Background: Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) are attacks that often look like epileptic seizures (ES). Unlike ES, PNES are not triggered by underlying neurological factors. PNES are relatively rare in the general population; however, their prevalence in people with learning disabilities is much higher--up to 10%. Individuals with PNES and…

Parents of children with ASD who had attended an Australian emergency department (ED; n = 421) completed a questionnaire relating to their experiences in the ED, including (1) child's reason for presentation and existing comorbidities, (2) quality of care during the visit (3) child's behaviour during visit, e.g. sensory responses to the ED…

Little is known about the role of family characteristics in sleep disturbance for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study involved an exploratory analysis of the association between 17 child, parent, and socioeconomic characteristics and sleep disturbance using data from 203, 2-18--year-old children with ASD whose families…

Compared to the general pediatric population, children with autism have higher rates of co-occurring medical and psychiatric illnesses, yet very little is known about the general health status of adults with autism. The objective of this study was to describe the frequency of psychiatric and medical conditions among a large, diverse, insured…

This study investigated differences in co-occurring diagnoses made in females compared to males with autism spectrum disorders in 913 children (746 males and 167 females) living in the United States with a current autism spectrum disorder diagnosis identified via caregiver-reported data from the National Survey of Children's Health 2007. The…

BDNF regulates components of cognitive processes and has been implicated in psychiatric disorders. Here we report that genetic overexpression of the BDNF mature isoform (BDNF-tg) in female mice impaired working memory functions while sparing components of fear conditioning. BDNF-tg mice also displayed reduced breeding efficiency, higher…

Epilepsy is the most common neurological disorder in childhood and can have a significant impact on a child's schooling. Children with epilepsy may have special educational needs due to having learning disability, specific learning difficulties, specific cognitive deficits or having symptoms associated with ASD, ADHD, depression or anxiety. These…

The Behavior Assessment Scale for Children-Second Edition (BASC-2) was administered to 108 parents and 37 teachers of children with epilepsy (mean age of 10.6 years; 51% female, 49% male). Results demonstrated high mean scores on the Atypicality, Attention Problems, Withdrawal, and Adaptive Skills scales and a high percentage of At-Risk or…

Evaluated emotional and intellectual correlates of unsuccessful suicide attempts in persons with seizure disorders. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Scores demonstrated increased anxiety and decreased ego strength among those with histories of suicide attempts, while intellectual abilities as evaluated by the Wechsler Adult Intelligence…