Children tend to explore broadly, and, despite its costs, exploration confers important benefits, especially early in development, when they know little. What drives this exploratory behavior? In contrast to accounts that emphasize heightened curiosity or increased randomness, we propose that early exploration reflects the immaturity of the working memory-selective attention system.
Vladimir M Sloutsky, Qianqian Wan, Brandon M Turner
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is frequently associated with motor difficulties that may affect daily functioning, participation in physical activity, and developmental outcomes. Although motor impairments have been widely reported in this population, comparative evidence against typically developing (TD) peers remains fragmented across studies and assessment tools. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine whether children and adolescents with ASD show lower motor competence than TD peers and to identify the most affected motor domains. A systematic search was conducted in Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and SPORTDiscus up to December 10, 2025. Studies were eligible if they included children or adolescents with ASD and TD controls and assessed motor competence using standardized instruments. A total of 42 studies involving 3142 participants were included. The most frequently used tools were the Movement Assessment Battery for Children, the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, and the Test of Gross Motor Development. Across studies, children and adolescents with ASD consistently showed poorer performance than TD peers in manual dexterity, aiming and catching, balance, locomotor skills, and object control. Meta-analytic findings also indicated that participants with ASD had greater odds of presenting motor difficulty and being classified within the at-risk range. Despite heterogeneity and methodological limitations, the overall evidence supports a broad pattern of lower motor competence in ASD. These findings reinforce the importance of early motor assessment and targeted intervention in clinical and educational contexts.
Nerea Blanco-Martínez, Daniel González-Devesa, Silvia Varela et al.
OBJECTIVE: The Dravet Disease-Associated Neuropsychiatric Disorders (D-DAND) scale is a new caregiver-administered interview designed to assess the wide range of developmental and behavioral comorbidities in Dravet syndrome (DS) beyond seizures. D-DAND's preliminary psychometric properties in a large patient sample are reported. METHODS: D-DAND was developed by a panel of experts and later standardized with caregivers of 123 individuals with DS (age = 3-41 years); a subsample of 43 caregivers were interviewed twice (~2 weeks apart) to evaluate test-retest reliability; another subsample of 80 were also administered with other scales that are widely used despite not being tailored to DS (Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Child Behavior Checklist, Childhood Autism Rating Scale, Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children). RESULTS: The D-DAND captured a broad spectrum of abilities and dysfunctions across multiple functional domains. Test-retest reliability was excellent (overall score: r ≈ .98, median across domains: r ≈ .89), thus allowing for high sensitivity to time-related changes. As expected, D-DAND scores showed high correlations with some standardized measures (e.g., Vineland scales) and low correlation with others, suggesting that D-DAND measures unique, Dravet-specific features that other, widely used tools fail to detect. SIGNIFICANCE: D-DAND is a novel, reliable tool for comprehensive evaluation of DS beyond seizures. It enables systematic tracking of developmental and behavioral issues in DS, facilitating early identification of needs and more personalized, whole-person care.
Bernardo Dalla Bernardina, Francesca Offredi, Alessio Toraldo et al.
Behavioral evidence suggests that visually-guided navigation develops later than scene categorization, yet how this dissociation is reflected in cortical organization remains unknown. In adults, it has been hypothesized that these abilities are supported by the occipital place area (OPA) and the parahippocampal place area (PPA), respectively. Here we tested whether OPA develops later than PPA using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) adaptation in children aged 5-8 years. Specifically, we measured neural sensitivity to length and angle information - features represented in both regions in adulthood - allowing a direct comparison of the developmental emergence of these representations. PPA exhibited robust sensitivity already at age 5, consistent with the earlier development of scene categorization. In contrast, OPA showed no reliable sensitivity at age 5, with robust sensitivity developing only between ages 5 and 8, consistent with later development of visually-guided navigation. Together, these findings reveal a developmental dissociation within scene-selective cortex: sensitivity to shared scene features emerges earlier in PPA than OPA, mirroring the distinct developmental trajectories of scene categorization and visually-guided navigation.
