1. Canale S, Weissman B, Noroña CR, Fernández-Pastrana I, Adolphe S, Christiansen A, Reddy A, Augustyn M. Complex Autism Spectrum Disorder: Structural Determinants of Health and Their Impact on the Diagnosis. J Dev Behav Pediatr;2023 (Nov 3)

Emmanuel is a 6.5-year-old boy who was referred to your evaluation clinic for concerns about his social skills and communication. He arrived in the United States (US) 1 year ago after an immigration trajectory that began in Haiti when he was aged 3 years; passed through Mexico, where the family was in various shelters for over a year; and concluded 2 years later, with the family eventually settling in an urban center in the northeastern United States. While in Mexico, the family was living in a camp without access to utilities. They faced significant food insecurity and experienced multiple relocations because of fears of physical safety.Emmanuel’s native language is Haitian Creole, but he learned some Spanish during the year spent in Mexico. Now in the United States, he has been enrolled for the last year in the public school system, where he participates in an inclusion English as a Second Language kindergarten classroom. The school has expressed concern about several behaviors including bolting from the classroom, shouting out inappropriately, and taking food from other children’s lunches.On initial meeting with a DBP clinician, Emmanuel’s parents report that they do not have any concerns at home about his behavior, although they do feel that he « talks less than his 3 older siblings. » The 6-person household is currently living in one-room, temporary housing; they deny current food insecurity.As part of his evaluation, you perform an Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale-2 Module 3 in English with the support of an in-person Haitian Creole interpreter. Emmanuel does not make eye contact throughout the evaluation but does respond to your questions in a combination of English and Haitian Creole. He can define the concept of a « friend » but cannot name one of his own friends. He is not able to engage in the demonstration task with words but does use gestures to indicate the actions involved in brushing teeth. His free play is perseverative and centers around fighting between the action figures.Brief cognitive testing reveals normal nonverbal intelligence. He is unable to decode in English on achievement testing. The family completes a Social Responsiveness Scale in English, which shows normal scores except in the repetitive behaviors section, where the family endorses pacing and some restricted interests, particularly around video games.He is not yet on an Individualized Education Plan, and there have been no formal assessments from the school except for language dominance testing indicating that his dominant language is Haitian Creole, with emerging English skills. What specific topics are unique to the evaluation for autism in an English language learner with a significant trauma history? What factors should be considered when assessing a child with a history of immigration trauma?

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

2. Chan MMY, Choi CXT, Tsoi TCW, Shea CKS, Yiu KWK, Han YMY. Effects of multisession cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation with cognitive training on sociocognitive functioning and brain dynamics in ASD: A double-blind, sham-controlled, randomized EEG study. Brain Stimul;2023 (Oct 31)

BACKGROUND: Few treatment options are available for targeting core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The development of treatments that target common neural circuit dysfunctions caused by known genetic defects, namely, disruption of the excitation/inhibition (E/I) balance, is promising. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is capable of modulating the E/I balance in healthy individuals, yet its clinical and neurobiological effects in ASD remain elusive. OBJECTIVE: This double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled trial investigated the effects of multisession cathodal prefrontal tDCS coupled with online cognitive remediation on social functioning, information processing efficiency and the E/I balance in ASD patients aged 14-21 years. METHODS: Sixty individuals were randomly assigned to receive either active or sham tDCS (10 sessions in total, 20 min/session, stimulation intensity: 1.5 mA, cathode: F3, anode: Fp2, size of electrodes: 25 cm(2)) combined with 20 min of online cognitive remediation. Social functioning, information processing efficiency during cognitive tasks, and theta- and gamma-band E/I balance were measured one day before and after the treatment. RESULTS: Compared to sham tDCS, active cathodal tDCS was effective in enhancing overall social functioning [F(1, 58) = 6.79, p = .012, η(p)(2) = 0.105, 90% CI: (0.013, 0.234)] and information processing efficiency during cognitive tasks [F(1, 58) = 10.07, p = .002, η(p)(2) = 0.148, 90% CI: (0.034, 0.284)] in these individuals. Electroencephalography data showed that this cathodal tDCS protocol was effective in reducing the theta-band E/I ratio of the cortical midline structures [F(1, 58) = 4.65, p = .035, η(p)(2) = 0.074, 90% CI: (0.010, 0.150)] and that this reduction significantly predicted information processing efficiency enhancement (b = -2.546, 95% BCa CI: [-4.979, -0.113], p = .041). CONCLUSION: Our results support the use of multisession cathodal tDCS over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex combined with online cognitive remediation for reducing the elevated theta-band E/I ratio in sociocognitive information processing circuits in ASD patients, resulting in more adaptive regulation of global brain dynamics that is associated with enhanced information processing efficiency after the intervention.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

3. Hong J, DaWalt LS, Taylor JL, Haider A, Mailick M. Autism through midlife: trajectories of symptoms, behavioral functioning, and health. J Neurodev Disord;2023 (Nov 3);15(1):36.

