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Biomedical subjects

J F Fagan

Publications and source records attributed to J F Fagan.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

The relation between the psychological functioning of children with Down syndrome and their urine peptide levels and levels of serum antibodies to food proteins.

AIMS: To investigate the relation between psychological functioning of subjects with Down syndrome, and their levels of urine peptide and serum antibodies to food proteins. METHODS: 55 children with Down syndrome in a cross-sectional study. Psychological functioning was measured by the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition, McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities and Fagan's computer based test of novelty preference. RESULTS: The participants, and their siblings, were found to have significantly increased total urine peptide levels. There were no significant correlations between peptide levels and psychological functioning. Significantly increased levels of IgG activity to gliadin and gluten, and IgA activity to gliadin, gluten and casein were found. There were significant negative correlations (Spearman r = -0.13 to -0.51) between psychological functioning, and IgG and IgA activity to gliadin and gluten. CONCLUSIONS: A significant relation between antibodies to gluten and psychological functioning was documented. The mechanism and potential causal link are still unknown.

Child↗
PubMed1999

Management of the neck in cancer of the larynx.

In the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, cancer of the larynx is usually treated by primary surgery. Radiotherapy is used as adjuvant treatment in certain patients who have cancer that has adverse histologic features such as perineural, vascular, and/or cartilage invasion. With this approach, patients rarely develop local recurrence. Patient survival is therefore unlikely to be improved by changes to the management of the primary tumor. Survival may, however, be improved by reducing the incidence of recurrence in the neck, as well as distant. Hence, we have adopted an aggressive surgical approach to the cN+ as well as the N0 neck. The theoretical basis for this aggressive surgical approach to the neck will be considered under the following headings: staging, regional control, distant metastasis, survival, choice of neck dissection, and the pathologically positive elective neck dissection.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell↗
PubMed1997

Neurodevelopmental outcomes of Ugandan infants with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection.

BACKGROUND: The neurodevelopmental outcomes of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-infected Ugandan infants of nondrug-using mothers were studied using controlled, prospective methodology. METHOD: The sample of 436 full-term infants included 79 HIV-infected infants of HIV-1-infected mothers, 241 uninfected infants of HIV-1-infected mothers (seroreverters), and 116 uninfected infants born to HIV-negative mothers. Neurologic status, information processing ability, and motor and mental development were assessed from 6 to 24 months of age. Observations of caretaker-child interaction and home environments were made at 6 and 12 months. All evaluators were blinded to the HIV status of the child and family. RESULTS: Compared with seroreverters and uninfected infants, HIV-infected infants demonstrated greater deficits in motor development and neurologic status, and more frequent and earlier onset of motor and neurologic abnormalities. Compared with controls, HIV-infected infants had more abnormalities in mental development at 6 and 18 months and an earlier onset of abnormalities. By 12 months, 30% of HIV-infected infants demonstrated motor abnormalities and 26% cognitive abnormalities as compared with 11% and 6% among seroreverters and 5% and 6% among seronegative infants. HIV-infected infants (62%) demonstrated a higher probability of developing an abnormal neurologic examination by 12 months, compared with seroreverters (17%) or seronegative infants (15%). Information-processing abilities did not differ as a function of HIV infection. Home environments and infants' interactions with caretakers were similar across groups. CONCLUSION: We conclude that HIV infection results in more frequent and earlier abnormalities in infants' neurologic status and motor development that are not attributable to other biological and environmental risk factors. More frequent mental developmental abnormalities were evident at several ages. However, information-processing abilities, such as recognition memory, may be spared from HIV-related deficits.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1996

Vision, cognition and developmental characteristics of girls and women with Rett syndrome.

Forty-two females with Rett syndrome, aged 2.5 to 47 years, were assessed with the Teller Acuity Cards and a new version of the Fagan test for age 2 years and above, and their parents were interviewed about the children's communication skills. The visual function of the subjects indicated arrested development, and they scored significantly lower on the Fagan test than a normal comparison group. Their visual processing and memory deteriorated somewhat with age, while those of the comparison group showed a slight increase. Both age at onset of Rett syndrome symptomatology and speech measures were inversely correlated with visual processing and memory, indicating that age at recession may have differential consequences for different functions. Among the subjects, persistent looking was associated with low cognitive function. The results have implications for intervention, and demonstrate that the paradigm of preferential looking may be useful in cognitive assessment of females with Rett syndrome.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Longitudinal prediction of specific cognitive abilities from infant novelty preference.

