Joanne Rovet

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I am an emeritus Senior Scientist and Professor. I am most interested in pediatric environmental health, particularly endocrine disruption by environmental chemical exposure and impact on the developing brain.

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Marc Champagne

Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Jean-Michel Landry

Carleton University

Alessia Tessari

Università di Bologna

Emmanuel Azuike

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam Campus

Leonardo Briceño Ayala

Universidad del Rosario

Cairo

Cairo University

Université Laval

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

Panagiotis Kourtesis

The American College of Greece Deree College

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Papers by Joanne Rovet

Autobiographical Memory and Social Skills Performance in Adolescents with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: Observational Study

Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2014

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SenseCam as an everyday memory rehabilitation tool for youth with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

Proceedings of the 4th International SenseCam & Pervasive Imaging Conference on - SenseCam '13, 2013

ABSTRACT Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) often demonstrate deficits in every... more ABSTRACT Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) often demonstrate deficits in everyday memory (EM), which negatively impacts their recollection of recent experiences and the development of appropriate social skills. There is currently a lack of interventions focused on improving EM for these youth. Here we describe a study that will empirically validate a pilot SenseCam intervention as a classroom tool for improving EM and social skills for children with FASD. By facilitating EM recollection, such a technique has the potential to foster a pathway for children with FASD to improved social integration and quality of life.

Neonatal Thyroid Deficiency: Early Temperamental and Cognitive Characteristics

Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 1984

... T he results of t he present study indicate that the effects of t hyroid hormone deficiency a... more ... T he results of t he present study indicate that the effects of t hyroid hormone deficiency are attenuated to a significant degree when ... New York: Ap pleton -Ce nt ur y-Cro fts ... gene ra l discussion: diagn osis, t rea t me nt and follow up of chi ld ren wit h co nge nita l hypothyroid ism . ...

Neurophysiological correlates of verbal and nonverbal short‐term memory in children: Repetition of words and faces

Psychophysiology, 2001

The neurophysiological correlates of verbal and nonverbal memory have been extensively studied in... more The neurophysiological correlates of verbal and nonverbal memory have been extensively studied in adults, but comparable investigations of children are limited. A memory paradigm that is well established with adults is the repetition task, which finds a positive shift in the ERP waveform in response to repeated items, called the “repetition effect.” This is thought to represent the brain's memory trace for previously seen information and is reported predominantly at midline frontal and parietal electrodes. We recorded ERPs in thirteen 11‐ to 14‐year old children during repetition tasks of words and faces. Performance was better and ERP latencies shorter for the word than the face task. Although a repetition effect similar to adults was seen at parietal electrodes with increased positivity to repeated items, increased negativity was observed at frontal electrodes; this suggests that the neural substrates of recognition memory continue to develop beyond 11 to 14 years of age. The ...

Psychoeducational Outcome in Children With Early-Treated Congenital Hypothyroidism

Pediatrics, 2000

Objectives. To describe the psychoeducational characteristics of children with congenital hypothy... more Objectives. To describe the psychoeducational characteristics of children with congenital hypothyroidism (CH) identified through newborn screening and to study changes over time. Method. Examined were 83 children with early-treated CH, who were long-time participants in a prospective study of outcome after newborn screening, and 120 control children who were classmates (n = 80) or siblings (n = 42). Children were tested during the third (53 children with CH and 46 control children) or the sixth (51 children with CH and 76 control children) grades at school with 21 children with CH being seen in both grades. Test instruments included multiple measures of achievement and cognitive abilities as well as behavior rating scales completed by parents and teachers. Results. CH was associated with a slightly increased risk of learning disabilities in grade 3 but not grade 6. Third grade CH children scored lower than control children on tests of reading comprehension and arithmetic but did not...

