NeuroDevelopment Center

Childhood facial emotion recognition: Associations with the parental emotional environment and child emotional and behavioral problems

Abstract Impairments in negative facial emotion recognition (FER) are widely reported in children with internalizing and externalizing problems; however, it remains unclear whether these impairments reflect response biases or reduced discrimination accuracy. Children’s emotion so...

Dystrophic changes of nigrostriatal axons harboring a SYNJ1 Parkinson’s mutation suggest catastrophic failure of endocytic mechanisms

Synaptojanin 1 is a brain enriched phosphoinositide phosphatase implicated in endocytosis at the synapse. A mutation (R258Q) that selectively impairs its Sac1 phosphatase domain causes early onset familial Parkinsonism. Neurons of mice with this mutation display synaptic vesicle...

Maternal neighborhood deprivation and its association with early childhood neurodevelopmental impairment in extremely preterm infants

Abstract Objective Evaluate whether maternal Area Deprivation Index (ADI) is associated with neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI) at age 2 in extremely preterm infants. Study design Retrospective cohort study of infants <29 weeks’ gestation at four NICUs spanning multiple US regio...

An axon-intrinsic loop restricts nerve regeneration through axonal protein synthesis

ABSTRACT Injured axons synthesize the RNA Binding Protein KHSRP that promotes mRNA decay and slows nerve regeneration. Axotomy-induced increase in axoplasmic Ca 2+ activates axonal Khsrp translation, and while Ca 2+ returns to pre-injury levels within 16 hours post-axotomy, axona...

Chronological Age and Adaptive Outcomes Following Neuropsychomotor and Aquatic Interventions in Children with Autism: A Secondary Analysis

Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can be conceptualized not as a static condition but as a dynamic disorder of developmental regulation, in which neuroplastic potential is translated into functional gains only through structured, experience-dependent therapeutic input. N...