While genetic linkages to a variety of disorders have been suspected for decades, it has only been relatively recently that these linkages have come to be understood to a greater degree. The search for the genetic basis of some neurodevelopmental disorders, such as learning disabilities, has been elusive and fraught with complex hurdles, the genetic basis of other neurodevelopmental disorders, such as Down syndrome, has been much more clear. Other childhood disorders, such as Turner syndrome and fragile X syndrome, also documented clearly defined genotypes. Even when a clear genetic contribution is known (i.e., the genotype), the exact neurobehavioral manifestations (i.e., the phenotypes) remain unclear or poorly documented for many disorders. This edited volume addresses this quest and, perhaps, provides one of the most comprehensive descriptions of the available literature in the interface between genetics and behavior in childhood. As noted by the editors, one of the major objectives of this text is to provide students, clinicians, and researchers with a working knowledge base of behavioral genetics. In this regard, the editors wanted to provide a comprehensive text that was “organized in a framework that is understandable and immediately useful in clinical practice” (p. 6).

This text is divided into three major parts. Part I contains five chapters and addresses basic principles and applications. These chapters span a wide range of topics addressing neuropsychological assessment (Chapter 2), neuroimaging in genetic disorders (Chapter 4), and social ecology (Chapter 5). One key chapter in this section is devoted to behavioral genetics (Chapter 3); this would be “must-reading” for the novice in this field. While the neuropsychological assessment chapter appears rather perfunctory to the experienced clinician, its formulaic approach to assessment and its application to genetic disorders is unique. More novel information will be gleaned from the neuroimaging chapter and, especially, the behavioral genetics chapter. This latter chapter is nicely organized and its understanding critical to the text.

Part II contains five chapters dealing with various disorders wherein learning and behavior are primarily affected. These disorders include learning disabilities (Chapter 6), attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (Chapter 7), Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (Chapter 8), anxiety disorders (Chapter 9), and autism and other pervasive developmental disorders (Chapter 10). Each of these chapters provides a summary of neurobiological findings within each domain, and available genetics data are offered for most of the chapters. In general, the material contained within each of these chapters should not prove to be unusually novel to the clinician or researcher, and the linkages to behavioral genetics are fleeting.

The final part of this text contains 14 chapters and provides information on specific disorders having “broader-spectrum effects.” Along with Chapter 3, which provided the overview of behavioral genetics, these chapters clearly address the overall mission for this text. Each of these chapters gives an overview of the genetic basis for the disorder(s) and a relatively thorough overview of the neurobehavioral findings associated with each disorder, although the chapter on seizure disorders is relatively weaker in this regard. Issues pertaining to assessment, treatment, and lifespan manifestations are inconsistently addressed across many of these chapters. Following the overall mission of this text, these are chapters that likely will prove to be most useful to the practicing clinician, particularly with respect to definitional issues and topographical features.

This text offers an initial attempt to link the genetic aspects of specific disorders and associated neurocognitive functioning. The literature integrating these two fields has grown substantially over the past decade. Now that the human genome has been mapped, this text is quite timely.

Typical of such a large edited volume, the chapters vary considerably in their level of presentation and, although generally well written, there appears to be no organizational structure across chapters. The inclusion of increased uniformity across chapters, especially in parts II and III, would have strengthened the text. Further, the text could have been organized better by what is known about the genetic basis for many of the disorders. For example, many of the disorders have a clear genotype, such as Turner syndrome, fragile X syndrome, and Down syndrome, and the study of these disorders already provides direction for examination of genotype–phenotype linkages. How these disorders have been studied, and what has been gained from these studies, could provide direction for investigators studying other disorders with a clear or suspected genotype. Organization of the text around these issues would have been helpful for future studies.

Finally, given the goal of increased integration of the fields of neuropsychology and behavioral genetics, there should have been more effort expended in linking the fields and setting clinical practice and research agendas. Such integration is not an easy enterprise, particularly given the diverse array of professionals practicing in these fields (e.g., molecular biologists, geneticists) and the subsequent “language barriers” that likely will exist, and the amount of new learning needed for all players. A section, or at least a chapter or two, addressing these concerns would have been helpful, particularly with respect to tying their mission to the contents comprising the text.

Despite these concerns, many of the chapters should provide the student, clinician, and researcher with a valuable information resource for specific disorders. This volume should facilitate raising the awareness of the issues pertinent to the genetic basis of many childhood disorders and their associated neurobehavioral manifestations. The editors have met the overall goal for this text in a satisfactory fashion.