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Handedness in 47,XXY Males

The Lancet, 1982

Effect of thyroid hormone level on temperament in infants with congenital hypothyroidism detected by screening of neonates

The Journal of Pediatrics, 1989

TO determine the effect of congenital hypothyroidism and its treatment on infant behavior, we ass... more TO determine the effect of congenital hypothyroidism and its treatment on infant behavior, we assessed temperament in 50 six.month-old infants with congenital hypothyroidism detected by means of screening of neonates. Intelligence and temperament were also evalUated at 12, 18, 24, and 36 months. More of these children were classified as "difficult" than children in the nonhypothyroid standardization sample. Temperamental difficulty was associated with increased nervous system sensitivity, reflecting more intense response s and a lower threshold of response to external stimulation. Greater temperamental difficulty was found to persist until at least age 2 Year s of age and to be associated with higher circulating triiodothyronine and thyroxine levels between I and 3 months of age. Our results suggest that behavioral features should be considered, as well as circulating hormone levels, in determining the proper dose of thyroid hormone replacement in infants with Congenital hypothyroidism.

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The effect of hypoglycemic seizures on cognitive function in children with diabetes: A 7-year prospective study

The Journal of Pediatrics, 1999

Funding was provided through operating grants from the Canadian Diabetes Association, Johnson and... more

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Long-term effects of L-thyroxine therapy for congenital hypothyroidism

The Journal of Pediatrics, 1995

To study the effects of initial and concurrent dose levels of L-thyroxine on ability and behavior... more To study the effects of initial and concurrent dose levels of L-thyroxine on ability and behavior in children with congenital hypothyroidism. Methods: An existing database, involving a large cohort of children with congenital hypothyroidism detected by neonatal screening, was analyzed retrospectively. There were 94 children: 89 were assessed at age 7 years for intelligence and selective cognitive abilities, and 87 at age 8 years for behavior, achievement, and selective abilities. Results: Subjects were stratified by median split into low and high starting dose groups. The high-dose group performed better on indexes of intelligence, verbal ability, and memory but had more behavior problems reflecting increased anxiety, social withdrawal, and poorer concentration. The dose of L-thyroxine at age 8 years was negatively correlated with memory task performance. Conclusion: A higher starting dose of L-thyroxine is beneficial for subsequent intellectual outcome in children with congenital hypothyroidism but may be associated with internalizing behavior problems, (J PEDIATR 1995;126:380-6) Recently there has been considerable interest in determining the ideal starting dose of L-thyroxine for later physical l, 2 and intellectual 35 development of children with congenital hypothyroidism. Present guidelines recommend a relatively high starting dose level (10 to 15 t~g/kg) to achieve rapid normalization and minimize the period during which the brain is lacking thyroid hormone. 68 Follow-up studies, based mainly on global intelligence indexes, indicate that although lower dose levels (7 to 10 ~g/kg) are sufficient to ensure normal intelligence, 4 higher doses may be necessary for more severe hypothyroidism. 5 Although a set dose is no longer recommended for later replacement 9, 10 current guidelines suggest levels of L-thyroxine that maintain T 4 in the upper normal range but enS'ure nor-Supported in part by research grants to Drs. Rovet and Ehrlich from the Ontario Mental Health Foundation and the Ontario Ministry of Health.

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Intellectual outcome in children with fetal hypothyroidism

The Journal of Pediatrics, 1987

Intellectual outcome fetal hypothyroidism in children with Eighty children with congenital hypoth... more Intellectual outcome fetal hypothyroidism in children with Eighty children with congenital hypothyroidism detected by newborn screening were grouped for presence of fetal hypothyroidism using skeletal maturity at the time of diagnosis as the index. Forty-five children with bone age <36 weeks were assigned to the delayed group; 35 with bone age 37 weeks to term were assigned to the nondelayed group. Although most children with athyroSis were found in the delayed group, the groups did not differ in birth weight, hormone levels, or family background. Assessments of intellectual and behavioral characteristics at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years of age revealed that, although children in the delayed group performed within the normal range, their scores were significantly lower than those of the nondelayed group from age 2 years on. Perceptual-motor, visuaspatial, and language areas were most affected. There were no differences in behavior or temperamental characteristics.

