Evaluating the factor structure of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) in adults with congenital heart disease.

: While it is generally assumed that common neurobehavioral assessments, such as the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV), function similarly in clinical and non-clinical populations, this has not been validated in adults with congenital heart disease (CHD). In this study, we examined the latent factor structure of the WAIS-IV in adults with d-transposition of the great arteries (d-TGA) who participated in the Boston Circulatory Arrest Study. : The WAIS-IV was administered as part of a larger assessment battery.

Family Socioeconomic Status and Neurodevelopment Among Patients With Dextro-Transposition of the Great Arteries.

Importance: Data are limited on the longitudinal implications of socioeconomic status (SES) for neurodevelopmental outcomes among persons with complex congenital heart disease (CHD).

Objectives: To examine the association of family SES, maternal educational level, and maternal IQ with the neurodevelopment of individuals with dextro-transposition of the great arteries (d-TGA) from age 1 to 16 years and to identify how SES-related disparities change with age.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study analyzed data of participants enrolled in the Boston Circulatory Arrest Study, a randomized clinical trial conducted in Boston, Massachusetts, from 1988 to 1992.

Quantifying the association between PM air pollution and IQ loss in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: A growing body of epidemiologic and toxicologic literature indicates that fine airborne particulate matter (PM) pollution is neurotoxic and threatens children's neurobehavioral development, resulting in reduced cognitive function. Understanding the magnitude of this effect is critical for establishing public health policies that will protect children's health, preserve human capital, and support societal progress.

Objective: To quantify the association between ambient PM air pollution and loss of cognitive function in children, as measured by Intelligence Quotient (IQ) scores, through a systematic literature review and meta-analysis.

Associations of maternal and paternal preconception and maternal pregnancy urinary phthalate biomarker and bisphenol A concentrations with offspring autistic behaviors: The PEACE study.

Background: Environmental chemical exposures in utero may play a role in autism development. While preconception risk factors for autism are increasingly being investigated, little is known about the influence of chemical exposures during the preconception period, particularly for paternal exposures.

Methods: In 195 children from the Preconception Environmental exposures And Childhood health Effects (PEACE) cohort born to parents recruited from a fertility clinic in Boston, Massachusetts between 2004 and 2017, we quantified concentrations of 11 phthalate metabolites and bisphenol A (BPA) in urine samples collected from mothers and fathers before conception and mothers throughout pregnancy.

Intermittent theta burst stimulation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex has no additional effect on the efficacy of virtual reality exposure therapy for acrophobia. A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study.

Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental disorders. Treatment guidelines recommend pharmacotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy as standard treatment. Although cognitive behavioral therapy is an effective therapeutic approach, not all patients benefit sufficiently from it.

Meta-regression of sulcal patterns, clinical and environmental factors on neurodevelopmental outcomes in participants with multiple CHD types.

Congenital heart disease affects 1% of infants and is associated with impaired neurodevelopment. Right- or left-sided sulcal features correlate with executive function among people with Tetralogy of Fallot or single ventricle congenital heart disease. Studies of multiple congenital heart disease types are needed to understand regional differences.

Associations of Perinatal Metal and Metalloid Exposures with Early Child Behavioral Development Over Time in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study.

Research on the neurodevelopmental effects of metal(loid)s has focused mainly on outcomes assessed at one time point, even though brain development progresses over time. We investigated biomarkers of perinatal exposure to metals and changes in child behavior over time. We followed 268 participants from the prospective New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study between birth and age 5 years.

arsenic exposure and early childhood motor development in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study.

Introduction: High-level prenatal and childhood arsenic (As) exposure characteristic of several regions in Asia (e.g., Bangladesh), may impact motor function.

Sensitive development windows of prenatal air pollution and cognitive functioning in preschool age Mexican children.

Introduction: Neurotoxicity resulting from air pollution is of increasing concern. Considering exposure timing effects on neurodevelopmental impairments may be as important as the exposure dose. We used distributed lag regression to determine the sensitive windows of prenatal exposure to fine particulate matter (PM) on children's cognition in a birth cohort in Mexico.

Paternal and maternal preconception and maternal pregnancy urinary concentrations of parabens in relation to child behavior.

Background: Epidemiologic studies of the effects of parental preconception paraben exposures on child behavior are limited despite emerging evidence suggesting that such exposures may affect offspring neurodevelopment.

Objective: We investigated whether maternal and paternal preconception and maternal pregnancy urinary concentrations of parabens were associated with child behavior.

