Statewide Parent-to-Parent Programs: Partners in Early Intervention.

Parents of infants and young children with disabilities or special health care needs are thrust, often without warning, into an unfamiliar and complex world that requires support for and information about a whole host of medical, educational, legal, financial, social, and emotional realities. Statewide early intervention efforts have a valuable ally in statewide parent-to-parent programs in meeting the needs of families of young children with special needs. This article reports on the descriptive results of a national survey of statewide parent-to-parent programs and suggests ways in which parent-to-parent programs and early intervention efforts can support and enhance their respective efforts on behalf of young children and families

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

A first update on mapping the human genetic architecture of COVID-19

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