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Neurodevelopment in Infants and Preschool Children with Congenital Hypothyroidism: Etiological and Treatment Factors Affecting Outcome

Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 1992

... The authors are grateful to Deborah Czuchta and Joanne Rudolph for their assistance in testin... more

The Psychoeducational Profile of Boys with Klinefelter Syndrome

Journal of Learning Disabilities, 1996

Klinefelter syndrome (KS) affects about 1 in 900 males due to an extra X chromosome. Although the... more Klinefelter syndrome (KS) affects about 1 in 900 males due to an extra X chromosome. Although there are no obvious physical features associated with childhood KS, many boys demonstrate a cognitive deficit in verbal processing. The first section of this article integrates the extant literature on intelligence and achievement outcomes in boys with KS. The second section presents our findings from a 20-year study involving one of the largest unselected cohorts of boys with KS. We followed 36 boys with KS and 33 sibling controls from 6 until 20 years of age. Boys with KS are shown to demonstrate a verbal cognitive deficit and significant underachievement in reading and spelling, as well as in arithmetic. These problems, which are evident from early school years, increase with age such that by late adolescence, boys with KS are four to five grade levels behind. In addition, we also found that they were most likely to have a generalized type of learning disability, with very few boys indi...

Assessment of brain function in adolescent anorexia nervosa before and after weight gain

Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 1997

This study assessed brain function in 20 adolescent females with anorexia nervosa (AN) and 20 con... more This study assessed brain function in 20 adolescent females with anorexia nervosa (AN) and 20 controls using event-related potentials (ERPs) and a battery of neuropsychological tests. In the AN group, N4 latencies for a nonverbal memory task were significantly longer than for a verbal task, and P3 latencies for the verbal task were significantly longer among anorexics as compared to controls. On the nonverbal task, the AN group failed to show a right &gt; left hemispheric asymmetry for P3 amplitudes which was observed for controls. These group differences for P3 latency and amplitude were particularly pronounced in the central-parietal region of the head. Body Mass Index (BMI) in the anorexic group significantly predicted N4 amplitudes for the verbal task in the left hemisphere and P3 amplitudes for the nonverbal task in the right hemisphere. The two groups did not differ on any of the tests used to assess neuropsychological functioning. Eight nutritionally recovered patients and their matched controls were retested using the same procedures. Anorexics showed larger P3 amplitudes for the verbal as compared to the nonverbal task at follow-up. These findings provide evidence for localized brain dysfunction in anorexia nervosa that only partially normalizes with weight gain.

Behaviour Problems in Children with Diabetes as a Function of Sex and Age of Onset of Disease

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 1987

Twenty-seven children with early onset (<3 years) diabetes (EOD), 24 with late onset (>4 years) d... more Twenty-seven children with early onset (<3 years) diabetes (EOD), 24 with late onset (>4 years) diabetes (LOD) and 30 sibling controls were compared on measures of psychosocial adjustment. These included parent rating scales of behaviour problems and temperament; direct measures of selfesteem, body image and school achievement; and indices of diabetic control. Results indicated that LOD boys showed increased incidence of behaviour problems, 83% of whom could be assigned a diagnostic classification and more distortions of body image. The results were not related to any indices of diabetic control.

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Specific Intellectual Deficits in Children with Early Onset Diabetes Mellitus

Child Development, 1988

27 children with early onset (less than 4 years) diabetes (EOD), 24 with late onset (greater than... more 27 children with early onset (less than 4 years) diabetes (EOD), 24 with late onset (greater than 4.0 years) diabetes (LOD), and 30 sibling controls were compared in their performance on tests of intellectual functioning and school achievement. The results indicated that children with EOD, particularly girls, scored lower than the other groups of diabetic children and siblings on tests of visuospatial but not verbal ability. Many of the children with EOD were also having difficulty at school, and a number were currently receiving special education. Diabetic children with earlier onset had more hypoglycemic convulsions than those with later onset. Regression analyses revealed that duration of illness, age of onset, and hypoglycemic convulsions significantly predicted spatial ability.

