Annual Research Review: The contributions of the RDoC research framework on understanding the neurodevelopmental origins, progression and treatment of mental illnesses.

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) proposed the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative as an alternate way to organize research of mental illnesses, by looking at dimensions of functioning rather than being tied to categorical diagnoses. This paper briefly discusses the motivation for and organization of RDoC, and then explores the NIMH portfolio and recent work to monitor the utility and progress that RDoC has afforded developmental research. To examine how RDoC has influenced the NIMH developmental research portfolio over the last decade, we employed a natural language processing algorithm to identify the number of developmental science grants classified as incorporating an RDoC approach.

Developing constructs for psychopathology research: research domain criteria.

There exists a divide between findings from integrative neuroscience and clinical research focused on mechanisms of psychopathology. Specifically, a clear correspondence does not emerge between clusters of complex clinical symptoms and dysregulated neurobiological systems, with many apparent redundancies. For instance, many mental disorders involve multiple disruptions in putative mechanistic factors (e.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation in children.

Developmental disabilities (e.g. attention deficit disorder; cerebral palsy) are frequently associated with deviations of the typical pattern of motor skill maturation.

Cerebral palsy: new approaches to therapy.

Cerebral palsy is the most common developmental disorder causing a physical disability arising from an injury to the central nervous system. The majority of pediatric neurologists remain minimally involved in the rehabilitation of these children. Recent advances in basic and clinical neuroscience give hope that effective rehabilitation strategies, based on motor learning science, can be developed for these children.

The ipsilateral silent period in boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Objective: Characterize maturation of transcallosal inhibition (ipsilateral silent period [iSP]) in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).

Background: Maturation of the iSP is related to acquisition of fine motor skills in typically developing children suggesting that dexterous fine motor skills depend upon mature interhemispheric interactions. Since neuromotor maturation is abnormal in boys with ADHD we hypothesized that iSP maturation in these children would be abnormal.

Treatment of Sydenham's chorea with intravenous immunoglobulin, plasma exchange, or prednisone.

Sydenham's chorea has been established as a postinfectious autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder. Corticosteroids have been used to treat patients with severe disease but are not always effective, and relapses are frequent after cessation. Eighteen subjects were entered into this randomized-entry controlled trial designed to determine if intravenous immunoglobulin or plasma exchange would be superior to prednisone in decreasing the severity of chorea.

Obsessive-compulsive symptoms among patients with Sydenham chorea.

Background: Among patients with tic disorders, a distinctive clinical profile of obsessive-compulsive symptomatology has been described. The present investigation was designed to document the phenomenology of obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) among patients with Sydenham chorea (SC), the neurologic variant of rheumatic fever. We hypothesized that OCS occurring in association with SC would be similar to those among patients with tic disorders.

Should transcranial magnetic stimulation research in children be considered minimal risk?

Objective: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a neurophysiologic technique with research applications. Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) must carefully consider potential risks and possible benefits in research involving children. The purpose of this study is to provide concise information for investigators and IRBs about the safety of single and paired pulse TMS research in children.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation in children.

Single and paired pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) provide a non-invasive, painless method of probing the motor system. These techniques are of particular interest for studying maturation of the motor system and may provide insights into those developmental disabilities strongly associated with specific delays of motor development. This article will review studies using single pulse and paired pulse TMS in children, with particular reference to insights into neurodevelopment in children.

Anti-basal ganglia antibody abnormalities in Sydenham chorea.

Anti-basal ganglia antibodies (ABGA) were measured in nine children with Sydenham chorea (SC) and compared to nine controls. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot (WB) methods were used to detect ABGA against supernatant (S1), pellet, and synaptosomal preparations from adult and pediatric postmortem caudate, putamen, and globus pallidus. ELISA optical density (OD) values were higher in SC patients than controls across all preparations, but did not reach a level of significance.

Tics and problem behaviors in schoolchildren: prevalence, characterization, and associations.

Objective: Tic disorders are the most common movement disorder diagnosed in children and have symptoms that fluctuate in frequency and intensity over time. We conducted an 8-month longitudinal observational study to determine the variations in frequency of motor tics and associated problem behaviors.

Methods: A total of 553 children, kindergarten through sixth grade, were observed monthly from November 1999 to June 2000 by 3 raters.