Many studies have confirmed the role of the cerebellum in the organization of superior brain functions in adults. Congenital cerebellar alterations are frequently observed in children with neurological diseases. These anatomical alterations are associated with neuropsychological or developmental disorders that often give rise to pictures of mental insufficiency of varying severity with behavioural changes even leading to autism.Aim:To evaluate of cerebellum role in cognitive and social organization also during development.We report 25 children with different kinds of acquired cerebellar lesions (12 with hemispheric astrocytoma, 12 with vermis medulloblastoma, and 1 with hemispheric stroke) who showed different clinical patterns according to the lesion localization. All subject were studied by neurological examination and MRI. Neuropsychological assessment included:•observation of spontaneous behaviour;•Recording of spontaneous language;•Intelligence evaluation (WISC-test);•Language evaluation;•Memory evaluation;•Assessment of frontal lobe functions (categorical memory, sequential memory, language fluency, design fluency, flexibility of reasoning and problem solving).Lesion in the vermis, mainly in the lower lobuli, caused different degrees of behavioural disturbances ranging from irritability to psychosis; lesions in the right hemisphere impaired language processing and symbolic sequencing, categorical memory and executive functions; lesions in the left hemisphere impaired speech prosody, visual sequential memory and design fluency.These data confirm that the connections from the cerebellum to the associative cortical areas are operative very early and that the cerebellum has an essential role in cognitive and social organization also during development.

IntroductionCompared to the parents of kids with “typical” development the stress level and exhaustion in these parents is higher and more frequent. Furthermore COVID-19 pandemic can increase stress levels especially among people that suffer from mental health disorders. Studies show that these difficult, challenging times have had a negative impact on most families, which have a child with neurodevelopmental disorders.Objectives Evaluation of sleeping problems among caregivers of children that take therapy in the National Center for Children Rehabilitation and Treatment (NCCRT) during COVID-19 pandemicMethodsThe study was conducted during a two-month period March-April 2020. The sample involved 110 individuals, relatives, of children that were taking educative and rehabilitation therapy in NCCRT during last year, ambulatory or inpatients. Data were collected by clinical records and phone interviews with children’s caregiver. Instrument we used were: Demographic inventory and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale for anxiety symptom evaluation. All data were statistically analyzed through excel.ResultsMost of individual interviewed were parents, 69% of them. 56% of individuals were among 31-45 years old. 28,2% of individuals developed sleeping difficulties and they weren’t able to sleep within 30 minutes after going to bed. 12,7% of them reported to have had difficulties staying awake during driving, eating or other daily activities.ConclusionsIt is necessary the dynamic support with special attention for caregivers whom have sleeping problems. Yet has to be evaluated the connection, if it’s present, between parents with sleeping problems and children progress, for ones that are being supported with development therapy

Background: Bipolar disorder begins during adolescence but often escapes diagnosis at this time because episodes are misinterpreted with other psychiatric disorders. Lithium, carbamazepine, valproate, and other drugs are used for the treatment of acute episodes and maintain treatment of bipolar disorders. Aims: To compare the efficacy of Valproate vs. Lithium in the long-term treatment of patients with subtypes of bipolar disorders. Method: 120 patients with more than two episodes of BD (according to DSM-IV) in a longitudinal, comparative and randomized clinical trial, for 2 years (104 weeks) divided in two equal parallel-groups with open label pre-randomized phase. Primary outcome measure was time to relapse/recurrence of any mood episodes. Survival analyses (Kaplan-Mayer and Cox Proportional Hazard) were used for statistical analysis. Results: Cumulative survival for valproate's group was S(104)=0.3570, (35.70% and lithium's group S(104)=0.3136, (31,36%). Valporate is superior to lithium for the treatment of non classic BD I (Log Rank 0.0309, p=0.0100). Valproate prolongs median survival time with 11±9 and mean survival time to 7±4 weeks more than lithium. Treatment with lithium has 20.4% higher relative risk for relapse/recurrence than treatment with valproate Vp (β = 0.186, p = 0.434). Valproate is superior for the treatment of BD with psychiatric comorbidity (Log Rank =0.0007. p=0.0026). Conclusions: We found that valproate is significantly more effective than lithium in prophylactic treatment of bipolar I disorders in non-classic subtype and in bipolar disorder with psychiatric comorbidity.