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Introduction: Earlier studies exploring the value of executive functioning (EF) indices for assessing treatment effectiveness and predicting treatment response in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) mainly focused on pharmacological treatment options and revealed rather heterogeneous results. Envisioning the long-term goal of personalized treatment selection and intervention planning, this study comparing methylphenidate treatment (MPH) and a home-based neurofeedback intervention (NF@Home) aimed to expand previous findings by assessing objective as well as subjectively reported EF indices and by analyzing their value as treatment and predictive markers., Methods: Children and adolescents ( n  = 146 in the per protocol sample) aged 7-13 years with a formal diagnosis of an inattentive or combined presentation of ADHD were examined. We explored the EF performance profile using the Conners Continuous Performance Task (CPT) and the BRIEF self-report questionnaire within our prospective, multicenter, randomized, reference drug-controlled NEWROFEED study with sites in five European countries (France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, and Belgium). As primary outcome for treatment response, the clinician-rated ADHD Rating Scale-IV was used. Patients participating in this non-inferiority trial were randomized to either NF@home (34-40 sessions of TBR or SMR NF depending on the pre-assessed individual alpha peak frequency) or MPH treatment (ratio: 3:2). Within a mixed-effects model framework, analyses of change were calculated to explore the predictive value of neurocognitive indices for ADHD symptom-related treatment response., Results: For a variety of neurocognitive indices, we found a significant pre-post change during treatment, mainly in the MPH group. However, the results of the current study reveal a rather limited prognostic value of neurocognitive indices for treatment response to either NF@Home or MPH treatment. Some significant effects emerged for parent-ratings only., Discussion: Current findings indicate a potential value of self-report (BRIEF global score) and some objectively measured neurocognitive indices (CPT commission errors and hit reaction time variability) as treatment markers (of change) for MPH. However, we found a rather limited prognostic value with regard to predicting treatment response not (yet) allowing recommendation for clinical use. Baseline symptom severity was revealed as the most relevant predictor, replicating robust findings from previous studies., Competing Interests: YA was employed by myBrain Technologies; AB and LM were employed by Mensia Technologies. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. DP-O reports personal fees and nonfinancial support from Medice and Shire, nonfinancial support from HAC Pharma and Boehringer Ingelsheim, outside the submitted work. HB has received lecture fees from Takeda, BIAL, laboratorios Rubio, and laboratorios Rovi. He is PI of a research of the SINCRONIA project, funded by the Start-up Bitsphi, www.bitsphi.com, and co-Founder of Haglaia Solutions. EA reports personal fees and nonfinancial support from HAC Pharma, nonfinancial support from Shire, outside the submitted work. TB served in an advisory or consultancy role for Actelion, Hexal Pharma, Lilly, Lundbeck, Medice, Novartis and Shire. He received conference support or speaker’s fees from Lilly, Medice, Novartis and Shire. He has been involved in clinical trials conducted by Shire and Viforpharma. He received royalties from Hogrefe, Kohlhammer, CIP Medien and Oxford University Press. AB reports personal fees from Mensia Technologies outside the submitted work. LM has a patent EP3181043A1 pending, a patent EP3335630A1 pending and a patent EP3217869A1 pending and was employee and shareholder of Mensia Technologies SA, a company offering class IIa certified medical device for ADHD in children and teenagers. KM has received speaker’s fees by Takeda and Medice. The present work is unrelated to these relationships. OR reports personal fees and nonfinancial support from HAC Pharma, from Shire and from Novalac outside the submitted work. SW has received in the last 5 years royalties from Thieme, Hogrefe, Kohlhammer, Springer, Beltz. In 2023 she received speakers honorary from Takeda. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision., (Copyright © 2024 Kaiser, Aggensteiner, Blasco Fontecilla, Ros, Acquaviva, Attal, Banaschewski, Baumeister, Bousquet, Bussalb, Delhaye, Delorme, Drechsler, Goujon, Häge, Mayaud, Mechler, Menache, Revol, Tagwerker, Walitza, Werling, Bioulac, Purper-Ouakil and Brandeis.)

