childhood disorders

Question 1

diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD)

Answer 1

diagnosed based on 2 main criteria:

1. impaired social communication and interaction,
2. repetitive behaviors or narrow, obsessive interests.

Question 2

Genes related to ASD

Answer 2

Genes that code for fragile X syndrome (50-60%), tubers sclerosis complex (40%), genes that involve in tutor suppression enzyme (PTEN)

Question 3

ASD result in..

Answer 3

developmental changes in cerebral cortex, both white and grey matter show consistent but subtle changes in patients with ASD.

Question 4

ADHD characteristics

Answer 4

inattentiveness, hyperactivity or impulsive behaviours;
problems in remembering things and finishing tasks are common;
ADHD patients sometimes show unusual brain activity in cells that release dopamine

Question 5

Down syndrome

Answer 5

3 copies of 21st chromosome (instead of 2);

symptoms:
- distinctive facial features, e.g flattened face and bridge of the nose, eyes that slant upward, small ears
- body features such as small hands and reduced muscle tone
- limited intellectual abilities (due to poor connections in neurons in hippocampus)
- early onset Alzheimer’s disease (extra copy of APP), heart problems, hearing loss

Question 6

Dyslexia

Answer 6

Symptoms include trouble with pronunciation, lack of fluency, difficulty retrieving words, poor spelling, and hesitancy in speaking, slow reading;
- lower brain activity in some regions of the brain such as “word-form area” (left hemisphere, involved in recognising written language), lower activity in the left occipitotemporal cortex (important for reading)

Question 7

Dyslexia

Answer 7

Symptoms include trouble with pronunciation, lack of fluency, difficulty retrieving words, poor spelling, and hesitancy in speaking, slow reading;
- lower brain activity in some regions of the brain such as “word-form area” (left hemisphere, involved in recognising written language), lower activity in the left occipitotemporal cortex (important for reading)

Question 8

Epilepsy

Answer 8

Seizures result from irregular activities in brain cells that can last five or more minutes at a time; seizures vary in severity and phenotype;
Epilepsy has many causes including premature birth, brain trauma, genetic factors