Associating executive dysfunction with behavioral and socioemotional problems in children with epilepsy. A systematic review.

As children with epilepsy may have a number of learning and behavioral problems, it is important that insight into the underlying neurocognitive differences in these children, which may underlie these areas of challenge is gained. Executive function (EF) problems particularly are associated with specific learning abilities as well as behavioral problems. We aim to review systematically the current status of empirical studies on the association between EF problems and behavior and socioemotional problems in children with epilepsy.

Executive and Daily Life Functioning Influence the Relationship Between ADHD and Mood Symptoms in University Students.

Many studies have indicated a close relationship between ADHD and mood symptoms in university students. In the present study, we explore the role of daily functional impairments and executive functioning in the ADHD-mood relationship. A total of 343 adults (126 males) filled out (a) the Conners' Adult ADHD Rating Scale, (b) the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale, (c) the Weiss Functional Impairment Rating Scale, and (d) the Executive Function Index Scale.

Cognitive control deficits in pediatric frontal lobe epilepsy.

Executive dysfunction and behavioral problems are common in children with epilepsy. Inhibition and shifting, both aspects of cognitive control, seem related to behavior problems and are thought to be driven mainly by the frontal lobes. We investigated if inhibition and shifting deficits are present in children with frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE).

The burden of parenting children with frontal lobe epilepsy.

Objective: Caring for a child with a chronic illness adds stress to the typical parenting stress in healthy developing children. This stress can place a heavy burden on parents and may increase when a child displays problem behavior. In general, parenting and child's behavior problems are associated.

Error monitoring and daily life executive functioning.

Error monitoring during task execution is reflected in post-error slowing (PES), which refers to the tendency to slow down performance after making an error in order to prevent future mistakes. The key question of the present study is whether poor error monitoring (reduced magnitude of PES) has negative consequences for daily life executive function skills, as well as functioning in different life settings such as work, family, social, and academic settings. Eighty-five university students performed a lexical decision task and completed The Executive Function Index Scale (EFI), and the Weiss Functional Impairments Rating Scale (WFIRS).

Working memory in pediatric frontal lobe epilepsy.

Thirty-two children with frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) were assessed using different working memory measures. In addition, parents and teachers completed the working memory scale of the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning (BRIEF) to assess the children's "daily life behavior." Results suggested minimal working memory deficits as assessed with performance-based measures.

Executive and behavioral functioning in pediatric frontal lobe epilepsy.

Objective: Epilepsy, as a chronic and neurological disease, is generally associated with an increased risk for social and emotional behavior problems in children. These findings are mostly derived from studies on children with different epilepsy types. However, there is limited information about the associations between frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) and cognitive and behavioral problems.

The impact of metabolic control and tetrahydrobiopterin treatment on health related quality of life of patients with early-treated phenylketonuria: A PKU-COBESO study.

The aim of this study was to examine Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of patients with Phenylketonuria (PKU) in three different age groups and to investigate the impact of metabolic control and tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) treatment on HRQoL of these patients. Participants were 90 early-treated patients aged 7 to 40 years (M = 21.0, SD = 10.

Long-Term Follow-Up of Cognition and Mental Health in Adult Phenylketonuria: A PKU-COBESO Study.

Cognitive and mental health problems in individuals with the inherited metabolic disorder phenylketonuria (PKU) have often been associated with metabolic control and its history. For the present study executive functioning (EF) was assessed in 21 PKU patients during childhood (T1, mean age 10.4 years, SD = 2.

Cognitive profile and mental health in adult phenylketonuria: A PKU-COBESO study.

Objective: Despite early dietary treatment phenylketonuria patients have lower IQ and poorer executive functions compared to healthy controls. Cognitive problems in phenylketonuria have often been associated with phenylalanine levels. The present study examined the cognitive profile and mental health in adult phenylketonuria, in relation to phenylalanine levels and tetrahydrobiopterin treatment.

Linking state regulation, brain laterality, and self-reported attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in adults.

Introduction: Many clinical studies have shown that performance of subjects with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is impaired when stimuli are presented at a slow rate compared to a medium or fast rate. According to the cognitive-energetic model, this finding may reflect difficulty in allocating sufficient effort to regulate the motor activation state. Other studies have shown that the left hemisphere is relatively responsible for keeping humans motivated, allocating sufficient effort to complete their tasks.

Social-cognitive functioning and social skills in patients with early treated phenylketonuria: a PKU-COBESO study.

