Aya Adel

By Marwa Saleh and Aya Adel

Joint attention is a keystone in social cognitive development and a skill acquired early in life. It is the triadic coordination of attention between two people and an object or event in which they are commonly interested. Language development follows in its tracks and is dependent on this early acquired skill. Its deviation from typical development is considered one of the earliest signs of autism. Consequently, its remediation has gained intensive focus in therapy. In this review, the development of joint attention skill in initiating (IJA) and responding (RJA), and its atypical development in autism and related spectrum disorders would be discussed. This would include existing problems in pointing, sharing attention with the participant, and facial recognition; and the rationale behind these deviations as covert attention. Related fMRI findings would also be reviewed, outlining the integration between the posterior involuntary parietal and superior temporal cortices (RJA) and the anterior volitional prefrontal and orbital frontal areas (IJA) in typical development, and the long‐distance underconnectivity and local overconnectivity in autism. Several cortical regions are implicated in autism, revealing the heterogeneity of the findings, but general conclusions could be drawn.

Part of the book: Autism

By Marwa Mahmoud Saleh and Aya Adel

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder which is more common in males than females. It is characterized by social communication disorders and restricted repetitive behaviors. There is wide heterogeneity in its etiology, clinical presentations, management and consequently prognosis. Although the etiology of autism remains unclear, the most currently proven theory is that it is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that displays “brain network abnormalities”. fMRI studies have shown decreased brain connectivity or functional synchronization between frontal and more posterior cortical regions. Dynamic brain activity through high resolution electroencephalograghy (EEG) has revealed local overconnectivity and long-range underconnectivity. This disrupted connectivity pattern would involve connectivity between hemispheres (corpus callosum), together with axonal and synaptic connectivity within each hemisphere. Inconsistent morphometric changes involving both gray and white matter structure also exist. Clinically, autism is associated with multiple comorbidities (somatic, neurologic and psychiatric); some of which are attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyspraxia, and sensory processing disorders.

Part of the book: Neurodevelopment and Neurodevelopmental Disorder

By Aya Adel and Marwa Mahmoud Saleh

Developmental dyslexia is a common learning disorder which is defined as a specific deficit in reading acquisition that cannot be accounted for by low IQ , lack of typical educational opportunities, or an obvious sensory or neurological damage. Dyslexic children commonly present with delayed language development first, which selectively affects phonological processing more than other aspects of language. The problem at the level of phonological representations causes a range of typical symptoms which include problems of verbal short-term memory, non-word repetitions, phonological learning of new verbal information, word retrieval, and rapid naming. This chapter will address the picture of early oral language difficulties especially phonological deficits in dyslexia, and how reading problems are related to them.

Part of the book: Learning Disabilities