A Conceptual Framework in the Study of Neuropsychological Development in Epidemiological Studies

Abstract

Background: A wide range of neuropsychological development outcomes in children are currently measured in a large number of birth cohort and child cohort studies. Methods: We summarized neuropsychological development assessment protocols from a number of birth cohort studies, reviews and specific books on child neuropsychology into a unifying conceptual framework. Results: We suggest that neuropsychological development can be differentiated into two levels, i.e. functional and clinical. The functional level includes the skills, abilities, capacities and knowledge acquired during maturation of the brain as a result of the development of neural networks. It can be further divided into cognitive, psychomotor and social-emotional development subdomains. The clinical level includes the assessment of neurodevelopmental disorders or the presence of symptoms (subclinical symptomatology) of these disorders in populations under investigation in environmental epidemiology studies. Conclusions: Through explicit recognition of these levels of outcomes, and in using this framework, epidemiologists will be better able to design research through the informed selection of individual levels of outcomes. The framework also serves to standardize disparate terminologies across this field and allows for pooling of epidemiological data on neuropsychological endpoints where essentially similar levels of outcomes have been analyzed using different tests.

The Effects of Air Pollution on the Brain: a Review of Studies Interfacing Environmental Epidemiology and Neuroimaging

“…To summarize, future studies integrating neuroimaging and epidemiological studies should consider (i) to explore the effects of TRAP on brain growth/aging trajectories using repeated MRI sessions, (ii) to perform MRI early in life, (iii) to investigate the associations between data from fMRI (task and at rest) and acute exposure to TRAP estimated in 2–3 days before the fMRI session, and (iv) to explore all the potential neuropsychological functioning (psychomotor, cognition and social-emotional) [ 76 ] correlates of the TRAP-induced brain changes.…”

Air Pollution During Pregnancy and Childhood Cognitive and Psychomotor Development

“…b air pollution levels were temporally adjusted to the exact pregnancy period, except for nO 2 and nO x in the greek cohort. air pollution levels were back-extrapolated to the pregnancy period using routine background monitoring network sites but monitoring data were not available for all pollutants in all study regions, particularly for PM.…”

“…Briefly, air pollution monitoring campaigns in the study regions were performed mostly between October 2008 and January 2011, except for eDen (done in 2002 and 2005). in all regions, nO 2 and nO x were measured at least 3 times for a 2-week period within 1 year. in a subgroup of regions, simultaneous measurements were made of PM 2.5 absorbance (determined as the reflectance of PM 2.5 filters) and PM with aerodynamic diameters of <10 μm (PM 10 ), <2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ), and 2.5-10 μm (PM coarse ) (table 1).…”

Early-life exposure to EDCs: role in childhood obesity and neurodevelopment

“…220,221 For instance, global measures of cognition (i.e., IQ) and academic performance can be used to study whether EDC exposures affect intellectual abilities and specific academic skills, respectively. Continuous outcomes are advantageous since they provide a relative ranking of an individual’s ability/behavior, which enhances statistical power.…”