Methods: We analyzed data from the Preconception Environmental exposure And Childhood health Effects Study, an ongoing prospective cohort of children aged 6-13 years and their parents.

Paternal and maternal preconception and maternal pregnancy urinary phthalate metabolite and BPA concentrations in relation to child behavior.

Background: Epidemiologic studies on health effects of parental preconception exposures are limited despite emerging evidence from toxicological studies suggesting that such exposures, including to environmental chemicals, may affect offspring health.

Objective: We investigated whether maternal and paternal preconception and maternal pregnancy urinary phthalate metabolite and bisphenol A (BPA) concentrations were associated with child behavior.

Methods: We analyzed data from the Preconception Environmental exposure And Childhood health Effects (PEACE) Study, an ongoing prospective cohort study of children aged 6-11 years whose parent(s) previously enrolled in the prospective preconception Environment and Reproductive Health (EARTH) study.

Design and Harmonization Approach for the Multi-Institutional Neurocognitive Discovery Study (MINDS) of Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) Neuroimaging Ancillary Study: A Technical Note.

Dramatic advances in the management of congenital heart disease (CHD) have improved survival to adulthood from less than 10% in the 1960s to over 90% in the current era, such that adult CHD (ACHD) patients now outnumber their pediatric counterparts. ACHD patients demonstrate domain-specific neurocognitive deficits associated with reduced quality of life that include deficits in educational attainment and social interaction. Our hypothesis is that ACHD patients exhibit vascular brain injury and structural/physiological brain alterations that are predictive of specific neurocognitive deficits modified by behavioral and environmental enrichment proxies of cognitive reserve (e.

Mixtures of Metals and Micronutrients in Early Pregnancy and Cognition in Early and Mid-Childhood: Findings from the Project Viva Cohort.

Background: The developing fetal brain is sensitive to many environmental exposures. However, the independent and joint effects of prenatal exposure to metals and micronutrients on child cognition are not well understood.

Objectives: Our aim was to evaluate associations of first-trimester ( wk) maternal erythrocyte concentrations of mixtures of nonessential and essential metals and micronutrients with early ( y) and mid-childhood ( y) cognitive test scores in Project Viva, a prebirth cohort in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

The application of virtual reality exposure versus relaxation training in music performance anxiety: a randomized controlled study.

Background: Performance anxiety is the most frequently reported anxiety disorder among professional musicians. Typical symptoms are - on a physical level - the consequences of an increase in sympathetic tone with cardiac stress, such as acceleration of heartbeat, increase in blood pressure, increased respiratory rate and tremor up to nausea or flush reactions. These symptoms can cause emotional distress, a reduced musical and artistical performance up to an impaired functioning.

Prenatal ambient air pollutant mixture exposure and neurodevelopment in urban children in the Northeastern United States.

Background: Studies of prenatal air pollution (AP) exposure on child neurodevelopment have mostly focused on a single pollutant. We leveraged daily exposure data and implemented novel data-driven statistical approaches to assess effects of prenatal exposure to a mixture of seven air pollutants on cognitive functioning in school-age children from an urban pregnancy cohort.

Methods: Analyses included 236 children born at ≥37 weeks gestation.

Single Ventricle Reconstruction III: Brain Connectome and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes: Design, Recruitment, and Technical Challenges of a Multicenter, Observational Neuroimaging Study.

Unlabelled: Patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome who have been palliated with the Fontan procedure are at risk for adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes, lower quality of life, and reduced employability. We describe the methods (including quality assurance and quality control protocols) and challenges of a multi-center observational ancillary study, SVRIII (Single Ventricle Reconstruction Trial) Brain Connectome. Our original goal was to obtain advanced neuroimaging (Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Resting-BOLD) in 140 SVR III participants and 100 healthy controls for brain connectome analyses.

Who benefits most from a prenatal HEPA filter air cleaner intervention on childhood cognitive development? The UGAAR randomized controlled trial.

Background: Air pollution exposure during pregnancy affects children's brain function. Maternal stress and nutrition, socioeconomic status, and the child's sex may modify this relationship.

Objective: To identify characteristics of children with the largest increases in full-scale IQ (FSIQ) after their mothers used HEPA filter air cleaners during pregnancy.

Social cognition and behavioral outcomes in congenital heart disease: profiles and neuropsychiatric comorbidities.

Autism spectrum disorders are more prevalent in children with congenital heart disease (CHD) than in the general population. Children with CHD without diagnosed autism are also at increased risk for neurodevelopmental and psychiatric impairments. We characterized social and behavioral outcomes in children with CHD and examined neurodevelopmental and psychiatric comorbidities.