Autistic traits, resting-state connectivity, and absolute pitch in professional musicians: shared and distinct neural features / T. WENHART in Molecular Autism, 10 (2019)  

Public ISBD [article]  inMolecular Autism > 10 (2019) . - 20 p. Titre : Autistic traits, resting-state connectivity, and absolute pitch in professional musicians: shared and distinct neural features Type de document : Texte imprimé et/ou numérique Auteurs : T. WENHART, Auteur ; Richard A. I. BETHLEHEM, Auteur ; Simon BARON-COHEN, Auteur ; E. ALTENMULLER, Auteur Article en page(s) : 20 p. Langues : Anglais (eng) Mots-clés : Absolute pitch  Autistic traits  Brain networks  Electroencephalography  Graph theory  Musicians Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : Background: Recent studies indicate increased autistic traits in musicians with absolute pitch and a higher proportion of absolute pitch in people with autism. Theoretical accounts connect both of these with shared neural principles of local hyper- and global hypoconnectivity, enhanced perceptual functioning, and a detail-focused cognitive style. This is the first study to investigate absolute pitch proficiency, autistic traits, and brain correlates in the same study. Sample and methods: Graph theoretical analysis was conducted on resting-state (eyes closed and eyes open) EEG connectivity (wPLI, weighted phase lag index) matrices obtained from 31 absolute pitch (AP) and 33 relative pitch (RP) professional musicians. Small-worldness, global clustering coefficient, and average path length were related to autistic traits, passive (tone identification) and active (pitch adjustment) absolute pitch proficiency, and onset of musical training using Welch two-sample tests, correlations, and general linear models. Results: Analyses revealed increased path length (delta 2-4 Hz), reduced clustering (beta 13-18 Hz), reduced small-worldness (gamma 30-60 Hz), and increased autistic traits for AP compared to RP. Only clustering values (beta 13-18 Hz) were predicted by both AP proficiency and autistic traits. Post hoc single connection permutation tests among raw wPLI matrices in the beta band (13-18 Hz) revealed widely reduced interhemispheric connectivity between bilateral auditory-related electrode positions along with higher connectivity between F7-F8 and F8-P9 for AP. Pitch-naming ability and pitch adjustment ability were predicted by path length, clustering, autistic traits, and onset of musical training (for pitch adjustment) explaining 44% and 38% of variance, respectively. Conclusions: Results show both shared and distinct neural features between AP and autistic traits. Differences in the beta range were associated with higher autistic traits in the same population. In general, AP musicians exhibit a widely underconnected brain with reduced functional integration and reduced small-world property during resting state. This might be partly related to autism-specific brain connectivity, while differences in path length and small-worldness reflect other ability-specific influences. This is further evidenced for different pathways in the acquisition and development of absolute pitch, likely influenced by both genetic and environmental factors and their interaction. En ligne : http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13229-019-0272-6 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=398 [article] Autistic traits, resting-state connectivity, and absolute pitch in professional musicians: shared and distinct neural features [Texte imprimé et/ou numérique] / T. WENHART, Auteur ; Richard A. I. BETHLEHEM, Auteur ; Simon BARON-COHEN, Auteur ; E. ALTENMULLER, Auteur . - 20 p. Langues : Anglais (eng) in Molecular Autism > 10 (2019) . - 20 p. Mots-clés : Absolute pitch  Autistic traits  Brain networks  Electroencephalography  Graph theory  Musicians Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : Background: Recent studies indicate increased autistic traits in musicians with absolute pitch and a higher proportion of absolute pitch in people with autism. Theoretical accounts connect both of these with shared neural principles of local hyper- and global hypoconnectivity, enhanced perceptual functioning, and a detail-focused cognitive style. This is the first study to investigate absolute pitch proficiency, autistic traits, and brain correlates in the same study. Sample and methods: Graph theoretical analysis was conducted on resting-state (eyes closed and eyes open) EEG connectivity (wPLI, weighted phase lag index) matrices obtained from 31 absolute pitch (AP) and 33 relative pitch (RP) professional musicians. Small-worldness, global clustering coefficient, and average path length were related to autistic traits, passive (tone identification) and active (pitch adjustment) absolute pitch proficiency, and onset of musical training using Welch two-sample tests, correlations, and general linear models. Results: Analyses revealed increased path length (delta 2-4 Hz), reduced clustering (beta 13-18 Hz), reduced small-worldness (gamma 30-60 Hz), and increased autistic traits for AP compared to RP. Only clustering values (beta 13-18 Hz) were predicted by both AP proficiency and autistic traits. Post hoc single connection permutation tests among raw wPLI matrices in the beta band (13-18 Hz) revealed widely reduced interhemispheric connectivity between bilateral auditory-related electrode positions along with higher connectivity between F7-F8 and F8-P9 for AP. Pitch-naming ability and pitch adjustment ability were predicted by path length, clustering, autistic traits, and onset of musical training (for pitch adjustment) explaining 44% and 38% of variance, respectively. Conclusions: Results show both shared and distinct neural features between AP and autistic traits. Differences in the beta range were associated with higher autistic traits in the same population. In general, AP musicians exhibit a widely underconnected brain with reduced functional integration and reduced small-world property during resting state. This might be partly related to autism-specific brain connectivity, while differences in path length and small-worldness reflect other ability-specific influences. This is further evidenced for different pathways in the acquisition and development of absolute pitch, likely influenced by both genetic and environmental factors and their interaction. En ligne : http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13229-019-0272-6 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=398

Effects of oxytocin administration on salivary sex hormone levels in autistic and neurotypical women / Tanya L. PROCYSHYN in Molecular Autism, 11 (2020)  

Public ISBD [article]  inMolecular Autism > 11 (2020) . - 20 p. Titre : Effects of oxytocin administration on salivary sex hormone levels in autistic and neurotypical women Type de document : Texte imprimé et/ou numérique Auteurs : Tanya L. PROCYSHYN, Auteur ; Michael V. LOMBARDO, Auteur ; Meng-Chuan LAI, Auteur ; Bonnie AUYEUNG, Auteur ; Sarah K. CROCKFORD, Auteur ; J. DEAKIN, Auteur ; S. SOUBRAMANIAN, Auteur ; A. SULE, Auteur ; Simon BARON-COHEN, Auteur ; Richard A. I. BETHLEHEM, Auteur Article en page(s) : 20 p. Langues : Anglais (eng) Mots-clés : Autism  Autistic women  Oestradiol  Oxytocin  Salivary hormone levels  Sex steroids  Testosterone Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : BACKGROUND: Oxytocin administration, which may be of therapeutic value for individuals with social difficulties, is likely to affect endogenous levels of other socially relevant hormones. However, to date, the effects of oxytocin administration on endogenous hormones have only been examined in neurotypical individuals. The need to consider multi-hormone interactions is particularly warranted in oxytocin trials for autism due to evidence of irregularities in both oxytocin and sex steroid systems. METHODS: In this double-blind cross-over study, saliva samples were collected from 16 autistic and 29 neurotypical women before and after intranasal administration of 24?IU oxytocin or placebo. Oestradiol, testosterone, and oxytocin levels were quantified in saliva samples. Participants also completed the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and Empathy Quotient (EQ) questionnaires. RESULTS: Distinct patterns of change in testosterone and oestradiol levels pre- to-post-administration were observed in autistic relative to neurotypical women (ANCOVA, p < 0.05 main effect of Group), controlling for sample collection time. The mean percent change oestradiol was + 8.8% for the autism group and - 13.0% for the neurotypical group (t = 1.81, p = 0.08), while the mean percent change testosterone was + 1.1% in the autism group and - 12.6% in the neurotypical group (t = 1.26, p = 0.22). In the oxytocin condition, the mean percent change oestradiol was + 12.6% in the autism group and - 6.9% in the neurotypical group (t = 1.78, p = 0.08), while the mean percent change testosterone was + 14.4% in the autism group and - 15.2% in the neurotypical group (t = 3.00, p = 0.006). Robust regression confirmed that group differences in percent change hormone levels were not driven by a small number of influential individuals. Baseline hormone levels did not differ between groups when considered individually. However, baseline testosterone relative to oestradiol (T:E2 ratio) was higher in autistic women (p = 0.023, Cohen's d = 0.63), and this ratio correlated positively and negatively with AQ and EQ scores, respectively, in the combined sample. LIMITATIONS: Further studies with larger and more diverse autistic sample are warranted to confirm these effects. