Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensation, vision, hearing, and speech. Often, babies with cerebral palsy do not roll over, sit, crawl or walk as early as other children. Other symptoms include seizures and problems with thinking or reasoning. While symptoms may get more noticeable over the first years of life, underlying problems do not worsen over time.
Tourette syndrome or Tourette's syndrome is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence. It is characterized by multiple movement (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic. Common tics are blinking, coughing, throat clearing, sniffing, and facial movements. These are typically preceded by an unwanted urge or sensation in the affected muscles known as a premonitory urge, can sometimes be suppressed temporarily, and characteristically change in location, strength, and frequency. Tourette's is at the more severe end of a spectrum of tic disorders. The tics often go unnoticed by casual observers.
A tic is a sudden and repetitive motor movement or vocalization that is not rhythmic and involves discrete muscle groups. It is typically brief, and may resemble a normal behavioral characteristic or gesture.
Opsoclonus myoclonus syndrome (OMS), also known as opsoclonus-myoclonus-ataxia (OMA), is a rare neurological disorder of unknown cause which appears to be the result of an autoimmune process involving the nervous system. It is an extremely rare condition, affecting as few as 1 in 10,000,000 people per year. It affects 2 to 3% of children with neuroblastoma and has been reported to occur with celiac disease and diseases of neurologic and autonomic dysfunction.
Breath-holding spells (BHS) are the occurrence of episodic apnea in children, possibly associated with loss of consciousness, and changes in postural tone.
Pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS) is a controversial hypothetical diagnosis for a subset of children with rapid onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or tic disorders. Symptoms are proposed to be caused by group A streptococcal (GAS), and more specifically, group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal (GABHS) infections. OCD and tic disorders are hypothesized to arise in a subset of children as a result of a post-streptococcal autoimmune process. The proposed link between infection and these disorders is that an autoimmune reaction to infection produces antibodies that interfere with basal ganglia function, causing symptom exacerbations, and this autoimmune response results in a broad range of neuropsychiatric symptoms.
Neurodevelopmental disorders are a group of conditions that begin to emerge during childhood. According to the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, (DSM-5) published in 2013, these conditions generally appear in early childhood, usually before children start school, and can persist into adulthood. The key characteristic of all these disorders is that they negatively impact a person's functioning in one or more domains of life depending on the disorder and deficits it has caused. All of these disorders and their levels of impairment exist on a spectrum, and affected individuals can experience varying degrees of symptoms and deficits, despite having the same diagnosis.
Tourette syndrome is an inherited neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence, characterized by the presence of motor and phonic tics. The management of Tourette syndrome has the goal of managing symptoms to achieve optimum functioning, rather than eliminating symptoms; not all persons with Tourette's require treatment, and there is no cure or universally effective medication. Explanation and reassurance alone are often sufficient treatment; education is an important part of any treatment plan.
Causes and origins of Tourette syndrome have not been fully elucidated. Tourette syndrome is an inherited neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence, characterized by the presence of multiple motor tics and at least one phonic tic, which characteristically wax and wane. Tourette's syndrome occurs along a spectrum of tic disorders, which includes transient tics and chronic tics.
Fazio–Londe disease (FLD), also called progressive bulbar palsy of childhood, is a very rare inherited motor neuron disease of children and young adults and is characterized by progressive paralysis of muscles innervated by cranial nerves. FLD, along with Brown–Vialetto–Van Laere syndrome (BVVL), are the two forms of infantile progressive bulbar palsy, a type of progressive bulbar palsy in children.
Developmental coordination disorder (DCD), also known as developmental motor coordination disorder, developmental dyspraxia or simply dyspraxia, is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired coordination of physical movements as a result of brain messages not being accurately transmitted to the body. Deficits in fine or gross motor skills movements interfere with activities of daily living. It is often described as disorder in skill acquisition, where the learning and execution of coordinated motor skills is substantially below that expected given the individual's chronological age. Difficulties may present as clumsiness, slowness and inaccuracy of performance of motor skills. It is often accompanied by difficulty with organisation and/or problems with attention, working memory and time management.
Primitive reflexes are reflex actions originating in the central nervous system that are exhibited by normal infants, but not neurologically intact adults, in response to particular stimuli. These reflexes are suppressed by the development of the frontal lobes as a child transitions normally into child development. These primitive reflexes are also called infantile, infant or newborn reflexes.
Tourette syndrome is an inherited neurological disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence, characterized by the presence of multiple physical (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic.
Toe walking refers to a condition where a person walks on their toes without putting much or any weight on the heel or any other part of the foot. This term also includes the inability to connect one's foot fully to the ground while in the standing phase of the walking cycle. Toe walking in toddlers is common. Children who toe walk as toddlers commonly adopt a heel-toe walking pattern as they grow older. If a child continues to walk on their toes past the age of three, or cannot get their heels to the ground at all, they should be evaluated by a health professional who is experienced in assessing children's walking.
Diffuse myelinoclastic sclerosis, sometimes referred to as Schilder's disease, is a very infrequent neurodegenerative disease that presents clinically as pseudotumoural demyelinating lesions, making its diagnosis difficult. It usually begins in childhood, affecting children between 5 and 14 years old, but cases in adults are also possible.
Pediatric massage is the complementary and alternative treatment that uses massage therapy, or "the manual manipulation of soft tissue intended to promote health and well-being" for children and adolescents. Its goal is to reduce pain, anxiety, loneliness and fear when children are hospitalized or diagnosed with a debilitating medical condition. Pediatric massage therapy takes into consideration each child's individual physical development, cognitive development and health care needs.
Erika F. Augustine is an Associate Chief Science Officer and Director of the Clinical Trials Unit at Kennedy Krieger Institute. She was previously an Associate Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, New York. Augustine co-directed the University of Rochester Batten Center, and was the associate director of both the Center for Health and Technology and the Udall Center of Excellence in Parkinson's Disease Research. Augustine's clinical research and medical practice specialize in pediatric movement disorders. She leads clinical trials for Batten diseases, a group of rare pediatric neurodegenerative disorders, and she has developed a novel telemedicine model to increase the efficacy of remote care for patients with rare diseases.
Audrius V. Plioplys is a Canadian artist, neurologist, neuroscientist and public figure of Lithuanian descent.
Renée A. Shellhaas is an American pediatric neurologist and professor. She is the David T. Blasingame Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and associate dean for faculty promotions and career development. She was previously an associate chair of career development and a clinician-investigator in pediatric neurology at the University of Michigan.
Brenda Banwell is Chief of the Division of Neurology and Co-Director of the Neuroscience Center, and Professor of Neurology at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and holder of the Grace R. Loeb Endowed Chair in Neurosciences. She also holds the title of Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
