The clinical and developmental applications of this new measure are discussed.

Summary:Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the impact of clinical variables, particularly age at onset of epilepsy, on intellectual function in a group of children with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE).Methods: We reviewed the preoperative neuropsychological test results of 79 children with unilateral TLE who subsequently underwent surgical resection. The impact of age at onset and duration of epilepsy, pathology type, and side of resection on full-scale intelligence quotient (IQ) scores was examined.Results: Intellectual dysfunction (defined as IQ <79) was present in 57% of children, and age at onset of epilepsy was the best predictor of intellectual function. Children with epilepsy onset in the first year of life had a particularly high incidence of intellectual impairment (82.4%).Conclusion: These data suggest a critical period during the first year of life for the subsequent development of intellectual abilities and highlight the importance of early treatment in this population.

Postpartum psychological distress can adversely affect the early mother-infant relationship; however, this has not been investigated in relation to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following childbirth. This article explores whether PTSD symptoms relating to labor and delivery are associated with mothers' early perceptions of their infant. Using labor and childbirth as the stressor criterion, 211 women were assessed at 6 weeks' postpartum for symptoms of intrusions, avoidance, and hyperarousal. Their perceptions of their infants, of mother-to-infant attachment, and infant behavioral characteristics also were evaluated. In sum, 3.8% of the women fulfilled full diagnostic criteria, and a further 21.3% reported clinically significant symptoms on at least one dimension of PTSD. Those meeting full or partial criteria perceived their attachment relationships to be significantly less optimal and reported more negative maternal representations in terms of their infants being less warm and more invasive. They also rated them as being temperamentally more difficult, prone to distress, and less easy to soothe. However, when the effects of depression were partialled, only the effect for perceived warmth remained. Posttraumatic stress symptoms relating to labor and delivery may adversely influence maternal perceptions of infants, with potentially adverse implications for the developing mother-infant relationship. The overlap with depressive symptoms requires further exploration.

Competence in object search and pretend play are argued to reflect young children's representational abilities and appear delayed in children with Down syndrome relative to social and imitative skills. This paper explores the effects on object search and play of this social strength in children with Down syndrome. Three experiments compared performance on traditional tasks with modified tasks designed to assess the role of imitation in object search and pretend play. Children with Down syndrome, relative to typically-developing children, were able and willing to imitate hiding actions when no object was hidden (Experiment 1). When imitation was prevented in object search, children with Down syndrome searched less effectively than typically-developing children (Experiment 2). In play, children with Down syndrome expressed more willingness to imitate a counter-functional action, modelled by the experimenter, despite apparent competence in spontaneous functional play (Experiment 3). These findings indicate that object search and play behaviours of children with Down syndrome rely more heavily on imitation than is the case for typically-developing children. The implications for the development of children with Down syndrome and models of representational development are discussed.A central concern of developmental psychology is an infant's emerging capacity to represent the outside world. The ability to find objects, to imitate other people and to engage in pretend play are regarded as reflecting the developing representational system of the infant (Fein, 1981;Karmiloff-Smith, 1992; Piaget, 1955). Much of the literature focuses on apparent qualitative changes in an infant's interaction with objects and other people that suggest corresponding changes in internal representation.Children with Down syndrome develop in an atypical manner and possess relative developmental strengths and weaknesses that are pertinent to early representations of objects and actions (e.g. Lewis, 2003).

SUMMARYWe investigate the clinical outcome from stimulation of the mamillothalamic tract in two patients with intractable epilepsy secondary to hypothalamic hamartomas. One patient has a left-sided and the other a right-sided tumor. Both patients presented with a history of gelastic and complex partial seizures resistant to multiple antiepileptic drugs. Both patients underwent insertion of a single deep brain-stimulating electrode ipsilateral to the site of the tumor, lying adjacent to the mamillothalamic tract. Postoperatively they both had a significant reduction in seizure frequency, with one patient being seizure free for the last 10 months. An improvement in mood was reported by the patient's primary carers and demonstrated on quality of life questionnaires.