Neurons in the central nervous system communicate with each other chemically through neural synapses. Neurons receive excitatory input from glutamatergic neurons and inhibitory input from GABA-releasing (GABAergic) interneurons. Some hypotheses about Autism are predicated on the possibility that there is an imbalance between the excitatory and inhibitory neural activity, perhaps especially in the so-called mirror neurons. Reporting in Nature, Yingxi Lin and fellow scientistics working in Michael Greenberg’s group at Harvard University have discovered a gene—Npas4—that may regulate the balance between excessive and insufficient excitation of synapses.
Continue reading ‘Possible balancer of neural excitation-inhibition?’
Monthly Archive for September, 2008
As some students with EBD grow older, their parents often are faced with critical decisions about ensuring that, as adults, they receive appropriate services. For individuals who may have sudden and substantial needs for psychiatric services, planning for ways to ensure that the person does get those services can be a bewildering problem. A psychiatric advanced directive may be helpful in such circumstances, and the UPenn Collaborative (a group to which I’ve referred previously on EBD Blog) has developed a guidebook and planning sheets for creating a mental health crisis plans or psychiatric advance directives.
Continue reading ‘Psychiatric advanced directives’
Education Week is conducting an Internet-mediated “chat” about adolescents with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. It is slated for the afternoon of Wednesday, 17 September 2008. Here’s the advertisement:
Sphere: Related ContentAdolescents with Behavioral Disorders
When: Wednesday, September 17, 2008, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., Eastern time.
Where: http://www.edweek-chat.orgJoin us for a closer look at the past and future research regarding adolescents with behavioral disorders, a group that has the lowest graduation rate and the highest dropout rate of all students with disabilities, according to a 2006 U.S. Department of Education Report.
By the time students with behavioral or emotional problems get to high school, they may be so alienated from adults or disruptive to their classmates that they simply drop out. Two well-regarded experts on this topic will discuss the best methods for educating adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders, as well as upcoming research on the issue made possible with the help of a $9.6 million grant from the federal government.
Our Guests:
*Lee Kern is a professor of special education at Lehigh University’s College of Education. Lehigh University is in Bethlehem, Pa.*Richard White is a professor of special education at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, and the president of the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders, a subdivision of the Council for Exceptional Children.
Submit questions in advance:
http://www.edweek-chat.org/index.html?act=q&id=195#questionNo special equipment other than Internet access is needed to participate in this text-based chat. A transcript will be posted shortly after the completion of the chat.
In “Lack of Association between Measles Virus Vaccine and Autism with Enteropathy: A Case-Control Study” published on line by the Public Library of Science, Mady Hornig and colleagues knocked out another argument supporting a causal link between vaccinations (specifically, those for measles, mumps, and rubella) and Autism. The research team—composed of scientists at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health’s Center for Infection and Immunity, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Trinity College Dublin (IR)—examined the cornerstone studies that started many down the road to the hypothesis that vaccinations cause Autism. They examined material from the gastrointestinal systems of children with and without Autism to see whether those with Autism harbored the genetic remnants of the measles virus. No go.
Abstract
Background
The presence of measles virus (MV) RNA in bowel tissue from children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and gastrointestinal (GI) disturbances was reported in 1998. Subsequent investigations found no associations between MV exposure and ASD but did not test for the presence of MV RNA in bowel or focus on children with ASD and GI disturbances. Failure to replicate the original study design may contribute to continued public concern with respect to the safety of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
Methodology/Principal Findings
The objective of this case-control study was to determine whether children with GI disturbances and autism are more likely than children with GI disturbances alone to have MV RNA and/or inflammation in bowel tissues and if autism and/or GI episode onset relate temporally to receipt of MMR. The sample was an age-matched group of US children undergoing clinically-indicated ileocolonoscopy. Ileal and cecal tissues from 25 children with autism and GI disturbances and 13 children with GI disturbances alone (controls) were evaluated by real-time reverse transcription (RT)-PCR for presence of MV RNA in three laboratories blinded to diagnosis, including one wherein the original findings suggesting a link between MV and ASD were reported. The temporal order of onset of GI episodes and autism relative to timing of MMR administration was examined. We found no differences between case and control groups in the presence of MV RNA in ileum and cecum. Results were consistent across the three laboratory sites. GI symptom and autism onset were unrelated to MMR timing. Eighty-eight percent of ASD cases had behavioral regression.Conclusions/Significance
This study provides strong evidence against association of autism with persistent MV RNA in the GI tract or MMR exposure. Autism with GI disturbances is associated with elevated rates of regression in language or other skills and may represent an endophenotype distinct from other ASD.
Hornig M., Briese T., Buie T., Bauman M. L., Lauwers G., et al. (2008) Lack of association between measles virus vaccine and autism with enteropathy: A case-control study. PLoS ONE 3(9): e3140.
Link directly to the Hornig et al. article. See the press release from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Link to Science Daily coverage of the story.
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Mental health and related organizations are soliciting participation in a rally to urge the U.S. Congress to pass the legislation that will reform insurance rules to ensure that emotional and behavioral disorders (along with other mental health issues) are covered by health insurance policies. Here’s an example from Mental Health America (formerly the National Mental Health Association and the source of the image at the right):
Sphere: Related ContentMillions of Americans with mental disorders do not have equal access to health insurance. Many health plans discriminate against these people by limiting mental health and substance abuse healthcare by imposing lower day and visit limits, higher co-payments and deductibles and lower annual and lifetime spending caps.
Continue reading ‘Parity rally!’
According to correspondent Julio C. Abreu (Senior Director for Government Affairs at Mental Health America), negotiators for the US House and Senate are near or have reached a compromise that reconciles H.R. 1424 (“No Discrimination in Health Insurance Act of 2008″) and S. 558 (“Mental Health Parity Act of 2007″). These two bills are different versions of similar legislation that will require private health insurance plans to cover mental health (and other) services, just as they cover other conditions. This is, excuse me, HUGE for families of children and youths with emotional and behavioral disorders. I hope that the mental health community, including Mental Health America, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and the Alliance for Children and Families, springs into action and endorses resolution of this long-festering problem.
Continue reading ‘Legislation to cheer’
Professor Elizabeth Sowell and colleagues at the UCLA (CA, US) Department of Neurology have determined that there is a correlation between the thickness of cortices in certain regions of the brain and the presence of Tourette Sydrome (TS) in children. They used magnetic resonance imaging to compared the structure of brains of children with and without TS and found thinning in the frontal and parietal areas of those with TS.
Sphere: Related ContentNature Clinical Practice Neurology (2008) 4, 466-467
doi:10.1038/ncpneuro0872Thinning of sensorimotor cortices is associated with tics in children with Tourette syndrome
Continue reading ‘Thin cortices in Tourette Syndrome’
Over on Kenny Handleman’s ADDADHDBlog I learned of a product recall for Daytrana.
Do you or your child take the Daytrana patch for ADD/ADHD? If you do you need to know that the company that manufactures this drug, Noven Pharmaceuticals, is recalling two lot numbers.
Fortunately, the recall is for problems with the packaging. Parents still probably should learn about this product recall. Here’s link to Dr. Handleman’s blog entry.
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