Comics as an Educational Tool on a Clinical Clerkship.

Objectives: The authors investigated student satisfaction with the use of comics as an educational tool in clinical medical education.

Methods: Students on a Psychiatry clinical clerkship reviewed educational comics at the time of orientation. End of clerkship surveys were utilized to assess students' perceptions about the usefulness of comics for their learning during the clerkship.

An analysis of select emerging executive skills in perinatally HIV-1-infected children.

This study examined the effect of perinatal HIV-1 infection on emerging executive skills in children (n = 161) ages 8 to 12 years. HIV-positive (n = 76) and HIV-negative (n = 85) children were eligible to participate. The HIV-positive children included those who had experienced a CDC Class C event (greater severity, n = 22) and those who were HIV-positive but who had not experienced a CDC Class C event (less severity, n = 54).

Congenital cytomegalovirus infection in fraternal twins: a longitudinal case study examining neurocognitive and neurobehavioral correlates.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most ubiquitous member of the herpes virus family and is the leading cause of congenital (vertical) infection in newborns (Fowler, Stagno, & Pass, 2003; Llorente, Steigmeyer, Cooper, Rivers, & Gazley, 2011; Noyola et al., 2000; Steigmeyer & Llorente, 2010). CMV is related to the group of viruses capable of causing more pernicious infectious diseases, such as chicken pox (Santos de Barona, 1998).

Effects of early maternal docosahexaenoic acid intake on neuropsychological status and visual acuity at five years of age of breast-fed term infants.

Objective: We previously reported better psychomotor development at 30 months of age in infants whose mothers received a docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (22:6n-3) supplement for the first 4 months of lactation. We now assess neuropsychological and visual function of the same children at 5 years of age.

Study Design: Breastfeeding women were assigned to receive identical capsules containing either a high-DHA algal oil (∼200 mg/d of DHA) or a vegetable oil (containing no DHA) from delivery until 4 months postpartum.

The effect of prenatal drug exposure and caregiving context on children's performance on a task of sustained visual attention.

Objectives: Three groups of children from low-income, urban environments were examined to determine the effects of prenatal drug exposure (PDE) and caregiving environment on sustained visual attention (SVA) at 7 years of age.

Methods: Drug-exposed children remaining in maternal care (n = 43), drug-exposed children placed in nonmaternal care (n = 45), and community comparison (CC) children (n = 56) were administered a battery of neurocognitive tests, including the Conners' Continuous Performance Test (CPT).

Results: PDE children remaining in maternal care displayed more omission errors than CC children.

Children's Color Trails Test 1 & 2: test-retest reliability and factorial validity.

This investigation examined the test-retest reliability and the factorial validity of the Children's Color Trails Test 1 & 2 (CCTT) using two distinct and independent studies and their respective research samples. The reliability of the CCTT was evaluated in a study with 6-12-year-old children (n = 54) strictly selected and diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder from an interventional protocol using test-retest coefficients at 8- and 16-week time intervals. Factorial validity was investigated using groups of children with traumatic brain injury (TBI) (n = 137), children with other types of trauma than brain or head injury (Other Injury) (n = 132), and healthy controls (n = 114) from a protocol assessing the neuropsychological sequelae of traumatic brain injury.

The impact of language on the equivalence of trail making tests: findings from three pediatric cohorts with different language dominance.

The effect of different language backgrounds on performance and the functional equivalence of trail making tests were examined. The children's version of the Trail Making Test A and B (TMT) and the Children's Color Trails Test 1 and 2 (CCTT) were employed with right-handed (n = 79) participants. Children were classified into three groups according to language proficiency: Chinese dominant (CDL), Chinese-English bilinguals (CEB), and English dominant (EDL).

The Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA): internal consistency (Q₁ vs. Q₂ and Q₃ vs. Q₄) in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The internal consistency of the Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA) was examined in a cohort of 6- to 12-year-old children (N = 63) strictly diagnosed with ADHD. The internal consistency of errors of omission (OMM), errors of commission (COM), response time (RT), and response time variability (RTV) of different test conditions (stimulus infrequent condition [Q₁ vs. Q₂] and stimulus frequent condition [Q₃ vs.

Comparison of the validity of direct pediatric developmental evaluation versus developmental screening by parent report.

