Measurement invariance of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) across six countries

Education and Child Studie

Some specific QEEG applications related to neurocognitive dysfunctions.

Quantitative EEG assessment (QEEG) is a neuroinformatic tool, implying the following main steps: recording of multichannel EEG, signal processing and extraction of features such as mean spectral amplitude or power for multiple frequency bands and comparison of subject’s data with a normative database corrected for time-of-day variations. To this date, QEEG has proved to be useful additional tool in the estimation and treatment of many disorders with underlying organic pathology. However, the full QEEG capacity for successful estimation of neurocognitive dysfunctions is still poorly investigated. This is an attempt to shed light over this problem by giving summary of three studies, each of which exploring QEEG patterns in various conditions that are often associated with cognitive dysfunctions. The aim of the first study was to investigate the alpha rhythm parameters (8 - 12 Hz) in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients in order to distinguish eventual features that differ from healthy individuals. The second study deals with the existence of different qEEG subtypes in ADHD children associated with specific neurocognitive profiles. The third study is a meta-analysis of papers, published over period of 13 years across 3 continents, which were examining the potential influence of extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic field (EMF) components over human EEG patterns which are in the same range of frequencies. Finally, a comparative QEEG investigation of neurocognitive parameters in healthy population will be presented, with introduction of the brain-rate parameter as an integral brain state indicato

Duplication of chromosome 16p13.11-p12.3 with different expressions in the same family

The knowledge about genetic involvement in neurodevelopmental disorders, and especially in autism, is currently rising. To date, more than 100 gene mutations related to autistic syndromes have been described. Some disorders that affect multiple family members are caused by gene mutations, which can be inherited. Recently, array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) has identified sub microscopic deletions and duplications as a common cause of mental retardation and autism. In this article we report the occurrence of the same genetic finding (chromosome 16p13.11-p12.3 duplication) in a family with four small children, where two older siblings manifested a global neurodevelopmental delay associated with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but younger twin brothers with the same mutation, have typical development. Genetic analysis showed that the chromosomal duplication was inherited from the father, in which phenotype and functioning are quite typical. As is known, the duplication can pass from parents to children. The 16p13.11 micro duplication has been implicated in several neurodevelopmental and behavioral disorders and is characterized by variable expressivity and incomplete penetrance

The role of QEEG in comprehensive classification of ADHD children. Proceedings of 2nd Neuromath Workshop

Quantitative computerized analysis of the EEG data (qEEG) is based on statistical analysis as a mean to compare one’s EEG features with normative EEG database. It is helpful additional diagnostic tool with significant clinical utility in many mental illnesses, especially in establishing EEG differences between ADHD and non-ADHD children. In our study we back-up this notion by confirming existence of five qEEG subtypes in ADHD children that were recently introduced by members of our team. Namely, we present 20 Macedonian children with ADHD, mean age 10.5±2.35 years, both genders. For each child qEEG data (in eyes open and closed conditions) were recorded, together with the continuous performance tests (CPT). Analysis showed that 45 % of the children belong to the fifth subtype (slow alpha excess), 30% to the first subtype (increased theta amplitude in the frontocentral cortex) and 25 % to the fourth subtype (over activated beta in frontal, central or parietal cortex)

Using the Brain-Rate as a Preliminary Indicator of General Mental Activation in Cognitive Neurorehabilitation of TBI Patients

The aim of this paper is to propose a brain rate as a preliminary indicator of a general mental arousal level and as a general multiband neurofeedback parameter, considering the neuro-physical mechanisms in a cognitive neurorehabilitation of TBI patients

ESSENCE-Q: Slavic language versions for developmental screening in young children

Dejan Stevanovic,1 Rajna Knez,2,3 Tatjana Zorcec,4 Marija Anderluh,5 Jana Kodrič,5 Petar Petrov,6 Feriha Hadžagić Ćatibušić,7 Azra Deljković,8 Slavica Brkic Cvetkovic,1 Nikolina Vrljičak Davidovic,9 Radenka Kuzmanić Šamija,10 Ana Ðorić,11 Christopher Gillberg12 1Psychiatry Department, Clinic for Neurology and Psychiatry for Children and Youth, Belgrade, Serbia; 2Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Skaraborgs Hospital, Skövde, Sweden; 3Department of Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia; 4Developmental Department, University Children’s Hospital, Skopje, Macedonia; 5Department of Child Psychiatry, University Children’s Hospital, University Medical Center Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia; 6Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Hospital St Marina, Varna, Bulgaria; 7Pediatric Clinic, Clinical Center Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; 8Psychiatry Department, Mental Health Center Pljevlja, Pljevlja, Montenegro; 9Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Clinical Hospital Center, Split, Croatia; 10Clinic for Children’s Disorders, Clinical Hospital Center, Split, Croatia; 11Center of Applied Psychology, Faculty of Humanity and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia; 12Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Center, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden Purpose: The Early Symptomatic Syndromes Eliciting Neurodevelopmental Clinical Examinations – Questionnaire (ESSENCE-Q) was developed as a brief screener to identify children with developmental concerns who might have neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). This study aimed to translate the ESSENCE-Q into south Slavic languages, namely, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Macedonian, Montenegrin, Serbian, and Slovenian, and to evaluate its psychometric properties for screening purposes in clinical settings. Patients and methods: In the study, the ESSENCE-Q was completed for 251 “typically developing” children and 200 children with 1 or more diagnosed NDDs, all aged 1–6 years. Internal consistency and construct validity were tested first, followed by generating receiver operating characteristic curves and the area under the curve. Optimal cutoff values were then explored. Results: The Cronbach’s α coefficients were 0.91, 0.88, and 0.86 for ESSENCE-Q parent-completed form, and the telephone and direct interview forms administered by trained nurse or specialist, respectively. The 3 versions produced area under the curve values (95% confidence interval): 0.96 (0.93–0.99), 0.91 (0.86–0.95), and 0.91 (0.86–0.97), respectively. An optimal cutoff for ESSENCE-Q parent-completed form was found to be ≥3 points, while for the telephone and direct interviews, it was ≥5 points. Conclusion: We found adequate measurement properties of the south Slavic languages versions of the ESSENCE-Q as a screener for NDDs in clinical settings. This study provided additional data supporting sound psychometric properties of the ESSENCE-Q. Keywords: early screening, questionnaire, autism, intellectual disabilit