Adv Neurodev Disord (2017) 1:12
DOI 10.1007/s41252-017-0008-6
EDITORIAL
Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders: an Editorial
Nirbhay N. Singh 1
Published online: 25 January 2017
# Springer International Publishing 2017
The launching of a new journal is always an opportunity to
reflect on the specific field of the journal and then to ask why
anyone in his or her right mind would even contemplate tak-
ing on the task. In an age of open access journals that promise
publication within days of submission, the launching of a
more traditional journal that focuses on quality of submis-
sions, critical reviews of the submissions, and adherence to
the highest standards of academic researchoriginality, re-
search on important questions affecting humanity, sound
methodology, replicable findings, and translation of research
to practice that produce quality of life changes in the partici-
pantsis often viewed as reaching for the sky when one is
more likely to just hit the ceiling!
The field of neurodevelopmental disorders is very broad,
especially given a life span perspective. According to the
DSM-5 classification, neurodevelopmental disorders include
intellectual disabilities, communication disorders, autism
spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder,
specific learning disorder, motor disorders, and other specified
or unspecified neurodevelopmental disorders. Also included
are disorders that have neurodevelopmental consequences and
disorders caused by deprivation, immune dysfunction, infec-
tious diseases, metabolic and genetic disorders, nutrition, and
trauma, as well as neurodegenerative disorders that lead to a
decline in intellectual functioning (e.g., Alzheimers disease,
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, vas-
cular dementia, Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal demen-
tia, corticobasal degeneration, Huntingtons disease, and
* Nirbhay N. Singh
nisingh@augusta.edu
1
Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior, Medical College of
Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, USA
progressive supranuclear palsy). Given this diversity, the un-
derstanding of the causes and treatment of issues related to
neurodevelopmental disorders will need to involve multiple
disciplines from pediatrics, genetics, neuroscience, nursing,
the whole range of rehabilitation therapies, psychology, psy-
chiatry, and many others. This would necessarily require a
combination of basic and applied science approaches in this
diverse population.
This breadth can be daunting, but it provides an opportu-
nity to bring together diverse areas of research and practice
across disciplines that bear on the human condition. While the
traditional focus of research has been on understanding
causes and finding ways of ameliorating the effects of dis-
eases, deficits, dysfunctions, and disabilities in people with
neurodevelopmental disorders, there has been an emergence
of complementary research that focuses on the personal as-
pects of these conditions. For example, for some conditions,
instead of seeking external resources (e.g., medication) for
reducing suffering due to pain, research suggests that internal
resources (e.g., mindfulness) can be used to respond to the
pain, thereby making suffering optional and totally under the
control of the individual.
Indeed, scattered across the general fields of neuro
developmental and neurodegenerative disorders, there are hid-
den gems in terms of assessment methodologies, diagnostic
workups, innovative interventions, and models of care that
can be shared more widely among researchers and clinicians
who work in specific areas within this field. Because research
is typically published in journal silos by disorder or discipline,
there is an amazing duplicative research effort focused on the
development of assessment methodologies and interventions
in specific disorders that are already well-known and used
routinely in other neurodevelopmental disorders. One of the
aims of this journal is to open a window to what is already
known so that researchers and clinicians can cut to the chase
2 Adv Neurodev Disord (2017) 1:12
and make peoples lives better now because the heavy lifting
has already been done by colleagues in related areas.
Evidence-based practice, practice-based evidence, and
emerging cutting-edge assessment and treatment approaches
are continually being researched and published. But research
shows that few of these are actually being used in the real
world to make peoples lives better. The gap between research
and its translation into practice can be as long as 20 years, with
less than half of evidence-based practices ever being imple-
mented. In fact, the news on implementation is grim. For
example, about a quarter of the people receiving mental health
care either do not need it or what they are receiving is poten-
tially harmful to them, and up to half are not receiving
evidence-based care at all. This journal welcomes research,
as well as reflections from seasoned researchers and clini-
cians, on how we can develop and enhance evidence-based
practices and implement them in the real world.
