News by Subject Social & Behavior

A new study published recently in the Disability and Health Journal by researchers from Syracuse University and SUNY Upstate Medical University shows that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) living in residential group homes are more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 and die from the virus than those without IDD.

UC Davis MIND Institute researchers found an unexpected spectrum of mental illnesses in patients with a rare gene mutation. These patients had a "double hit" condition that combined features and symptoms of fragile X syndrome and premutation disorder, in addition to a range of psychiatric symptoms. The findings revealed the need for clinicians to consider the complexities of the co-existing conditions of patients with both psychological and fragile X associated disorders.

For decades, neuropsychologists have used the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children test as the gold-standard intelligence quotient (IQ) test to determine the intellectual abilities of children with special needs. However, this comprehensive test can take up to 2 hours to complete, and many children with special needs have a difficult time participating in such long tests.

People born small for gestational age (SGA) have a lower IQ throughout development, however the differences in IQ to those born appropriate for gestational age (AGA) reduce by adulthood. The effects of SGA on IQ are nearly as large as being born into lower socio-economic status or receiving poor parenting in infancy.

Scientists at the University of Calgary have made a discovery that could lead to treatment of Fragile X syndrome (FXS), the leading genetic cause of autism. The study, involving mouse models, shows promise of translating to a treatment for people. Those with FXS are missing a protein vital to brain development called FMRP. The researchers used a fragment of FMRP which was able to cross the blood-brain barrier and restore the protein to normal levels.

A new UC San Francisco study has pinpointed a specific pattern of brain waves that underlies the ability to let go of old, irrelevant learned associations to make way for new updates. The research is the first to directly show that a particular behavior can be dependent on the precise synchronization of high-frequency brain waves in different parts of the brain, and might open a path for developing interventions for certain psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia.

A UC Davis MIND Institute study found that around 30% of young children with autism have less severe autism symptoms at age 6 than they did at age 3, with some children losing their autism diagnoses entirely. It also found that girls tend to show greater reduction and less rise in their autism symptom severity than boys with autism. Children with higher IQs were more likely to show a reduction in their symptoms.

A team of researchers from the University of Southampton, the University of Bath and King's College London, including Dennis Golm from the University of Southampton, have provided compelling evidence of the impact of adversity in childhood on neuropsychological functioning in adulthood. They also showed that neuropsychological difficulties may explain why early adversity is linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in later life.