Objective: Early treatment of phenylketonuria (ET-PKU) prevents mental retardation, but many patients still show cognitive and mood problems. In this study, it was investigated whether ET-PKU-patients have specific phenylalanine (Phe-)related problems with respect to social-cognitive functioning and social skills.

Methods: Ninety five PKU-patients (mean age 21.

Event rate and reaction time performance in ADHD: Testing predictions from the state regulation deficit hypothesis using an ex-Gaussian model.

According to the state regulation deficit (SRD) account, ADHD is associated with a problem using effort to maintain an optimal activation state under demanding task settings such as very fast or very slow event rates. This leads to a prediction of disrupted performance at event rate extremes reflected in higher Gaussian response variability that is a putative marker of activation during motor preparation. In the current study, we tested this hypothesis using ex-Gaussian modeling, which distinguishes Gaussian from non-Gaussian variability.

Brain lateralization and self-reported symptoms of ADHD in a population sample of adults: a dimensional approach.

Many clinical studies reported a compromised brain lateralization in patients with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) without being conclusive about whether the deficit existed in the left or right hemisphere. It is well-recognized that studying ADHD dimensionally is more controlled for comorbid problems and medication effects, and provides more accurate assessment of the symptoms. Therefore, the present study applied the dimensional approach to test the relationship between brain lateralization and self-reported ADHD symptoms in a population sample.

Self-Reported ADHD Symptoms and Interhemispheric Interaction in Adults: A Dimensional Approach.

The present study applied the dimensional approach to test whether self-reported symptoms of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in adults are associated with the speed of interhemispheric interaction. A sample of first grade students (N = 112) completed Conners' Adult ADHD Rating Scales and letter matching reaction time tasks. In the tasks, participants had to match a single target letter displayed below the fixation cross, either on left or right visual field, with one of two letters displayed above the fixation cross, one letter on each visual field.

Brain State Before Error Making in Young Patients With Mild Spastic Cerebral Palsy.

In the present experiment, children with mild spastic cerebral palsy and a control group carried out a memory recognition task. The key question was if errors of the patient group are foreshadowed by attention lapses, by weak motor preparation, or by both. Reaction times together with event-related potentials associated with motor preparation (frontal late contingent negative variation), attention (parietal P300), and response evaluation (parietal error-preceding positivity) were investigated in instances where 3 subsequent correct trials preceded an error.

Is BRIEF a useful instrument in day to day care of patients with phenylketonuria?

Objectives: Despite early and continuous treatment many patients with phenylketonuria (PKU) still experience neurocognitive problems. Most problems have been observed in the domain of executive functioning (EF). For regular monitoring of EF, the use of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) has been proposed.

Dysfunctional modulation of default mode network activity in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

The state regulation deficit model posits that individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have difficulty applying mental effort effectively under suboptimal conditions such as very fast and very slow event rates (ERs). ADHD is also associated with diminished suppression of default mode network (DMN) activity and related performance deficits on tasks requiring effortful engagement. The current study builds on these 2 literatures to test the hypothesis that failure to modulate DMN activity in ADHD might be especially pronounced at ER extremes.

Neurocognitive evidence for revision of treatment targets and guidelines for phenylketonuria.

Objectives: To compare the neurocognitive outcomes of patients with phenylketonuria (PKU) to determine whether decreasing phenylalanine (Phe) levels to <240 is preferable to the use of 360 μmol/L as an upper-target Phe level. An additional aim was to establish the influence of biochemical indices other than Phe on neurocognitive outcomes.

Study Design: Patients with PKU (n = 63; mean age 10.

Mental health and social functioning in early treated Phenylketonuria: the PKU-COBESO study.

This article presents a new Dutch multicenter study ("PKU-COBESO") into cognitive and behavioral sequelae of early and continuously treated Phenylketonuria (PKU) patients. Part of the study sample will consist of young adult PKU patients who have participated in a large neuropsychological study approximately 10 years ago, when they were 7-to-15-year-olds (Huijbregts et al., 2002 [1]).

The separation of ADHD inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms: pathways from genetic effects to cognitive impairments and symptoms.

Both shared and unique genetic risk factors underlie the two symptom domains of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity. The developmental course and relationship to co-occurring disorders differs across the two symptom domains, highlighting the importance of their partially distinct etiologies. Familial cognitive impairment factors have been identified in ADHD, but whether they show specificity in relation to the two ADHD symptom domains remains poorly understood.