OBJECTIVE: Adiposity rebound (AR), the second rise in BMI during growth, increases the risk of obesity and metabolic diseases when it occurs early. We aimed to identify key factors influencing early AR (EAR) within two critical 1000-day periods and develop a predictive model. METHODS: Based on the Ma'anshan Birth Cohort (MABC), we collected serial BMI from birth through school age and applied linear mixed models to construct individual growth curves for determining AR. EAR was defined as AR timing at or below the sex-specific 25th percentile (≤ 55.46 months in boys and ≤ 60.54 months in girls) in MABC. Among the 2072 parent-offspring trios included, 65 potential factors were collected from maternal, pregnancy, paternal, and offspring sources. Ten machine learning techniques and SHAP were used to evaluate feature importance. RESULTS: Multimethod screening identified EAR determinants, including paternal and maternal pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity, pregnancy organic phosphate esters (OPE) exposures, offspring high genetic risk (the predominant contributor), catch-up BMI trajectory, and high waist circumference trajectory. The categorical boosting model demonstrated the best performance among 10 machine learning models for predicting EAR (AUCtraining = 0.764, 95% CI = 0.733-0.795; AUCtesting = 0.721, 95% CI = 0.669-0.773). CONCLUSIONS: EAR determinants may inform future interventions, including weight management, prenatal OPE exposure reduction, and early screening for genetically high-risk individuals.
Early-onset scoliosis (EOS) comprises a heterogeneous group of spinal deformities diagnosed before the age of ten years, including idiopathic, congenital, neuromuscular, and syndromic etiologies. Management remains particularly demanding because treatment must simultaneously address deformity progression while preserving spinal growth, thoracic development, and pulmonary function. Despite major advances over the past two decades, treatment strategies continue to vary considerably and no universally accepted algorithm has been established. This review examines the current role of conservative and surgical treatment modalities for EOS and discusses their respective indications, benefits, and limitations. Nonoperative management remains the preferred initial approach for most progressive deformities. Bracing may delay curve progression, particularly in idiopathic EOS, although outcomes are influenced by curve magnitude, patient age, brace compliance, and family support. In congenital, neuromuscular, and syndromic scoliosis, its effectiveness is generally more limited. Serial casting represents a valuable option for younger children and for more severe deformities, especially in idiopathic EOS, where substantial correction may occasionally be achieved. However, repeated cast applications may be associated with local complications and, when performed under general anesthesia, expose patients to cumulative anesthetic risks. When conservative treatment fails or when progressive deformity threatens thoracic growth and respiratory function, surgical intervention becomes necessary. Contemporary management favors growth-preserving techniques rather than early definitive fusion, which has been shown to compromise spinal and thoracic development. Magnetically controlled growing rods currently represent the most widely adopted growth-friendly strategy, although complication and reoperation rates remain substantial. Emerging technologies, including modern Luque trolley constructs, one-way self-expanding rods, and spring-based distraction systems, may further reduce the burden of repeated surgical procedures. Successful management of EOS requires individualized decision-making based on etiology, deformity severity, growth potential, and overall patient condition. Regardless of the selected treatment pathway, families should be counselled regarding the prolonged nature of care and the persistent risk of complications throughout childhood.
Working memory training has recently emerged as a promising approach for enhancing emotion regulation, yet its effects on neural processes underlying emotional regulation during childhood remain poorly understood. The present study examined whether WMT influences children's ability to regulate negative emotions through distraction and investigated associated changes in brain activity. Seventy-eight children aged 6-7 years were randomly assigned to a running memory span training group, a working memory animal span training group, or a control group. All training protocols consisted of 16-20 sessions over approximately four weeks. Event-related potentials were recorded before and after training while children viewed emotional pictures and were instructed to focus on non-emotional features of the images. Children in the working memory animal span training group showed a significant reduction in the mean amplitude of the late positive potential when viewing negative pictures under the distraction instruction after training. Exploratory source localization further suggested reduced estimated activation in prefrontal-related regions. These results indicate that working memory training can alter brain activity associated with negative emotional distraction in children, although the effects varied depending on the specific training task. This finding provides preliminary evidence that targeted cognitive training may influence neural processes supporting emotion regulation during early childhood.
