Week 7: Neurodevelopmental Disorders Flashcards
What is a neurodevelopmental disorder?
These are disorders that become apparent in early childhood development and affect all major developmental systems
What are the causes of these disorders?
Genetics
Drug/Alcohol use during pregnancy
Severe deprivation
Congenital injury (such as premature birth)
What IQ scores indicates the presence of a learning disability?
Mild: 50-70
Moderate: 35-49
Severe: 20-34
Profound: <20
What are the demographics of autism?
1% of the population
More common in males
What are the characteristics of autism?
poor social skills, repetitive behaviour and restricted interests
What is PDD?
A high functioning variant of autism
How does IQ vary with autism?
Autism itself has a low IQ, asbergers a little higher, PDD higher than that
What causes Tuberous Sclerosis Complex?
A mutation of the TSC1 (chromosome 9) or the TSC2 gene (chromosome 16)
How common is Tuberous Sclerosis Complex?
1 in every 6,000-11,400 births
How does IQ vary with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex?
Slightly lower but still a regular distribution
What is one type of disorder in which IQ is not normally distributed?
Neurofibromatosis1
How are the different aspects of cognition affected by Neurofibromatosis1?
Verbal comprehension is preserved but non verbal, working memory and processing speed were lower
What is cognitive control?
A person’s capacity to choose what they pay attention to and what they ignore
What causes fragile X syndrome?
Mutation of FMR1 gene in chromosome X (CGG expansion)
How common is fragile X syndrome?
1 in every 4,000-6,000 births
What are the characteristics of fragile X syndrome?
Results in moderate to severe intellectual disability and characteristics of autism including averted gaze and repetitive behaviours
What percentage of people with fragile X syndrome meet the criteria for ADHD?
54-74%
How common is Prader-Willi Syndrome?
1 in every 10,000-15,000 births
What are the characteristics of Prader-Willi Syndrome?
Hyperphagia, temper outbursts, repetitive behaviour and deficits in inhibition
What causes Prader-Willi Syndrome?
Issues with chromasome 15
Either a deletion, UPD (might get both from 1 parent) or an imprinting defecit
How does attentional focus change in Prader-Willi Syndrome?
They had longer reaction times on the Simon Task which shows they are less able to filter out irrelevant information
What do longer reaction times on the Simon Task correlate with
repetitive questioning and adhering to routine but no other types of repetitive behaviours
How does Williams syndrome link to social processing?
Strong motivation for social interaction, even talking to strangers and people that are dangerous
How does Autism link to social processing?
They have a preference for non-social information over social information
They rarely look at the eyes and mouth which contain the most social information