To compare the validity of direct pediatric developmental evaluation with developmental screening by parent report, parents completed a developmental screen (the Child Development Review), a pediatrician performed a direct developmental evaluation (Capute Scales), and a psychologist administered the Bayley Scales of Infant Development to a group of 30-month-old children. The agreement between these instruments was tested. All developmental quotient scores derived from the Capute Scales were more highly correlated with concurrent Bayley Mental Development Index scores than developmental quotient scores derived from the Child Development Review.

Cognitive and adaptive behavior profiles in Smith-Magenis syndrome.

Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS) is a multiple congenital anomalies and mental retardation syndrome associated with an interstitial deletion of chromosome 17 band p11.2. The incidence of this microdeletion syndrome is estimated to be 1 in 25,000 individuals.

Performance on a visual sustained attention and discrimination task is associated with urinary excretion of norepineprhine metabolite in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD).

The degree of association between performance on a sustained attention task requiring visual discrimination and urinary excretion of catecholamine metabolites was examined in a cohort of 6- to 12-year-old children (n = 31) strictly selected and diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) according to DSM-IV and other strict criteria. Sustained visual attention and discrimination were measured using the Test of Variables of Attention (T.O.

Effects of maternal docosahexaenoic acid intake on visual function and neurodevelopment in breastfed term infants.

Background: Normal brain and visual development is thought to require exogenous docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n-3) intake, but the amount needed is debatable. Because the supplementation of breastfeeding mothers with DHA increases the DHA content of their infants' plasma lipids, we hypothesized that it might also improve brain or visual function in the infants.

Objective: The objective was to determine the effect of DHA supplementation of breastfeeding mothers on neurodevelopmental status and visual function in the recipient infant.

Differences in neuropsychological performance associated with ethnicity in children with HIV-1 infection: preliminary findings.

This study investigated the relationship between ethnicity (African American and European American) and neuropsychological performance in two specific neuropsychological domains (language and speed of information processing) in a group of HIV-1+ children. The Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised and the Rapid Color Naming subtest of the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing were administered to 5- to 7-year-old children (n = 22) as part of a comprehensive research or clinical protocol. African American children scored lower than European American children (p < .

Concurrent and predictive validity of the cognitive adaptive test/clinical linguistic and auditory milestone scale (CAT/CLAMS) and the Mental Developmental Index of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development.

The Cognitive Adaptive Test/Clinical Linguistic and Auditory Milestone Scale (CAT/CLAMS) was designed for use by primary pediatric health care providers to identify children with developmental delays. This study assesses the concurrent and predictive validity of CAT/CLAMS developmental quotient (DQ) scores and the Mental Developmental Index (MDI) of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development in healthy children without risk factors for developmental delay. Overall CAT/CLAMS DQ scores correlated significantly with Bayley MDI scores at both 12 (r = 0.

Effect of maternal docosahexaenoic acid supplementation on postpartum depression and information processing.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of docosahexaenoic acid supplementation on plasma phospholipid docosahexaenoic acid content and indices of depression and information processing for women who breast-feed.

Study Design: Mothers who planned to breast-feed their infants were assigned randomly in a double-masked fashion to receive either docosahexaenoic acid (approximately 200 mg/d) or placebo for the first 4 months after the delivery. Major outcome variables included plasma phospholipid fatty acid patterns and scores on a self-rating questionnaire of current depression symptoms.

Early neurodevelopmental markers predictive of mortality in infants infected with HIV-1.

One-hundred and fifty-seven vertically infected HIV-1 positive infants (85 males, 72 females) underwent longitudinal assessment to determine whether early neurodevelopmental markers are useful predictors of mortality in those infants who survive to at least 4 months of age. Survival analysis methods were used to estimate time to death for quartiles of 4-month scores (baseline) on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID). Cox proportional hazards progression was used to estimate relative hazard (RH, 95% CI) of death for BSID scores and potential confounders.

High rates of behavioral problems in perinatally HIV-infected children are not linked to HIV disease.

Objective: Descriptive studies and clinical reports have suggested that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive children are at risk for behavioral problems. Inadequate control groups and sample sizes have limited the ability of investigators to consider multiple influences that place HIV-positive children at risk for poor behavioral outcomes. We examined the unique and combined influences of HIV, prenatal drug exposure, and environmental factors on behavior in children who were perinatally exposed to HIV.