Creatine transporter deficit (CT1) is an inherited metabolic disorder that causes mental retardation, epilepsy, speech, language and behavioral deficits. Until now, no treatment has been proven to be successful for this condition. We describe 1-year follow-up study of a child, aged 9.6 years, with CT1 defect, on oral supplementation with L-arginine, a precursor of creatine synthesis. Under supplementation, he showed a noticeable improvement of neurological, language and behavioral status and an increase of brain creatine and phosphocreatine documented with magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The results suggest that children with CT1 disorder show some residual adaptive plasticity for certain functions even at quite an advanced age. Further trials with higher L-arginine dosages and more protracted treatment are encouraged.
Very few studies have investigated the development of visual search of aligned stimuli in relation to normal reading acquisition and in developmental dyslexia. In this study we used a new computerised experimental task which requires a visuo-motor response (RT) to a target appearing unpredictably in one out of seven different spatial positions on a horizontally aligned array of 18 geometrical figures.The aims of the study were to investigate: (1) the visual scanning development in normal children from pre-school to school age; (2) whether visual scanning performance in kindergarten children could predict reading acquisition; (3) the visual scanning abilities in a group of developmental dyslexic children.The main results were: (1) a significant decrement of RTs with age and a progressive increase of the left-to-right gradient with
reading experience; (2) visual scanning abilities in kindergarten proved to be a good predictor of reading acquisition; (3) dyslexics were slow scanners and did not present the left-to-right strategy typical of normal readers.The results support the hypothesis of a relationship between visual scanning and reading abilities.
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