS). A secondary aim was to study if gender, age, heart disease, ASD, ADHD or ASD in combination with ADHD had an impact on general…

"BIO2010" put forth the goal of improving the mathematical educational background of biology students. The analysis and interpretation of microarray high-dimensional data can be very challenging and is best done by a statistician and a biologist working and teaching in a collaborative manner. We set up such a collaboration and designed a course on…

The Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) was used to examine diagnostic profiles and age-related changes in autism symptoms for a group of verbal children and adolescents who had fragile X syndrome, with and without autism. After controlling for nonverbal IQ, we found statistically significant between-group differences for lifetime and…

This completely computer-based module's purpose is to introduce students to bioinformatics resources. We present an easy-to-adopt module that weaves together several important bioinformatic tools so students can grasp how these tools are used in answering research questions. Students integrate information gathered from websites dealing with…

Discriminative language markers and predictive links between early language and literacy skills were investigated retrospectively in the Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia in which children at familial risk for dyslexia have been followed from birth. Three groups were formed on the basis of 198 children's reading and spelling status. One…