Sensory disorders (SN) are more common among children than autism, and as widespread as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but they receive much less attention from the medical community.. This is largely due to the fact that sensory disorders have never been recognized as independent diseases..

In a new study from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), physicians have found that children with heart failure have quantitative differences in brain structure, demonstrating for the first time the biological basis of the disease that makes it different from other neurodevelopmental disorders..

One reason why HF has not been given enough attention is that it is common in children with ADHD or autism and is not part of the diagnostic and statistical manual used by psychiatrists and psychologists..

" " The work was published in the open access in the online journal NeuroImage: Clinical.

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Sensory disturbances occur in 5-16% of school-age children. They have difficulty processing data from the body's sensors, which can manifest in a wide range of symptoms, including hypersensitivity to hearing, vision, and touch, poor motor skills, and easy distractibility.. Some children can't stand the sound of a vacuum cleaner, while others can't hold a pencil or deal with social interactions.. In addition, a sound that is irritating one day may be harmless the next.. The disease may be unrecognized by parents and is a source of controversy among physicians..

" Marco is a Pediatric Neurologist at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, one of the best in the US and California..

“Sometimes they are called kids out of sync. They can speak well, but they have problems with almost everything else, especially with emotional regulation and distraction.. In the real world, they are less able to process information effectively, so they often get sidetracked and confused,” says Marco, who treats children at his Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience Clinic..

“If we could better understand these children, we would not only help many families, but also deal with sensory impairments and sensory processing in general.. Our work lays the foundation for expanding research and clinical evaluation of children with a wide range of neurological problems beyond just autism and ADHD.”.

Mapping the white matter of the brain.

In the study, scientists used an advanced form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), which measures the microscopic movements of water molecules in the brain in order to provide information about the brain's white matter tracts.. DTV shows the direction of the fibers of the white matter and its integrity. It is essential for the processes of perception, thinking and learning..

The study looked at 16 boys aged 8 to 11 years with HF but not diagnosed with autism or preterm birth.. Their scores were compared with those of 24 normally developing boys who matched for age, gender, right-handedness and left-handedness, and IQ.. The behavior of patients and the objects they interacted with was first described using a parent report called a sensory profile..

The study found abnormal white matter tracts in HF patients, mainly in areas of the back of the brain that serve as connections for the auditory, visual, and somatosensory (tactile) systems involved in sensory processing, including their connections between the left and right halves of the brain.

“These are areas that characterize people with sensory processing problems,” Mukherjee says.. “More white matter in the anterior frontal lobe of the brain tends to be seen in children with ADHD or autism spectrum disorders. The anomalies we found are concentrated in a different area of \u200b\u200bthe brain, indicating that HF \u200b\u200bmay be neuroanatomically distinct."

The researchers found a strong correlation between microstructural abnormalities in the white matter of the posterior brain pathways involved in sensory and auditory processing and parental inattention scores on sensory profiles.. The strongest associations were for auditory processing, with other reported associations for multisensory integration, vision, tactile sensations, and inattention..

Abnormal microstructures of white matter sensory tracts found in children with HF using WTT likely alter the timing of sensory transmission in such a way that processing of sensory data and general information from different senses becomes difficult or impossible.

“We are only at the beginning of the journey, because previously these violations were generally ignored,” says Marko. “This is the first structural comparison of brain patterns in children with sensory impairments.. It shows that the disorders are related to brain function and provides an opportunity for future clinical trials.”. More research is needed on children with sensory impairments and known genetic disorders or brain injuries associated with prematurity.

medbe. en.