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Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Studies: 

Anomalous Motor Physiology in ADHD

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most common behavioral diagnosis in childhood. It incurs high medical costs and can contribute to poor academic achievement, adult mental illness, substance abuse, and criminal behavior. Standard treatments, such as stimulant medications, primarily target symptoms and long-term follow-up studies of children treated for ADHD reveal that their outcomes remain significantly worse as compared to typically developing peers. A critical obstacle to improving long term ADHD treatment outcomes is the lack of quantitative markers which correlate with symptoms and reveal neurobiological mechanisms in ways that could point toward more accurate prognosis and more effective future treatments. More>

Adolescent Changes in Brain and Behavior in Boys and Girls with ADHD

Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are at risk of exhibiting poor academic achievement, social difficulties, substance abuse and criminal behavior. Many of these difficulties are showcased during adolescent; therefore, it is crucial to understand the development of ADHD in both boys and girls. Furthermore, there is an increasing recognition that gender may be a factor in the development of ADHD.  More>

Reading Intervention Research Studies:

The Role of Executive Functions in Reading and Reading Remediation 

Reading disability (RD; or developmental dyslexia) is characterized by slow and inaccurate reading that continues into adulthood despite remedial intervention and exposure to written materials. The neurological reasons for RD are yet to be discovered although several brain abnormalities were suggested in previous studies. Individuals with RD can compensate for their reading difficulties to some degree, especially if the intervention is provided early in age.  More >

Autism Studies:

High Resolution Imaging of Cerebellum in Children with Autism and ADHD

Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are at risk for a host of deleterious outcomes including impaired social relations, academic difficulties, disordered motor patterns, and comorbid psychopathology (substance use, depression, anxiety). While these behaviors limit the child’s and family’s functioning, the underlying causes of these diagnoses and underlying behaviors have not yet been explored. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the brain mechanisms associated with symptomatology and related behaviors. Mounting evidence has suggested that the cerebellum could play a key role in the etiology of both ADHD and ASD. This project aims to utilize high resolution imaging at 7 Tesla to investigate fine grained, structural differences in the cerebellum according to diagnosis. More>

Measuring Altered Glutathione in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by impairments in social and communicative function and repetitive behaviors. Recent work suggests that oxidative stress (arising from both genetic and environmental causes) is a contributing factor to the neuropathology of ASD. Emerging evidence suggests that increased oxidative stress may contribute to the neuronal and cognitive impairments seen in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Glutathione (GSH) is the main redox compound in the brain, and reduced GSH during development may lead to such increases in oxidative stress and may be a primary cause of secondary neurophysiological impairments in ASD. More> .

Computerized Assessment of Motor Imitation (CAMI)

Finding early-emerging and persistent biomarkers that can address the vast heterogeneity in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been an ongoing challenge for decades. A promising avenue for exploration is imitation deficits in ASD. Typically-developing (TD) children start copying others as pre-verbal infants1–3. Imitation plays a crucial role in the development of social interactions, language and skill learning4–8. A highly active and growing line of research not only shows that children with ASD are poorer imitators than their TD peers, but also that imitation ability is strongly linked to social-communicative functioning. More> 

The Novel Framework for Impaired Imitation in ASD

Visuo-motor imitation (VMI) impairments are central to the pathogenesis and affect the treatment of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Therapies most commonly used to enhance social, communicative, academic, adaptive and occupational function in individuals with ASD rely on imitation, and impairments in VMI represent a bottleneck to the efficiency and efficacy of these therapies. More>

School-Based Studies:

Examining the Effects of Holistic School Enrichment Programs

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most common behavioral diagnosis in childhood1.   It incurs high medical costs and can contribute to poor academic achievement, adult mental illness, substance abuse, and criminal behavior. Standard treatments, such as stimulant medications, primarily target symptoms and long-term follow-up studies of children treated for ADHD reveal that their outcomes remain significantly worse as compared to typically developing (TD) peers. Thus, there are tremendous potential public health benefits for behavioral training programs that could remediate the core features of ADHD. To this end, it is worth considering the long-standing observation that children with ADHD often demonstrate difficulties with motor control, including motor impersistence and failure to inhibit motor overflow, which correlate with difficulties with higher-order behavioral control. More>