BACKGROUND: This study describes change in autism symptoms, behavioral functioning, and health measured prospectively over 22 years. Most studies tracking developmental trajectories have focused on autism during childhood, although adulthood is the longest stage of the life course. A robust understanding of how autistic people change through midlife and into older age has yet to be obtained. METHODS: Using an accelerated longitudinal design with 9 waves of data, developmental trajectories were estimated from adolescence through midlife and into early old age in a community-based cohort (n = 406). The overall aim was to determine whether there were age-related increases or decreases, whether the change was linear or curvilinear, and whether these trajectories differed between those who have ID and those who have average or above-average intellectual functioning. Subsequently, the slopes of the trajectories were evaluated to determine if they differed depending on age when the study began, with the goal of identifying possible cohort effects. RESULTS: There were significant trajectories of age-related change for all but one of the measures, although different measures manifested different patterns. Most autism symptoms improved through adulthood, while health worsened. An inverted U-shaped curve best described change for repetitive behavior symptoms, activities of daily living, maladaptive behaviors, and social interaction. For these measures, improved functioning was evident from adolescence until midlife. Then change leveled off, with worsening functioning from later midlife into early older age. Additionally, differences between autistic individuals with and without ID were evident. Although those who have ID had poorer levels of functioning, there were some indications that those without ID had accelerating challenges in their aging years that were not evident in those with ID – increases in medications for physical health problems and worsening repetitive behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Meeting the needs of the increasingly large population of autistic adults in midlife and old age requires a nuanced understanding of life course trajectories across the long stretch of adulthood and across multiple domains. Given the heterogeneity of autism, it will be important not to generalize across sub-groups, for example those who are minimally verbal and those who have above-average intellectual functioning.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

4. Li X, Feng T, Lu W. The effects of valproic acid neurotoxicity on aggressive behavior in zebrafish autism model. Comp Biochem Physiol C Toxicol Pharmacol;2023 (Nov 3):109783.

Valproic acid (VPA) is an effective drug, which is preferred for the treatments of epilepsy and various kinds of seizures. Nonetheless, VPA has many side effects associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Therefore, we conducted molecular and behavior tests in adult proactive zebrafish after VPA exposure to investigate gene transcription changes, social behavior, aggression, anxiety and locomotion. Our findings revealed that VPA exposure generates ASD-like phenotypes and behaviors: genes associated with autism, such as adsl, mbd5 and shank3a altered; social interaction deficit. Further behavioral patterns suggest that VPA exposure induces decreases in aggression and increases the anxiety behavior and body cortisol significantly. VPA exposure did not affect locomotor activity in zebrafish. Additionally, we used correlative analyses to investigate the robustness between the ASD-related genes and the different behavior tests, results showed that ASD-related genes are negatively associated with aggressive behavior. Our study demonstrated that aggressive behavior assay is a better predictor of behavior for neurotoxicology of VPA.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

5. Liu C, Fan J, Bailey B, Müller RA, Linke A. Assessing Predictive Ability of Dynamic Time Warping Functional Connectivity for ASD Classification. Int J Biomed Imaging;2023;2023:8512461.

Functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI) is a technique used to study the functional connectedness of distinct regions of the brain by measuring the temporal correlation between their blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals. fcMRI is typically measured with the Pearson correlation (PC), which assumes that there is no lag between time series. Dynamic time warping (DTW) is an alternative measure of similarity between time series that is robust to such time lags. We used PC fcMRI data and DTW fcMRI data as predictors in machine learning models for classifying autism spectrum disorder (ASD). When combined with dimension reduction techniques, such as principal component analysis, functional connectivity estimated with DTW showed greater predictive ability than functional connectivity estimated with PC. Our results suggest that DTW fcMRI can be a suitable alternative measure that may be characterizing fcMRI in a different, but complementary, way to PC fcMRI that is worth continued investigation. In studying different variants of cross validation (CV), our results suggest that, when it is necessary to tune model hyperparameters and assess model performance at the same time, a K-fold CV nested within leave-one-out CV may be a competitive contender in terms of performance and computational speed, especially when sample size is not large.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