A test of visual novelty preference, the Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence, was administered to a group of 113 full-term infants from the Colorado Adoption Project at 5 and 7 months of age. The infants were followed longitudinally and the Bayley scales were administered at 12 and 24 months, the Sequenced Inventory of Communication Development at 24 and 36 months, and the Stanford-Binet and the Colorado Specific Cognitive Abilities Test at 36 months. 1 novelty preference score was obtained for each infant by averaging across the 2 test ages. Novelty preference correlated significantly with 36-month Binet IQ, the first unrotated principle component from the cognitive battery, and the 24-month Bayley MDI score. Novelty preference was also compared to specific abilities at all 3 follow-up ages; all of the specific abilities were significantly related to novelty preference, with the exceptions of 12- and 24-month Imitation and 36-month Perceptual Speed. Partial correlations suggest that novelty preference predicts language and memory independent of IQ. Overall, the results indicate that novelty preference during the first year of life not only predicts later IQ but may also reflect specific cognitive processes.

Attention↗
PubMed1989

Recognition memory as a method of assessing intelligence of an infant with quadriplegia.

The authors demonstrate a test of visual cognitive abilities (Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence) in the assessment and management of a ventilator-dependent infant with quadriplegia. Assessment of visual recognition memory indicated that the infant's cognitive development progressed normally, despite severe physical limitations and a prolonged stay in hospital. The results suggested that the infant would benefit from age-appropriate auditory, visual and social stimulation and a specialized program of rehabilitation. The test may be particularly useful in assessing the intellectual abilities of infants whose motor dysfunction precludes effective response to traditional tests of sensorimotor intelligence.

Aging↗
PubMed1986

Selective screening device for the early detection of normal or delayed cognitive development in infants at risk for later mental retardation.

The present study tested the predictive validity at 3 years of age of a screening device for the early identification of later cognitive delay. The screening device, administered between 3 and 7 months of age, is based on the infant's differential fixation "to novel" over previously shown pictures. The sample was composed of 62 infants suspected to be at risk for later mental retardation. The prevalence of delayed cognitive development (IQ less than or equal to 70) at 3 years of age was 13%. Novelty preference scores correctly identified six of eight (75%) of the delayed children. The test identified 49 of 54 (91%) of the normal children. Validity for predicting cognitive delay was 55%. Validity for the prediction of normality was 96%. The screening device proved to be equally sensitive, specific, and valid when the sample was divided into infants born at term or born preterm. The results of the present study and of a previous study indicate that detection of cognitive delay based on early novelty preferences is as easily accomplished for infants who will later be mildly delayed (IQ scores 60 to 70) as it is for those who will later be severely delayed (IQ scores less than or equal to 50). Moreover, such results are in contrast to those obtained with conventional tests tapping sensorimotor development.

Child Development↗
PubMed1986

The effect of low-level prenatal methylmercury exposure on visual recognition memory in infant crab-eating macaques.

Infant crab-eating macaques exposed in utero to maternal subclinical levels of methylmercury (MeHg) and their nonexposed controls were administered an adaptation of a standardized test of visual recognition memory. Exposed animals showed recognition deficits in that they directed significantly less visual attention to novel stimuli than did controls. These results parallel those obtained by other investigators with high-risk and teratogen-exposed human infants.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Facilitation of infants' recognition memory.

Infant's recognition memory, defined by novelty preferences, was found to be improved by providing 5--7-month-old infants with discriminable but related targets during the familiarization period. Facilitation of recognition was found for both photos of faces and for abstract patterns. It was necessary to present only 1 associated stimulus along with the to-be-remembered target in order to aid recognition. Such facilitation was dependent upon the kind of related target shown for study and was more likely to be demonstrated when simultaneous rather than successive exposure to related instances was allowed.

Child Development↗
PubMed1977

Infant recognition memory: studies in forgetting.

In a series of studies on delayed recognition and forgetting, the failure of 22-week-old infants to recognize which of 2 face photos (e.g., man or woman) had been previously exposed was shown to be influenced by what the infant saw during a retention interval. Highly similar intervening targets (other face photos) consistently produced failure of recognition. Targets intermediate in similarity (rotated photos) or of low similarity (line drawings) had little effect. Forgetting due to interference with high-similarity targets was shown to be temporary in nature, however, with recovery of recognition occurring after longer retention intervals and forgetting easily offset by further, brief exposure to the familiar stimulus.

Amnesia↗
PubMed1975

Visual attention to size and number of pattern details by term and preterm infants during the first six months.

2 dimensions inversely varied in previous complexity studies using checker-boards were varied independently. Patterns with more elements, angles, and information as well as patterns with larger elements received longer fixation at all ages, but initially prepotent size preferences decreased with age while number preferences became stronger. Further analysis showed the inadequency of contour length as the stimulus determinant for, or of increasing "optimal complexity" with age as the interpretation of, these previous findings. Term-preterm comparisons at 5-week intervals proved changes were a function of prenatal plus postnatal development rather than age from birth alone.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1974

Infant color perception.

Human infants 4 to 6 months of age devoted more visual fixation to checkerboards composed of two Munsell hues equated for brightness and saturation than to unpatterned targets of either hue. Strength of pattern preference was positively related to degree of hue difference in the checkerboards.

Age Factors↗