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides the first evidence that oxytocin influences endogenous testosterone levels in autistic individuals, with autistic women showing increases similar to previous reports of neurotypical men. These findings highlight the need to consider sex steroid hormones as a variable in future oxytocin trials. En ligne : http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13229-020-00326-5 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=427 [article] Effects of oxytocin administration on salivary sex hormone levels in autistic and neurotypical women [Texte imprimé et/ou numérique] / Tanya L. PROCYSHYN, Auteur ; Michael V. LOMBARDO, Auteur ; Meng-Chuan LAI, Auteur ; Bonnie AUYEUNG, Auteur ; Sarah K. CROCKFORD, Auteur ; J. DEAKIN, Auteur ; S. SOUBRAMANIAN, Auteur ; A. SULE, Auteur ; Simon BARON-COHEN, Auteur ; Richard A. I. BETHLEHEM, Auteur . - 20 p. Langues : Anglais (eng) in Molecular Autism > 11 (2020) . - 20 p. Mots-clés : Autism  Autistic women  Oestradiol  Oxytocin  Salivary hormone levels  Sex steroids  Testosterone Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : BACKGROUND: Oxytocin administration, which may be of therapeutic value for individuals with social difficulties, is likely to affect endogenous levels of other socially relevant hormones. However, to date, the effects of oxytocin administration on endogenous hormones have only been examined in neurotypical individuals. The need to consider multi-hormone interactions is particularly warranted in oxytocin trials for autism due to evidence of irregularities in both oxytocin and sex steroid systems. METHODS: In this double-blind cross-over study, saliva samples were collected from 16 autistic and 29 neurotypical women before and after intranasal administration of 24?IU oxytocin or placebo. Oestradiol, testosterone, and oxytocin levels were quantified in saliva samples. Participants also completed the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and Empathy Quotient (EQ) questionnaires. RESULTS: Distinct patterns of change in testosterone and oestradiol levels pre- to-post-administration were observed in autistic relative to neurotypical women (ANCOVA, p < 0.05 main effect of Group), controlling for sample collection time. The mean percent change oestradiol was + 8.8% for the autism group and - 13.0% for the neurotypical group (t = 1.81, p = 0.08), while the mean percent change testosterone was + 1.1% in the autism group and - 12.6% in the neurotypical group (t = 1.26, p = 0.22). In the oxytocin condition, the mean percent change oestradiol was + 12.6% in the autism group and - 6.9% in the neurotypical group (t = 1.78, p = 0.08), while the mean percent change testosterone was + 14.4% in the autism group and - 15.2% in the neurotypical group (t = 3.00, p = 0.006). Robust regression confirmed that group differences in percent change hormone levels were not driven by a small number of influential individuals. Baseline hormone levels did not differ between groups when considered individually. However, baseline testosterone relative to oestradiol (T:E2 ratio) was higher in autistic women (p = 0.023, Cohen's d = 0.63), and this ratio correlated positively and negatively with AQ and EQ scores, respectively, in the combined sample. LIMITATIONS: Further studies with larger and more diverse autistic sample are warranted to confirm these effects. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides the first evidence that oxytocin influences endogenous testosterone levels in autistic individuals, with autistic women showing increases similar to previous reports of neurotypical men. These findings highlight the need to consider sex steroid hormones as a variable in future oxytocin trials. En ligne : http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13229-020-00326-5 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=427

The oxytocin receptor gene predicts brain activity during an emotion recognition task in autism / F. UZEFOVSKY in Molecular Autism, 10 (2019)  