BACKGROUND: Early childhood is a critical window for cardiac development, yet the impact of prenatal factors and early growth patterns on heart structure and function in children with structurally normal hearts remains incompletely described. This study investigates the roles of birth weight (BW), gestational age (GA), birthweight-for-gestational-age (BW/GA) z-score, and weight gain z-score in shaping cardiac dimensions. METHODS: In this longitudinal study we analyzed 1000 echocardiograms from 738 children aged 11 to 83 months. Z-scores for cardiac dimensions and volumes were used to standardize for body surface area (BSA). BW, BW/GA z-score, GA, and weight gain z-score were analyzed as predictors of these parameters. RESULTS: Higher weight gain z-score was independently associated with smaller cardiac dimension z-scores, particularly in the aortic root, ascending aorta, left atrium diameter, left ventricular internal diameter at end-diastole, left ventricular internal diameter at end-systole, end-systolic volume, end-diastolic volume, and left ventricular mass. While birth characteristics influenced some cardiac parameters, postnatal weight gain emerged as a more significant predictor of cardiac size. Ejection fraction and fractional shortening were not influenced by the predictors in our analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that postnatal weight gain was more consistently associated with cardiac structure z-scores than anthropometric characteristics at birth. Specifically, contractile myocardial thicknesses were relatively stable across weight gain patterns, whereas vascular structures showed inverse scaling with higher weight gain.
Hediyeh Baghsheikhi, Whitney Cowell, Vladislav Obsekov et al.
BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of global mortality. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) is the gold-standard noninvasive measure of arterial stiffness and is commonly used to assess early vascular aging, as it predicts future cardiovascular events. Although the influence of cardiovascular risk factors on cfPWV is well studied in adults, evidence in youth is limited. This study aimed to identify common cardiovascular risk factors that best explain variation in cfPWV among young people. METHODS: This study included 6763 participants aged 5 to 40 years with cfPWV measured using the SphygmoCor device, drawn from the Youth Vascular Consortium. Analyses were conducted across 5 subsets based on data completeness. Multiple linear regression models, stratified by sex and age (≤19 and >19 years), were developed to identify cardiovascular risk factors explaining cfPWV variation. Model selection was guided by Akaike information criterion and adjusted R2. RESULTS: Age and systolic blood pressure were consistent predictors, explaining <40% of cfPWV variance in cfPWV. Heart rate and waist circumference also emerged as key predictors of cfPWV, although lipids contributed modestly only in young adults. Waist circumference was the strongest anthropometric predictor in most groups. CONCLUSIONS: Age, systolic blood pressure, and heart rate were the strong contributors among traditional risk factors, yet explained <40% of variance in cfPWV in most groups. These findings highlight the role of hemodynamic load in shaping arterial stiffness even in childhood and adolescence, when structural changes are evolving. A large proportion of variance remains unexplained, suggesting that genetic, prenatal, environmental, and behavioral factors warrant investigation.
Vimarsha Kodithuwakku, Monique Breslin, Yanina Zocalo et al.
BACKGROUND: Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) occurs in ~10% of pregnancies in North America and can alter brain development. Prior research on brain morphology in children with PAE shows mixed findings for cortical thickness, and only a few studies have investigated more complex morphological features, showing decreased gyrification with PAE. Here, we use four anatomical measures to provide a comprehensive characterization of cortical morphology in youth with PAE compared to unexposed youth. METHODS: T1-weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) was used to examine cortical morphology metrics in 163 scans from 121 youth (56 with PAE) aged 7-21 years. Each participant had between 1 and 3 scans. Images were processed to segment 98 cortical brain regions. Linear mixed-effects models were used to test the effects of PAE on cortical gyrification index, thickness, sulcal depth, and shape complexity index, as well as their relationships with age. RESULTS: Individuals with PAE had significantly lower gyrification (β=-0.17, q = 0.028) and sulcal depth (β=-0.60, q = 0.013) in the right pars triangularis, lower shape complexity in the right occipital pole (β=-0.019, q = 0.012), and higher shape complexity in the right medial orbital gyrus (β=0.017, q = 0.012), compared to unexposed youth. PAE moderated the relationship between age and both gyrification and sulcal depth in several regions such that sulcal depth and gyrification decreased with age in the PAE group but slightly increased with age (or remained stable) in the unexposed group. CONCLUSION: These findings build upon previous reports of structural and developmental differences in youth with PAE, suggesting that gyrification may be more sensitive to the effects of PAE than cortical thickness.
Chloe Scholten, Courtney Gilchrist, Bryce Geeraert et al.
