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Novel mouse model for future autism research
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a set of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by a deficit in social behaviors and nonverbal interactions such as reduced eye contact, facial expression, and body gestures in the first 3 years of life. It is not a single disorder, and it is broadly considered to be a multi-factorial disorder resulting from genetic and non-genetic risk factors and their interaction. Genetic studies of ASD have identified mutations that interfere with typical neurodevelopment in utero through childhood. These complexes of genes have been involved in synaptogenesis and axon motility. Recent developments in neuroimaging studies have provided many important insights into the pathological changes that occur in the brain of patients with ASD in vivo. Especially, the role of amygdala, a major component of the limbic system and the affective loop of the cortico-striatothalamo-cortical circuit, in cognition and ASD has been proved in numerous neuropathological and neuroimaging studies.
Neurobiology of Exceptionality
Nurture or nature? Biology or environment? Why are some people intelligent, or personable, or creative and others obtuse, or shy, or unimaginative? Although each human being is a unique mixture of positive and negative traits and behaviors, the question remains: What is the neurobiological basis for each individual’s makeup? For example, why does one person suffer from a disorder (e.g., ADHD, autism, mental retardation) and another lives free of maladies?
Il Parlagioco : Uno strumento per comunicare attraverso il gioco = he Parlagioco: A tool for communicating through play
Il Parlagioco nasce da un'esperienza riabilitativa con un bambino autistico, il cui linguaggio aveva bisogno di regole comunicative. Per questo è stato creato un gioco di carte per realizzare uno scambio interattivo attraverso il desiderio di comunicare giocando. Il Parlagioco è servito anche a ridurre l'iperselettività tipica dell'autismo, orientando l'attenzione del bambino verso gli elementi esaustivi, ignorando i dettagli insignificanti allo scopo di cogliere i nessi di un insieme necessari a una comprensione globale. Da questa esperienza il Parlagioco è stato ulteriormente sviluppato per promuovere la pragmatica della comunicazione e le regole del linguaggio in ambito clinico. La sua applicazione nei disturbi specifici del linguaggio permette di ampliare il lessico, la comprensione di nuovi vocaboli e la produzione di richieste. Quando il disturbo del linguaggio è invece associato a ritardo mentale nelle malattie genetiche o neurologiche, esso consente delle facilitazioni nel proporre compiti specifici di riabilitazione linguistica. La presentazione grafica allettante e la proposta ludica fannno si' che esso sia facilmente applicabile anche in ambito scolastico e familiare.
Identifying, Assessing, and Treating Autism at School
As the rate of autism diagnosis continues to escalate, awareness and recognition of this developmental brain disorder - as well as a demand for services - are also mushrooming. School districts, already struggling under the weight of withering budgets and increasing enrollments, are now scrambling to strike a balance between the types of services and treatments parents want for their children and what the school system can afford to provide. Consequently, a broad cross-section of professionals and parents are searching for the means and methods by which to identify and address the wide-ranging.
Handbook of Life Course Health Development
Synthesizes and analyzes the growing knowledge base on life course health development (LCHD) from the prenatal period through emerging adulthood, with implications for clinical practice and public health. It presents LCHD as an innovative field with a sound theoretical framework for understanding wellness and disease from a lifespan perspective, replacing previous medical, biopsychosocial, and early genomic models of health. Interdisciplinary chapters discuss major health concerns (diabetes, obesity), important less-studied conditions (hearing, kidney health), and large-scale issues (nutrition, adversity) from a lifespan viewpoint. In addition, chapters address methodological approaches and challenges by analyzing existing measures, studies, and surveys. The book concludes with the editors’ research agenda that proposes priorities for future LCHD research and its application to health care practice and health policy.
Handbook of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Changes within the interdisciplinary field of intellectual and developmental disabilities are evolving at a rapid pace. Clinicians, academics, administrators, and a variety of mental health providers alike need easy-to-access, reliable information that enables them to stay abreast of the numerous advances in research, assessment, treatment, and service delivery within a real-world sociopolitical framework. To that end, the Handbook of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities is an essential resource for any professional who works with this vulnerable population. This volume examines in detail the numerous advances in the field, summarizing major domains and emerging subspecialties into one eminently useful reference.
Child Neuropsychology : Assessment and Interventions for Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Child Neuropsychology guides therapists and neurologists toward common goals: early, accurate diagnosis and finely focused interventions across disciplines. By analyzing the affects of brain development on children and adolescents’ behavioral, cognitive, learning, and psychosocial abilities and deficits, this groundbreaking volume brings vital perspectives to assessment and treatment. Leading experts Ellison and Semrud-Clikeman start with the basics of child clinical neuropsychology and functional neuroanatomy, taking readers through examination protocols and assessment instruments to treatment planning and methods. In this volume, the authors address the full range of neurodevelopmental pathologies, from learning disabilities to autism, ADHD to CNS disorders, traumatic brain injury to fetal alcohol syndrome.
Autistic people in dental and medical clinics: challenges and Solutions
Gives university students as well as established healthcare professionals an understanding of how they can assist autistic patients in clinical settings. This book providing strategies that aspiring and established healthcare professionals can use to make their clinical workplaces more accommodatingfor autistics and their familiesand present a synopsis of the literature about the challenges and experiences that autistic patients have had in dental and medical settings.
Autistic community and the neurodiversity movement : Stories from the frontline
This book marks the first historical overview of the autism rights branch of the neurodiversity movement, describing the activities and rationales of key leaders in their own words since it organized into a unique community in 1992. Sandwiched by editorial chapters that include critical analysis, the book contains 19 chapters by 21 authors about the forming of the autistic community and neurodiversity movement, progress in their influence on the broader autism community and field, and their possible threshold of the advocacy establishment
Applications of functional foods in disease prevention
Functional food sources are growing in popularity because they are exceptionally nutritious and provide amazing medical advantages. They can help ensure against infection, prevent supplement deficiency, and advance appropriate health development and improvement. With illustrative case studies, this new volume explores the many roles of functional foods in the prevention and management of various diseases, including diabetes, autism spectrum disorder, weight loss and obesity, microbial infections, ulcers and other gastrointestinal diseases, mental disorders and brain health, cardiac health and cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis and bone health, and more.
A Time for Metabolism and Hormones
Recent years have seen spectacular advances in the field of circadian biology. These have attracted the interest of researchers in many fields, including endocrinology, neurosciences, cancer, and behavior. By integrating a circadian view within the fields of endocrinology and metabolism, researchers will be able to reveal many, yet-unsuspected aspects of how organisms cope with changes in the environment and subsequent control of homeostasis. This field is opening new avenues in our understanding of metabolism and endocrinology. A panel of the most distinguished investigators in the field gathered together to discuss the present state and the future of the field. The editors trust that this volume will be of use to those colleagues who will be picking up the challenge to unravel how the circadian clock can be targeted for the future development of specific pharmacological strategies toward a number of pathologies.