Public ISBD [article]  inMolecular Autism > 10 (2019) . - 12 p. Titre : The oxytocin receptor gene predicts brain activity during an emotion recognition task in autism Type de document : Texte imprimé et/ou numérique Auteurs : F. UZEFOVSKY, Auteur ; Richard A. I. BETHLEHEM, Auteur ; S. SHAMAY-TSOORY, Auteur ; A. RUIGROK, Auteur ; R. HOLT, Auteur ; M. SPENCER, Auteur ; L. CHURA, Auteur ; V. WARRIER, Auteur ; Bhismadev CHAKRABARTI, Auteur ; Edward T. BULLMORE, Auteur ; J. SUCKLING, Auteur ; D. FLORIS, Auteur ; Simon BARON-COHEN, Auteur Article en page(s) : 12 p. Langues : Anglais (eng) Mots-clés : Autism  Imaging genetics  Oxytocin receptor  Supramarginal gyrus  fMRI  the relevant national and institutional committees on human experimentation and  with the Declaration of Helsinki of 1975, as revised in 2008.Not applicable.The  authors declare that they have no competing interests.Springer Nature remains  neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional  affiliations. Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : Background: Autism is a highly varied and heritable neurodevelopmental condition, and common variants explain approximately 50% of the genetic variance of autism. One of the genes implicated in autism is the oxytocin receptor (OXTR). The current study combined genetic and brain imaging (fMRI) data to examine the moderating effect of genotype on the association between diagnosis and brain activity in response to a test of cognitive empathy. Methods: Participants were adolescents (mean age = 14.7 +/- 1.7) who were genotyped for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the OXTR and underwent functional brain imaging while completing the adolescent version of the 'Reading the Mind in the Eyes' Test (Eyes Test). Results: Two (rs2254298, rs53576) of the five OXTR SNPs examined were significantly associated with brain activity during the Eyes Test, and three of the SNPs (rs2254298, rs53576, rs2268491) interacted with diagnostic status to predict brain activity. All of the effects localized to the right supramarginal gyrus (rSMG) and an overlap analysis revealed a large overlap of the effects. An exploratory analysis showed that activity within an anatomically defined rSMG and genotype can predict diagnostic status with reasonable accuracy. Conclusions: This is one of the first studies to investigate OXTR and brain function in autism. The findings suggest a neurogenetic mechanism by which OXTR-dependent activity within the rSMG is related to the aetiology of autism. En ligne : https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13229-019-0258-4 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=389 [article] The oxytocin receptor gene predicts brain activity during an emotion recognition task in autism [Texte imprimé et/ou numérique] / F. UZEFOVSKY, Auteur ; Richard A. I. BETHLEHEM, Auteur ; S. SHAMAY-TSOORY, Auteur ; A. RUIGROK, Auteur ; R. HOLT, Auteur ; M. SPENCER, Auteur ; L. CHURA, Auteur ; V. WARRIER, Auteur ; Bhismadev CHAKRABARTI, Auteur ; Edward T. BULLMORE, Auteur ; J. SUCKLING, Auteur ; D. FLORIS, Auteur ; Simon BARON-COHEN, Auteur . - 12 p. Langues : Anglais (eng) in Molecular Autism > 10 (2019) . - 12 p. Mots-clés : Autism  Imaging genetics  Oxytocin receptor  Supramarginal gyrus  fMRI  the relevant national and institutional committees on human experimentation and  with the Declaration of Helsinki of 1975, as revised in 2008.Not applicable.The  authors declare that they have no competing interests.Springer Nature remains  neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional  affiliations. Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : Background: Autism is a highly varied and heritable neurodevelopmental condition, and common variants explain approximately 50% of the genetic variance of autism. One of the genes implicated in autism is the oxytocin receptor (OXTR). The current study combined genetic and brain imaging (fMRI) data to examine the moderating effect of genotype on the association between diagnosis and brain activity in response to a test of cognitive empathy. Methods: Participants were adolescents (mean age = 14.7 +/- 1.7) who were genotyped for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the OXTR and underwent functional brain imaging while completing the adolescent version of the 'Reading the Mind in the Eyes' Test (Eyes Test). Results: Two (rs2254298, rs53576) of the five OXTR SNPs examined were significantly associated with brain activity during the Eyes Test, and three of the SNPs (rs2254298, rs53576, rs2268491) interacted with diagnostic status to predict brain activity. All of the effects localized to the right supramarginal gyrus (rSMG) and an overlap analysis revealed a large overlap of the effects. An exploratory analysis showed that activity within an anatomically defined rSMG and genotype can predict diagnostic status with reasonable accuracy. Conclusions: This is one of the first studies to investigate OXTR and brain function in autism. The findings suggest a neurogenetic mechanism by which OXTR-dependent activity within the rSMG is related to the aetiology of autism. En ligne : https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13229-019-0258-4 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=389

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