One way of doing this is by encouraging more translational
researchresearch that focuses on methods that may be suc-
cessful in implementing and disseminating academic research
findings into the community. There is little evidence for the
long-held assumption that once the efficacy of a new interven-
tion (or comparative efficacy of equally viable treatments) has
been demonstrated through randomized controlled trials, the
findings will somehow seep into the fabric of routine treat-
ments offered in community treatment centers and hospitals.
Efficacy studies are usually undertaken by grant-funded aca-
demic research centers under ideal conditions, with expert
clinicians and carefully chosen participants. Given that the
same conditions are not present in clinical and public health
centers, these studies are sometimes replicated in effectiveness
studiesrandomized controlled trials undertaken in the con-
text of routine clinical practice. This journal publishes both
efficacy and effectiveness studies. In addition, it particularly
welcomes translation research studies that examine ways by
which the results of randomized controlled trials can be effec-
tively implemented and not just left to wither on the pages of
academic journals.
Even when evidence-based interventions are readily avail-
able, they fail to reach those most in needindividuals who
cannot afford the treatments, live in rural areas without access
to professional clinicians, the homeless, veterans who face
inordinate delays in getting appointments at VA hospitals,
native Americans living in poverty on reservations, immigrants
of all types, people with chronic health or mental health condi-
tions, and so on. In the age of the Internet and the ubiquitous
mobile phones, there is a growing base of research studies on
the effectiveness of assessment, diagnosis, and clinical services
via telemedicinetelehealth, eHealth, mHealth, connected
healththat is, the delivery of health and mental healthcare
via information and communication technology. This journal
publishes studies on telemedicine in neurodevelopmental dis-
orders that deal with its effectiveness in hard-to-reach
populations, as well as on the appropriate and secure deploy-
ment of telemedicine in enhancing the quality of life of those
with neurodevelopmental disorders and their caregivers.
Research that addresses intransigent shortcomings and ineq-
uities in the availability and access to care in health and mental
health as it pertains to neurodevelopmental disorders will find a
good home in this journal.
Often evidence-based interventions are complex, labor in-
tensive and expensive, and require the services of trained pro-
fessionals. These kinds of interventions are hardly conducive
to general health and mental healthcare delivery in community
settings, especially in rural and poor neighborhoods. The jour-
nal encourages and publishes research that is based on the
stepped care model of service delivery. That is, research that
identifies the match between the needs of the individuals and
the lowest intensity or light touch interventions that will work
within the current context of those needing the services. The
care is stepped up until the optimal match is reached between
needs and intensity of treatmentin terms of acceptable qual-
ity of life outcomes, cost of interventions, feasibility and ac-
ceptability of the treatment, generalization and maintenance of
the intervention, and secure portability of the intervention.
This journal publishes empirical, theoretical, and review
papers on a large variety of issues, populations, and domains,
including but not limited to diagnosis; incidence and
prevalence; educational, pharmacological, behavioral and
cognitive behavioral, mindfulness, and psychosocial
interventions across the life span. Animal models of basic
research that inform the understanding and treatment of
neurodevelopmental disorders are also welcomed. The journal
is multidisciplinary and multi-theoretical and encourages
research from multiple specialties in the social sciences. It
accepts papers using a diversity of methodologies, including
quantitative, qualitative, and mixed method studies, with the
understanding that research articles meet the required
scientific standards of the specific methodology used. Given
that a strong methodology is undoubtedly the key to
establishing the scientific basis of the research findings,
authors are encouraged to present enough detail such that an
independent research team can replicate the methods used. The
journal publishes studies that span the whole gamut of research
designs, including single-subject experimental designs, quasi-
experimental designs, and tightly controlled group designs.
Although there is some question as to exactly how much of
the current findings in psychological research can be reliably
replicated, advancement in science is incremental, and authors
should endeavor to state their findings conservatively and re-
frain from making claims about their study having major impli-
cations for theory, practice, intervention, or policy until the
findings have been reliably replicated by independent re-
searchers. Scientific research is about trying to understand the
true nature of well-defined phenomena and in using this knowl-
edge to improve the human condition in the here and now.