Biomaterial Database

Early intervention in neurodevelopmental disorders: underlying neural mechanisms. 2016

Giovanni Cioni, and Emanuela Inguaggiato, and Giuseppina Sgandurra

Department of Developmental Neuroscience, IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris, Pisa, Italy.

Neurodevelopmental disorders affect motor, cognitive, language, learning, and behavioural development with lifelong consequences. Early identification of infants at risk for neurodevelopmental disorders is a major prerequisite for intervention programmes. This ensures that interventions which aim to positively modify the natural history of these disorders can start in the first weeks or months of life. As indicated by recent scientific evidence, gene abnormalities or congenital brain lesions are not the sole determinants for the neurodevelopmental outcome of affected infants. In fact, environment and experience may modify brain development and improve the outcome in infants at risk for neurodevelopmental disorders. In this review, we analyse the complexity and sensitivity of the brain to environmental stimuli, highlighting clinical effects of early intervention, mainly reported so far in preterm infants, and summarizing the effects of enriched environment on human and animal models. Finally, we discuss some new approaches to early intervention, based on recent neurophysiological theories and new breakthroughs in biotechnologies for diagnosis and rehabilitation.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D004777	Environment	The external elements and conditions which surround, influence, and affect the life and development of an organism or population.	Environmental Impact,Environmental Impacts,Impact, Environmental,Impacts, Environmental,Environments
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D061345	Early Medical Intervention	Action taken to reduce susceptibility or exposure to health problems and to detect and treat disease in early stages.	Early Medical Interventions,Intervention, Early Medical,Interventions, Early Medical,Medical Intervention, Early,Medical Interventions, Early
D065886	Neurodevelopmental Disorders	These are a group of conditions with onset in the developmental period. The disorders typically manifest early in development, often before the child enters grade school, and are characterized by developmental deficits that produce impairments of personal, social, academic, or occupational functioning. (From DSM-5).	Mental Disorders Usually Diagnosed in Infancy, Childhood or Adolescence,Neurodevelopmental Disorders Usually Diagnosed in Infancy, Childhood or Adolescence,Child Mental Disorders,Mental Disorders Diagnosed in Childhood,Child Mental Disorder,Disorder, Child Mental,Disorder, Neurodevelopmental,Mental Disorder, Child,Mental Disorders, Child,Neurodevelopmental Disorder