Findings reveal that: 1) children with autism show a distinctly anomalous pattern of motor learning, with a bias towards reliance on proprioceptive, rather than visual, feedback; 2) this anomalous pattern of motor learning is associated with the severity of motor skill deficits, as well as the social skill deficits that define the core features of autism; and 3) children with autism show decreased intrinsic visual-motor connectivity in functional MRI that is associated with the core symptoms exhibited by children with autism. Evidence of anomalous motor learning in autism and its association with motor skill impairments and deficits in social and communicative skills will be presented, as will convergent data from neuroimaging techniques, revealing that these motor and social skill impairments may be related to abnormalities in visual-motor connectivity. Series: "MIND Institute Lecture Series on Neurodevelopmental Disorders" [Health and Medicine] [Professional Medical Education] [Show ID: 28240]

UCTV Seminars (Audio)

Motor and Social Skill Function: Connecting Learning and Brain Function in Autism

Objective of the lecture is to demonstrate how science can help solve clinical problems through imaging technology that opens a window into the brain’s mechanisms. Pediatric bipolar disorder is selected as a clinical illness model to study affective, cognitive and sensori-motor domains. On behavioral characterization, executive function, working memory, verbal memory attention and affect regulation were uncovered and shown to persist despite medication or illness status. The brain circuitry model was mapped to reveal impaired fronto-limbic, occipito-limbic, occipito-temporo-frontal, dorsal and ventral fronto-striatal, and cortico-cortical circuits. Furthermore, it became apparent that negative emotions impact affective and cognitive circuitry functions, independently and at the interface of the ventral and dorsal brain circuits. This information then led to two complementary programmatic trails of research intervention: (1) Specific pharmacotherapy agents targeted to maximize the neurocognitive function, and reverse the clinical symptoms and the brain circuitry dysfunction, and (2) The neuroscience informed child and family focused cognitive therapy or “RAINBOW” therapy. This research inquiry could serve as a prototype in forging neuroscience informed clinical interventions model termed the ABCD model - Assessment, Brain functional understanding, Chemical intervention, and Dynamics of environment addressed through individualized psychosocial intervention. Series: "MIND Institute Lecture Series on Neurodevelopmental Disorders" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Professional Medical Education] [Show ID: 29608]

Brain and Environmental Training Towards Emotional Resilience

This presentation addresses the impact of prenatal exposure to a common neurotoxicant on brain structure and neuropsychological function in an inner-city cohort of minority children. The toxic chemical, an organophosphate insecticide (chlorpyrifos), has been banned for indoor residential use in the U.S. since 2001, but continues to have widespread application for agricultural purposes. Possible moncholinergic mechanisms involve disruption of neural cell development and neurotransmitter systems, including the formation and activity of synapses in different brain regions. This presentation examines the evidence for long-term effects of prenatal chlorpyrifos exposure on neuropsychological profiles and brain morphology as measured by MRI. Series: "MIND Institute Lecture Series on Neurodevelopmental Disorders" [Health and Medicine] [Professional Medical Education] [Show ID: 29838]

Brain and Behavioral Effects of Early Exposures to Neurotoxicants

Experts from from UCSF and UC Hastings College of the Law convene to discuss the Supreme Court decision the Hobby Lobby case involving reproductive rights and its impact on the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Series: "Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies" [Show ID: 28586]

Hobby Lobby and Reproductive Rights in the Affordable Care Act

The defining characteristics of autism have changed and expanded over the past two decades in large part due to substantial research progress and expanded clinical and educational resources. Natacha Akshoomoff, UC San Diego, looks at autism from a variety of perspectives, including genetics, brain structure and function, early behavioral features, outcome predictors, and community diagnostic practices. In this presentation, she describes results from recent genetics studies that influence our understanding of autism and developmental disorders. She also describes the continuing challenges of diagnostic identification in community settings. Series: "MIND Institute Lecture Series on Neurodevelopmental Disorders" [Health and Medicine] [Professional Medical Education] [Show ID: 29511]

How the Diagnosis of Autism Helps Us Learn More About Autism

Child psychiatrist Dr. Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele explores the two main approaches for developing autism medicines. The first and most common approach is to evaluate a treatment in the total group of people affected by ASD, usually with a small number excluded due to the presence of a known genetic syndrome. The second approach is almost the exact opposite, to study a medication for ASD-related symptoms in a defined genetic syndrome that confers substantial risk of ASD but comprises less than 2% of individuals with ASD. Transformative treatments, though possibly not “cures,” seem most likely to emerge from the second approach, but in a small group of children. In contrast, if the first approach is successful, we can expect a treatment that benefits a larger group of children, but likely benefits them less. Series: "MIND Institute Lecture Series on Neurodevelopmental Disorders" [Health and Medicine] [Professional Medical Education] [Show ID: 29512]

Motor and Social Skill Function: Connecting Learning and Bra...