1. Baron-Cohen S, Robson E, Lai MC, Allison C. {{Mirror-Touch Synaesthesia Is Not Associated with Heightened Empathy, and Can Occur with Autism}}. {PLoS One};2016;11(8):e0160543.
Research has linked Mirror-Touch (MT) synaesthesia with enhanced empathy. We test the largest sample of MT synaesthetes to date to examine two claims that have been previously made: that MT synaesthetes (1) have superior empathy; and (2) only ever experience their MT synaesthesia in response to viewing a person being touched. Given that autism has been suggested to involve deficits in cognitive empathy, we also test two predictions: that MT synaesthetes should (3) be less likely than general population individuals without MT synaesthesia to have an autism spectrum condition (ASC), if MT is characterized by superior empathy; and (4) have fewer autistic traits. We selected three groups: a pure MT synaesthesia group (N = 46), a pure grapheme-colour (GC) synaesthesia group (N = 36), and a typical control group without synaesthesia (N = 46). Participants took three measures of empathy and one measure of autistic traits. MT synaesthetes did not show enhanced empathy. In addition, 30% of all MT synaesthetes recruited into this study (N = 135) reported also having ASC, and MT synaesthetes showed higher autistic trait scores than controls. Finally, some MT experiences were reported in response to viewing objects being touched. Our findings dispute the views that MT synaesthesia is linked with enhanced empathy, is less likely to occur with ASC or elevated autistic traits, and is specific to seeing a person being touched.
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2. Burke MM, Heller T. {{Disparities in Unmet Service Needs Among Adults with Intellectual and Other Developmental Disabilities}}. {J Appl Res Intellect Disabil};2016 (Aug 5)
BACKGROUND: Due to long waiting lists for services, many adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the United States have unmet service needs. Little research, however, has identified the characteristics of caregivers and individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities that relate to the unmet service needs among individuals who are waiting for services. METHOD: The present authors conducted a statewide mail survey of 234 caregivers of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who were waiting for services. The present authors identified which parent and individual with intellectual and developmental disability characteristics were significantly associated with the number of unmet service needs. RESULTS: Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who were in poor health, from minority backgrounds and non-verbal were significantly more likely to have a greater number of unmet service needs. Additionally, individuals with younger caregivers and individuals with caregivers from low-income backgrounds were significantly more likely to report a greater number of unmet service needs. DISCUSSION: Implications for research and policy are discussed.
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3. Elagoz Yuksel M, Yuceturk B, Faruk Karatas O, Ozen M, Dogangun B. {{The altered promoter methylation of oxytocin receptor gene in autism}}. {J Neurogenet};2016 (Aug 5):1-5.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is one of the lifelong existing disorders. Abnormal methylation status of gene promoters of oxytonergic system has been implicated as among the etiologic factors of ASDs. We, therefore, investigated the methylation frequency of oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) promoter from peripheral blood samples of children with autistic features. Our sample includes 66 children in total (22-94 months); 27 children with ASDs according to the DSM-IV-TR and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and 39 children who do not have any autistic like symptoms as the healthy control group. We investigated the DNA methylation status of OXTR promoter by methylation specific enzymatic digestion of genomic DNA and polymerase chain reaction. A significant relationship has been found between ASDs and healthy controls for the reduction of methylation frequency of the regions MT1 and MT3 of OXTR. We could not find any association in the methylation frequency of MT2 and MT4 regions of OXTR. Although our findings indicate high frequency of OXTR promoter hypomethylation in ASDs, there is need for independent replication of the results for a bigger sample set. We expect that future studies with the inclusion of larger, more homogeneous samples will attempt to disentangle the causes of ASDs.
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4. Fein D. {{Commentary on USPSTF Final Statement on Universal Screening for Autism}}. {J Dev Behav Pediatr};2016 (Aug 2)
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5. Gong T, Dalman C, Wicks S, Dal H, Magnusson C, Lundholm C, Almqvist C, Pershagen G. {{Perinatal Exposure to Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {Environ Health Perspect};2016 (Aug 5)
BACKGROUND: Studies from the United States indicate that exposure to air pollution in early life is associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children, but the evidence is not consistent with European data. METHOD: Children born and residing in Stockholm during 1993-2007 with an ASD diagnosis were identified through multiple health registers and classified as cases (n=5,136). A randomly selected sample of 18,237 children from the same study base constituted controls. Levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter with diameters <10microm (PM10) from road traffic were estimated at residential addresses during mother's pregnancy and the child's first year of life by dispersion models. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for ASD with or without intellectual disability (ID) were estimated using logistic regression models after conditioning on municipality and calendar year of birth as well as adjustment for potential confounders. RESULT: Air pollution exposure during the prenatal period was not associated with ASD overall (OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.86-1.15 per 10 microg/m3 increase in PM10 and OR 1.02, 95% CI 0.94-1.10 per 20 microg/m3 increase in NOx during mother's pregnancy). Similar results were seen for exposure during the first year of life, and for ASD in combination with ID. An inverse association between air pollution exposure and ASD risk was observed among children of mothers who moved to a new residence during pregnancy. CONCLUSION: Early life exposure to low levels of NOx and PM10 from road traffic does not appear to increase the risk of ASD. Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
6. Jaramillo TC, Speed HE, Xuan Z, Reimers JM, Escamilla CO, Weaver TP, Liu S, Filonova I, Powell CM. {{Novel Shank3 mutant exhibits behaviors with face validity for autism and altered striatal and hippocampal function}}. {Autism Res};2016 (Aug 5)
Mutations/deletions in the SHANK3 gene are associated with autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disability. Here, we present electrophysiological and behavioral consequences in novel heterozygous and homozygous mice with a transcriptional stop cassette inserted upstream of the PDZ domain-coding exons in Shank3 (Shank3E13 ). Insertion of a transcriptional stop cassette prior to exon 13 leads to loss of the two higher molecular weight isoforms of Shank3. Behaviorally, both Shank3E13 heterozygous (HET) and homozygous knockout (KO) mice display increased repetitive grooming, deficits in social interaction tasks, and decreased rearing. Shank3E13 KO mice also display deficits in spatial memory in the Morris water maze task. Baseline hippocampal synaptic transmission and short-term plasticity are preserved in Shank3E13 HET and KO mice, while both HET and KO mice exhibit impaired hippocampal long-term plasticity. Additionally, Shank3E13 HET and KO mice display impaired striatal glutamatergic synaptic transmission. These results demonstrate for the first time in this novel Shank3 mutant that both homozygous and heterozygous mutation of Shank3 lead to behavioral abnormalities with face validity for autism along with widespread synaptic dysfunction. Autism Res 2016. (c) 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
