New Evidence on the Interface between Brain and Body in Child Development

A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Developmental Neuroscience".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 April 2021) | Viewed by 4948

Special Issue Editors

1. Section of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
2. Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
Interests: psychosis; neuropsychopharmacology; brain imaging; cannabinoids; cognitive neuroscience; prevention and early intervention in mental health
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Guest Editor
Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry Unit, Maternal-Child Integrated Care Department, Integrated University Hospital of Verona, 37126 Verona, Italy

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Guest Editor
Research Coordination and Support Service, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Roma, Italy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Historically, neuropsychiatry and neuroscience have neglected the role of the body in the development of mental health difficulties. Likewise, the approach to physical medical conditions has been to largely ignore the contribution of the brain. However, accumulating evidence converges on the importance of brain–body interconnections and their mediators to preserve health or accelerate processes that have a negative impact on it. Furthermore, brain and body conditions are not discrete events in time but have long-lasting effects in the health continuum, where early life represents a crucial window of opportunity to sustain healthy developmental trajectories. Thus, overcoming the artificial dichotomy between the role of the brain and body in attaining developmental milestones and shaping associated behavior may help in advancing the understanding of such a process and the implementation of preventive and early intervention strategies. Moreover, clinical research at the interface between brain and body in child development may fuel the ongoing shift toward multidisciplinary and transdiagnostic models for care in neuropsychiatry.

Dr. Marco Colizzi
Dr. Leonardo Zoccante
Dr. Maria Luisa Scattoni 
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • neurodevelopmental disorders
  • at risk mental state
  • sensorimotor functioning
  • somatic phenomena
  • connective tissue
  • microbiota-gut-brain axis
  • soft neurological signs
  • atypical early signs

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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12 pages, 649 KiB  
Article
Investigating Gait, Movement, and Coordination in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Is There a Role for Motor Abnormalities in Atypical Neurodevelopment?
by Marco Colizzi, Marco Luigi Ciceri, Gianfranco Di Gennaro, Beatrice Morari, Alessandra Inglese, Marialuisa Gandolfi, Nicola Smania and Leonardo Zoccante
Brain Sci. 2020, 10(9), 601; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10090601 - 2 Sep 2020
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4257
Abstract
Motor abnormalities have been suggested to play a role in most neuropsychiatric disorders, as a potential generic neurodevelopmental vulnerability. However, they still represent a neglected area, with a paucity of empirical studies, especially in pediatric populations. This case-control study aimed to comprehensively assess [...] Read more.
Motor abnormalities have been suggested to play a role in most neuropsychiatric disorders, as a potential generic neurodevelopmental vulnerability. However, they still represent a neglected area, with a paucity of empirical studies, especially in pediatric populations. This case-control study aimed to comprehensively assess motor functioning in children with atypical neurodevelopment and investigate whether any socio-demographic or clinical characteristics would concur with motor difficulties to distinguish children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) from healthy controls. Socio-demographic (age and gender) and clinical (intelligence quotient, gait, movement, and coordination) data were collected on 114 children aged 5–15 (83 with NDD, 31 healthy controls). Male children were at significantly higher risk for NDD (OR: 13.023, p < 0.001). Furthermore, there was a statistically significant interaction between the total intelligence quotient and overall coordination such that increasing levels of total intelligence quotient appeared to protect against the likelihood of being diagnosed with an NDD, but only in the context of a preserved coordination (OR: 0.964, p = 0.038). Collectively, results may have important public health implications, as they point towards the development of new approaches to establish an early prognosis in neurodevelopment, including assessing motor difficulties and mitigating their impact on children’s quality of life. Full article
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