Verbal deficits in children with 47, XXY and 47, XXX karyotypes: A descriptive and experimental study

Brain and Language, 1982

This study examines the intellectual abilities of children with a supernumerary X chromosome comp... more This study examines the intellectual abilities of children with a supernumerary X chromosome complement. In the first part, 33 boys and 13 girls, who were ascertained through a neonatal screening project, were given a WISC-R. Comparisons with siblings revealed a significant deficit in the verbal ability of the extra X children while their nonverbal skills were normal. The second part investigated the specific verbal impairments of these children with a sentence verification task. The results of comparisons with normal children indicated poorer performance by the supernumerary X groups, particularly on the more difficult task items. Correlations between measures indicated that verbal IQ was more strongly related to sentence verification performance than performance IQ. The final section deals with some of the biological factors that may contribute to the verbal deficits in these children. The results indicate that the most verbally impaired children were those with the greatest delays in physical growth, as indicated by bone age and dermatoglyphic measures. These findings are discussed in terms of the influence of chromosomally determined growth rates upon the brain, its maturity, and consequent capacity to develop specific cognitive functions. An association between an abnormality in sex chromosome complement and a specific intellectual disorder has been well established in Turner syndrome. Females with this condition, who have a 45,X chromsome constitution, have been found repeatedly to be impaired on nonverbal or spatial tasks while their verbal skills have usually been within the average range (Garron, 1977; Money & Alexander, 1966; Rovet & Netley, 1981; Shaffer, 1962). Recently, evidence has also been presented for the existence of a different specific deficit, this time in verbal ability, in individuals with a supernumerary X chromosome, i.e., 47,XXY males and 47,XxX females. Although the early accounts describing this deficit may be questioned because the subjects were ascertained primarily on clinical grounds (

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Turner syndrome in a pair of dizygotic twins: A single case study

Behavior Genetics, 1981

A pair offemale dizygotic twins, one of whom had Turner syndrome (TS), was given a battery of psy... more A pair offemale dizygotic twins, one of whom had Turner syndrome (TS), was given a battery of psychological tasks. Results revealed that the TS twin showed deficits on tasks requiring spatial analyses, visual form discrimination, and visual memory. Differences in the serial recall characteristics on visual memory tasks were also noted. Resuits are discussed in terms of the reliability of the TS spatial deficit and the relationship between memory and spatial functioning.

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Expert consensus on neurodevelopmental outcomes in pregnancy pharmacovigilance studies

Frontiers in Pharmacology

Background: Exposure in utero to certain medications can disrupt processes of fetal development, ... more Background: Exposure in utero to certain medications can disrupt processes of fetal development, including brain development, leading to a continuum of neurodevelopmental difficulties. Recognizing the deficiency of neurodevelopmental investigations within pregnancy pharmacovigilance, an international Neurodevelopmental Expert Working Group was convened to achieve consensus regarding the core neurodevelopmental outcomes, optimization of methodological approaches and barriers to conducting pregnancy pharmacovigilance studies with neurodevelopmental outcomes.Methods: A modified Delphi study was undertaken based on stakeholder and expert input. Stakeholders (patient, pharmaceutical, academic and regulatory) were invited to define topics, pertaining to neurodevelopmental investigations in medication-exposed pregnancies. Experts were identified for their experience regarding neurodevelopmental outcomes following medicinal, substances of misuse or environmental exposures in utero. Two ques...

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Relations between a dermatoglyphic measure, hemispheric specialization, and intellectual abilities in 47,XXY males

Brain and Cognition, 1987

Verbal IQ is usually lower than performance IQ in neonatally identified 47,XXY males. A dermatogl... more Verbal IQ is usually lower than performance IQ in neonatally identified 47,XXY males. A dermatoglyphic measure reflecting prenatal growth rates and indices of sex-related hormonal functioning are also frequently abnormal in 47,XXY males. This paper presents evidence indicating that a measure of prenatal growth rate predicts right hemispheric specialization for nonverbal processing in extra X males, whereas levels of testosterone, estradiol, luteinizing hormone, and follicle-stimulating hormones do not. Findings are also reported which indicate that the low verbal IQs of 47,XXY males are the result of abnormalities in right hemispheric functioning. o 1987 Academic PKSS. IIK.

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Hemispheric lateralization in 47,XXY Klinefelter's syndrome boys

Brain and Cognition, 1984

Autobiographical Memory and Social Skills Performance in Adolescents with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: Observational Study

Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2014

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SenseCam as an everyday memory rehabilitation tool for youth with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

Proceedings of the 4th International SenseCam & Pervasive Imaging Conference on - SenseCam '13, 2013