Bone Mineral Density in Adolescents With Eating Disorders Exposed to Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors

Retrospective chart review was used to collect data from adolescents seen in a specialized eating disorder program over an 11-year period in order to investigate any association between exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and bone mineral density (BMD). SSRI users were matched with controls based on age (within 1.5 years), gender, eating disorder diagnosis, and percent ideal body weight (within 5%), resulting in a sample of 31 pairs. SSRI users had significantly lower BMD z-scores, compared to controls (–1.094 vs. –0.516, p < .035), suggesting that exposure to SSRIs may be a risk factor for lowered BMD.     

Clinical impairment in premanifest and early Huntington's disease is associated with regionally specific atrophy

TRACK‐HD is a multicentre longitudinal observational study investigating the use of clinical assessments and 3‐Tesla magnetic resonance imaging as potential biomarkers for future therapeutic trials in Huntington's disease (HD). The cross‐sectional data from this large well‐characterized dataset provide the opportunity to improve our knowledge of how the underlying neuropathology of HD may contribute to the clinical manifestations of the disease across the spectrum of premanifest (PreHD) and early HD. Two hundred and thirty nine gene‐positive subjects (120 PreHD and 119 early HD) from the TRACK‐HD study were included. Using voxel‐based morphometry (VBM), grey and white matter volumes were correlated with performance in four domains: quantitative motor (tongue force, metronome tapping, and gait); oculomotor [anti‐saccade error rate (ASE)]; cognition (negative emotion recognition, spot the change and the University of Pennsylvania smell identification test) and neuropsychiatric measures (apathy, affect and irritability). After adjusting for estimated disease severity, regionally specific associations between structural loss and task performance were found (familywise error corrected, P < 0.05); impairment in tongue force, metronome tapping and ASE were all associated with striatal loss. Additionally, tongue force deficits and ASE were associated with volume reduction in the occipital lobe. Impaired recognition of negative emotions was associated with volumetric reductions in the precuneus and cuneus. Our study reveals specific associations between atrophy and decline in a range of clinical modalities, demonstrating the utility of VBM correlation analysis for investigating these relationships in HD. Hum Brain Mapp, 2013. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Predictors of diagnosis of child psychiatric disorder in adult–infant social-communicative interaction at 12 months

To establish which social interactive behaviours predict later psychiatric diagnosis, we examined 180 videos of a parent–infant interaction when children were aged one year, from within the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort. Sixty of the videos involved infants who were later diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder at seven years, and 120 were a randomly selected sex-matched control group. Interactive behaviours for both the caregiver and the one year old infant were coded from the videos according to eight holistic categories of interpersonal engagement: Well-being, Contingent Responsiveness, Cooperativeness, Involvement, Activity, Playfulness, Fussiness, and Speech. Lower levels of adult activity and speech in interaction at one year significantly predicted overall diagnosis of child psychiatric disorder.     

Understanding macrographia in children with autism spectrum disorders

It has been consistently reported that children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) show considerable handwriting difficulties, specifically relating to accurate and consistent letter formation, and maintaining appropriate letter size. The aim of this study was to investigate the underlying factors that contribute to these difficulties, specifically relating to motor control. We examined the integrity of fundamental handwriting movements and contributions of neuromotor noise in 26 children with ASD aged 8–13 years (IQ > 75), and 17 typically developing controls. Children wrote a series of four cursive letter l's using a graphics tablet and stylus. Children with ASD had significantly larger stroke height and width, more variable movement trajectory, and higher movement velocities. The absolute level of neuromotor noise in the velocity profiles, as measured by power spectral density analysis, was significantly higher in children with ASD; relatively higher neuromotor noise was found in bands >3 Hz. Our findings suggest that significant instability of fundamental handwriting movements, in combination with atypical biomechanical strategies, contribute to larger and less consistent handwriting in children with ASD.