The effect of baby walker on child development: a systematic review

Abstract:Baby walkers are used all around the world as a fun equipment without any dangers. In contrast with public beliefs, some researchers have claimed they can cause developmental delay. We aimed to investigate their effect on child development through a systematic review. We searched Pubmed, Google Scholar, Embase, and Scopus for related articles in English and included all study designs. Of 315 articles found in Pubmed, 1630 citations in Google Scholar, 18 articles in Embase, and 38 papers in Scopus, only 9 articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Among them, only a cohort and a cross-sectional study reported developmental delay caused by baby walker use. Based on the current data, evidence against baby walker is not enough regarding its negative effect on child development. This subject needs to be addressed more, considering the large number of baby walker users worldwide

The MAPT P.G324L and P.A406G mutations are associated with progressive supranuclear palsy with atypical features

Abstract: Introduction: Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is an atypical parkinsonism caused by the intracerebral aggregation of the microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT) which is encoded by MAPT gene. Although PSP is a sporadic disease, MAPT mutations have been reported in rare cases.Methods: Among 190 patients with PSP who were recruited by the Neurodegenerative Research Group at Mayo Clinic during 2009-2023, we identified two patients who fulfilled diagnostic criteria for PSP-Richardson's syndrome (PSP-RS) and harbor novel MAPT mutations. To better investigate the potential effects of these mutations, we compared the clinical, and neuroimaging characteristics of these two patients to 20 randomly selected patients with PSP-RS without a MAPT mutation.Results: MAPT c.1024G > A, p. Glu342Lys, and MAPT c.1217 G > A, p. Arg406Gln mutations were found in 2 men who developed PSP-RS with atypical features at the ages of 60 and 62 years, respectively. Glu342Lys mutation was associated with features resembling alpha-synucleinopathies (autonomic dysfunction, dream enactment behavior), while both mutations were associated with features suggestive of Alzheimer's disease with poorer performance on tests of episodic memory. Comparison of F-18-flortaucipir uptake between the two MAPT mutation cases with 20 patients without a mutation revealed increased signal on flortaucipir-PET in bilateral medial temporal lobe regions (amygdala, entorhinal cortices, hippocampus, parahippocampus) but not in PSP-related regions (globus pallidum, midbrain, superior frontal cortex and dentate nucleus of the cerebellum).Conclusion: Glu342Lys and Arg406Gln mutations appear to modify the PSP-RS phenotype by targeting the medial temporal lobe regions resulting in more memory loss and greater flortaucipir uptake