Predictors of developmental dyslexia in European orthographies with varying complexity.

Background:  The relationship between phoneme awareness, rapid automatized naming (RAN), verbal short-term/working memory (ST/WM) and diagnostic category is investigated in control and dyslexic children, and the extent to which this depends on orthographic complexity.

Methods: General cognitive, phonological and literacy skills were tested in 1,138 control and 1,114 dyslexic children speaking six different languages spanning a large range of orthographic complexity (Finnish, Hungarian, German, Dutch, French, English).

Results: Phoneme deletion and RAN were strong concurrent predictors of developmental dyslexia, while verbal ST/WM and general verbal abilities played a comparatively minor role.

Toward systems neuroscience of ADHD: a meta-analysis of 55 fMRI studies.

Objective: The authors performed a comprehensive meta-analysis of task-based functional MRI studies of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Method: The authors searched PubMed, Ovid, EMBASE, Web of Science, ERIC, CINAHAL, and NeuroSynth for studies published through June 30, 2011. Significant differences in brain region activation between individuals with ADHD and comparison subjects were detected using activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis.

Lovastatin regulates brain spontaneous low-frequency brain activity in neurofibromatosis type 1.

In the neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) mouse model, lovastatin, used clinically for hypercholesterolemia, improves cognitive dysfunction. While such impairment has been studied in NF1, the neural substrates remain unclear. The aim of this imaging add-on to a Phase 1 open-label trial was to examine the effect of lovastatin on Default Network (DN) resting state functional connectivity (RSFC).

Dimensional brain-behavior relationships in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Background: Emerging neuroscientific and genetic findings emphasize the dimensional rather than the categorical aspects of psychiatric disorders. However, the integration of dimensional approaches within the current categorical diagnostic framework remains unclear. Here, we used resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine whether dimensional measures of psychiatric symptomatology capture brain-behavior relationships unaccounted for by categorical diagnoses.

Proton MR spectroscopic imaging of basal ganglia and thalamus in neurofibromatosis type 1: correlation with T2 hyperintensities.

Introduction: Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is frequently associated with hyperintense lesions on T2-weighted images called "unidentified bright objects" (UBO). To better characterize the functional significance of UBO, we investigate the basal ganglia and thalamus using spectroscopic imaging in children with NF1 and compare the results to anomalies observed on T2-weighted images.

Methods: Magnetic resonance (MR) data of 25 children with NF1 were analyzed.

Thalamo-striatal T2-weighted hyperintensities (unidentified bright objects) correlate with cognitive impairments in neurofibromatosis type 1 during childhood.

Learning disabilities represent the main childhood complication in neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). Patients frequently exhibit T2-weighted hyperintensities called unidentified bright objects (UBOs) on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), with unclear relationship to such cognitive disabilities. This study aimed to determine whether thalamo-striatal UBOs correlate with cognitive disturbances.