6. Man MQ, Yang S, Mauro TM, Zhang G, Zhu T. Link between the skin and autism spectrum disorder. Front Psychiatry;2023;14:1265472.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common neurological disorder. Although the etiologies of ASD have been widely speculated, evidence also supports the pathogenic role of cutaneous inflammation in autism. The prevalence of ASD is higher in individuals with inflammatory dermatoses than in those without inflammatory diseases. Anti-inflammation therapy alleviates symptoms of ASD. Recent studies suggest a link between epidermal dysfunction and ASD. In the murine model, mice with ASD display epidermal dysfunction, accompanied by increased expression levels of proinflammatory cytokines in both the skin and the brain. Children with ASD, which develops in their early lifetime, also exhibit altered epidermal function. Interestingly, improvement in epidermal function alleviates some symptoms of ASD. This line of evidence suggests a pathogenic role of cutaneous dysfunction in ASD. Either an improvement in epidermal function or effective treatment of inflammatory dermatoses can be an alternative approach to the management of ASD. We summarize here the current evidence of the association between the skin and ASD.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

7. Mei L, Hu C, Li D, Wang Y, Li H, Zhang K, Zhou B, Zhu R, Hagerman RJ, Xu X, Xu Q. Corrigendum: The incidence and clinical characteristics of fragile X syndrome in China. Front Pediatr;2023;11:1296110.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fped.2023.1064104.].

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

8. Pondé MP, da Silva Reis VF, Andrade ESNM, Siquara GM. Symptoms of anxiety and depression and quality of life in parents of children with autism during the second wave of the pandemic. Res Dev Disabil;2023 (Oct 31);143:104620.

BACKGROUND: Local political discord together with isolation and fear marked the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. AIMS: To determine the prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms and analyze adult quality of life (QoL) during the pandemic in four groups: « childless », « children without mental problems », « children with autism » and « children with other mental problems. » METHODS AND PROCEDURES: A sample of 867 individuals recruited using social media in northeastern Brazil completed the following instruments: the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS, Brazilian version), the WHOQOL-Bref, and a sociodemographic form OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: The mean score for depression was significantly higher in the « children with autism » group compared to the other groups. The mean anxiety score was significantly higher in the « children with autism » and « childless » groups. Mean QoL scores were lower in the « children with autism » group compared to the other groups for all the domains, with this difference being statistically significant compared with the « children without mental problems » group for all the domains. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Anxiety and depression symptoms were greater and QoL scores were lower in parents of children with autism. All groups benefitted from logistic support during the pandemic, whereas having to care for others negatively impacted QoL.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

9. Singh K, Zimmerman AW. Sleep in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Semin Pediatr Neurol;2023 (Oct);47:101076.

SLEEP IN AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER AND ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER: Kanwaljit Singh, Andrew W. Zimmerman Seminars in Pediatric Neurology Volume 22, Issue 2, June 2015, Pages 113-125 Sleep problems are common in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Sleep problems in these disorders may not only worsen daytime behaviors and core symptoms of ASD and ADHD but also contribute to parental stress levels. Therefore, the presence of sleep problems in ASD and ADHD requires prompt attention and management. This article is presented in 2 sections, one each for ASD and ADHD. First, a detailed literature review about the burden and prevalence of different types of sleep disorders is presented, followed by the pathophysiology and etiology of the sleep problems and evaluation and management of sleep disorders in ASD and ADHD.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

10. Sugiyama M, Fujii S, Mori M. Relationship between autistic traits and letter-recognition under attention to face-likeness: study using a henohenomoheji-type compound stimulus. Sci Rep;2023 (Nov 3);13(1):19031.

This study aimed to clarify the relationship between autistic traits and letter information processing, specifically, the components of faces when attention is paid to face-like information. We created a new « henohenomoheji-type compound stimulus, » in which letters are placed in positions in such a way as to resemble a face. In Experiment 1, we examined the relationship between autistic traits and the participants’ performance in a letter-recognition task in which a henohenomoheji-type compound stimulus was used. The results showed a significant moderate negative correlation between Autism-Spectrum Quotient-Japanese Version (AQ-J) scores and letter-recognition sensitivity when the compound stimuli were arranged like a face. The letter-detection task was employed in Experiment 2 to examine how autistic traits affect tasks’ performance with a lower cognitive load than in Experiment 1. We found no correlation between AQ-J scores and letter-detection sensitivity with or without face-like features. These results suggest that paying attention to faces reduces the participants’ performance in letter recognition, which represents a higher cognitive load in individuals with higher autistic traits. A major implication of this study is that the henohenomoheji-type compound stimuli can be applied to several cognitive tasks, such as cognitive processing in individuals with autistic traits.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)