Background: Neurofeedback is considered a promising intervention for the treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). NEWROFEED is a prospective, multicentre, randomized (3:2), reference drug-controlled trial in children with ADHD aged between 7 and 13 years. The main objective of NEWROFEED was to demonstrate the noninferiority of personalized at-home neurofeedback (NF) training versus methylphenidate in the treatment of children with ADHD., Methods: The NF group (n = 111) underwent eight visits and two treatment phases of 16 to 20 at-home sessions with down-training of the theta/beta ratio (TBR) for children with high TBR and enhancing the sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) for the others. The control group (n = 67) received optimally titrated long-acting methylphenidate. The primary endpoint was the change between baseline and endpoint in the Clinician ADHD-RS-IV total score in the per-protocol population (90 NF/59 controls)., Trial Registration: US National Institute of Health, ClinicalTrials.gov #NCT02778360., Results: Our study failed to demonstrate noninferiority of NF versus methylphenidate (mean between-group difference 8.09 90% CI [8.09; 10.56]). However, both treatment groups showed significant pre-post improvements in core ADHD symptoms and in a broader range of problems. Reduction in the Clinician ADHD-RS-IV total score between baseline and final visit (D90) was 26.7% (SMD = 0.89) in the NF and 46.9% (SMD = 2.03) in the control group. NF effects increased whereas those of methylphenidate were stable between intermediate and final visit., Conclusions: Based on clinicians' reports, the effects of at-home NF were inferior to those of methylphenidate as a stand-alone treatment., (© 2021 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.)

Recent experimental studies have shown that early brain activity is crucial for neuronal survival and the development of brain networks; however, it has been challenging to assess its role in the developing human brain. We employed serial quantitative magnetic resonance imaging to measure the rate of growth in circumscribed brain tissues from preterm to term age, and compared it with measures of electroencephalographic (EEG) activity during the first postnatal days by 2 different methods. EEG metrics of functional activity were computed: EEG signal peak-to-peak amplitude and the occurrence of developmentally important spontaneous activity transients (SATs). We found that an increased brain activity in the first postnatal days correlates with a faster growth of brain structures during subsequent months until term age. Total brain volume, and in particular subcortical gray matter volume, grew faster in babies with less cortical electrical quiescence and with more SAT events. The present findings are compatible with the idea that (1) early cortical network activity is important for brain growth, and that (2) objective measures may be devised to follow early human brain activity in a biologically reasoned way in future research as well as during intensive care treatment., (© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Aim: The aim of this study was to describe neuroimaging patterns associated with arterial ischaemic stroke (AIS) in childhood and to differentiate them according to stroke aetiology., Method: Clinical and neuroimaging (acute and follow-up) findings were analysed prospectively in 79 children (48 males, 31 females) aged 2 months to 15 years 8 months (median 5 y 3 mo) at the time of stroke by the Swiss Neuropaediatric Stroke Registry from 2000 to 2006., Results: Stroke was confirmed in the acute period in 36 out of 41 children who underwent computed tomography, in 53 of 57 who underwent T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and in all 48 children who underwent diffusion-weighted MRI. AIS occurred in the anterior cerebral artery (ACA) in 63 participants and in all cases was associated with lesions of the middle cerebral artery (MCA). The lesion was cortical-subcortical in 30 out of 63 children, cortical in 25 out of 63, and subcortical in 8 of 63 children. Among participants with AIS in the posterior circulation territory, the stroke was cortical-subcortical in 8 out of 16, cortical in 5 of 16, and thalamic in 3 out of 16 children., Interpretation: AIS mainly involves the anterior circulation territory, with both the ACA and the MCA being affected. The classification of Ganesan is an appropriate population-based classification for our Swiss cohort, but the neuroimaging pattern alone is insufficient to determine the aetiology of stroke in a paediatric population. The results show a poor correlation between lesion pattern and aetiology., (© The Authors. Journal compilation © Mac Keith Press 2010.)

Mild influenza-associated encephalitis/encephalopathy with a reversible splenial lesion is a rare entity recently reported almost exclusively in Asiatic individuals. Hallmarks of this clinical-radiological syndrome include severe encephalopathy at onset, prompt and complete recovery, minimal to absent pleocytosis and rapidly reversible involvement of the splenium of the corpus callosum. We report herein a young Caucasian child who in addition had cerebellar involvement and presented a transient mutism during the recovery phase., (Copyright 2009 European Paediatric Neurology Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) deficiency is characterized by an almost complete absence of sympathetic autoregulation, because of very low levels of circulating catecholamines. Here, we report the successful management of four consecutive anesthesia procedures in a young child presenting with AADC deficiency. Our experience suggests that, with appropriate anticipation of the potential autonomic disturbances, anesthesia, at least for minor surgical and diagnostic procedures, can be conducted safely in patients with AADC deficiency.