Understanding the Impact of AI and Technology on the Assessment, Monitoring, and Treatment of Neurodevelopmental Disorders

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About this Research Topic

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Background

Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) are a group of conditions which originate in the early stages of life but often persist through adulthood. Among them, the most prevalent in Europe and USA are autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning disabilities, and other impairments affecting language and communication.

Diagnosing, treating, and monitoring such conditions is usually a complex and costly process especially since these often evolve into chronic conditions. Difficulty and delay in diagnosis and intervention due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, lack of access to expert therapists, and medical staff or high cost burden lead to worse therapeutic conditions and outcomes.

In response to the pandemic, there has been an even wider rise of telehealth and assistive technology and delivery that include artificial intelligence and machine learning-based applications. The growth and consequent increasing adoption of such technologies, especially in the mental health field, has the benefit of providing instant automated access to interventions, improving therapeutical conditions, reducing the distance gaps between the patient and the clinician, and allowing patients to receive personalized clinical consultation without the burden of face-to-face interactions.

The scope of this Research Topic is to investigate the impact of telehealth, assistive technologies and Artificial Intelligence-based applications in the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of NDDs. In particular, the Research Topic will focus on the benefits that the adoption of these technologies is able to bring to the mental health management, to the outcome of the therapeutic interventions, and in general to the patients’ health.

Submission should emphasize the role of novel technological solutions targeted to patients with neurodevelopmental disorders at early or late developmental stages in terms of the following (but not limited to) outcomes: improvement of the clinical effectiveness of the medical interventions (i.e., increased cognitive performance, reduced delays between therapeutical sessions, higher user acceptability), reduction of the economic impact of the therapeutic treatment, reliability of the technological assessment and monitoring, and establishment of new practical recommendations for the management of NDDs.

We welcome submissions on all types of technology for the treatment, assessment and monitoring in the field of mental health for children and adults, such as autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, specific learning disabilities (SLDs), communication disorders, motor disorders (as well as tic disorders), and vision and hearing impairments. The purpose is to identify technological and AI applications and theoretical perspectives that can become novel tools for the management of NDDs, turning into new recommendations that can replace or support traditional medical and psychological interventions.

We prioritize original research papers, systematic review, methods, reviews, clinical trials, mini reviews, case report, general commentary and study protocols.

Topics of interest include but are not restricted to: virtual reality assessment/interventions for the enhancement of cognitive skills and rehabilitation, AI and machine learning-based digital technologies for mental health, telehealth, computer-based cognitive/motor assessment, real-time monitoring and wearable devices for children and adults, portable apps and devices as well as medical technologies including neuroimaging and neuro-stimulation/modulation/feedback.

Keywords: neurodevelopmental disorders, mental health, telehealth, technology, artificial intelligence, assessment, therapy

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